2001–02 Wimbledon F.C. season

During the 2001–02 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the Football League First Division. It was their second consecutive season at this level.

Wimbledon

2001–02 season
Chairman	Charles Koppel
Manager	Terry Burton
Stadium	Selhurst Park
First Division	9th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	Connolly (18)
Average home league attendance	6,958

Season summary

Wimbledon's form dipped slightly from the previous season and the Dons finished in 9th place, one place lower than the previous season. This was not considered good enough and led to the sacking of manager Terry Burton after two years. He was replaced by goalkeeping coach Stuart Murdoch.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Wimbledon, already one of the smallest clubs in the division financially in spite of having been a Premiership club for the previous fifteen seasons, had fallen on hard times. In August 2001 the club announced its intention to move to Milton Keynes; the move was approved by the FA in April. Many Wimbledon fans, disgusted by this decision, created their own football club in response, AFC Wimbledon.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts
1	Manchester City	46		19	3	1	63	19		12	3	8	45	33		108	52	+56		99
2	West Bromwich Albion	46		15	4	4	36	11		12	4	7	25	18		61	29	+32		89
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46		13	4	6	33	18		12	7	4	43	25		76	43	+33		86
4	Millwall	46		15	3	5	43	22		7	8	8	26	26		69	48	+21		77
5	Birmingham City	46		14	4	5	44	20		7	9	7	26	29		70	49	+21		76
6	Norwich City	46		15	6	2	36	16		7	3	13	24	35		60	51	+9		75
7	Burnley	46		11	7	5	39	29		10	5	8	31	33		70	62	+8		75
8	Preston North End	46		13	7	3	45	21		7	5	11	26	38		71	59	+12		72
9	Wimbledon	46		9	8	6	30	22		9	5	9	33	35		63	57	+6		67
10	Crystal Palace	46		13	3	7	42	22		7	3	13	28	40		70	62	+8		66
11	Coventry City	46		12	4	7	33	19		8	2	13	26	34		59	53	+6		66
12	Gillingham	46		12	5	6	38	26		6	5	12	26	41		64	67	–3		64
13	Sheffield United	46		8	8	7	34	30		7	7	9	19	24		53	54	–1		60
14	Watford	46		10	5	8	38	30		6	6	11	24	26		62	56	+6		59
15	Bradford City	46		10	1	12	41	39		5	9	9	28	37		69	76	–7		55
16	Nottingham Forest	46		7	11	5	26	21		5	7	11	24	30		50	51	–1		54
17	Portsmouth	46		9	6	8	36	31		4	8	11	24	41		60	72	–12		53
18	Walsall	46		10	6	7	29	27		3	6	14	22	44		51	71	–20		51
19	Grimsby Town	46		9	7	7	34	28		3	7	13	16	44		50	72	–22		50
20	Sheffield Wednesday	46		6	7	10	28	37		6	7	10	21	34		49	71	–22		50
21	Rotherham United	46		7	13	3	32	29		3	6	14	20	37		52	66	–14		49
22	Crewe Alexandra	46		8	8	7	23	32		4	5	14	24	44		47	76	–29		49
23	Barnsley	46		9	9	5	37	33		2	6	15	22	53		59	86	–27		48
24	Stockport County	46		5	1	17	19	44		1	7	15	23	58		42	102	–60		26

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Wimbledon's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Nationwide League Division One

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11 August 2001	Birmingham City	H	3-1	9,142	Shipperley, Cooper, Purse (og)
18 August 2001	Burnley	A	2-3	14,473	Nielsen, Shipperley
25 August 2001	Norwich City	H	0-1	6,084
27 August 2001	Preston North End	A	1-1	13,349	Shipperley
9 September 2001	Watford	A	0-3	15,466
12 September 2001	Portsmouth	H	3-3	7,138	Cooper, Hughes, Connolly
15 September 2001	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-1	6,590	Hughes
18 September 2001	Crewe Alexandra	A	4-0	5,563	Brown, Connolly, Cooper, Nielsen
22 September 2001	West Bromwich Albion	A	1-0	19,222	Shipperley
25 September 2001	Millwall	H	2-2	7,020	Connolly, Agyemang
29 September 2001	Manchester City	A	4-0	32,989	Connolly (2 1(pen)), Shipperley (2)
13 October 2001	Crystal Palace	A	0-4	20,009
20 October 2001	Gillingham	H	3-1	8,042	Cooper (2), Hughes
24 October 2001	Coventry City	H	0-1	5,883
27 October 2001	Rotherham United	A	2-3	5,586	Connolly, McAnuff
30 October 2001	Bradford City	A	3-3	18,255	Connolly (2), Cooper
3 November 2001	Grimsby Town	H	2-1	6,189	Roberts, McAnuff
9 November 2001	Sheffield United	H	1-1	4,937	Cooper
17 November 2001	Barnsley	A	1-1	11,088	Cooper
20 November 2001	Walsall	H	2-2	4,249	Connolly (2)
24 November 2001	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0-1	9,873
1 December 2001	Coventry City	A	1-3	17,303	McAnuff
8 December 2001	Stockport County	A	2-1	4,673	Cooper, Connolly
16 December 2001	Nottingham Forest	H	1-0	5,920	Willmott
22 December 2001	Norwich City	A	1-2	17,286	Connolly (pen)
29 December 2001	Preston North End	H	2-0	6,051	Shipperley, Agyemang
12 January 2002	Burnley	H	0-0	7,675
19 January 2002	Birmingham City	A	2-0	17,766	Hughes, Agyemang
29 January 2002	Walsall	A	1-2	5,388	Shipperley
3 February 2002	Manchester City	H	2-1	10,664	Shipperley (2)
9 February 2002	Gillingham	A	0-0	8,494
16 February 2002	Crystal Palace	H	1-1	13,564	Francis
19 February 2002	Watford	H	0-0	5,551
23 February 2002	Millwall	A	1-0	13,788	Cooper
2 March 2002	West Bromwich Albion	H	0-1	8,363
6 March 2002	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2-1	18,930	Connolly, Ardley
9 March 2002	Nottingham Forest	A	0-0	24,292
12 March 2002	Portsmouth	A	2-1	13,118	Cooper, Connolly
16 March 2002	Stockport County	H	3-1	5,224	Connolly (2), Ardley
23 March 2002	Grimsby Town	A	2-6	6,473	Shipperley, Agyemang
30 March 2002	Rotherham United	H	1-0	4,751	Morgan
1 April 2002	Sheffield United	A	1-0	19,712	Ardley
4 April 2002	Crewe Alexandra	H	2-0	5,007	Shipperley, McAnuff
6 April 2002	Bradford City	H	1-2	5,595	Connolly (pen)
14 April 2002	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0-1	26,920
21 April 2002	Barnsley	H	0-1	5,379

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	8 January 2002	Middlesbrough	H	0-0	6,885
R3R	15 January 2002	Middlesbrough	A	0-2	9,687

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	21 August 2001	Brighton and Hove Albion	A	1-2	6,344	Williams

Kit

German company Puma remained Wimbledon's kit manufacturers.

Players

First-team 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 1 GK  ENG Kelvin Davis 2 DF  IRL Kenny Cunningham 3 DF  ENG Alan Kimble 4 MF  ENG Andy Roberts 5 DF  ENG Dean Blackwell 6 DF  ENG Darren Holloway 7 MF  ENG Neal Ardley 8 MF  ENG Damien Francis[notes 1] 9 FW  ENG Neil Shipperley 10 FW  IRL David Connolly[notes 2] 12 DF  NOR Trond Andersen 14 GK  ENG Paul Heald 16 MF  NIR Michael Hughes (on loan to Birmingham City) 17 DF  NIR Mark Williams[notes 3] 18 MF  ENG Gareth Ainsworth 19 FW  ENG Paul Robinson 20 FW  ENG Patrick Agyemang[notes 4] 21 DF  SCO Duncan Jupp[notes 5]

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  ENG Chris Willmott 23 DF  ENG Peter Hawkins 24 MF  ENG Jermaine Darlington 26 GK  USA Ian Feuer 27 DF  ENG Wayne Gray 28 MF  SWE Pär Karlsson 29 DF  IRL Des Byrne 30 MF  ENG Rob Gier[notes 6] 31 FW  ENG Lionel Morgan 32 MF  ENG Adam Nowland 33 MF  ENG Alex Tapp 34 FW  ENG Ian Selley 35 MF  JAM Jobi McAnuff[notes 7] 36 MF  SWE Håkan Mild 37 MF  ENG Mikele Leigertwood[notes 8] 38 GK  ENG Shane Gore 39 MF  ENG Nigel Reo-Coker — MF  GER Simon Mensing

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 11 MF  ENG Kevin Cooper (to Wolverhampton Wanderers) 15 FW  DEN David Nielsen (to Norwich City)

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  ENG Wayne Brown (on loan from Ipswich Town)

Appearances and goals

Source:

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with names 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 Wimbledon.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Players contracted for the 2001–02 season

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Kelvin Davis	40	0	0	0	0	0	40	0
2	DF	IRL	Kenny Cunningham	34	0	2	0	0	0	36	0
3	DF	ENG	Alan Kimble	7 (2)	0	0	0	1	0	8 (2)	0
4	MF	ENG	Andy Roberts	18	1	0	0	1	0	19	1
5	DF	ENG	Dean Blackwell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	ENG	Darren Holloway	32	0	2	0	0	0	34	0
7	MF	ENG	Neal Ardley	27 (2)	3	2	0	1	0	30 (2)	3
8	MF	ENG	Damien Francis	21 (2)	1	2	0	0	0	23 (2)	1
9	FW	ENG	Neil Shipperley	36 (5)	12	2	0	1	0	39 (5)	12
10	FW	IRL	David Connolly	35	18	2	0	1	0	38	18
11	MF	ENG	Kevin Cooper	39 (1)	10	2	0	1	0	42 (1)	10
12	DF	NOR	Trond Andersen	27 (3)	0	2	0	0	0	29 (3)	0
14	GK	ENG	Paul Heald	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
15	FW	DEN	David Nielsen	6 (6)	2	0	0	1	0	7 (6)	2
16	MF	NIR	Michael Hughes	24 (2)	4	2	0	0	0	26 (2)	4
17	DF	NIR	Mark Williams	4 (1)	0	0	0	1	1	5 (1)	1
18	MF	ENG	Gareth Ainsworth	0 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (2)	0
19	FW	ENG	Paul Robinson	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
20	FW	ENG	Patrick Agyemang	17 (16)	4	0 (2)	0	0 (1)	0	16 (19)	4
21	DF	SCO	Duncan Jupp	1 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	1 (2)	0
22	DF	ENG	Chris Willmott	25 (2)	1	0	0	1	0	26 (2)	1
23	DF	ENG	Peter Hawkins	25 (4)	0	2	0	0	0	27 (4)	0
24	DF	ENG	Jermaine Darlington	25 (4)	0	0	0	1	0	26 (4)	0
25	DF	ENG	Wayne Brown *	17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
26	GK	USA	Ian Feuer	2 (2)	0	2	0	1	0	5 (2)	0
27	FW	ENG	Wayne Gray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	SWE	Pär Karlsson	1 (6)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (6)	0
29	DF	IRL	Des Byrne	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
30	DF	ENG	Rob Gier	3	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	3 (1)	0
31	FW	ENG	Lionel Morgan	4 (7)	1	0	0	0	0	4 (7)	1
32	MF	ENG	Adam Nowland	1 (6)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (6)	0
33	MF	ENG	Alex Tapp	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF	ENG	Ian Selley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	JAM	Jobi McAnuff	22 (16)	4	0 (2)	0	0	0	22 (18)	4
36	MF	SWE	Håkan Mild	8 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	8 (1)	0
37	DF	ENG	Mikele Leigertwood	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
38	GK	ENG	Shane Gore	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
39	MF	ENG	Nigel Reo-Coker	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0

References

1. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/wimbledon/2001-2002

Notes

1. Francis was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.
2. Connolly was born in Brent, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in May 1996.
3. Williams was born in Stalybridge, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1999.
4. Agyemang was born in Waltham Forest, England, but also qualified to represent Ghana internationally and would make his international debut for Ghana in May 2003.
5. Jupp was born in Haslemere, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
6. Gier was born in Ascot, England, but also qualified to represent the Philippines internationally through his mother and would make his international debut for the Philippines in April 2009.
7. McAnuff was born in Enfield, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and made his international debut for Jamaica in May 2002.
8. Leigertwood was born in Enfield, England, but also qualified to represent Antigua and Barbuda internationally and would make his international debut for Antigua and Barbuda in November 2008.

External links

• Wimbledon squad numbers for 2001–02 season
• Historical Wimbledon F.C. kits