2003–04 Stoke City F.C. season


The 2003–04 season was Stoke City's 97th season in the Football League and the 37th in the second tier.
With Stoke being successful in avoiding relegation manager Tony Pulis could begin making alterations to his squad for the 2003–04 season. A number of ins and outs followed but after a good start Stoke won just five of their first 21 matches and it seemed that another fight against relegation would be required. But after a win against West Ham United in December Stoke went nine matches unbeaten and pulled themselves away from relegation trouble. Their good form continued until the end of the season with Stoke ending a promising season of consolidation in 11th position with 66 points.

Season review

League

Manager Tony Pulis made a number of alterations to his squad in the summer of 2003 as a number of players which helped Stoke gain promotion and subsequent survival left the club and in came several new players. These included experienced goalkeeper Ed de Goey, defenders Clint Hill and John Halls, midfielders John Eustace and Darel Russell and forwards Carl Asaba and Gifton Noel-Williams whilst the most notable departures was that of James O'Connor and fan favourite Sergei Shtanuk.
Stoke began the 2003–04 season well beating Derby County 3–0 on the opening match and then Wimbledon to see Stoke sitting top of the table after two matches. But Stoke's form soon fell away and despite the return of Ade Akinbiyi Stoke won just 5 of their first 21 fixtures which ended with a 3–2 defeat at home to Cardiff City with former fan favorite Peter Thorne scoring a hat trick but such as his popularity with the club he refused to celebrate and earned a standing ovation from the Stoke supporters. With Stoke looking likely to be involved in another scrap against relegation Pulis brought in experienced no nonsense defender Gerry Taggart and in his first match he helped Stoke claim an unlikely three points away at high-flying West Ham United. This prompted Stoke's revival and in the next match Stoke beat Reading 3–0 with a hat trick from Dutch winger Peter Hoekstra.
Stoke remained unbeaten for six more matches until their run was halted by a heavy 6–3 defeat at Crystal Palace. Whilst there was some hope from the fans that Stoke could mount a late push for a play-off spot they failed to keep a consistent run of form going and ended the season in a mid-table position of 11th. It was a promising end to the season with Stoke beating all-ready promoted West Bromwich Albion 4–1 and the feeling around the club was that they could now begin to look for a promotion to the Premier League rather that worry about being relegated to the third tier.

FA Cup

Stoke drew Wimbledon in the third round who had now moved to Milton Keynes and after a bad tempered 1–1 draw at the National Hockey Stadium a free kick from Adam Nowland settled the replay.

League Cup

Stoke had a poor League Cup campaign as they narrowly beat Rochdale and were then knocked out 2–0 by Gillingham.

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Pre-Season Friendlies

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
19 August 2003Derby CountyA3–021,517Noel-Williams 15', Greenacre 20', Neal 90'
216 August 2003WimbledonH2–112,550Asaba 26', Thomas 90+3'
323 August 2003WalsallA1–19,033Asaba 33'
426 August 2003MillwallH0–013,087
530 August 2003Preston North EndA0–112,965
66 September 2003BurnleyH1–214,867Asaba 53'
713 September 2003Coventry CityA2–413,982Asaba 45', Thomas 78'
816 September 2003SunderlandH3–115,005Noel-Williams 24', Russell 37', 39'
920 September 2003Norwich CityH1–110,672Noel-Williams 36'
1027 September 2003West Bromwich AlbionA0–124,297
1130 September 2003Rotherham UnitedA0–35,450
124 October 2003Nottingham ForestH2–113,755Thomas 6', Asaba 31'
1314 October 2003Wigan AthleticA1–27,678Noel-Williams 40'
1418 October 2003Ipswich TownA0–122,122
1525 October 2003Crewe AlexandraH1–117,569Greenacre 90+1'
161 November 2003Sheffield UnitedH2–214,217Noel-Williams 4', Akinbiyi 18'
178 November 2003Cardiff CityA1–315,227Commons 59'
1822 November 2003Bradford CityH1–011,661Eustace 11'
1925 November 2003Crystal PalaceH0–110,277
2029 November 2003GillinghamA1–37,888Eustace 77'
216 December 2003Cardiff CityH2–312,208Eustace 38', Akinbiyi 74'
229 December 2003West Ham UnitedA1–024,365Richardson 33'
2313 December 2003ReadingH3–011,212Hoekstra 18', 29', 87'
2420 December 2003WatfordA3–113,732Taggart 15', Akinbiyi 55', 72'
2526 December 2003Preston North EndH1–120,126Eustace 90+2'
2628 December 2003BurnleyA1–012,812Akinbiyi 52'
2710 January 2004Derby CountyH2–116,402Akinbiyi 29', Taggart 53'
2817 January 2004WimbledonA1–03,623Noel-Williams 54'
2931 January 2004WalsallH3–218,035Russell 8', Asaba 37', 56'
307 February 2004MillwallA1–19,034Clarke 4'
3114 February 2004Crystal PalaceA3–616,715Eustace 6', Clarke 45', Asaba 83'
3221 February 2004Wigan AthleticH1–114,927Akinbiyi 45'
332 March 2004Ipswich TownH2–011,435Hoekstra 37', Akinbiyi 68'
346 March 2004WatfordH3–113,108Akinbiyi 18', 43', Noel-Williams 20'
3513 March 2004ReadingA0–014,132
3616 March 2004SunderlandA1–124,510Svärd 13'
3723 March 2004Crewe AlexandraA0–210,014
3827 March 2004Norwich CityA0–123,565
393 April 2004Coventry CityH1–012,855Commons 41'
4010 April 2004Nottingham ForestA0–028,758
4112 April 2004Rotherham UnitedH0–211,978
4217 April 2004Sheffield UnitedA1–019,372Clarke 45'
4324 April 2004West Ham UnitedH0–218,227
441 May 2004Bradford CityA2–010,147Noel-Williams 2', 46'
454 May 2004West Bromwich AlbionH4–118,352Russell 45', Commons 62', 73', Noel-Williams 86'
469 May 2004GillinghamH0–019,240

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R34 January 2004WimbledonA1–13,609Eustace 13'
R3 Replay25 January 2004WimbledonH0–16,463

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R119 August 2003RochdaleH2–14,687Iwelumo 13', Goodfellow 90'
R223 September 2003GillinghamH0–24,607

Squad statistics