| Season: | 2002–03 |
| League Topscorer: | Gianfranco Zola (14) |
| Season Topscorer: | Gianfranco Zola (16) |
| Average Attendance: | 39,784 (Premier League) |
| Pattern B1: | _chelsea2001h |
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| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
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| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Pattern B2: | _chelsea2002a |
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| Pattern Sh2: | _CFC 03 05 black |
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| Nextseason: | 2003–04 |
The 2002–03 season was Chelsea's 89th competitive season, 11th consecutive season in the Premier League and 97th year as a club. The club was managed by Claudio Ranieri.
In the Premier League, Chelsea finished fourth behind Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United. With the fourth-place finish, Chelsea secured a place in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
In the UEFA Cup, Chelsea took a first round exit, losing 5–4 on aggregate to Norwegian club Viking. Chelsea also managed to reach the quarter-finals of both the Football League Cup and the FA Cup, but lost 1–0 to Manchester United and 3–1 to Arsenal in a replay, respectively.
See main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League.
Squad at end of season[1]
The team kit was produced by Umbro. The shirt sponsor was Emirates Airline; the kit bore the "Fly Emirates" logo. Chelsea's home kit (all blue with a white trimmed collar) was carried over from the previous campaign. Their new away kit was all black with blue accents. The club's third kit for this season was the club's away kit from the previous season, all white with blue socks and accents.
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Statistics taken from http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?teamid=536 . Squad details and shirt numbers from http://www.zanziball.it/en/28/5af4.html and http://www.eufo.de/football/eng/2002/chela_fc.htm.
See main article: 2002–03 FA Premier League.
See main article: 2002–03 FA Cup.
See main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup.
| Pos | Player | From | Fee | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | MF | Free[2] | 27-05-2002 | |||
| 28 | FW | £500,000 | 01-10-2002 |
| Pos | Player | To | Fee | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | MF | N/A | Retired[3] | 01-07-2002 | ||
| 24 | MF | £1,000,000[4] | 08-07-2002 | |||
| 10 | MF | Unattached | Released[5] | 09-07-2002 | ||
| N/A | FW | Undisclosed | 03-09-2002 | |||
| 31 | GK | Unattached | Released | 22-01-2003 | ||
| 32 | FW | 6-month loan[6] | 29-01-2003 |