The English football transfer window for winter 2002–03 ran from 1 January 2003 until 1 February 2003, although a few transfers took place prior to that date. Players without a club may join one at any time, either during or in between transfer windows. Clubs below Premier League level may also sign players on loan at any time. If need be, clubs may sign a goalkeeper on an emergency loan, if all others are unavailable. The decision to introduce restrictions on the period that clubs could buy and sell players was controversial. Some owners were worried that it could harm clubs with smaller squads that were in financial difficulty, particularly in the wake of the collapse of ITV Digital, which had been funding football league teams. Players who were out of contract before 31 August 2002 were