The 2002–03 Football Conference season was the 24th season of the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

Overview

This season the number of teams promoted to the

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

was increased from one to two, and

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

were introduced to determine the second team to be promoted, along with the Conference champions. The bottom three, as usual, were relegated to either the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

, the Southern Premier League or the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

. Yeovil Town clinched the league title and won promotion to the

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

also earned promotion to

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

following their 3–2 play-off win over Dagenham & Redbridge, during

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

with a sudden death goal in the 110th minute. The regular season began on 17 August 2002, and ended on 26 April 2003.

Changes since the previous season

* Burton Albion (promoted 2001–02) * Gravesend & Northfleet (promoted 2001–02) * Halifax Town (relegated from the Football League 2001–02) * Kettering Town (promoted 2001–02)

Final league table

Locations

Results

Play-offs

The

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

play-offs determine the second team that will be promoted to the

. The teams placed second through fifth qualify for the play-offs. The semi-finals are played in a two-leg, home and away format, while the final is played as one leg, and this season it was held on 10 May 2003 at

Britannia Stadium The bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the cl ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

, before a crowd of 13,092. Source:

Semifinals

''Doncaster Rovers win 4–3 on penalties after tying 2–2 on Aggregate.'' ---- ''Dagenham & Redbridge win 3–2 on penalties after tying 3–3 on Aggregate.''

Play-Off Final

Top scorers in order of league goals

Footballtransfers.co.uk
contains information on many players on whom there is not yet an article in Wikipedia. Source:

References

External links

Official Football Conference Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 Football Conference 5 National League (English football) seasons English