The 2003–04 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 12th consecutive season in the Premier League and 98th year as a club. In July 2003, long-time chairman Ken Bates sold the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked on 31 May 2004 and was replaced by José Mourinho for the following season.
Chelsea finished the season as runners-up in the Premier League. In the Champions League Chelsea reached the semi-finals against AS Monaco, but failed to reach the final, losing 5–3 on aggregate to the French side. They also exited the FA Cup in the fifth round to Arsenal and the Carling Cup in the quarter-finals to Aston Villa.
Team kit The team kit was produced by Umbro. The shirt sponsor was the airline Emirates; the kit bore the "Fly Emirates" logo. Chelsea's home kit was all blue with a white collar. Their new away kit was all white with black and blue stripes down the centre. Last season's away kit (all black with blue accents) was retained as the club's third kit.
First team squad Squad at end of season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In #PosPlayerFromFeeDate1 GK Jürgen Macho Sunderland Free 1 July 200331 GK Marco Ambrosio Chievo Verona Free 1 July 20032 DF Glen Johnson West Ham United £6,000,000 15 July 200314 MF Geremi Real Madrid £7,000,000 16 July 200318 DF Wayne Bridge Southampton £7,000,000 21 July 200311 MF Damien Duff Blackburn Rovers £17,000,000 21 July 200310 MF Joe Cole West Ham United £6,600,000 6 August 200320 MF Juan Sebastián Verón Manchester United £15,000,000 6 August 20037 FW Adrian Mutu Parma £15,800,000 12 August 20035 MF Alexey Smertin Bordeaux £3,450,000 25 August 200321 FW Hernán Crespo Inter Milan £16,800,000 26 August 200334 GK Neil Sullivan Tottenham Hotspur £500,000 29 August 20034 MF Claude Makélélé Real Madrid £16,000,000 31 August 200319 MF Scott Parker Charlton Athletic £10,000,000 30 January 2004
Out #PosPlayerToFeeDate17 DF Albert Ferrer Unattached Released 3 June 200325 FW Gianfranco Zola Cagliari Free 2 July 200320 MF Jody Morris Leeds United Free 18 July 200314 DF Graeme Le Saux Southampton £500,000 21 July 20031 GK Ed de Goey Stoke City Free 1 August 2003
Overall transfer activity
Total Spending Summer: £111,150,000
Winter: £10,000,000
Total: £121,150,000
Income Summer: £500,000
Winter: £0
Total: £500,000
Expenditure Summer: £110,650,000
Winter: £10,000,000
Total: £120,650,000
Competitions
Premier League
League table
Results summary
Matches
UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
FA Cup
League Cup
Statistics
Statistics taken from and . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .
References
External links Chelsea FC Official Website Chelsea FC on Soccerbase Chelsea FC on BBC Mark Worrall Official Website