Since its inception in 1979, The Football Conference has formed the fifth-highest level of the overall
English Football League System
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
.
The 2003–04 Football Conference season was the 25th season of the
Football Conference and the last consisting of a single division. The top team and the winner of the
play-offs were promoted to
Football League Two, while this season only one team was relegated.
A total of 22 teams contest the division, including 17 sides from
last season, two relegated from the Football League Two and winners of Northern Premier League, Southern Football League and Isthmian League.
Promotion and relegation
Teams promoted from
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
*
Accrington Stanley
Teams promoted from
Southern Football League
The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...
*
Tamworth
Teams promoted from
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
*
Aldershot Town
Teams relegated from
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
*
Exeter City
*
Shrewsbury Town
Overview
All teams participating were professional, except for
Aldershot Town, who were part-timers. In fact, Aldershot's performance exceeded everyone's expectations.
Chester City clinched the league title and won promotion to
Football League Two.
Shrewsbury Town also earned promotion to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
following their 3–0
play-off win on penalties after a 1–1 draw with
Aldershot Town.
No clubs were relegated on the basis of their performances, due to Margate being demoted, Telford folding and the winners and runners-up of the
Unibond League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...
not meeting the criteria for a place in the Football Conference.
Shrewsbury Town had the highest attendance, 84,150 in all, with an average of 4,007.
Margate and
Leigh RMI had the least spectators with 11,905 and 11,881, respectively, with an average of 567 and 566, respectively.
The total number of attendance was 880,220, yielding an average of 1905 per game, which was the all-time record for the Football Conference.
[''Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2005''. Glenda Rollin & Jack Rollin (eds.), Headline, 2004.]
The regular season began on 9 August 2003, and ended on 24 April 2004.
Final league table
Locations
Results
Play-offs
The
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
play-offs determined the second team that would be promoted to
Football League Two. The teams placed second through fifth qualified for the play-offs. The semi-finals were played in a two-leg, home and away format, while the final was played as one leg.
Top scorers in order of league goals
Source:
References
External links
Official Football Conference website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Football Conference
National League (English football) seasons
5
English