2003–04 FA Premier League

The 2003–04 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the Premier League. Arsenal were the champions and Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the season, were the runners up. Arsenal ended the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38-game league season and the second team overall (the first was Preston North End in 1889, 115 years earlier, during a 22-game league season).

FA Premier League
Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira lifting the trophy at Highbury
Season2003–04
Dates16 August 2003 – 15 May 2004
ChampionsArsenal
3rd Premier League title
13th English title
RelegatedWolverhampton Wanderers
Leicester City
Leeds United
Champions LeagueArsenal
Chelsea
Manchester United
Liverpool
UEFA CupNewcastle United
Middlesbrough
Matches played380
Goals scored1,012 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorerThierry Henry (30 goals)
Biggest home winPortsmouth 6–1 Leeds United
(8 November 2003)
Chelsea 5–0 Newcastle United
(9 November 2003)
Arsenal 5–0 Leeds United
(16 April 2004)
Biggest away winWolverhampton Wanderers 0–5 Chelsea
(20 September 2003)
Leicester City 0–5 Aston Villa
(31 January 2004)
Highest scoringManchester City 6–2 Bolton Wanderers
(18 October 2003)
Tottenham 4–4 Leicester City
(22 February 2004)
Middlesbrough 5–3 Birmingham City
(20 March 2004)
Longest winning run9 games[1]
Arsenal
Longest unbeaten run38 games[1]
Arsenal
Longest winless run14 games[1]
Manchester City
Longest losing run6 games[1]
Leeds United
Highest attendance67,758
Manchester United v Southampton
(31 January 2004)
Lowest attendance13,981
Fulham v Blackburn Rovers
(12 April 2004)

Season summary

Having qualified for the Champions' League the previous season, Chelsea were bolstered by a £100 million outlay on world-class players, a spree funded by the extensive financial resources of their new owner Roman Abramovich. Manchester United's attack was as strong as ever thanks to free-scoring Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the midfield was weakened following the £25 million pre-season sale of David Beckham to Real Madrid, and the centre of defence suffered a more severe setback after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out for the final four months of the season after being found guilty of the "failure or refusal to take a drugs test". The case of Rio Ferdinand started a debate about punishments relating to drug testing in football, with there being differing views on whether the punishment was too harsh or too lenient. Ferdinand's club sought to make direct comparisons with an earlier case of Manchester City reserve player who had in fact committed a lesser drug testing offence and as a result escaped with only a fine.[2] City themselves had just moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.[3]

Arsenal, meanwhile, had only signed German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the 2003 close season, but French striker Thierry Henry was instrumental in Arsenal's success. Away from the Premier League, Arsène Wenger's team suffered disappointment in the cup competitions. They were knocked-out by League Cup eventual winners Middlesbrough in the semi-finals. They lost their defence of the FA Cup (which they held for two seasons in a row) after losing to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-final. Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Chelsea (3–2 on aggregate). These blows in the FA Cup and Champions League came within a few days of each other, and it was feared that Arsenal might squander their lead of the Premier League for the second successive season, but Arsenal thumped Liverpool only days later. Arsenal's Invincibles finished the season with 26 wins, 12 draws, 0 defeats and 90 points.

The three relegation spots were occupied by three teams bracketed together on 33 points. Wolves and Leicester City followed the trend of many other newly promoted Premier League clubs and were relegated just one season after reaching the top division. The other relegation place went to Leeds United, whose playing fortunes had dipped in the past two seasons after David O'Leary was sacked as manager and club debts had risen so high that many star players had to be sold. As a result, Leeds were relegated from the Premier League after 14 years of top division football – just three seasons after they had reached the Champions League semifinals, and they would not return for another 16 years.

In his third season as Middlesbrough manager, Steve McClaren had guided the Teessiders to their first ever major trophy – sealed with a 2–1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final. McClaren was also the first English manager to win a major trophy since Brian Little guided Aston Villa to League Cup success in 1996. He was also the first manager to take Middlesbrough into European competition – they would be competing in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup.

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Portsmouth, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, returning to the top flight after an absence of fifteen, one and nineteen years respectively. This was also both Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers' first season in the Premier League. They replaced West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland after spending time in the top flight for ten, one and four years respectively.

Stadiums and Locations
Locations of the 2003–04 Premier League teams
Greater London Premier League football clubs
West Midlands Premier League football clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Arsenal London (Highbury) Arsenal Stadium 38,419
Aston Villa Birmingham (Aston) Villa Park 42,553
Birmingham City Birmingham (Bordesley) St Andrew's 30,079
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Reebok Stadium 28,723
Charlton Athletic London (Charlton) The Valley 27,111
Chelsea London (Fulham) Stamford Bridge 42,360
Everton Liverpool (Walton) Goodison Park 40,569
Fulham London (Fulham) Loftus Road[lower-alpha 1] 18,493
Leeds United Leeds Elland Road 40,242
Leicester City Leicester King Power Stadium 32,312
Liverpool Liverpool (Anfield) Anfield 45,276
Manchester City Manchester City of Manchester Stadium[lower-alpha 2] 48,000
Manchester United Old Trafford Old Trafford 68,217
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 35,049
Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park 52,387
Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,220
Southampton Southampton St Mary's Stadium 32,505
Tottenham Hotspur London (Tottenham) White Hart Lane 36,240
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Molineux Stadium 29,303
  1. Craven Cottage was still under refurbishment from the previous season and as a result, Fulham continued playing their home games at Loftus Road, which is also the home stadium of fellow West London club Queens Park Rangers.
  2. Manchester City moved to the City of Manchester Stadium after spending 80 years at Maine Road.

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Arsène Wenger Patrick Vieira Nike O2
Aston Villa David O'Leary Olof Mellberg Diadora Rover
Birmingham City Steve Bruce Kenny Cunningham Le Coq Sportif Flybe.com
Blackburn Rovers Graeme Souness Garry Flitcroft Kappa HSA
Bolton Wanderers Sam Allardyce Jay-Jay Okocha Reebok Reebok
Charlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Matt Holland Joma All:Sports
Chelsea Claudio Ranieri Marcel Desailly Umbro Fly Emirates
Everton David Moyes David Weir Puma Kejian
Fulham Chris Coleman Lee Clark Puma dabs.com
Leeds United Eddie Gray (caretaker) Dominic Matteo Nike Whyte and Mackay
Leicester City Micky Adams Matt Elliott Le Coq Sportif Alliance & Leicester
Liverpool Gérard Houllier Steven Gerrard Reebok Carlsberg
Manchester City Kevin Keegan Sylvain Distin Reebok First Advice
Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Roy Keane Nike Vodafone
Middlesbrough Steve McClaren Gareth Southgate Erreà Dial-a-Phone
Newcastle United Sir Bobby Robson Alan Shearer Adidas Northern Rock
Portsmouth Harry Redknapp Teddy Sheringham Pompey Sport ty
Southampton Paul Sturrock Claus Lundekvam Saints Friends Provident
Tottenham Hotspur David Pleat (caretaker) Jamie Redknapp Kappa Thomson Holidays
Wolverhampton Wanderers Dave Jones Paul Ince Admiral Doritos

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Fulham Chris Coleman (caretaker) End of caretaker period 12 May 2003 Pre-season Chris Coleman 15 May 2003[4]
Aston Villa Graham Taylor Resigned 14 May 2003[5] David O'Leary 20 May 2003
Tottenham Hotspur Glenn Hoddle Sacked 22 September 2003[6] 18th David Pleat (caretaker) 24 September 2003[7]
Leeds United Peter Reid 10 November 2003 20th Eddie Gray (caretaker) 10 November 2003
Southampton Gordon Strachan Resigned 13 February 2004 12th Paul Sturrock 4 March 2004

League table
The Premier League commissioned a unique gold trophy to commemorate Arsenal's achievement of winning the league title without defeat.
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Arsenal (C) 38 26 12 0 73 26 +47 90 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Chelsea 38 24 7 7 67 30 +37 79
3 Manchester United 38 23 6 9 64 35 +29 75 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
4 Liverpool 38 16 12 10 55 37 +18 60
5 Newcastle United 38 13 17 8 52 40 +12 56 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
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 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 2]
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 (R) 38 6 15 17 48 65 −17 33 Relegation to the Football League Championship
19 Leeds United (R) 38 8 9 21 40 79 −39 33
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers (R) 38 7 12 19 38 77 −39 33
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Since Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as 2003–04 FA Cup winners went to First Division club Millwall, who were the FA Cup runners-up.
  2. Middlesbrough qualified as the 2003–04 Football League Cup winners.

Season statistics
Total goals: 1,012
Average goals per game: 2.66

Results
Home \ Away ARS AST BIR BLB BOL CHA CHE EVE FUL LEE LEI LIV MCI MUN MID NEW POR SOU TOT WOL
Arsenal 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 5–0 2–1 4–2 2–1 1–1 4–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 3–0
Aston Villa 0–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–1 3–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–2
Birmingham 0–3 0–0 0–4 2–0 1–2 0–0 3–0 2–2 4–1 0–1 0–3 2–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–2
Blackburn Rovers 0–2 0–2 1–1 3–4 0–1 2–3 2–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–3 2–3 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 5–1
Bolton Wanderers 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–2 0–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 4–1 2–2 2–2 1–3 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1
Charlton Athletic 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–2 1–2 4–2 2–2 3–1 0–1 2–2 3–2 0–3 0–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–4 2–0
Chelsea 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 5–0 3–0 4–0 4–2 5–2
Everton 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 4–0 3–2 0–3 0–0 3–4 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–0
Fulham 0–1 1–2 0–0 3–4 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0
Leeds United 1–4 0–0 0–2 2–1 0–2 3–3 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–2 2–2 2–1 0–1 0–3 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 4–1
Leicester City 1–1 0–5 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–4 1–1 0–2 4–0 0–0 1–1 1–4 0–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–2 0–0
Liverpool 1–2 1–0 3–1 4–0 3–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0
Manchester City 1–2 4–1 0–0 1–1 6–2 1–1 0–1 5–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 2–2 4–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–0 3–3
Manchester United 0–0 4–0 3–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 2–3 0–0 3–0 3–2 3–0 1–0
Middlesbrough 0–4 1–2 5–3 0–1 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–3 3–3 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 2–0
Newcastle United 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 2–1 4–2 3–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–0 4–0 1–1
Portsmouth 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–1 6–1 0–2 1–0 4–2 1–0 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0
Southampton 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 3–2 0–1 3–3 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–3 3–0 1–0 2–0
Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 2–1 4–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 3–0 0–3 2–1 4–4 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 4–3 1–3 5–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–3 0–4 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–4 0–5 2–1 2–1 3–1 4–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–4 0–2
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Overall

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Thierry Henry Arsenal 30
2 Alan Shearer Newcastle United 22
3 Louis Saha Manchester United/Fulham 20
Ruud van Nistelrooy Manchester United 20
5 Mikael Forssell Birmingham City 17
6 Nicolas Anelka Manchester City 16
Juan Pablo Ángel Aston Villa 16
Michael Owen Liverpool 16
Yakubu Portsmouth 16
10 James Beattie Southampton 14
Robbie Keane Tottenham Hotspur 14
Robert Pires Arsenal 14

Awards

Monthly awards
MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the Month
August Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) Teddy Sheringham (Portsmouth)
September Claudio Ranieri (Chelsea) Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
October Sir Bobby Robson (Newcastle United) Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
November Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton Wanderers)
December Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
January Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
February Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) & Edu (Arsenal)
March Claudio Ranieri (Chelsea) Mikael Forssell (Birmingham City)
April Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) Thierry Henry (Arsenal)

LMA Manager of the Year

The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by Arsène Wenger.[8]

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2004 was won by Thierry Henry of Arsenal for the second successive year.[9]

The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows:

PFA Young Player of the Year

The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Scott Parker of Chelsea F.C..

The shortlist for the award was as follows:[10]

PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Manchester United)
Defence: Lauren, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell (all Arsenal), John Terry (Chelsea)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires (both Arsenal), Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Attack: Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

Thierry Henry of Arsenal was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Henry was the first player to win this award twice.[11][12]

FWA Footballer of the Year

The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2004 was won by Thierry Henry. The Arsenal forward picked up a remarkable 87% of the votes.[13]

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award merit is given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Champions Arsenal won this.[14][15]

Behaviour of the Public League

Given to the best-behaved fans, Arsenal won this, thus achieving a fair play double.[14]

Premier League Manager of the Year

Arsène Wenger won the Premier League Manager of the Year award. His team won 26 games, losing 0 and drawing 12 scoring 73 goals, conceding 26.[16]

See also

References
  1. "English Premier League 2003–04". statto.com. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  2. Harris, Nick (18 December 2003). "Motive is always considered in deciding guilt". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  3. "Club History". Manchester City Football Club.
  4. "Coleman named Fulham boss". BBC Sport. 15 May 2003. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  5. "Taylor quits Villa". BBC Sport. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  6. Bright, Richard (22 September 2003). "Hoddle sacked after Spurs' poor start". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  7. McNulty, Phil (24 September 2003). "Pleat the Spurs survivor". BBC Sport.
  8. "BreakingNews.ie – 2004/05/17: Wenger gets Managers' Association award". Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  9. "Henry retains PFA crown". BBC News. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  10. "Henry leads PFA nominations | BreakingNews.ie". Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  11. "Thierry is the tops again – and it's a big 'hats off' to divisional winners Darren Huckerby, Neil Moss and Lee Harper! | The PFA Awards | Give Me Football". Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  12. "Pfa Fans' Player of the Year". Sky Sports.
  13. "Henry named FWA player of year | Article from Xinhua News Agency | HighBeam Research". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  14. "TheFA.com - Fair Play to Gunners". 27 October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2004.
  15. http://www.premierleague.com/staticFiles/0/66/0,,12306~91648,00.pdf
  16. "BreakingNews.ie – 2004/05/17: Wenger gets Managers' Association award". Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
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