During the 2002–03 English football season, West Ham United competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

West Ham were surprisingly relegated, following a disastrous season. This was despite the club boasting several players who were regulars or would be future regulars for the English national team, including David James, Trevor Sinclair, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick.

West Ham were poor all season, and a run of three wins from the opening 24 games saw West Ham bottom of the Premiership with only 16 points. However, the poor league form was put into perspective when manager Glenn Roeder collapsed after a Premiership match against Middlesbrough; it was later revealed he was suffering from a non-malignant brain tumour, which was operated on successfully. United legend Sir Trevor Brooking was put named as caretaker manager, and a good run of form towards the end of the season saw West Ham go into the last day of the season with a chance of beating the drop. The last game of the season was against Birmingham City. They needed to at least better Bolton Wanderers' result at home against Middlesbrough, who were tied on points albeit with a superior goal difference. However, West Ham drew 2-2, with goals from Les Ferdinand and Paolo Di Canio, replying to Birmingham goals from Geoff Horsfield and Stern John, and were relegated. A win would still have seen West Ham relegated as Bolton beat Middlesbrough 2-1.

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

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