2003–04 FA Premier League


The 2003–04 FA Premier League was the 12th season of the Premier League. Arsenal were the champions and Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the season, were the runners up. Arsenal ended the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38-game league season and the second team overall.

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. Manchester United's attack was as strong as ever thanks to free-scoring Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the midfield was weakened following the £25 million pre-season sale of David Beckham to Real Madrid, and the centre of defence suffered a more severe setback after Rio Ferdinand 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 themselves had just moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.
Arsenal, meanwhile, had only signed German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the 2003 close season, but French striker Thierry Henry was instrumental in Arsenal's success. Away from the Premier League, Arsène Wenger's team suffered disappointment in the cup competitions. They were knocked-out by League Cup eventual winners Middlesbrough in the semi-finals. They lost their defence of the FA Cup after losing to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-final. Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Chelsea. 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 thumped Liverpool only days later. Arsenal's Invincibles finished the season with 26 wins, 12 draws, 0 defeats and 90 points.
The three relegation spots were occupied by three teams bracketed together on 33 points. Wolves and Leicester City followed the trend of many other newly promoted Premier League clubs and were relegated just one season after reaching the top division. The other relegation place went to Leeds United, whose playing fortunes had dipped in the past two seasons after David O'Leary was sacked as manager and club debts had risen so high that many star players had to be sold. As a result, Leeds were finally 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 had guided the Teessiders to their first ever major trophy – sealed with a 2–1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final. McClaren was also the first English manager to win a major trophy since Brian Little guided Aston Villa 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.

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, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, 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 Bromwich Albion and Sunderland after spending time in the top flight for ten, one and four years respectively.

Stadiums and Locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
ArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium38,419
Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park42,553
Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's30,079
Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park31,367
Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium28,723
Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley27,111
ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge42,360
EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park40,569
FulhamLondon Loftus Road18,493
Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road40,242
Leicester CityLeicesterKing Power Stadium32,312
LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield45,276
Manchester CityManchesterCity of Manchester Stadium48,000
Manchester UnitedOld TraffordOld Trafford68,217
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium35,049
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park52,387
PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park20,220
SouthamptonSouthamptonSt Mary's Stadium32,505
Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane36,240
Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhamptonMolineux Stadium29,303

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Season statistics

Results

Overall

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

LMA Manager of the Year

The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by Arsène Wenger.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2004 was won by Thierry Henry of Arsenal for the second successive year.
The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows:
The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Scott Parker of Chelsea F.C..
The shortlist for the award was as follows:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard
Defence: Lauren, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, John Terry
Midfield: Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Frank Lampard
Attack: Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy

PFA Fans' Player of the Year

of Arsenal was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year 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 award for 2004 was won by Thierry Henry. 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 award. His team won 26 games, losing 0 and drawing 12 scoring 73 goals, conceding 26.