The 2003–04 FA Premier League (known as the FA

Barclaycard Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom. History Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followi ...

Premiership) was the 12th season of 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 Fo ...

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 mostl ...

were crowned champions ending the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38-game league season. Chelsea finished second to Arsenal.

Season summary

Having qualified for the Champions League the previous season, Chelsea were bolstered by a £100 million outlay on world-class players, a spree funded by the extensive financial resources of their new owner

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

. Manchester United's attack was as strong as ever thanks to free-scoring

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

, but the midfield was weakened following the £25 million pre-season sale of

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending ...

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, and the centre of defence suffered a more severe setback after

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and w ...

was ruled out for the final four months of the season after being found guilty of the "failure or refusal to take a drugs test". The case of Rio Ferdinand started a debate about punishments relating to drug testing in football, with there being differing views on whether the punishment was too harsh or too lenient. Ferdinand's club sought to make direct comparisons with an earlier case of Manchester City reserve player who had in fact committed a lesser drug testing offence and as a result escaped with only a fine.

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

themselves had just moved from

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

to the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. Arsenal, meanwhile, had only signed German goalkeeper

Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...

in the 2003 close season, but French striker

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

was instrumental in Arsenal's success. Away from the Premier League,

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

's team suffered disappointment in the cup competitions. They were knocked-out by

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

eventual winners Middlesbrough in the semi-finals. They lost their grip on 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 compet ...

(which they held for two seasons in a row) after being defeated by eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-final. Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Chelsea (3–2 on aggregate). These blows in the FA Cup and Champions League came within a few days of each other, and it was feared that Arsenal might squander their lead of the Premier League for the second successive season, but Arsenal easily defeated

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

only days later. The 2003/04 Premier League season saw

lead the North-London club to a first

undefeated season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...

, solidifying his managerial legacy and longevity to the Arsenal fanbase as they finished the season with 26 wins, 12 draws, 0 defeats and 90 points; the tied-tenth highest points tally ever seen in a premier league season, winning with an 11-point margin to Claudio Ranieri's Chelsea.

proved decisive in the critical moments, inspiring comebacks against close rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, including a hat-trick to seal a 4-2 win from being 2-1 down initially. The relegation spots were occupied by three teams bracketed together on 33 points.

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

followed the trend of many other newly promoted Premier League clubs and were relegated just one season after reaching the top division. For Leicester City, they would not return to the top flight for another 10 years and became the league champions for the first time ever in their history just a season later, whilst Wolves had been promoted back to the top flight in 2009-10 Premier League and slipped down again 3 years later. The other relegation place went to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, whose playing fortunes had dipped in the past two seasons after

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United, subsequently managing Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai. The majority of his 20-yea ...

was sacked as manager and club debts had risen so high that many star players had to be sold. As a result, Leeds were relegated from the Premier League after 14 years of top division football – just three seasons after they had reached the Champions League semifinals, and they would not return for another 16 years. In his third season as Middlesbrough manager,

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

had guided the Teessiders to their first ever major trophy – sealed with a 2–1 win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

in the

final. McClaren was also the first English manager to win a major trophy since Brian Little guided

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, ...

to League Cup success in 1996. He was also the first manager to take Middlesbrough into European competition – they would be competing in the 2004–05

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

, returning to the top flight after an absence of fifteen, one and nineteen years respectively. This was also both Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers' first season in the Premier League. They replaced

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

after spending time in the top flight for ten, one and four years respectively.

Stadiums and Locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Season statistics

Results

Overall

*Most wins –

(26) *Fewest wins –

(6) *Most draws –

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

(17) *Fewest draws –

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

(6) *Most losses –

(21) *Fewest losses –

(0) *Most goals scored –

(73) *Fewest goals scored –

(38) *Most goals conceded –

(79) *Fewest goals conceded –

(26)

Top scorers

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

LMA Manager of the Year

The

LMA Manager of the Year The League Managers Association Awards is an annual award ceremony in English football, awarded by the League Managers Association. The most prestigious award is the LMA Manager of the Year award. It is presented to a manager from any division for ...

award was won by

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

award for 2004 was won by

of Arsenal for the second successive year. The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows: *

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, ...

(Liverpool) *

(Arsenal) *

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielde ...

(Chelsea) *

Jay-Jay Okocha Augustine Azuka Okocha ( ; born 14 August 1973), commonly known as Jay-Jay Okocha, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played 73 times for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scorin ...

(Bolton Wanderers) *

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premi ...

(Newcastle United) *

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

(Arsenal)

PFA Young Player of the Year

The

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

award was won by Scott Parker of Chelsea F.C. The shortlist for the award was as follows: *

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

(Chelsea) * Scott Parker (Charlton Athletic/Chelsea) *

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

(Everton) *

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...

(Chelsea) *

Kolo Touré Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Championship side Wigan Athletic. He played as a defender for Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic and the Ivory Co ...

(Arsenal) *

Shaun Wright-Phillips Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major Leagu ...

(Manchester City)

PFA Team of the Year

Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Manchester United)
Defence: Lauren,

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is cons ...

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...

(all Arsenal),

(Chelsea)
Midfield:

(Liverpool),

, Robert Pires (both Arsenal),

(Chelsea)
Attack:

(Arsenal),

(Manchester United)

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

of Arsenal was named the

PFA Fans' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Fans' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, or simply the Fans' Player of the Year) award is given to footballers in the top four flights of English football, the Premier Leag ...

for the second consecutive year. Henry was the first player to win this award twice.

FWA Footballer of the Year

The

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

award for 2004 was won by

. The Arsenal forward picked up a remarkable 87% of the votes.

Premier League Fair Play Award

The Premier League Fair Play Award merit is given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Champions Arsenal won this.

Behaviour of the Public League

Given to the best-behaved fans, Arsenal won this, thus achieving a fair play double.

Premier League Manager of the Year

won the

Premier League Manager of the Year The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association football award presented to managers in England. It recognises the most outstanding manager in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the l ...

award. His team won 26 games, losing none and drawing 12 scoring 73 goals, conceding 26.

References

External links

2003–04 FA Premier League Season at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 FA Premier League Premier League seasons Eng 1