The teams were divided into two regionalised groups and played a single round of games.
On 6 July 2002 Kildare County, the First Division's newest members, made their competitive debut against Limerick at Station Road.
County went on to win their regional group and qualify for the final but lost 4–0 on aggregate to Finn Harps.
Source:[3] The regular season began in August [4] and concluded in January.
Under manager Jimmy McGeough and with a team that included Dan Connor, Waterford United won the title and were automatically promoted to the 2003 Premier Division.