2001–02 Leicester City F.C. season

The 2001–02 season saw Leicester City relegated from the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons), ending their 6-year run in England's top flight. A tumultuous season amid rising financial issues would see the Foxes go through four managers and suffer relegation to the First Division in April, finishing bottom of the league with 28 points and just five wins all season.

Leicester City

2001–02 season
Chairman	John Elsom
Manager	Peter Taylor (until 30 September) Garry Parker (caretaker 30 September – 10 October) Dave Bassett (10 October – 8 April) Micky Adams (from 8 April)
Stadium	Filbert Street
Premiership	20th (relegated)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Player of the Year	Robbie Savage
Top goalscorer	League: Deane (6) All: Scowcroft (7)
Highest home attendance	21,886 vs Liverpool (20 Oct 2001, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	14,466 vs Mansfield Town (5 Jan 2002, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance	19,783
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Season summary

A terrible start to the season saw the Foxes suffer a 5-0 opening-day home defeat to newly-promoted Bolton Wanderers and Peter Taylor sacked at the end of September^[1] and Dave Bassett named as his replacement, with Micky Adams joining as assistant manager.^[2] For a while, it looked as though Bassett was capable of keeping the Foxes in the Premiership, but a four-month winless run beginning in December killed their survival hopes and they were relegated on 6 April after losing 1–0 at home to Manchester United.

Just before relegation was confirmed, Bassett became Director of Football and Adams was promoted to the manager's seat, with former Cardiff City boss Alan Cork being named as his assistant.^[3]

On 11 May 2002, Leicester played their final game at Filbert Street before moving into their new 32,000-seat home. They ended up beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 to attain some satisfaction from winning the final game at their 111-year-old home; it was only their fifth league win of the season. The cost of relocation combined with the money lost from relegation plunged Leicester into a serious financial crisis. The priority for next season would be to secure the club's future financially, before thinking about a promotion challenge.

Final league table

Main article: 2001–02 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
16	Bolton Wanderers	38	9	13	16	44	62	−18	40
17	Sunderland	38	10	10	18	29	51	−22	40
18	Ipswich Town (R)	38	9	9	20	41	64	−23	36	Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round^[a] Relegation to the Football League First Division
19	Derby County (R)	38	8	6	24	33	63	−30	30	Relegation to the Football League First Division
20	Leicester City (R)	38	5	13	20	30	64	−34	28

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

1. Ipswich Town qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round as the winners of Premiership Fair Play League by The Football Association, one of the UEFA Fair Play ranking winners.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	5	13	20	30	64	−34	28	3	7	9	15	34	−19	2	6	11	15	30	−15

Source:

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	D	W	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	W	L	D	W	L	D	D	L	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	L	W	L	L	D	D	D	W
Position	20	20	18	17	18	18	19	20	20	20	20	17	18	19	17	19	18	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20

Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Leicester City's score comes first^[4]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 2001	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–5	19,987
25 August 2001	Arsenal	A		37,909
8 September 2001	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	18,774	Sturridge
15 September 2001	Derby County	A	3–2	26,863	Sturridge (2), Izzet (pen)
17 September 2001	Middlesbrough	H	1–2	15,412	Jones
22 September 2001	Fulham	H	0–0	18,918
26 September 2001	Newcastle United	A	0–1	49,185
29 September 2001	Charlton Athletic	A	0–2	20,451
13 October 2001	Chelsea	A	0–2	40,370
20 October 2001	Liverpool	H	1–4	21,886	Wise
29 October 2001	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–0	21,873
3 November 2001	Sunderland	H	1–0	20,573	Akinbiyi
17 November 2001	Manchester United	A	0–2	67,651
24 November 2001	Everton	H	0–0	21,539
1 December 2001	Aston Villa	A	2–0	30,711	Akinbiyi, Scowcroft
8 December 2001	Southampton	H	0–4	20,321
16 December 2001	Leeds United	A	2–2	38,337	Deane, Scowcroft
22 December 2001	West Ham United	H	1–1	20,131	Izzet
26 December 2001	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	24,403
29 December 2001	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–2	23,037	Ricketts (own goal), Deane
12 January 2002	West Ham United	A	0–1	34,698
19 January 2002	Newcastle United	H	0–0	21,354
23 January 2002	Arsenal	H	1–3	21,344	Izzet
30 January 2002	Liverpool	A	0–1	42,305
2 February 2002	Chelsea	H	2–3	19,950	Scowcroft (2)
9 February 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–2	35,973	Oakes
23 February 2002	Derby County	H	0–3	21,620
2 March 2002	Middlesbrough	A	0–1	25,734
9 March 2002	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	18,562	Scowcroft
16 March 2002	Southampton	A	2–2	30,012	Deane (2)
23 March 2002	Leeds United	H	0–2	18,976
30 March 2002	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–1	16,236	Dickov (2)
1 April 2002	Sunderland	A	1–2	44,950	Dickov
6 April 2002	Manchester United	H	0–1	21,447
13 April 2002	Everton	A	2–2	35,580	Deane (2)
20 April 2002	Aston Villa	H	2–2	18,125	Izzet (pen), Stevenson
27 April 2002	Fulham	A	0–0	21,106
11 May 2002	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	21,716	Dickov, Piper

FA Cup

Main article: 2001–02 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 2002	Mansfield Town	H	2–1	14,466	Scowcroft (2)
R4	26 January 2002	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1	26,820

League Cup

Main article: 2001–02 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	10 September 2001	Blackpool	A	1–0	4,866	Akinbiyi
R3	9 October 2001	Leeds United	H	0–6	16,316

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ENG Tim Flowers 2 DF   ENG Gary Rowett 3 DF   JAM Frank Sinclair^[a] 4 DF   NIR Gerry Taggart 5 DF   ENG Alan Rogers 6 MF   TUR Muzzy Izzet^[b] 7 MF   WAL Matt Jones 8 MF   WAL Robbie Savage 9 MF   ENG Darren Eadie 10 FW   ENG James Scowcroft 11 MF   ENG Dennis Wise (Vice captain) 12 GK   ENG Simon Royce 14 DF   SCO Callum Davidson 15 DF   IRL Damien Delaney 16 GK   ENG Ian Walker 17 MF   ENG Stefan Oakes 18 DF   SCO Matt Elliott^[c] (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW   JAM Trevor Benjamin^[d] 21 DF   DEN Jacob Laursen 22 FW   SCO Paul Dickov 23 MF   ENG Jordan Stewart 24 MF   ENG Andy Impey 25 MF   ENG Junior Lewis 26 MF   ENG Lee Marshall 27 FW   ENG Brian Deane 28 DF   ENG Matt Heath 29 MF   ENG Matt Piper 30 GK   ENG Michael Price 31 GK   ENG Ian Andrews 32 FW   ENG Jon Stevenson 33 MF   ENG Martin Reeves 35 DF   ENG Jon Ashton 36 FW   ENG Tommy Wright 38 MF   ENG Tom Williamson

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 35 FW   ENG Kevin Ellison (to Stockport County) 21 FW   ENG Dean Sturridge (to Wolverhampton Wanderers) 22 FW   NGA Ade Akinbiyi (to Crystal Palace)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   ENG Danny Thomas (to Bournemouth) 13 FW   ISL Arnar Gunnlaugsson (on loan to Stoke City)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   IRL Conrad Logan — DF   ENG Ashley Lyth — DF   ENG Richard Stearman — DF   IRL Leon McSweeney — MF   ENG Brett Darby

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Stephen Dawson — MF   ENG Alex Mortimer — FW   FIN Tomi Petrescu — FW   IRL Éamon Zayed

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with squad numbers struck through and marked   left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Leicester.

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Tim Flowers	3+1	0	0	0	0	0	3+1	0	0	0
2	DF	Gary Rowett	9+2	0	0	0	1	0	10+2	0	3	0
3	DF	Frank Sinclair	33+2	0	1	0	2	0	36+2	0	8	0
4	DF	Gerry Taggart	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
5	DF	Alan Rogers	9+4	0	2	0	0	0	11+4	0	1	0
6	MF	Muzzy Izzet	29+2	4	2	0	2	0	33+2	4	10	1
7	MF	Matt Jones	6+4	1	1	0	1+1	0	8+5	1	0	0
8	MF	Robbie Savage	35	0	1	0	2	0	38	0	15	0
10	FW	James Scowcroft	21+3	5	1	2	1	0	23+3	7	4	0
11	MF	Dennis Wise	15+2	1	1	0	1	0	17+2	1	6	1
13	MF	Arnar Gunnlaugsson	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0
14	DF	Callum Davidson	29+1	0	0+1	0	1+1	0	30+3	0	4	0
15	DF	Damien Delaney	2+1	0	0	0	1	0	3+1	0	2	0
16	GK	Ian Walker	35	0	2	0	2	0	39	0	0	0
17	MF	Stefan Oakes	16+5	1	1	0	0	0	17+5	1	2	0
18	DF	Matt Elliott	31	0	1	0	2	0	34	0	5	1
20	FW	Trevor Benjamin	4+7	0	1	0	0+1	0	5+8	0	2	0
21	DF	Jacob Laursen	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	1	0
21	FW	Dean Sturridge	8+1	3	0	0	1	0	9+1	3	0	0
22	FW	Ade Akinbiyi	16+5	2	1+1	0	1	1	18+6	3	3	0
22	FW	Paul Dickov	11+1	4	0	0	0	0	11+1	4	5	0
23	MF	Jordan Stewart	9+3	0	2	0	1	0	12+3	0	3	0
24	MF	Andy Impey	20+7	0	2	0	0+2	0	22+9	0	3	0
25	MF	Junior Lewis	4+2	0	0	0	1	0	5+2	0	1	1
26	MF	Lee Marshall	29+6	0	2	0	1	0	32+6	0	3	1
27	FW	Brian Deane	13+2	6	1	0	0	0	14+2	6	2	0
28	DF	Matt Heath	3+2	0	0+1	0	0	0	3+3	0	0	0
29	FW	Matt Piper	14+2	1	0+1	0	1	0	15+3	1	0	0
32	FW	Jon Stevenson	0+6	1	0	0	0	0	0+6	1	0	0
33	MF	Martin Reeves	1+4	0	0	0	0	0	1+4	0	1	0
35	DF	Jon Ashton	3+4	0	0	0	0	0	3+4	0	0	0
36	FW	Tommy Wright	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
38	MF	Tom Williamson	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0

Assists

Rank	Player	Assists^[6]
1	Callum Davidson	3
2	Matt Elliott   Stefan Oakes   Robbie Savage   James Scowcroft	2
3	Ade Akinbiyi   Brian Deane   Paul Dickov   Andy Impey   Muzzy Izzet   Matt Piper   Alan Rogers   Jordan Stewart	1

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
25 June 2001	MF	Dennis Wise	Chelsea	£1,600,000^[7]
9 July 2001	GK	Ian Walker	Tottenham Hotspur	£2,500,000^[8]
31 July 2001	FW	James Scowcroft	Ipswich Town	£3,000,000^[9]
16 November 2001	DF	Alan Rogers	Nottingham Forest	£300,000
29 November 2001	FW	Brian Deane	Middlesbrough	£150,000
10 January 2002	DF	Jacob Laursen	Copenhagen	£400,000^[10]
22 February 2002	FW	Paul Dickov	Manchester City	Nominal^[11]

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
30 May 2001	MF	Stuart Campbell	Grimsby Town	£200,000
22 June 2001	FW	Lawrie Dudfield	Hull City	£250,000
13 July 2001	FW	Richard Cresswell	Preston North End	£500,000^[12]
2 August 2001	MF	Steve Guppy	Celtic	£350,000^[13]
29 November 2001	FW	Kevin Ellison	Stockport County	£55,000
24 December 2001	FW	Dean Sturridge	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£350,000^[14]
5 February 2002	FW	Ade Akinbiyi	Crystal Palace	£2,200,000^[15]
12 February 2002	MF	Danny Thomas	Bournemouth	Free^[16]
12 May 2002	DF	Gary Rowett	Charlton Athletic	£3,500,000^[17]

Transfers in:   £7,950,000

Transfers out:   £7,405,000

Total spending:   £545,000

Loan out

Date	Pos	Name	Club	Return	Ref
26 October 2001	GK	Tim Flowers	Stockport County	26 November 2001
15 November 2001	DF	Damien Delaney	Stockport County	11 February 2002
20 November 2001	MF	Matt Piper	Mansfield Town	31 December 2001
23 November 2001	FW	Dean Sturridge	Wolverhampton Wanderers	23 December 2001	^[18]
19 December 2001	FW	Trevor Benjamin	Crystal Palace	21 January 2002	^[19]
24 December 2001	GK	Simon Royce	Brighton & Hove Albion	25 January 2002
7 February 2002	MF	Junior Lewis	Brighton & Hove Albion	21 April 2002
8 February 2002	FW	Trevor Benjamin	Norwich City	13 March 2002
19 February 2002	GK	Tim Flowers	Coventry City	19 March 2002	^[20]
22 February 2002	FW	Arnar Gunnlaugsson	Stoke City	End of the season	^[21]
15 March 2002	GK	Simon Royce	Manchester City	22 April 2002
27 March 2002	FW	Trevor Benjamin	West Bromwich Albion	22 April 2002
28 March 2002	DF	Jacob Laursen	Wolverhampton Wanderers	24 April 2002
28 March 2002	DF	Damien Delaney	Huddersfield Town	2 May 2002

Awards

Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2001–02 season.

Player of the Season	Robbie Savage^[22]
Players' Player of the Season	Frank Sinclair^[22]
Academy Player of the Season	Matt Piper^[22]
Away Player of the Season	Robbie Savage^[22]
Most Improved Player of the Season	Matt Piper^[22]
Goal of the Season	James Scowcroft (vs. Leeds United, 16 December 2001)^[22]
Save of the Season	Ian Walker (vs. Blackburn Rovers, 30 March 2002)^[22]
Team Performance of the Season	vs. Derby County at Pride Park Stadium^[22] (15 September 2001)^[23]

Notes

1. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
2. Izzet was born in Tower Hamlets, England, but also qualified to represent Turkey internationally and made his international debut for Turkey in 2000.
3. Elliott was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in 1997.
4. Benjamin was born in Kettering, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in November 2002.

References

1. "Sacked Taylor vows to return". BBC Sport. 1 October 2001. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
2. "Bassett becomes Foxes boss". BBC Sport. 10 October 2001. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
3. "Leicester appoint Adams". BBC News. 4 April 2002.
4. . www.statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
5. "FootballSquads - Leicester City - 2001/02".
6. "Statistical Leaders (Leicester City) – 2002". Premier League. from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
7. "Wise seals Leicester switch". BBC Sport. 25 June 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
8. "Leicester sign Walker". BBC Sport. 9 July 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
9. "Scowcroft completes Leicester move". BBC Sport. 31 July 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
10. "Leicester land Laursen". BBC Sport. 10 January 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
11. "Foxes capture Dickov". BBC Sport. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
12. "Preston seal Cresswell deal". BBC Sport. 13 July 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
13. "Celtic sign trio on deadline day". BBC Sport. 2 August 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
14. "Sturridge seals Wolves move". BBC Sport. 24 December 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
15. "Palace clinch Akinbiyi deal". BBC Sport. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
16. "Bournemouth sign Thomas". BBC Sport. 12 February 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
17. "Foxes' exodus begins". BBC Sport. 11 May 2002. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
18. "Sturridge joins Wolves". BBC Sport. 22 November 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
19. "Benjamin in Palace switch". BBC Sport. 19 December 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
20. "Leicester's Flowers loaned to Coventry". The Independent. 20 February 2002. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
21. "Stoke in double swoop". BBC Sport. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
22. , LCFC.com, 17 November 2004, archived from the original on 5 September 2012, retrieved 19 January 2011
23. "Izzet finishes fraught Derby". BBC Sport. 15 September 2001. Retrieved 19 January 2011.