The 2003–04 season saw

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 ...

competing in the First Division for the first time since the 1992–93 season, having been relegated from the Premiership in 18th place the previous year.

Season summary

Following West Ham's relegation from the Premiership, several key players left the club that summer, including

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

Trevor Sinclair Trevor Lloyd Sinclair (born 2 March 1973) is an English football coach, professional footballer and pundit. As a player, he was winger who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United and Manchester City. He ...

Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foo ...

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward ...

and

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 ...

. Young striker

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

had also submitted a transfer request just one day after their relegation, but this was rejected and he would remain with the club for the start of the new season. Manager Glenn Roeder, who had since recovered from the brain tumour that caused him to miss the end of the previous season, immediately set about rebuilding his squad, signing Kevin Horlock,

Matthew Etherington Matthew Etherington (born 14 August 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Crawley Town. As a player, Etherington played as a winger, most notably in the Premier League for ...

Rob Lee Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professional footballer and sports co-commentator. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United. His time at ...

and

David Connolly David James Connolly (born 6 June 1977) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for various clubs including Feyenoord and Excelsior in the Netherlands as well as Wigan Athletic and Sunderland in the Premier Le ...

prior to the beginning of the campaign. After a win over Preston North End on the opening day, a draw and a loss would follow and Roeder was sacked three games into the season. Sir Trevor Brooking once again took over as caretaker manager, and form improved as they won their next four games. A permanent replacement was soon found for Roeder, when Alan Pardew was bought in from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

as new manager in October. Despite continuing to be a prolific goalscorer for the club, disciplinary issues became a problem for striker Jermain Defoe, who was sent off three times and played just 22 out of a possible 34 games due to suspension in the first half of the season. This, combined with his repeated refusal to sign a new contract, meant West Ham allowed him to leave the club in January to sign with

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

in a swap deal that saw West Ham take out of favour striker Bobby Zamora. Along with Defoe, goalkeeper David James and club mainstay

Ian Pearce Ian Anthony Pearce (born 7 May 1974) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is the head of recruitment at West Bromwich Albion. As a player he was defender from 1990 until 2012, notably in the Premier League for B ...

would also leave for Manchester City and

Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage unde ...

respectively. Under the guidance of Pardew, West Ham performed well enough to finish fourth and earn themselves a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

finish. They would lose 1–0 to 5th place

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

in the first leg of their playoff semi-final, but bounced back to win 2–0 in the second, advancing to the final where they would face

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

at the Millennium Stadium. A goal from

Neil Shipperley Neil Jason Shipperley (born 30 October 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Sheffi ...

after 61 minutes would be enough to give Palace the win, consigning the Hammers to another season in English football's second tier.

Final League table

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Results

First Division

''Manager:

Glenn Roeder Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager. As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...

'' ''Caretaker Manager:

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England. He spent almost his entire career at West ...

'' ''Manager: Alan Pardew''

First Division play-offs

League Cup

FA Cup

Statistics

Overview

Goalscorers

League position by matchday

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 West Ham United F.C. season West Ham United F.C. seasons