2003–04 Ipswich Town F.C. season

During the 2003–04 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary Ipswich Town, in their second consecutive season in English football's second tier, finished the campaign in fifth place. Having scored 84 goals, Town suffered from their poor defensive record: with 72 goals conceded, Town had the third worst defensive record in the whole division, and the worst of the top 18 teams. Town won the first leg of their play-off, against fourth-placed West Ham United, with a goal from teenage striker Darren Bent (who scored 15 goals in the league alone), but lost the second leg 2–0, condemning Town to another season in the new championship.

First-team squad Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Pre-season Ipswich's pre-season preparations for the 2003–04 season included a pre-season tour of Scandinavia in July.

Legend WinDrawLoss

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 15 July 2003 Southend UnitedA4–2UnknownWestlake, M Bent, D Bent, Couñago 18 July 2003 MjällbyA3–1UnknownM Bent, D Bent, Couñago 20 July 2003 Helsingør IFA3–1UnknownD Bent (2), M Bent 22 July 2003 Trelleborgs FFA5–0UnknownD Bent (pen), Couñago, Reuser, M Bent, Wilnis 26 July 2003 Colchester UnitedA3–0UnknownM Bent, D Bent (2) 30 July 2003 Boston UnitedA2–0UnknownWestlake, Armstrong 1 August 2003 Levski SofiaH1–1UnknownCouñago

Competitions Football League First Division

League table

Legend WinDrawLoss Ipswich Town's score comes first

Matches DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 2003 Reading H 1–1 24,830 Miller (pen) 16 August 2003 Crewe Alexandra A 0–1 6,982 23 August 2003 Coventry City H 1–1 22,419 M Bent 26 August 2003 Wigan Athletic A 0–1 8,292 30 August 2003 West Ham United H 1–2 29,679 Wright 13 September 2003 West Bromwich Albion A 1–4 24,954 Naylor 16 September 2003 Walsall H 2–1 20,912 Armstrong (pen), D Bent 20 September 2003 Wimbledon H 4–1 23,428 Armstrong, Naylor, D Bent, Couñago (pen) 27 September 2003 Watford A 2–1 15,350 Kuqi, Magilton 30 September 2003 Sunderland A 2–3 24,840 D Bent, Naylor 4 October 2003 Rotherham United H 2–1 21,859 Couñago (2) (pen) 11 October 2003 Bradford City A 1–0 10,229 Mahon 14 October 2003 Burnley H 6–1 22,048 Couñago (2), Wright, Chris Bart-Williams, Chaplow (o.g.), Kuqi 18 October 2003 Stoke City H 1–0 22,122 Richards 21 October 2003 Crystal Palace A 4–3 15,483 Naylor (2), Couñago, Kuqi 25 October 2003 Preston North End A 1–1 14,863 Couñago (pen) 1 November 2003 Gillingham H 3–4 24,788 Westlake, Couñago, Miller 8 November 2003 Derby County A 2–2 19,976 Miller (pen), D Bent 22 November 2003 Sheffield United H 3–0 25,004 Kuqi (pen), Westlake, D Bent 29 November 2003 Cardiff City A 3–2 17,833 Miller, Santos, Bart-Williams 3 December 2003 Nottingham Forest A 1–1 21,558 D Bent 6 December 2003 Derby County H 2–1 25,018 D Bent, Mawene (o.g.) 13 December 2003 Millwall A 0–0 9,829 21 December 2003 Norwich City H 0–2 30,152 26 December 2003 West Ham United A 2–1 35,021 Couñago (2) (pen) 28 December 2003 Crystal Palace H 1–3 27,629 Wright 10 January 2004 Reading A 1–1 17,362 McGreal 17 January 2004 Crewe Alexandra H 6–4 22,071 Miller (2), Kuqi (2), Reuser, Couñago 31 January 2004 Coventry City A 1–1 14,441 Westlake 7 February 2004 Wigan Athletic H 1–3 22,093 Kuqi 14 February 2004 Bradford City H 3–1 21,478 Kuqi, Westlake, D Bent 21 February 2004 Burnley A 2–4 12,418 Miller, Reuser 28 February 2004 Preston North End H 2–0 23,359 Miller, Westlake 2 March 2004 Stoke City A 0–2 11,435 7 March 2004 Norwich City A 1–3 23,942 Miller 13 March 2004 Millwall H 1–3 23,582 D Bent 16 March 2004 Walsall A 3–1 6,562 D Bent (3) 20 March 2004 Watford H 4–1 23,524 Bowditch (3), Wright 27 March 2004 Wimbledon A 2–1 6,389 D Bent, Kuqi 4 April 2004 West Bromwich Albion H 2–3 24,608 Miller, D Bent 10 April 2004 Rotherham United A 3–1 6,561 Wright, D Bent, Kuqi 12 April 2004 Sunderland H 1–0 26,801 Miller (pen) 17 April 2004 Gillingham A 2–1 9,641 Reuser, D Bent 24 April 2004 Nottingham Forest H 1–2 27,848 Bowditch 30 April 2004 Sheffield United A 1–1 24,184 Westlake 9 May 2004 Cardiff City H 1–1 28,703 Kuqi

First Division play-offs +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers SF 1st Leg 15 May 2004 West Ham United H 1–0 28,435 D Bent SF 2nd Leg 18 May 2004 West Ham United A 0–2 34,002

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers R3 4 January 2004 Derby County H 3–0 16,159 Naylor, Miller, Kuqi R4 24 January 2004 Sunderland H 1–2 21,406 Reuser

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers R3 13 August 2003 Kidderminster Harriers H 1–0 11,118 Bowditch R4 23 September 2003 Notts County A 1–2 4,059 Couñago

Transfers Transfers in DatePosNameFromFeeRef4 June 2003DF Drissa Diallo BurnleyFree transfer17 July 2003DF Georges Santos Grimsby TownFree transfer28 July 2003GK Kelvin Davis WimbledonFree transfer27 November 2003FW Shefki Kuqi Sheffield WednesdayFree transfer11 December 2003MF Chris Bart-Williams Charlton AthleticUndisclosed17 December 2003GK Nathan Abbey HayesFree transfer

Loans in Date fromPosNameFromDate untilRef5 September 2003DF Alan Mahon Blackburn Rovers22 December 200310 September 2003MF Chris Bart-Williams Charlton Athletic11 December 200326 September 2003FW Shefki Kuqi Sheffield Wednesday27 November 200314 March 2004DF Matt Elliott Leicester City30 June 2004

Transfers out DatePosNameToFeeRef9 June 2003DF Lee Beevers Boston UnitedFree transfer12 June 2003MF Finidi GeorgeFree agentMutual Consent16 June 2003MF Matt Holland Charlton Athletic£750,00019 June 2003MF Ulrich Le Pen StrasbourgFree transfer1 July 2003MF Matthew RobinsonFree agentReleased10 July 2003DF Mark Venus Cambridge UnitedFree transfer18 July 2003GK Matteo Sereni LazioUndisclosed31 July 2003DF Thomas Gaardsøe West Bromwich AlbionUndisclosed2 September 2003DF Erdem Artun DarlingtonFree transfer3 November 2003GK James Pullen Peterborough UnitedFree transferPullen joins Posh23 December 2003MF Matt Bloomfield Wycombe WanderersFree transfer16 January 2004GK Nathan Abbey BurnleyFree transfer25 March 2004GK Andy Marshall MillwallFree transfer

Loans out Date fromPosNameFromDate untilRef4 August 2003GK James Pullen Dagenham & Redbridge19 October 2003Hill brings in Pullen1 September 2003FW Marcus Bent Leicester City30 June 200411 November 2003GK Andy Marshall Wolverhampton Wanderers1 January 200410 December 2003FW Sam Morrow Boston United11 January 200410 December 2003DF Chris Hogg Boston United14 March 200422 December 2003FW Alun Armstrong Bradford City18 March 200417 January 2004MF Nabil Abidallah Northampton Town17 February 200428 January 2004GK Andy Marshall Millwall24 March 2004

Squad statistics All statistics updated as of end of season

Appearances and goals

! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers

! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders

! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders

! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards

! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season

Goalscorers No.PosNatPlayerFirst DivisionFA CupLeague CupPlay-offsTotal18FW Darren Bent15001168MF Tommy Miller11100129FW Pablo Couñago110101232FW Shefki Kuqi111001212DF Richard Naylor5100633MF Ian Westlake6000611MF Jermaine Wright5000517FW Dean Bowditch4010530MF Martijn Reuser3100410FW Alun Armstrong2000223MF Chris Bart-Williams200024DF John McGreal100017MF Jim Magilton1000114DF Matt Richards1000115DF Georges Santos1000116FW Marcus Bent1000125MF Alan Mahon10001Own goal10001Total8242189

Clean sheets No.NatPlayerFirst DivisionFA CupLeague CupPlay-offsTotal1Kelvin Davis61119Total61119

Disciplinary record No.Pos.NameFirst DivisionFA CupLeague CupPlay-offsTotal 1GK Kelvin Davis10000000102DF Fabian Wilnis701000201003DF Chris Makin20000000204DF John McGreal20000000205DF Drissa Diallo41000000416DF Matt Elliott20000000207MF Jim Magilton50000010608MF Tommy Miller20000000209FW Pablo Couñago400000004011MF Jermaine Wright200000002012DF Richard Naylor800000008014DF Matt Richards500000005015DF Georges Santos800000008017FW Dean Bowditch100000001018FW Darren Bent100000001023MF Chris Bart-Williams900000009025MF Alan Mahon400000004030MF Martijn Reuser100000001032FW Shefki Kuqi500000005033MF Ian Westlake3000000030Total761100030801

Starting 11 Considering starts in all competitions

4–4–2 Formation

Awards Player awards AwardPlayerRefPlayer of the Year Ian WestlakePlayers' Player of the Year Jermaine WrightYoung Player of the Year Dean Bowditch

References