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

Season summary Wigan were playing in Division One for the first time in their history, and after losing their first game many tipped them for a swift departure, but Wigan confounded expectations to go unbeaten for the next 17 games and sat at the top the table by November. A weak finish saw Wigan win only three of their last 10 games to finish seventh in Division One – a last minute goal by West Ham's Brian Deane in the final game of the season saw the Latics drop out of the play-off places in favour of eventual play-off winners Crystal Palace.

Transfers In PlayerPositionFromFeeDateNotes James Salisbury GK Burnley Free 29 July 2003 Gary Walsh GK Bradford City Free 7 August 2003 Geoff Horsfield FW Birmingham City £1 million 5 September 2003 Jason Roberts FW West Bromwich Albion £1.4 million 14 January 2004 Alan Mahon MF Blackburn Rovers Undisclosed 6 February 2004 Gareth Farrelly MF Bolton Wanderers Free 9 March 2004

Out PlayerPositionToFeeDateNotes Ged Brannan MF Accrington Stanley Free 27 November 2003 Geoff Horsfield FW West Bromwich Albion £1 million 18 December 2003 Gareth Farrelly MF Bohemians Released 30 June 2004 Peter Kennedy MF Peterborough United Released 30 June 2004 Chris Lynch DF Hyde United Released 30 June 2004 Ryan Yeomans GK Lancaster City Released 30 June 2004

Loans in PlayerPosFromDateDurationNotes Mark Burchill FW Portsmouth 20 August 2003 One month Jamie Lawrence MF Walsall 19 November 2003 One month Alan Rogers DF Leicester City 1 December 2003 Two months

Loans out PlayerPosToDateDurationNotes Ged Brannan MF Rochdale 11 September 2003 Two months Tony Dinning MF Walsall 19 November 2003 One month Magno Vieira FW Northampton Town 16 January 2004 Two months Tony Dinning MF Blackpool 24 January 2004 One month James Salisbury GK Leigh RMI 1 March 2004 One month

Pre-season The club began their pre-season with a training camp based near Eindhoven, Netherlands, arranging friendlies against Belgian Pro League club KVC Westerlo, and second-tier Dutch side FC Eindhoven. Six additional friendlies were played when the team returned home.

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes+ Pre-season friendlies 15 July 2003 KVC WesterloA1–0 Bullard 17 July 2003 FC EindhovenA2–2 Kennedy, Liddell 22 July 2003 SouthportA3–0 Roberts, McCulloch, Bullard 23 July 2003 Bradford Park AvenueA4–0 Roberts, Jarrett, Moore (2) 27 July 2003 FalkirkA0–1 29 July 2003 BurscoughA0–2 30 July 2003 RochdaleA2–2 Flynn, McCulloch 2 August 2003 Blackburn RoversH1–0 McCulloch

Results Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division + First Division match detailsDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 2003 MillwallA0–210,898 16 August 2003 Preston North EndH1–112,073McCulloch 23 August 2003 BurnleyA2–013,231Kennedy, Ellington 26 August 2003 Ipswich TownH1–08,292Ellington 30 August 2003 Rotherham UnitedA3–06,660Jarrett, Ellington, N. Roberts 13 September 2003 WimbledonA4–21,054Bullard, Liddell, Horsfield, Ellington 16 September 2003 West Bromwich AlbionH1–012,874Horsfield 20 September 2003 WatfordH1–09,211McCulloch 27 September 2003 Coventry CityA1–114,862Jackson 30 September 2003 Cardiff CityA0–015,143 4 October 2003 Norwich CityH1–19,346Liddell 11 October 2003 Derby CountyA2–219,151Liddell (2) 14 October 2003 Stoke CityH2–17,678Horsfield (2) 18 October 2003 GillinghamH1–06,696Liddell (pen) 21 October 2003 Sheffield UnitedH1–112,032Horsfield 25 October 2003 WalsallA0–27,041 1 November 2003 Crystal PalaceH5–06,796Liddell (2, 1 pen), Horsfield, Ellington (2) 8 November 2003 ReadingA0–113,819 22 November 2003 Nottingham ForestH2–210,403Ellington, Liddell 29 November 2003 West Ham UnitedA0–434,375 2 December 2003 SunderlandA1–122,167De Vos 6 December 2003 ReadingH0–27,512 13 December 2003 Bradford CityH1–07,256Horsfield 20 December 2003 Crewe AlexandraA3–27,873McCulloch, De Vos, Bullard 26 December 2003 Rotherham UnitedH1–29,235Ellington 28 December 2003 Sheffield UnitedA1–126,056Ellington 10 January 2004 MillwallH0–07,047 17 January 2004 Preston North EndA4–219,161J. Roberts, Ellington (2), Teale 31 January 2004 BurnleyH0–011,147 7 February 2004 Ipswich TownA3–122,093J. Roberts, Ellington, Teale 14 February 2004 Derby CountyH2–09,146Ellington, McCulloch 21 February 2004 Stoke CityA1–114,927Ellington 28 February 2004 WalsallH1–07,593Ellington 6 March 2004 Crewe AlexandraH2–38,367McCulloch (2) 13 March 2004 Bradford CityA0–011,744 16 March 2004 West Bromwich AlbionA1–226,215Liddell (pen) 20 March 2004 Coventry CityH2–18,784J. Roberts (2) 27 March 2004 WatfordA1–113,382J. Roberts 3 April 2004 WimbledonH0–17,622 6 April 2004 GillinghamA3–07,410Ellington, J. Roberts, Mahon 9 April 2004 Norwich CityA0–223,446 13 April 2004 Cardiff CityH3–08,052J. Roberts, Ellington 17 April 2004 Crystal PalaceA1–118,799Ellington 24 April 2004 SunderlandH0–011,380 1 May 2004 Nottingham ForestA0–129,172 9 May 2004 West Ham UnitedH1–120,669N. Roberts

Final league table

FA Cup

+ FA Cup match detailsRoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR33 January 2004 West Ham UnitedH1–211,793Quinn (own goal)

League Cup

+ League Cup match detailsRoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR112 August 2003 Hull CityH2–03,295McCulloch, JarrettR223 September 2003 FulhamH1–04,874EllingtonR329 October 2003 MiddlesbroughH1–28,046Bullard

Squad statistics Squad at end of season

Appearances and goals

|colspan="12"|Players who appeared for Wigan and left during the season:

Notes

References