2003-04 in English football Totally Explained

Everything about 2003-04 In English Football totally explained

The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game. Leeds United narrowly avoided going into administration, but despite a valiant effort late in the season to claw back lost points, they were unable to avoid relegation and lost their place in the Premiership to newcomers Portsmouth. Wimbledon completed their controversial relocation to Milton Keynes and moved into the National Hockey Stadium, which would be used as a temporary home until a permanent home was built at Denbigh North. At the end of the season, the club's directors changed its name to Milton Keynes Dons. Telford United, who had been members of the Conference every season since its formation in 1979, went out of business at the end of a season in which they'd reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. The club was quickly reformed as A.F.C. Telford United and joined the Northern Premier League. Doncaster Rovers were crowned Division Three champions to earn their second successive promotion, having been Conference playoff winners the previous season. They hadn't played above the league's lowest tier for nearly 20 years. Carlisle United were relegated to the Conference from Division Three. They had spent all but two of the last 17 seasons in the league's fourth tier, but had been members of the top division during the 1974-75 season and topped the league three games into the season despite getting relegated at the end of it. York City also followed them out of the Football League afer a dreadful second half to the season. Meanwhile, Chester City and Shrewsbury Town were promoted back to the Football League from the Nationwide Conference.

Events

29 February 2004: Middlesbrough win their first ever trophy as a professional club by beating Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final.
5 March 2004: Three Leicester City players, Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair, are charged with sexual assault while on a training camp in La Manga, Spain. All charges are dropped in May.
27 May 2004: Telford United are liquidated and removed from the Conference as a result.
2 June 2004: José Mourinho takes over as manager of Chelsea, replacing Claudio Ranieri.
16 June 2004: Rafael Benítez takes over as manager of Liverpool, replacing Gérard Houllier.
21 June 2004: Wimbledon announce that that'll change their name to Milton Keynes Dons, reflecting its highly controversial move from South London to Milton Keynes.

National team

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	England scorers
August 20, 2003	Portman Road, Ipswich		3-1	F	David Beckham (pen), Michael Owen, Frank Lampard
September 6, 2003	Skopje City Stadium	Macedonia	2-1	ECQ	Wayne Rooney, David Beckham (pen)
September 10, 2003	Old Trafford, Manchester		2-0	ECQ	Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney
October 11, 2003	Istanbul		0-0	ECQ
November 16, 2003	Old Trafford, Manchester		2-3	F	Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole
February 14, 2004	Estádio Algarve, Faro		1-1	F	Ledley King
March 31, 2004	Nya Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg		0-1	F
June 1, 2004	City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester		1-1	FA	Michael Owen
June 5, 2004	City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester		6-1	FA	Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney (2), Darius Vassell (2), Wayne Bridge
June 13, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon		1-2	ECF	Frank Lampard
June 17, 2004	Estádio Cidade, Coimbra		3-0	ECF	Wayne Rooney (2), Steven Gerrard
June 21, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon		4-2	ECF	Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney (2), Frank Lampard
June 24, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon		1-1 (FT), 2-2 (aet), 5-6 (P)	ECF	Michael Owen, Frank Lampard

ECQ - Euro 2004 qualifiers

ECF - Euro 2004 finals

F - Friendly; scores are written England first

FA - FA Summer Tournament (friendly)

(FT) - Full time

(aet) - After extra time

(P) - After penalty shoot out

Honours

Competition	Winner
FA Premier League	Arsenal
FA Cup	Manchester United
Carling Cup	Middlesbrough
Football League Trophy	Blackpool
Football League First Division	Norwich City
Football League Second Division	Plymouth Argyle
Football League Third Division	Doncaster Rovers
FA Community Shield	Manchester United

European qualification

Competition	Qualifiers	Reason for qualification
UEFA Champions League	Arsenal	1st in FA Premier League
UEFA Champions League	Chelsea	2nd in FA Premier League
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round	Manchester United	3rd in FA Premier League
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round	Liverpool	4th in FA Premier League
UEFA Cup	Newcastle United	5th in FA Premier League
	Middlesbrough	League Cup Winners
	Millwall	In lieu of FA Cup winners (qualification awarded as FA Cup runners-up because FA Cup winners Manchester United had already qualified for the Champions League)

League tables

FA Premier League

The Premiership title race was a three-horse race for most of the season, but Arsenal remained unbeaten all season long and clinched the title with 90 points and an 11-point gap over runners-up Chelsea, who had been most people's favourites for the title after a £100million summer spending spree.
League Cup winners Middlesbrough qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history, joined by fifth-placed Newcastle United. Seventh-placed Charlton Athletic and eighth-placed Bolton Wanderers both achieved their highest league finishes since the 1950s, while ninth-placed Fulham (many people's pre-season relegation favourites) defied the odds under 33-year-old manager Chris Coleman and achieved the highest league finish of their history. Portsmouth, also considered favourites for relegation pre-season, finished a respectable 13th in their first top-flight season.
Newly promoted Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers both went down after just one season, while Leeds United's financial crisis saw them lose most of their key players and eventually saw them relegated from the top flight after 14 successive seasons among the elite.

For more detail on the Premiership this season see FA Premier League 2003-04

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1.	Arsenal	38	26	12	0	73	26	+47	90
2.	Chelsea	38	24	7	7	67	30	+37	79
3.	Manchester United	38	23	6	9	64	35	+29	75
4.	Liverpool	38	16	12	10	55	37	+18	60
5.	Newcastle United	38	13	17	8	52	40	+12	56
6.	Aston Villa	38	15	11	12	48	44	+4	56
7.	Charlton Athletic	38	14	11	13	51	51	0	53
8.	Bolton Wanderers	38	14	11	13	48	56	-8	53
9.	Fulham	38	14	10	14	52	46	+6	52
10.	Birmingham City	38	12	14	12	43	48	-5	50
11.	Middlesbrough	38	13	9	16	44	52	-8	48
12.	Southampton	38	12	11	15	44	45	-1	47
13.	Portsmouth	38	12	9	17	47	54	-7	45
14.	Tottenham Hotspur	38	13	6	19	47	57	-10	45
15.	Blackburn Rovers	38	12	8	18	51	59	-8	44
16.	Manchester City	38	9	14	15	55	54	+1	41
17.	Everton	38	9	12	17	45	57	-12	39
18.	Leicester City	38	6	15	17	48	65	-17	33
19.	Leeds United	38	8	9	21	40	79	-39	33
20.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	7	12	19	38	77	-39	33

Leading goalscorer: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) - 30

Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Relegated to the Championship

Football League First Division

The top three led the division for most of the season, but Sunderland couldn't shake off their poor start to the season and eventually lost out to Norwich, returning to the Premiership after nearly a decade, and West Brom, who bounced back to the Premiership after relegation the previous season. Crystal Palace achieved one of the most unlikely promotions of recent times, spending the entire first half of the season in the relegation zone under manager Steve Kember before surging into the play-off places under new manager Iain Dowie.
Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes took its toll on the club, and they finished bottom of the table in an abysmal final season for the club before it was renamed as MK Dons. Bradford fared little better, despite the presence of former England captain Bryan Robson in the manager's chair. Walsall made a respectable start to the season before slumping somewhat later in the season, and finally crashing into the relegation zone when just a single point from any of their last three games would have ensured survival.

									D	ts
C	1	Norwich City	46	28	10	8	79	39	+40	94
P	2	West Bromwich Albion	46	25	11	10	64	42	+22	86
	3	Sunderland	46	22	13	11	62	45	+17	79
	4	West Ham United	46	19	17	10	67	45	+22	74
	5	Ipswich Town	46	21	10	15	84	72	+12	73
P	6	Crystal Palace	46	21	10	15	72	61	+11	73
	7	Wigan Athletic	46	18	17	11	60	45	+15	71
	8	Sheffield United	46	20	11	15	65	56	+9	71
	9	Reading	46	20	10	16	55	57	-2	70
	10	Millwall	46	18	15	13	55	48	+7	69
	11	Stoke City	46	18	12	16	58	55	+3	66
	12	Coventry City	46	17	14	15	67	54	+13	65
	13	Cardiff City	46	17	14	15	68	58	+10	65
	14	Nottingham Forest	46	15	15	16	61	58	+3	60
	15	Preston North End	46	15	14	17	69	71	-2	59
	16	Watford	46	15	12	19	54	68	-14	57
	17	Rotherham United	46	13	15	18	53	61	-8	54
	18	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	11	21	57	66	-9	53
	19	Burnley	46	13	14	19	60	77	-17	53
	20	Derby County	46	13	13	20	53	67	-14	52
	21	Gillingham	46	14	9	23	48	67	-19	51
R	22	Walsall	46	13	12	21	45	65	-20	51
R	23	Bradford City	46	10	6	30	38	69	-31	36
R	24	Wimbledon	46	8	5	33	41	89	-48	29

Leading goalscorer: Andrew Johnson (Crystal Palace) - 27

Football League Second Division

Plymouth Argyle finished top of the division, though they lost manager Paul Sturrock to Southampton. Queens Park Rangers grabbed the second spot from under the noses of Bristol City, who proceeded to lose the play-off final to Brighton & Hove Albion, another side who bounced back from relegation the previous season. Tony Adams, previously suggested by many as a possible future manager of Arsenal and England, failed to keep Wycombe Wanderers up, ending their ten-year spell in the division. Notts County nearly went bankrupt during the course of the season and the effect on the club was evident, as they slipped into Division Three (or League Two, as it would be called the next season), and Rushden & Diamonds' years of success came to a grinding halt as they crashed back out of the division after being promoted the previous year. Grimsby Town filled the final relegation spot, resulting in their second successive relegation.

								D	ts
1	Plymouth Argyle	46	26	12	8	85	41	+44	90
2	Queens Park Rangers	46	22	17	7	80	45	+45	83
3	Bristol City	46	23	13	10	58	37	+21	82
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	22	11	13	64	43	+21	77
5	Swindon Town	46	20	13	13	76	58		73
6	Hartlepool United	46	20	13	13	76	61	+15	73
7	Port Vale	46	21	10	15	73	63	+10	73
8	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	16	13	59	56	+3	67
9	A.F.C. Bournemouth	46	17	15	14	56	51	+5	66
10	Luton Town	46	17	15	14	69	66	+3	66
11	Colchester United	46	17	13	16	52	56	-4	64
12	Barnsley	46	15	17	14	54	58	-4	62
13	Wrexham	46	17	9	20	50	60	-10	60
14	Blackpool	46	16	11	19	58	65	-7	59
15	Oldham Athletic	46	12	21	13	66	60	+6	57
16	Sheffield Wednesday	46	13	14	19	48	64	-18	53
17	Brentford	46	14	11	21	52	69	-17	53
18	Peterborough United	46	12	16	18	58	58	0	52
19	Stockport County	46	11	19	16	62	70	-8	52
20	Chesterfield	46	12	15	19	49	71	-22	51
21	Grimsby Town	46	13	11	22	55	81	-26	50
22	Rushden & Diamonds	46	13	9	24	60	74	-14	48
23	Notts County	46	10	12	24	50	78	-28	42
24	Wycombe Wanderers	46	6	19	21	50	75	-25	37

Leading goalscorer: Leon Knight (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Stephen McPhee (Port Vale) - 25

Football League Third Division

Doncaster earned a second successive promotion, showing that the club was firmly back on track after the years of struggle and scandal the club endured in the late 90s. Hull's expensive investment in players finally paid off, and the team was promoted. Torquay, traditionally strugglers, snatched the last automatic promotion spot from Huddersfield on the last day of the season. Huddersfield would make up for this by beating Mansfield in the play-off final.
York started the season brightly, but only managed to gain nine points between November 1 and the end of the season and lost their 80-year old League status. Carlisle started the season horrendously, but a late run saw them finish 23rd. A few years ago this would have seen them complete an amazing escape from relegation, but with the introduction of two relegation places from the League it was no longer sufficient, and they dropped into the Conference.

								D	ts
1	Doncaster Rovers	46	27	11	8	79	37	+42	92
2	Hull City	46	25	13	8	82	44	+38	88
3	Torquay United	46	23	12	11	68	44	+24	81
4	Huddersfield Town	46	23	12	11	68	52	+16	81
5	Mansfield Town	46	22	9	15	76	62	+14	75
6	Northampton Town	46	22	9	15	58	51		75
7	Lincoln City	46	19	17	10	68	47	+21	74
8	Yeovil Town	46	23	5	18	70	57	+13	74
9	Oxford United	46	18	17	11	55	44	+11	71
10	Swansea City	46	15	14	17	58	61	-3	59
11	Boston United	46	16	11	19	50	54	-4	59
12	Bury	46	15	11	20	54	64	-10	56
13	Cambridge United	46	14	14	18	55	67	-12	56
14	Cheltenham Town	46	14	14	18	57	71	-14	56
15	Bristol Rovers	46	14	13	19	50	61	-11	55
16	Kidderminster Harriers	46	14	13	19	45	59	-14	55
17	Southend United	46	14	12	20	51	63	-12	54
18	Darlington	46	14	11	21	53	61	-8	53
19	Leyton Orient	46	13	14	19	48	65	-17	53
20	Macclesfield Town	46	13	13	20	54	69	-15	52
21	Rochdale	46	12	14	20	49	58	-9	50
22	Scunthorpe United	46	11	16	19	69	72	-3	49
23	Carlisle United	46	12	9	25	46	69	-23	45
24	York City	46	10	14	22	35	66	-31	44

Leading goalscorer: Steve MacLean (Scunthorpe United) - 23

National league system

Cup competitions

Competition	Winners
FA Trophy	Hednesford Town
FA Vase	Winchester City
FA National League System Cup	Mid Cheshire League

Football Conference

Champions:

Chester City

Playoff winners:

Shrewsbury Town

Relegated:

Margate (forced relegation to Conference South due to failing ground requirements)

Northern Premier League

Champions:

Hucknall Town (to Conference North)

Also promoted (to Conference North):

Droylsden, Barrow, Alfreton Town, Harrogate Town, Southport, Worksop Town, Lancaster City, Vauxhall Motors, Gainsborough Trinity, Stalybridge Celtic, Altrincham, Runcorn FC Halton, Bradford Park Avenue (playoff winners)

Southern League

Champions:

Crawley Town (to Conference National)

Also promoted (to Conference North):

Stafford Rangers, Nuneaton Borough, Worcester City, Hinckley United, Moor Green

Also promoted (to Conference South):

Weymouth, Newport County, Cambridge City, Welling United, Weston-super-Mare, Eastbourne Borough, Havant & Waterlooville, Dorchester Town (playoff winners)

Isthmian League

Champions:

Canvey Island (to Conference National)

Also promoted (to Conference South):

Sutton United, Thurrock, Hornchurch, Grays Athletic, Carshalton Athletic, Hayes, Bognor Regis Town, Bishop's Stortford, Maidenhead United, Ford United, Basingstoke Town, St Albans City (playoff winners)

Also promoted (to Conference North):

Kettering Town

Other leagues

	League	Champions	Notes
Step 3 Leagues	Northern Premier League First Division	Hyde United
	Southern League Midland/West Division	Redditch United	(promoted to Conference North after playoffs)
	Southern League South/East Division	King's Lynn
	Isthmian League Division One North	Yeading
	Isthmian League Division One South	Lewes	(promoted to Conference South after playoffs)
Step 4 Leagues	Northern League	Dunston Federation Brewery
	North West Counties League	Clitheroe
	Northern Counties East League	Ossett Albion
	Midland Alliance	Rocester
	United Counties League	Spalding United
	Eastern Counties League	A.F.C. Sudbury
	Isthmian League Division Two	Leighton Town
	Essex Senior League	Concord Rangers
	Spartan South Midlands League	Beaconsfield SYCOB
	Combined Counties League	A.F.C. Wimbledon
	Hellenic League	Brackley Town
	Western League	Bideford
	Wessex League	Winchester City
	Sussex County League	Chichester City United
	Kent League	Cray Wanderers