Original Pompey football shirt Portsmouth FC 2002/03

During the 2002–03 English football season, Portsmouth competed in the Football League First Division.

Portsmouth led the First Division for most of the season, and eventually finished as champions, six points clear of second-placed Leicester City. As champions, Portsmouth gained promotion to the FA Premier League, returning to the top flight after an absence of 15 years.

Bulgarian striker Svetoslav Todorov silenced his critics by finishing top scorer in the division with 26 goals, overhauling Nottingham Forest's David Johnson with a hat-trick against Bradford City on the last day of the season, in the game that confirmed Portsmouth as Football League champions.