The Scottish Premier League 2002/2003 was a tremendous battle between Celtic and Rangers. Both clubs went into the final matchday with the same number of points and the same goal difference. On the final day, Rangers won 6-1 against Dunfermline, while Celtic only 4-0 at Kilmarnock, meaning that Rangers won the title by one goal difference more than Celtic!
Panini published an official sticker collection of the league, which is the 10th Panini album dedicated solely to the Scottish football since 1992. The album opens with the contents and a welcome page including four stickers: the trophy (shiny), the logo (shiny), the league champions 2001/02 (Celtic), and the cup winners 2002/03 (Rangers). Then the 12 competing teams are shown in alphabetical order. For each club there are 31 stickers over six pages. In the first two pages, the club is presented with the stickers of the badge (shiny), the team photo (two large size stickers), the home kit (shiny), the away kit, the stadium, and the manager. In the following two pages, the players of the squad are shown with 16 stickers of player portraits. In the last two pages, there are six stickers of players in action (two are shiny and two are large size stickers).
In the center of the album, the collection focuses on the top players of the season 2002/2003. Stickers in action of the five best goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers are included, for a total of 20 stickers. The best players for each position deserved a shiny sticker: the goalkeeper Nick Colgan (Celtic), the defender Lorenzo Amoruso (Rangers), the midfielder Barry Ferguson (Rangers) and the striker Henrik Larsson (Celtic). Other remarkable players included in this section are Ronald de Boer, Mikel Arteta, Stefan Klos and Stilian Petrov.
The last page of the album is dedicated to the hotshots 2001/2002, with six shiny stickers of the top goalscorers of the season 2001/2002: Henrik Larsson (29 goals), John Artson (19 goals), Tore Andre Flo (17 goals), Robbie Winters (13 goals), Shota Arveladze (11 goals), and Juan Sara (11 goals).
Back cover of the album
Shiny club badge stickers: Celtic (2st place in the SPL 2002/2003) and Rangers (winners)
Shiny home kit stickers from Celtic and Rangers
The Swedish Henrik Larsson dominated the top goalscorer classification with 28 goals. Second place for Stevie Crawford (Dunfermline Athletic) with 19 goals
Rangers International players: the Argentinian Claudio Caniggia and the Dutch Ronald de Boer
Album details
Full name: SPL 2003
Publisher: Panini
League: Scottish Premier League
Season: 2002/2003
Number of clubs: 12
Stickers per club: 31
Other sections:
- Welcome (4 stickers)
- Top Players 2002/2003 (20 stickers)
- 2001/2002 Hotshots (6 stickers)
Extras or updates: No
Checklist: click here
Total number of stickers: 402
