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Premier League
2003-04
Premier League Logo (2001-2004)
Season information
Dates (16 August 2003–15 May 2004)
Winners Arsenal
3rd Premier League title
13th English title
Relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers
Leeds United
Leicester City
Domestic cup winners
FA Cup Manchester United
Carling Cup Middlesbrough
FA Community Shield Manchester United
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League Arsenal
Manchester United
Liverpool
UEFA Cup Newcastle United
Middlesbrough
Season statistics
Matches played 380
Goals scored 1012
Average (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer Thierry Henry (30)
Biggest home win Arsenal 5-0 Leeds
Chelsea 5-0 Newcastle
Portsmouth 6-1 Leeds
Biggest away win Leicester City 0-5 Aston Villa
Wolves 0-5 Chelsea
Highest scoring Man City 6-2 Bolton
Middlesbrough 5-3 Birmingham
Tottenham 4-4 Leicester City

(8 goals)

 ← 2002-03
2004-05 → 

The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38 game league season and the second team overall (the first was Preston North End in 1889, 115 years earlier, during a 22 game league season) and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the season.

Chelsea had been 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 pre-season £25 million 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.

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 Premiership, Arsène Wenger's team suffered disappointment in the cup competitions. They lost their defence of the FA Cup (which they held for two seasons in a row) after losing to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-final. Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Chelsea (3–2 on agg). These two blows came with a few days of each other and it was feared that Arsenal might squander their lead of the Premiership 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.

Promotion and relegation[]

Start of season[]

Teams promoted from the First Division 2002-03

End of season[]

Teams relegated to The Championship 2004-05

Personnel and kits[]

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Arsène Wenger Patrick Vieira Nike O2
Aston Villa David O'Leary Olof Mellberg Diadora Rover
Birmingham City Steve Bruce Kenny Cunningham Le Coq Sportif Flybe.com
Blackburn Rovers Graeme Souness Garry Flitcroft Kappa HSA
Bolton Wanderers Sam Allardyce Jay-Jay Okocha Reebok Reebok
Charlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Matt Holland Joma All:Sports
Chelsea Claudio Ranieri Marcel Desailly Umbro Fly Emirates
Everton David Moyes David Weir Puma Kejian
Fulham Chris Coleman Lee Clark Puma dabs.com
Leeds United Eddie Gray Dominic Matteo Nike Whyte and Mackay
Leicester City Micky Adams Matt Elliott Le Coq Sportif Alliance & Leicester
Liverpool Gérard Houllier Steven Gerrard Reebok Carlsberg
Manchester City Kevin Keegan Sylvain Distin Reebok First Advice
Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Roy Keane Nike Vodafone
Middlesbrough Steve McClaren Gareth Southgate Erreà] Dial-a-Phone
Newcastle United Sir Bobby Robson Alan Shearer Adidas Northern Rock
Portsmouth Harry Redknapp Teddy Sheringham Pompey Sport ty
Southampton Paul Sturrock Claus Lundekvam Saints Friends Provident
Tottenham Hotspur David Pleat Jamie Redknapp Kappa Thomson Holidays
Wolverhampton Wanderers Dave Jones Paul Ince Admiral Doritos

Final league table[]

Pos Club P W D L GF GA GD Pts Comments
1 Arsenal 38 26 12 0 73 26 47 90 Champions League Group stage
2 Chelsea 38 24 7 7 67 30 37 79
3 Manchester United 38 23 6 9 64 35 29 75 Champions League Third qualifying round
4 Liverpool 38 16 12 10 55 37 18 60
5 Newcastle United 38 13 17 8 52 40 12 56 UEFA Cup First round
6 Aston Villa 38 15 11 12 48 44 4 56
7 Charlton Athletic 38 14 11 13 51 51 0 53
8 Bolton Wanderers 38 14 11 13 48 56 -8 53
9 Fulham 38 14 10 14 52 46 6 52
10 Birmingham City 38 12 14 12 43 48 -5 50
11 Middlesbrough 38 13 9 16 44 52 -8 48 UEFA Cup First round
12 Southampton 38 12 11 15 44 45 -1 47
13 Portsmouth 38 12 9 17 47 54 -7 45
14 Tottenham Hotspur 38 13 6 19 47 57 -10 45
15 Blackburn Rovers 38 12 8 18 51 59 -8 44
16 Manchester City 38 9 14 15 55 54 1 41
17 Everton 38 9 12 17 45 57 -12 39
18 Leicester City 38 6 15 17 48 65 -17 33 Relegated to The Championship
19 Leeds United 38 8 9 21 40 79 -39 33
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers 38 7 12 19 38 77 -39 33

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Premier League 2003-04 Winners
Arsenal
3rd Premier League title
13th English title

Season statistics[]

Total goals: 1,012
Average goals per game: 2.66

Results[]

Home \ Away ARS AST BIR BLA BOL CHA CHE EVE FUL LEE LEI LIV MNC MNU MID NEW POR SOT TOT WOL
Arsenal 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 5–0 2–1 4–2 2–1 1–1 4–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 3–0
Aston Villa 0–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–1 3–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–2
Birmingham 0–3 0–0 0–4 2–0 1–2 0–0 3–0 2–2 4–1 0–1 0–3 2–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–2
Blackburn Rovers 0–2 0–2 1–1 3–4 0–1 2–3 2–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–3 2–3 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 5–1
Bolton Wanderers 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–2 0–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 4–1 2–2 2–2 1–3 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1
Charlton Athletic 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–2 1–2 4–2 2–2 3–1 0–1 2–2 3–2 0–3 0–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–4 2–0
Chelsea 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 5–0 3–0 4–0 4–2 5–2
Everton 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 4–0 3–2 0–3 0–0 3–4 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–0
Fulham 0–1 1–2 0–0 3–4 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0
Leeds United 1–4 0–0 0–2 2–1 0–2 3–3 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–2 2–2 2–1 0–1 0–3 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 4–1
Leicester City 1–1 0–5 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–4 1–1 0–2 4–0 0–0 1–1 1–4 0–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–2 0–0
Liverpool 1–2 1–0 3–1 4–0 3–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0
Manchester City 1–2 4–1 0–0 1–1 6–2 1–1 0–1 5–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 2–2 4–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–0 3–3
Manchester United 0–0 4–0 3–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 2–3 0–0 3–0 3–2 3–0 1–0
Middlesbrough 0–4 1–2 5–3 0–1 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–3 3–3 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 2–0
Newcastle United 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 2–1 4–2 3–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–0 4–0 1–1
Portsmouth 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–1 6–1 0–2 1–0 4–2 1–0 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0
Southampton 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 3–2 0–1 3–3 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–3 3–0 1–0 2–0
Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 2–1 4–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 3–0 0–3 2–1 4–4 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 4–3 1–3 5–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–3 0–4 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–4 0–5 2–1 2–1 3–1 4–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–4 0–2

Source: [BBC]
1The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Top goalscorers[]

Scorer Goals Team
Thierry Henry 30 Arsenal
Alan Shearer 22 Newcastle United
Louis Saha 20 Manchester United/Fulham
Ruud van Nistelrooy Manchester United
Mikael Forssell 17 Birmingham City
Nicolas Anelka 16 Manchester City
Juan Pablo Angel Aston Villa
Michael Owen Liverpool
Yakubu Aiyegbeni Portsmouth

Awards[]

Monthly awards[]

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
August Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) Teddy Sheringham (Portsmouth)
September Claudio Ranieri (Chelsea) Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
October Sir Bobby Robson (Newcastle United) Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
November Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton Wanderers)
December Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
January Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
February Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) & Edu (Arsenal)
March Claudio Ranieri (Chelsea) Mikael Forssell (Birmingham City)
April Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) Thierry Henry (Arsenal)

External links[]

Premier League 2003-04

Arsenal · Aston Villa · Birmingham City · Blackburn Rovers · Bolton Wanderers · Charlton Athletic · Chelsea · Everton · Fulham · Leeds United · Leicester City · Liverpool · Manchester City · Manchester United · Middlesbrough · Newcastle United · Portsmouth · Southampton · Tottenham Hotspur · Wolves

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Template:2003-04 in English football Template:2003-04 in European football (UEFA)

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