2001–02 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
2001–02 season
Chairman	; Doug Ellis;
Manager	; John Gregory (until 24 January); John Deehan and Stuart Gray (caretakers); Graham Taylor (from 5 February);
Stadium	; Villa Park;
Premier League	; 8th;
FA Cup	; Third round;
League Cup	; Fourth round;
Intertoto Cup	; Winners;
UEFA Cup	; First round;
Top goalscorer	; League: ; Darius Vassell and Juan Pablo Ángel (12); All: ; Juan Pablo Ángel (16);
Average home league attendance	; 35,012
	; ; ← 2000–01; ; ; 2002–03 →; ;

During the 2001–02 English football season, Aston Villa competed in the Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary[edit]

Aston Villa's early season form was good and the Midlanders even went top briefly at the end of November, but followed that with a run of eleven games with only one win, falling out of the title race. Still, it came as a shock when John Gregory announced his resignation after four years as Villa manager on 24 January. A host of names were linked with the vacancy, but in the end it was Graham Taylor, who took Villa to promotion in 1988 and second place in the league in 1990, who was appointed manager. Taylor was unable to improve Villa's form, but two wins against Southampton and Chelsea at the end of the season where enough to see Villa finish eighth: this was hardly amazing, but it at least meant that Villa would be finishing in the top 10 for the seventh year in succession.

Final league table[edit]

Pos	Team [ v t e ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Chelsea	38	17	13	8	66	38	+28	64	2002–03 UEFA Cup First round^[a]
7	West Ham United	38	15	8	15	48	57	−9	53
8	Aston Villa	38	12	14	12	46	47	−1	50	2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
9	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	8	16	49	53	−4	50
10	Blackburn Rovers	38	12	10	16	55	51	+4	46	2002–03 UEFA Cup First round^[b]

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Chelsea, the losing finalists.

^ Blackburn Rovers qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

Results[edit]

Aston Villa's score comes first^[2]

Legend[edit]

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League[edit]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 2001	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–0	36,059
26 August 2001	Manchester United	H	1–1	42,632	Vassell 4'
8 September 2001	Liverpool	A	3–1	44,102	Dublin 31', Hendrie 55', Vassell 86'
16 September 2001	Sunderland	H	0–0	31,668
24 September 2001	Southampton	A	3–1	26,794	Boateng 9', Ángel 15', Hadji 79'
30 September 2001	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–0	27,732	Ángel 46', Vassell 72'
14 October 2001	Fulham	H	2–0	28,579	Vassell 50', Taylor 61'
20 October 2001	Everton	A	2–3	33,352	Hadji 71', Schmeichel 90'
24 October 2001	Charlton Athletic	H	1–0	27,701	Kachloul 9'
27 October 2001	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–2	33,599	Ángel 13', (pen) 47', Vassell 43'
3 November 2001	Newcastle United	A	0–3	51,057
17 November 2001	Middlesbrough	H	0–0	35,424
25 November 2001	Leeds United	A	1–1	40,159	Kachloul 35'
1 December 2001	Leicester City	H	0–2	30,711
5 December 2001	West Ham United	A	1–1	28,377	Dublin 1'
9 December 2001	Arsenal	A	2–3	38,074	Merson 21', Stone 34'
17 December 2001	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	29,320	Ángel 44', 70'
22 December 2001	Derby County	A	1–3	28,001	Ángel 45'
26 December 2001	Liverpool	H	1–2	42,602	Hendrie 21'
29 December 2001	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1	41,134	Ángel (pen) 90'
1 January 2002	Sunderland	A	1–1	45,324	Taylor 59'
12 January 2002	Derby County	H	2–1	28,881	Vassell 12', Ángel 26'
21 January 2002	Charlton Athletic	A	2–1	25,681	Vassell 8', Ángel 42'
30 January 2002	Everton	H	0–0	32,460
2 February 2002	Fulham	A	0–0	20,041
9 February 2002	Chelsea	H	1–1	41,137	Merson 28'
23 February 2002	Manchester United	A	0–1	67,592
2 March 2002	West Ham United	H	2–1	37,341	Ángel 23', Vassell 90'
5 March 2002	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–3	21,988
17 March 2002	Arsenal	H	1–2	41,520	Dublin 69'
23 March 2002	Ipswich Town	A	0–0	25,247
30 March 2002	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–3	24,600	Warhurst (own goal) 15', Taylor 17'
2 April 2002	Newcastle United	H	1–1	36,597	Crouch 26'
6 April 2002	Middlesbrough	A	1–2	26,003	Ángel 60'
13 April 2002	Leeds United	H	0–1	40,039
20 April 2002	Leicester City	A	2–2	18,125	Vassell 22', Hitzlsperger 27'
27 April 2002	Southampton	H	2–1	35,255	Vassell 8', 42'
11 May 2002	Chelsea	A	3–1	40,709	Crouch 21', Vassell 63', Dublin 88'

FA Cup[edit]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 2002	Manchester United	H	2–3	38,444	Taylor 51', Neville (own goal) 53'

League Cup[edit]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	10 October 2001	Reading	H	1–0	23,431	Dublin 45'
R4	28 November 2001	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0–1	26,526

Intertoto Cup[edit]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3 First Leg	14 July 2001	NK Slaven Belupo	A	1–2	3,000	Ginola 88'
R3 Second Leg	21 July 2001	NK Slaven Belupo	H	2–0 (won 3-2 on agg)	27,580	Hendrie 19', 41'
SF First Leg	25 July 2001	Rennes	A	1–2	15,753	Vassell 90'
SF Second Leg	1 August 2001	Rennes	H	1–0 (won on away goals)	30,782	Dublin 5'
F First Leg	7 August 2001	Basel	A	1–1	25,879	Merson 59'
F Second Leg	21 August 2001	Basel	H	4–1 (won 5-2 on agg)	39,593	Vassell 45', Ángel 55', 79', Ginola 83'

UEFA Cup[edit]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 September 2001	NK Varteks	H	2–3	27,132	Ángel 54', 70'
R1 Second Leg	27 September 2001	NK Varteks	A	1–0 (lost on away goals)	12,100	Hadji 90'

Players[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

Squad at end of season^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel
2	DF	Mark Delaney
3	DF	Alan Wright
4	DF	Olof Mellberg
5	DF	Alpay Özalan
6	MF	George Boateng^{[notes 1]}
7	MF	Ian Taylor
8	FW	Juan Pablo Ángel
9	FW	Dion Dublin
10	MF	Paul Merson
11	DF	Steve Staunton

No.	Position	Player
12	GK	Peter Enckelman
15	DF	Gareth Barry
16	FW	Peter Crouch
17	MF	Lee Hendrie
18	MF	Steve Stone
19	FW	Boško Balaban
20	MF	Mustapha Hadji
21	MF	Thomas Hitzlsperger
22	FW	Darius Vassell
30	MF	Hassan Kachloul
31	DF	Jlloyd Samuel^{[notes 2]}

Left club during season[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
14		MF	David Ginola (to Everton)
26		FW	Richard Walker (to Blackpool)

No.		Position	Player
27		MF	Michael Standing (to Bradford City)
44		FW	Neil Tarrant^{[notes 3]} (to Ross County)

Reserve squad[edit]

The following players made most of their appearances for the reserves this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-17s, or may have appeared for the first team in a friendly.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
13	GK	Boaz Myhill^{[notes 4]}
24	MF	John McGrath
25	FW	Jon Bewers
28	MF	Gavin Melaugh
29	MF	Stephen Cooke
	DF	Danny Haynes
	DF	Danny Jackman

No.		Position	Player
		DF	Andrew Marfell
		MF	Jay Smith
		MF	David Berks
		MF	Giovanni Speranza^{[notes 5]} (on trial)
		MF	Serhiy Kandaurov^{[notes 6]} (on trial from Benfica)
			Stefan Andersson

U-19 squad[edit]

The following players made most of their appearances for the U-19s this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-17s.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
23	FW	Stefan Moore
39	GK	Wayne Henderson
42	FW	Peter Hynes
43	DF	Liam Ridgewell
46	DF	Ben Willetts
	DF	David Andrewartha
	DF	Rob Edwards^{[notes 7]}
	DF	Leon Hylton
	DF	Cameron Stuart
	DF	Seán Dillon
	MF	Ryan Amoo

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Jamie Cunnington (on trial to Bradford City)
		MF	Alexis Nicolas^{[notes 8]}
		MF	James Pawley
		MF	Peter Whittingham
		MF	David Scullion
		MF	Thomas Kristensen (on trial from AB)
		MF	Alexei Eremenko^{[notes 9]} (on trial from FC Jokerit)
		FW	Lee McGuire
		FW	Michael Husbands
		FW	Hjalgrím Elttør (on trial from KÍ)
		DF	Andy Wells

U-17 squad[edit]

The following players made most of their appearances for the U-17s this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves or the U-19s.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Antoni Pecora
		GK	Stephen Gahan
		DF	Stuart Bridges
		DF	Gary Cahill
		DF	Scott Cormell
		DF	Nick Green
		DF	Paul Green
		DF	James O'Connor
		DF	Oliver Williams
		MF	Adam Baptist
		MF	Jamie Ward^{[notes 10]}
		MF	Colin Marshall

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Steven Davis
		MF	Stephen Foley-Sheridan
		FW	Gabriel Agbonlahor
		FW	Mark Atkinson
		FW	Luke Moore
		FW	Shane Paul
		FW	Alan Brazil
		MF	Rowan Caney
		MF	John Grady
		MF	David Nolan
			Daniel Bridges

Other players[edit]

The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		DF	Liam Folds
		DF	Jamie McCombe (on trial from Scunthorpe United)
		DF	Pierre Ennis
		DF	Casper Abildgaard (on trial from AB)

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Keith Fahey
		FW	John Turner
		MF	John Malpass

Statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals[edit]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Continental
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK		Peter Schmeichel	36	1	29	1	1	0	2	0	4	0
12	GK		Peter Enckelman	14	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	4+1	0
Defenders
2	DF		Mark Delaney	39	0	30	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
3	DF		Alan Wright	32	0	23	0	1	0	1	0	7	0
4	DF		Olof Mellberg	36	0	32	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
5	DF		Alpay Özalan	24	0	14	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
11	DF		Steve Staunton	38	0	30+3	0	1	0	2	0	2	0
31	DF		Jlloyd Samuel	26	0	17+6	0	1	0	0	0	0+2	0
Midfielders
6	MF		George Boateng	48	1	37	1	1	0	1+1	0	8	0
7	MF		Ian Taylor	18	4	7+9	3	1	1	1	0	0	0
10	MF		Paul Merson	27	3	18+3	2	1	0	0	0	5	1
14	MF		David Ginola	13	2	0+5	0	0	0	1+1	0	3+3	2
15	MF		Gareth Barry	28	0	16+4	0	0+1	0	0	0	6+1	0
17	MF		Lee Hendrie	39	4	25+4	2	1	0	2	0	7	2
18	MF		Steve Stone	32	1	14+8	1	0+1	0	1	0	5+3	0
20	MF		Mustapha Hadji	32	3	17+6	2	0+1	0	2	0	3+3	1
21	MF		Thomas Hitzlsperger	12	1	11+1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF		Hassan Kachloul	31	2	17+5	2	0	0	2	0	6+1	0
Forwards
8	FW		Juan Pablo Ángel	35	16	26+3	12	1	0	1	0	2+2	4
9	FW		Dion Dublin	30	6	9+12	4	0	0	1+1	1	5+2	1
16	FW		Peter Crouch	7	2	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW		Boško Balaban	11	0	0+8	0	0	0	1+1	0	1	0
22	FW		Darius Vassell	44	14	30+6	12	1	0	0+1	0	2+4	2
Players transferred out during the season

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Last updated: 30 May 2002
Source: Competitions

Starting 11[edit]

Considering starts in all competitions^[4]

No.	Pos.	Name	MS	Notes
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	36
2	RB	Mark Delaney	39
4	CB	Olof Mellberg	36
11	CB	Steve Staunton	35
3	LB	Alan Wright	32
17	RM	Lee Hendrie	35
10	CM	Paul Merson	24	Alpay Özalan has 24 starts
6	CM	George Boateng	47
30	LM	Hassan Kachloul	25
8	CF	Juan Pablo Ángel	30
22	CF	Darius Vassell	33

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

#	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
30	MF	Hassan Kachloul	Southampton	Free	June 2001
20	MF	Mustapha Hadji	Coventry City	£2,500,000 + Julian Joachim	July 2001
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	Sporting CP	Free	July 2001
4	DF	Olof Mellberg	Racing Santander	£5,000,000	July 2001
19	FW	Boško Balaban	Dinamo Zagreb	£5,800,000	August 2001
16	FW	Peter Crouch	Portsmouth	£5,000,000	March 2002

Out[edit]

#	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
12	FW	Julian Joachim	Coventry City	Swap	July 2001
1	GK	David James	West Ham United	£3,500,000	July 2001
4	DF	Gareth Southgate	Middlesbrough	£6,500,000	July 2001
13	DF	Neil Cutler	Stoke City	Free	July 2001
19	FW	Richard Walker	Blackpool	£50,000	December 2001
14	MF	David Ginola	Everton	Free	February 2002
27	MF	Michael Standing	Bradford City	Free	March 2002

References[edit]

^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/1780820.stm

^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/aston-villa/2001-2002/results

^ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2001-2002/faprem/avilla.htm

^ http://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/2002/

Notes[edit]

^ Boateng was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana, but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Netherlands in November 2001.

^ Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.

^ Tarrant was born in Darlington, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.

^ Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.

^ Speranza was born in Giessen, West Germany (now Germany), and later represented Italy internationally in futsal.

^ Kandaurov was born in Zheleznogorsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia), but also qualified to represent Ukraine internationally and made his international debut for Ukraine in August 1992.

^ Edwards was born in Madeley, England, and represented them at U-16 level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Wales in March 2003.

^ Nicolas was born in Westminster, England, but also qualified to represent Cyprus internationally and represented them at U-21 level.

^ Eremenko was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia), but was raised in Finland from the age of 7, gained Finnish citizenship in 2003, and would make his international debut for Finland in October 2003.

^ Ward was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.

[table_note_res_UC10.55711313456162-2] Since Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Chelsea, the losing finalists.

[table_note_res_BLB0.55711313456162-3] Blackburn Rovers qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

[1] ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/1780820.stm

[4] ttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/aston-villa/2001-2002/results

[5] ttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2001-2002/faprem/avilla.htm

[16] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/2002/

[6] Boateng was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana, but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Netherlands in November 2001.

[7] Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.

[8] Tarrant was born in Darlington, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.

[9] Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.

[10] Speranza was born in Giessen, West Germany (now Germany), and later represented Italy internationally in futsal.

[11] Kandaurov was born in Zheleznogorsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia), but also qualified to represent Ukraine internationally and made his international debut for Ukraine in August 1992.

[12] Edwards was born in Madeley, England, and represented them at U-16 level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Wales in March 2003.

[13] Nicolas was born in Westminster, England, but also qualified to represent Cyprus internationally and represented them at U-21 level.

[14] Eremenko was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia), but was raised in Finland from the age of 7, gained Finnish citizenship in 2003, and would make his international debut for Finland in October 2003.

[15] Ward was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.

2001–02 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	John Gregory (until 24 January)^[1] John Deehan and Stuart Gray (caretakers) Graham Taylor (from 5 February)
Stadium	Villa Park
Premier League	8th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fourth round
Intertoto Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Darius Vassell and Juan Pablo Ángel (12) All: Juan Pablo Ángel (16)
Average home league attendance	35,012
← 2000–01 2002–03 →