THE 2001-2002 LEEDS CAMPAIGN
Summary of the results from the '01/'02 Season. Fixtures and results from this season can be found here.
KEY:
/L = League Games ; /C = Cup Games ; /A = All Games ; C.S. = Clean Sheets ; % = Percentage of Total
| GAMES | PLAYED | C.S. | % | WON | % | DRAWN | % | LOST | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOME/L | 19 | 9 | 47.4 | 9 | 47.4 | 6 | 31.6 | 4 | 21.1 |
| AWAY/L | 19 | 9 | 47.4 | 9 | 47.4 | 6 | 31.6 | 4 | 21.1 |
| ALL/L | 38 | 18 | 47.4 | 18 | 47.4 | 12 | 31.6 | 8 | 21.1 |
| HOME/C | 5 | 1 | 20.0 | 2 | 40.0 | 1 | 20.0 | 2 | 40.0 |
| AWAY/C | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | 2 | 33.3 | 1 | 16.7 | 3 | 50.0 |
| ALL/C | 11 | 3 | 27.3 | 4 | 36.4 | 2 | 18.2 | 5 | 45.5 |
| HOME/A | 24 | 10 | 41.7 | 11 | 45.8 | 7 | 29.2 | 6 | 25.0 |
| AWAY/A | 25 | 11 | 44.0 | 11 | 44.0 | 7 | 28.0 | 7 | 28.0 |
| TOTAL | 49 | 21 | 42.9 | 22 | 44.9 | 14 | 28.6 | 13 | 26.5 |
Much has been written about Leeds' apparent lack of success and silverware in the 2001-2002 campaign. Rather than dwelling on the often-cited negatives - the court case, players refusing to bow to discipline, O'Leary's loss of player confidence - I think there are a number of positives that can be taken from the season. Some of these are reflected by the season's statistics.
Despite playing ten games fewer this season than the one before it (mainly due to being knocked out of cups early on) Leeds kept 2 more clean sheets than in the previous season. Overall they didn't concede in 42.9% of the games (a more than 10% increase on the previous season when we kept clean sheets in 32.2% of matches).
While the cups provided little cheer, Leeds can take heart from the fact that - despite never hitting top form at any point during the season - they gained a total of 66 points, only 2 points short of the previous season's total. The percentage of games lost also decreased (26.5% compared to 28.8%) as the defence went through periods of being tighter than Peter Kenyon, though the effects of playing more defensively also led to a drop in the percentage of games won (44.9% compared to 49.2% the previous season).
While no one will deny that the 2001-2002 Season did not show Leeds at anything like their best, it is encouraging to see that we still did reasonably well (fifth place and UEFA Cup qualification). While this is a season perhaps best forgotten, it may still be seen as a turning point because of many of the off-the-field events. As a fan, it wasn't easy to watch Leeds during this campaign - but the hope is still there of better things to come.
The '98/'99 Season The '99/'00 Season The '00/'01 Season The '02/'03 Season