2003-04 in English football Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Events in the 2003-04 English football season, August 2003 to July 2004:

Table of contents

1 Events 2 National team 3 Honours 4 European qualifiers 4.1 Champions League 4.1.1 Group phase 4.1.2 Qualifying round 4.2 UEFA Cup 5 League tables 5.3 FA Premier League 5.4 Football League First Division 5.5 Football League Second Division 5.6 Football League Third Division 6 National League System 6.7 Cup competitions 6.8 Football Conference 6.9 Northern Premier League 6.10 Southern League 6.11 Isthmian League 6.12 Other leagues 7 Major transfer deals 8 Deaths

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 Benitez takes over as manager of Liverpool, replacing Gérard Houllier.
• 21 June 2004: Wimbledon F.C. announces that it will change its name to Milton Keynes Dons F.C, reflecting its highly controversial move from South London to Milton Keynes.

National team

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

''Key
ECQ = Euro 2004 qualifiers
ECF = Euro 2004 finals
F = Friendly; scores are written England first
(FT) = Full time
(aet) = After extra time
(P) = After penalty shoot out

Honours

Competition	Winner
FA Premier League	Arsenal
FA Cup	Manchester United
Football League 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 qualifiers

Champions League

Group phase

• Arsenal
• Chelsea

Qualifying round

• Manchester United
• Liverpool

UEFA Cup

• Millwall (FA Cup finalist; Cup winner Man U qualified for Champions League)
• Middlesbrough (League Cup)
• Newcastle United

League tables

FA Premier League

                              P    W  D  L   F   A    W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
 1 Arsenal                   38   15  4  0  40  14   11  8  0  33  12   47   90  Champions League
 2 Chelsea                   38   12  4  3  34  13   12  3  4  33  17   37   79  Champions League
 3 Manchester United         38   12  4  3  37  15   11  2  6  27  20   29   75  Champions League Qual. Round
 4 Liverpool                 38   10  4  5  29  15    6  8  5  26  22   18   60  Champions League Qual. Round
 5 Newcastle United          38   11  5  3  33  14    2 12  5  19  26   12   56  UEFA Cup
 6 Aston Villa               38    9  6  4  24  19    6  5  8  24  25    4   56
 7 Charlton Athletic         38    7  6  6  29  29    7  5  7  22  22    0   53
 8 Bolton Wanderers          38    6  8  5  24  21    8  3  8  24  35   -8   53
 9 Fulham                    38    9  4  6  29  21    5  6  8  23  25    6   52
10 Birmingham City           38    8  5  6  26  24    4  9  6  17  24   -5   50
11 Middlesbrough             38    8  4  7  25  23    5  5  9  19  29   -8   48  UEFA Cup (League Cup winners)
12 Southampton               38    8  6  5  24  17    4  5 10  20  28   -1   47
13 Portsmouth                38   10  4  5  35  19    2  5 12  12  35   -7   45
14 Tottenham Hotspur         38    9  4  6  33  27    4  2 13  14  30  -10   45
15 Blackburn Rovers          38    5  4 10  25  31    7  4  8  26  28   -8   44
16 Manchester City           38    5  9  5  31  24    4  5 10  24  30    1   41
17 Everton                   38    8  5  6  27  20    1  7 11  18  37  -12   39
18 Leicester City            38    3 10  6  19  28    3  5 11  29  37  -17   33  Relegated
19 Leeds United              38    5  7  7  25  31    3  2 14  15  48  -39   33  Relegated
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers   38    7  5  7  23  35    0  7 12  15  42  -39   33  Relegated

Football League First Division

                              P    W  D  L   F   A    W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
 1 Norwich City              46   18  3  2  44  15   10  7  6  35  24   40   94  Promoted
 2 West Bromwich Albion      46   14  5  4  34  16   11  6  6  30  26   22   86  Promoted
 3 Sunderland                46   13  8  2  33  15    9  5  9  29  30   17   79
 4 West Ham United           46   12  7  4  42  20    7 10  6  25  25   22   74
 5 Ipswich Town              46   12  3  8  49  36    9  7  7  35  36   12   73
 6 Crystal Palace            46   10  8  5  34  25   11  2 10  38  36   11   73  Promoted (playoff winners)
 7 Wigan Athletic            46   11  8  4  29  16    7  9  7  31  29   15   71
 8 Sheffield United          46   11  6  6  37  25    9  5  9  28  31    9   71
 9 Reading                   46   11  6  6  29  25    9  4 10  26  32   -2   70
10 Millwall                  46   11  8  4  28  15    7  7  9  27  33    7   69  UEFA Cup (FA Cup runners up)
11 Stoke City                46   11  7  5  35  24    7  5 11  23  31    3   66
12 Coventry City             46    9  9  5  34  22    8  5 10  33  32   13   65
13 Cardiff City              46   10  6  7  40  25    7  8  8  28  33   10   65
14 Nottingham Forest         46    8  9  6  33  25    7  6 10  28  33    3   60
15 Preston North End         46   11  7  5  43  29    4  7 12  26  42   -2   59
16 Watford                   46    9  8  6  31  28    6  4 13  23  40  -14   57
17 Rotherham United          46    8  8  7  31  27    5  7 11  22  34   -8   54
18 Crewe Alexandra           46   11  3  9  33  26    3  8 12  24  40   -9   53
19 Burnley                   46    9  6  8  37  32    4  8 11  23  45  -17   53
20 Derby County              46   11  5  7  39  33    2  8 13  14  34  -14   52
21 Gillingham                46   10  1 12  28  34    4  8 11  20  33  -19   51
22 Walsall                   46    8  7  8  29  31    5  5 13  16  34  -20   51  Relegated
23 Bradford City             46    6  3 14  23  35    4  3 16  15  34  -31   36  Relegated
24 Wimbledon                 46    3  4 16  21  40    5  1 17  20  49  -48   29  Relegated

Football League Second Division

                              P    W  D  L   F   A    W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
 1 Plymouth Argyle           46   17  5  1  52  13    9  7  7  33  28  +44   90  Promoted
 2 Queens Park Rangers       46   16  7  0  47  12    6 10  7  33  33  +35   83  Promoted
 3 Bristol City              46   15  6  2  34  12    8  7  8  24  25  +21   82
 4 Brighton & Hove Albion;    46   17  4  2  39  11    5  7 11  25  32  +21   77  Promoted (playoff winners)
 5 Swindon Town              46   12  7  4  41  23    8  6  9  35  35  +18   73
 6 Hartlepool United         46   10  8  5  39  24   10  5  8  37  37  +15   73
 7 Port Vale                 46   15  6  2  45  28    6  4 13  28  35  +10   73
 8 Tranmere Rovers           46   13  7  3  36  18    4  9 10  23  38   +3   67
 9 AFC Bournemouth           46   11  8  4  35  25    6  7 10  21  26   +5   66
10 Luton Town                46   14  6  3  44  27    3  9 11  25  39   +3   66
11 Colchester United         46   11  8  4  33  23    6  5 12  19  33   -4   64
12 Barnsley                  46    7 12  4  25  19    8  5 10  29  39   -4   62
13 Wrexham                   46    9  6  8  27  21    8  3 12  23  39  -10   60
14 Blackpool                 46    9  5  9  31  28    7  6 10  27  37   -7   59
15 Oldham Athletic           46    9  8  6  37  25    3 13  7  29  35   +6   57
16 Sheffield Wednesday       46    7  9  7  25  26    6  5 12  23  38  -16   53
17 Brentford                 46    9  5  9  34  38    5  6 12  18  31  -17   53
18 Peterborough United       46    5  8 10  36  33    7  8  8  22  25    0   52
19 Stockport County          46    6  8  9  31  36    5 11  7  31  34   -8   52
20 Chesterfield              46    9  7  7  34  31    3  8 12  15  40  -22   51
21 Grimsby Town              46   10  5  8  36  26    3  6 14  19  55  -26   50  Relegated
22 Rushden & Diamonds;        46    9  5  9  37  34    4  4 15  23  40  -14   48  Relegated
23 Notts County              46    6  9  8  32  27    4  3 16  18  51  -28   42  Relegated
24 Wycombe Wanderers         46    5  7 11  31  39    1 12 10  19  36  -25   37  Relegated

Football League Third Division

                              P    W  D  L   F   A    W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
 1 Doncaster Rovers          46   17  4  2  47  13   10  7  6  32  24  +42   92  Promoted
 2 Hull City                 46   16  4  3  50  21    9  9  5  32  23  +38   88  Promoted
 3 Torquay United            46   15  6  2  44  18    8  6  9  24  26  +24   81  Promoted
 4 Huddersfield Town         46   16  4  3  42  18    7  8  8  26  34  +16   81  Promoted (playoff winners)
 5 Mansfield Town            46   13  5  5  44  25    9  4 10  32  37  +14   75
 6 Northampton Town          46   13  4  6  30  23    9  5  9  28  28   +7   75
 7 Lincoln City              46    9 11  3  36  23   10  6  7  32  24  +21   74
 8 Yeovil Town               46   14  3  6  40  19    9  2 12  30  38  +13   74
 9 Oxford United             46   14  8  1  34  13    4  9 10  21  31  +11   71
10 Swansea City              46    9  8  6  36  26    6  6 11  22  35   -3   59
11 Boston United             46   11  7  5  35  21    5  4 14  15  33   -4   59
12 Bury                      46   10  7  6  29  26    5  4 14  25  38  -10   56
13 Cambridge United          46    6  7 10  26  32    8  7  8  29  35  -12   56
14 Cheltenham Town           46   11  4  8  37  38    3 10 10  20  33  -14   56
15 Bristol Rovers            46    9  7  7  29  26    5  6 12  21  35  -11   55
16 Kidderminster Harriers    46    9  5  9  28  29    5  8 10  17  30  -14   55
17 Southend United           46    8  4 11  27  29    6  8  9  24  34  -12   54
18 Darlington                46   10  4  9  30  28    4  7 12  23  33   -8   53
19 Leyton Orient             46    8  9  6  28  27    5  5 13  20  38  -17   53
20 Macclesfield Town         46    8  9  6  28  25    5  4 14  26  44  -15   52
21 Rochdale                  46    7  8  8  28  26    5  6 12  21  32   -9   50
22 Scunthorpe United         46    7 10  6  36  27    4  6 13  33  45   -3   49
23 Carlisle United           46    8  5 10  23  27    4  4 15  23  42  -23   45  Relegated
24 York City                 46    7  6 10  22  29    3  8 12  13  37  -31   44  Relegated

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 and West Division	Redditch United	(promoted to Conference North after playoffs)
Southern League South and 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	AFC Wimbledon
Hellenic League	Brackley Town
Western League	Bideford
Wessex League	Winchester City
Sussex County League	Chichester City United
Kent League	Cray Wanderers

Major transfer deals

• 6 August 2003 - Joe Cole from West Ham United to Chelsea
• 6 August 2003 - Juan Sebastian Veron from Manchester United to Chelsea
• 12 August 2003 - Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United
• 12 August 2003 - Kleberson from Atletico Paranaense to Manchester United
• 14 August 2003 - Adrian Mutu from Parma to Chelsea
• 26 August 2003 - Hernán Crespo from Internazionale to Chelsea
• 29 August 2003 - Claudio Reyna from Sunderland to Manchester City
• 31 August 2003 - Claude Makelele from Real Madrid to Chelsea
• 2 January 2004 - Fabien Barthez from Manchester United to Olympique de Marseille (loan deal, made permanent in April)
• 27 January 2004 - Jose Antonio Reyes from Sevilla to Arsenal
• 30 January 2004 - Scott Parker from Charlton Athletic to Chelsea
• 18 May 2004 - Emile Heskey from Liverpool to Birmingham City
• 3 June 2004 - Juan Sebastian Veron from Chelsea to Inter Milan (loan deal)
• 8 June 2004 - Petr Cech from Rennes to Chelsea
• 8 June 2004 - Arjen Robben from PSV to Chelsea
• 11 June 2004 - Gabriel Heinze from Paris Saint-Germain to Manchester United
• 22 June 2004 - Paulo Ferreira from Porto to Chelsea
• 1 July 2004 - Dennis Rommedahl from PSV to Charlton Athletic
• 1 July 2004 - Djibril Cisse from Auxerre to Liverpool
• 2 July 2004 - James Milner from Leeds United to Newcastle United
• 5 July 2004 - Les Ferdinand from Leicester City to Bolton Wanderers
• 6 July 2004 - Michael Reiziger from Barcelona to Middlesbrough
• 8 July 2004 - Mark Viduka from Leeds United to Middlesbrough
• 9 July 2004 - Peter Crouch from Aston Villa to Southampton
• 9 July 2004 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink from Chelsea to Middlesbrough
• 9 July 2004 - Hélder Postiga from Spurs to Porto
• 9 July 2004 - Pedro Mendes from Porto to Spurs
• 12 July 2004 - Mateja Kezman from PSV to Chelsea
• 12 July 2004 - Jesper Grřnkjćr from Chelsea to Birmingham City
• 12 July 2004 - Lomana LuaLua from Newcastle United to Portsmouth (making a previous loan deal between the two clubs permanent)
• 12 July 2004 - David Unsworth from Everton to Portsmouth
• 14 July 2004 - Teddy Sheringham from Portsmouth to West Ham
• 15 July 2004 - Hernán Crespo from Chelsea to AC Milan (loan deal)
• 16 July 2004 - Markus Babbel from Liverpool to VfB Stuttgart
• 20 July 2004 - Didier Drogba from Olympique de Marseille to Chelsea
• 20 July 2004 - Martin Keown from Arsenal to Leicester City
• 20 July 2004 - Gary Speed from Newcastle United to Bolton Wanderers
• 21 July 2004 - Patrick Kluivert from Barcelona to Newcastle United
• 21 July 2004 - Tiago from Benfica to Chelsea
• 21 July 2004 - Hugo Viana from Newcastle United to Sporting Lisbon (loan deal)
• 22 July 2004 - Tim Cahill from Millwall to Everton
• 22 July 2004 - Bobby Convey from Major League Soccer to Reading
• 22 July 2004 - Thomas Helveg from Inter Milan to Norwich City
• 22 July 2004 - Tomasz Radzinski from Everton to Fulham
• 23 July 2004 - Claus Jensen from Charlton Athletic to Fulham
• 23 July 2004 - Ray Parlour from Arsenal to Middlesbrough
• 27 July 2004 - Ricardo Carvalho from Porto to Chelsea
• 27 July 2004 - Papa Bouba Diop from Lens to Fulham
• 27 July 2004 - Josemi from Málaga to Liverpool
• 27 July 2004 - Sergei Rebrov from Spurs to West Ham
• 28 July 2004 - Fernando Hierro from Al Rayyan (Qatar) to Bolton Wanderers
• 29 July 2004 - Henri Camara from Wolves to Celtic (loan deal)
• 30 July 2004 - Nicky Butt from Manchester United to Newcastle United
• 30 July 2004 - Zoltan Gera from Ferencváros to West Brom
• 30 July 2004 - Nwankwo Kanu from Arsenal to West Brom

Deaths

• August 9 2003 - Ray Harford (58), former Blackburn Rovers manager
• August 9 2003 - Jimmy Davis (21), Manchester United and Watford striker
• February 1 2004 - Bob Stokoe, Sunderland 1973 FA Cup winning manager
• February 21 2004 - John Charles, former Leeds United player

Seasons in English football
1998-99 - 1999-2000 - 2000-01 - 2001-02 - 2002-03 - 2003-04 - 2004-05 - 2005-06 - 2006-07 - 2007-08 - 2008-09

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