The 2003–04 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership) was the 12th season of the Premier League. Arsenal were crowned champions ending the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38–game league season. Chelsea finished second to Arsenal.
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. City themselves had just moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.
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, lost their grip on the FA Cup (which they held for two consecutive seasons) after being defeated by eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-finals, and 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 thought that Arsenal might squander their lead of the Premier League for the second successive season, but Arsenal easily defeated Liverpool only days later.
In the end, Wenger led the North-London club to a first undefeated season, solidifying his managerial legacy and longevity to the Arsenal fanbase as they finished the season with 26 wins, 12 draws, 0 defeats, and 90 points, winning the title with an 11-point margin over Claudio Ranieri's Chelsea. Thierry Henry proved decisive in the critical moments, inspiring comebacks against close rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, including a hat-trick to seal a 4–2 win having been 2–1 down.
The 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. For Leicester City, they would not return to the top flight for another 10 years and became the league champions for the first time ever in their history just a season later, whilst Wolves were promoted back to the top flight in 2009 and slipped down again 3 years later. 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, during which time they suffered a further relegation to the third tier in 2007 and came close towards going out of business in the process.
In his third season as Middlesbrough manager, Steve McClaren 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's and Wolverhampton Wanderers' first season in the Premier League. They replaced West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland, who were relegated to the First Division after spending time in the top flight for ten, one and four years respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium 38,419Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park 42,553Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's 30,079Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium 28,723Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley 27,111ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,360EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,569FulhamLondon Loftus Road 18,493Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road 40,242Leicester CityLeicesterWalkers Stadium 32,312LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 45,276Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium 48,000Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford 68,217MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium 35,049Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park 20,220SouthamptonSouthamptonSt Mary's Stadium 32,505Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,240Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhamptonMolineux Stadium 29,303
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal Arsène Wenger Patrick VieiraNikeO2Aston Villa David O'Leary Olof MellbergDiadoraRoverBirmingham City Steve Bruce Kenny CunninghamLe Coq SportifFlybeBlackburn Rovers Graeme Souness Garry FlitcroftKappaHSABolton Wanderers Sam Allardyce Jay-Jay OkochaReebokReebokCharlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Matt HollandJomaAll:SportsChelsea Claudio Ranieri Marcel DesaillyUmbroFly EmiratesEverton David Moyes David WeirPumaKejianFulham Chris Coleman Lee ClarkPumadabs.comLeeds United Kevin Blackwell Dominic MatteoNikeWhyte and MackayLeicester City Micky Adams Matt ElliottLe Coq SportifAlliance & LeicesterLiverpool Gérard Houllier Steven GerrardReebokCarlsbergManchester City Kevin Keegan Sylvain DistinReebokFirst AdviceManchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Roy KeaneNikeVodafoneMiddlesbrough Steve McClaren Gareth SouthgateErreà Dial-a-PhoneNewcastle United Sir Bobby Robson Alan ShearerAdidasNorthern RockPortsmouth Harry Redknapp Teddy SheringhamPompey SporttySouthampton Paul Sturrock Claus LundekvamSaintsFriends ProvidentTottenham Hotspur David Pleat (caretaker) Jamie RedknappKappaThomson HolidaysWolverhampton Wanderers Dave Jones Paul InceAdmiralDoritos
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointmentFulham Chris Coleman (caretaker)End of caretaker period12 May 2003Pre-season Chris Coleman15 May 2003Aston Villa Graham TaylorResigned14 May 2003 David O'Leary20 May 2003Tottenham Hotspur Glenn HoddleSacked22 September 200318th David Pleat 24 September 2003Leeds United Peter Reid10 November 200320th Eddie Gray10 November 2003Southampton Gordon StrachanResigned13 February 200412th Paul Sturrock4 March 2004Leeds United Eddie GrayMutual consent10 May 200419th Kevin Blackwell1 June 2004
League table
Season statistics Total goals: 1,012 Average goals per game: 2.66
Results
Overall Most wins – Arsenal (26) Fewest wins – Leicester City (6) Most draws – Newcastle United (17) Fewest draws – Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur (6) Most losses – Leeds United (21) Fewest losses – Arsenal (0) Most goals scored – Arsenal (73) Fewest goals scored – Wolverhampton Wanderers (38) Most goals conceded – Leeds United (79) Fewest goals conceded – Arsenal (26)
Scoring First goal of the season: Paul Dickov for Leicester City against Southampton (16 August 2003) Last goal of the season: Shaun Wright-Phillips for Manchester City against Everton (15 May 2004)
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Thierry HenryArsenal302 Alan ShearerNewcastle United223 Louis SahaManchester United/Fulham20 Ruud van NistelrooyManchester United5 Mikael ForssellBirmingham City176 Nicolas AnelkaManchester City16 Juan Pablo ÁngelAston Villa Michael OwenLiverpool YakubuPortsmouth10 James BeattieSouthampton14 Robbie KeaneTottenham Hotspur Robert PiresArsenal
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthAugust 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)
Annual awards Award Winner ClubLMA Manager of the Year Arsène WengerArsenalPFA Players' Player of the Year Thierry HenryArsenalPFA Young Player of the Year Scott ParkerCharlton AthleticPFA Fans' Player of the Year Thierry HenryArsenalFWA Footballer of the Year Thierry HenryArsenalPremier League Manager of the Year Arsène WengerArsenal PFA Team of the Year
PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Tim Howard(Manchester United) Defenders Lauren(Arsenal) Sol Campbell(Arsenal) John Terry(Chelsea) Ashley Cole(Arsenal) Midfielders Steven Gerrard(Liverpool) Patrick Vieira(Arsenal) Robert Pires(Arsenal) Frank Lampard(Chelsea) Forwards Thierry Henry(Arsenal) Ruud van Nistelrooy(Manchester United)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Matches Total attendance Average 1 Manchester United 19 1,285,175 67,641 2 Newcastle United 19 977,358 51,440 3 Manchester City 19 889,854 46,834 4 Liverpool 19 810,867 42,677 5 Chelsea 19 783,461 41,235 6 Everton 19 737,912 38,837 7 Arsenal 19 723,498 38,079 8 Leeds United 19 696,657 36,666 9 Aston Villa 19 695,811 36,622 10 Tottenham Hotspur 19 663,840 34,939 11 Southampton 19 595,663 31,351 12 Leicester City 19 588,674 30,983 13 Middlesbrough 19 588,556 30,977 14 Wolverhampton Wanderers 19 548,604 28,874 15 Birmingham City 19 545,969 28,735 16 Bolton Wanderers 19 509,104 26,795 17 Charlton Athletic 19 500,641 26,350 18 Blackburn Rovers 19 463,146 24,376 19 Portsmouth 19 382,054 20,108 20 Fulham 19 310,504 16,342
See also 2003–04 in English football
References
External links
2003–04 FA Premier League Season at RSSSF