The 2003–04 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 12th consecutive season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and 98th year as a club. Manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...

was sacked on 31 May 2004 and was replaced by

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

. In July 2003, long-time chairman

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bates ...

sold the club to Russian billionaire

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...

. Chelsea finished the season as runners-up in the

. In the Champions League Chelsea reached the semi-finals against

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

, but failed to reach the final, losing 5–3 on aggregate to the French side. They also exited the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in the fifth round to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and the Carling Cup in the quarter-finals to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Team kit

The team kit was produced by

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...

. The shirt sponsor was

Emirates Airline Emirates ( ar, طَيَران الإمارات DMG: ''Ṭayarān Al-Imārāt'') is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, whic ...

; 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 center. 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

Out

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 fro

an

Squad details and shirt numbers fro

an

References

External links

Chelsea FC Official Website

Chelsea FC on Soccerbase

Chelsea FC on BBC

Mark Worrall Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Chelsea F.C. Season Chelsea F.C. seasons

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...