2001–02 Coventry City F.C. season
During the 2001–02 English football season, Coventry City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the FA Premier League the previous season.
Season summary
Despite the signing of prolific striker Lee Hughes from local rivals West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City were unable to make a genuine push for an immediate return to the Premier League and finished well away from promotion in 11th place. Manager Gordon Strachan had been sacked after five games with only one win and Coventry 19th; this heralded the beginning of an eleven-match unbeaten run which saw Coventry top the table with a third of the season gone, but from then three straight losses took them down to ninth. Coventry never regained the form from that unbeaten run, but with seven games left to play they stood fourth and appeared almost certain to gain a playoff place. Unfortunately, Coventry only gained one point from those last seven games and fell down to 11th place.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 takes precedence over goal difference.
| 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
Coventry City's score comes firstLegend
Football League First Division
FA Cup
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 16 January 2002 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0–2 | 20,758 |
League Cup
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 11 September 2001 | Peterborough United | A | 2–2 | 5,729 | Thompson, Carsley |
| R3 | 9 October 2001 | Chelsea | H | 0–2 | 12,582 |
Squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In
- Julian Joachim - Aston Villa, 6 July, part-exchange
- Keith O'Neill - Middlesbrough, 8 August, £750,000
- Lee Hughes - West Bromwich Albion, 8 August, £5,000,001
- Youssef Safri - Raja Casablanca, 11 August, £700,000
- Andy Goram - unattached, 24 August
- Lee Mills - Portsmouth, 1 January, £250,000
- Paul Trollope - Fulham, 22 March, free
Out
- Stephen McPhee - released
- Craig Bellamy - Newcastle United, 25 June, £6,000,000
- John Aloisi - Osasuna, 3 July, £1,200,000
- Mustapha Hadji - Aston Villa, 6 July, £2,000,000 plus Julian Joachim
- John Hartson - Celtic, 2 August, £6,000,000
- Paul Williams - Southampton, 31 October, free
- Paul Telfer - Southampton, 31 October, free
- Carlton Palmer - Stockport County, 6 November, free
- Tomas Gustafsson - Copenhagen, 4 February, undisclosed
- Lee Carsley - Everton, 8 February, £1,900,000
- Roland Nilsson - retired, 8 April
- Steve Froggatt - retired
- Chris Kirkland - Liverpool, £6,000,000
- Andy Goram - Oldham Athletic
Loan in
- Lee Mills - Portsmouth, December, one month
- Horacio Carbonari - Derby County, 22 March, one month
- Colin Healy - Celtic, 29 January, 84 days
- Tim Flowers - Leicester City
Loan out
- Carlton Palmer - Sheffield Wednesday, 4 September, 46 days