2003–04 Leicester City F.C. season


During the 2003–04 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary

had guided Leicester back to the Premiership at the first attempt, despite the club spending part of their Division One campaign in receivership before a takeover safeguarded their future. But he was unable to keep them there, and their relegation was confirmed at the beginning of May. A 4–0 thumping of fellow relegation rivals Leeds United in September appeared to have set the tone for the rest of the season but it was soon followed by a setback of five straight defeats despite promising displays. A run of three wins in five games in November kept Leicester in close contention of survival, with the 2–0 victory at Portsmouth seeing them rise to as high as 12th; however, it all went wrong as, after a creditable 1–1 draw with eventual champions Arsenal, the team went into freefall and endured a dreadful run of only one win in 22 games. Ultimately, Leicester were relegated in a 2–2 draw at Charlton Athletic, which left them eight points adrift of Manchester City with two games remaining. It was a traumatic end to a season which had seen the club plagued with crises on and off the field, including the La Manga controversy when players Keith Gillespie, Frank Sinclair and Paul Dickov were accused of sexual assault following an alleged incident at a hotel in Spain.

Final league table

;Results summary
;Results by round

Results

Leicester City's score comes first

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R33 January 2004Manchester CityA30,617Dickov, Bent
R3R14 January 2004Manchester CityH18,916Ferdinand

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R223 September 2003Crewe AlexandraH27,675Dickov
R329 October 2003Aston VillaA26,729

Squad

Left club during the season

Reserve squad

Statistics

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
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred or loaned out during the season

Starting 11

In

Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2003–04 season.
Player of the SeasonLes Ferdinand
Players' Player of the SeasonLes Ferdinand
Supporters' Club Player of the SeasonN/A
Academy Player of the SeasonRichard Stearman
Goal of the SeasonLilian Nalis