The 2003–04 season was the 105th full season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the Premiership, the highest level of English football. This marked their first ever appearance in the modern Premier League, and their first season in the top flight since 1983–84. The club had been promoted after having won the play-off final at the end of the previous season to earn the final promotion spot.

Their return to the top level proved short-lived as the team struggled throughout the campaign and were eventually relegated in 20th place, finishing bottom of the division on goal difference, seven points short of safety. They were officially relegated after failing to win their penultimate game, although their vastly inferior goal difference meant that survival was effectively ruled out on 1 May 2004, despite victory, owing to relegation rivals Manchester City also winning.

Wolves became the third team in Premier League history to fail to win an away game during a season. Contributing to this outcome was a series of serious injuries to key players, with Matt Murray and Joleon Lescott missing almost the entire season and Mark Kennedy and Kenny Miller kept out for long periods.

Pre-season Wolves split their squad into two groups, one led by manager Dave Jones, another by coach Terry Connor after assistant manager John Ward left the club. Preparations also included a week's warm weather training in Jerez, Spain. A planned friendly against Dutch side ADO Den Haag was cancelled on the day of the game after a water leak hit the venue, Telford United's Bucks Head stadium. Only the final friendly was held at Wolves' Molineux home.

FA Premier League

A total of 20 teams competed in the FA Premiership in the 2003–04 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 19 June 2003, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.

Final table

Results summary

FA Cup

League Cup

Statistics

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Awards AwardWinner Fans' Player of the Season Henri Camara Young Player of the Season Mark Clyde Academy Player of the Season Kevin O'Connor

Transfers

In Date Player From Fee 7 July 2003 Oleh Luzhnyi Unattached Free 8 July 2003 Isaac Okoronkwo Shakhtar Donetsk Free 9 July 2003 Silas União de Leiria £1 million 31 July 2003 Jody Craddock Sunderland £1.75 million 1 August 2003 Henri Camara Sedan £1.5 million 1 August 2003 Steffen Iversen Tottenham Hotspur Free 31 December 2003 Ionel Ganea Bursaspor Free 25 January 2004 Carl Cort Newcastle United £2 million 29 January 2004 Paul Jones Southampton £250,000

Out Date Player To Fee June 2003 Michael Branch Released Free June 2003 Kenny Coleman Released Free June 2003 Marc Edworthy Released Free June 2003 Ludovic Pollet Released Free June 2003 Graham Ward Released Free 25 June 2003 Mo Camara Burnley Free 22 July 2003 Cédric Roussel Racing Genk Undisclosed 5 September 2003 Adam Proudlock Sheffield Wednesday £150,000 10 October 2003 Ian McGrane Released Free 23 October 2003 Ívar Ingimarsson Reading £100,000 17 March 2004 Jimmi-Lee Jones Released Free 25 March 2004 Nathan Talbott Yeovil Town Free

Loans in Start date Player From End date 29 August 2003 Joey Guðjónsson Real Betis End of season 1 September 2003 Hassan Kachloul Aston Villa 16 January 2004 12 November 2003 Andy Marshall Ipswich Town 12 January 2004

Loans out Start datePlayerToEnd date 8 August 2003 Keith Andrews Stoke City 9 November 2003 15 August 2003 Jimmi-Lee Jones Forest Green Rovers 15 September 2003 3 October 2003 John Melligan Kidderminster Harriers 6 November 2003 18 November 2003 John Melligan Doncaster Rovers End of season 30 December 2003 Dean Sturridge Sheffield United 8 February 2004 7 January 2004 Kevin Cooper Sunderland 18 March 2004 12 March 2004 Keith Andrews Walsall End of season 19 March 2004 Kevin Cooper Norwich City End of season 25 March 2004 Leon Clarke Kidderminster Harriers End of season

Kit The season saw a new away kit, manufactured by Admiral, that was all black with minor gold trim. The home kit was the same as the previous season. Doritos sponsored the club for a second and final season.

References