2003–04 Football League

The Football League

Season	2003–04
Champions	Norwich City
Promoted	Norwich City West Bromwich Albion Crystal Palace
Relegated	Carlisle United York City
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The 2003–04 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 105th completed season of The Football League.

This season was the last association football season in the football league where the divisions were known as "First", "Second", and "Third". The following season saw the names of the divisions changed to "The Championship", "Football League One" and "Football League Two".

The first and second divisions had the format where the top two teams won automatic promotion to the division above, while teams finishing in third to sixth place played in a play-off competition. The winner gained the third promotion place.

The Third Division followed the same format except there were three automatic promotion places and teams in fourth to seventh place played in a play-off competition fought for a fourth promotion place.

Final league tables and results

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,^[1] with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division

Football League, First Division

Season	2003–04
Champions	Norwich City (3rd second tier title)
Direct promotion to FA Premier League	Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion
Promoted to FA Premier League through play-offs	Crystal Palace
Relegated	Bradford City, Walsall, Wimbledon
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1440 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andrew Johnson (Crystal Palace), 27 [2]
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Norwich City	46		18	3	2	44	15		10	7	6	35	24		79	39	+40		94
2	West Bromwich Albion	46		14	5	4	34	16		11	6	6	30	26		64	42	+22		86
3	Sunderland	46		13	8	2	33	15		9	5	9	29	30		62	45	+17		79
4	West Ham United	46		12	7	4	42	20		7	10	6	25	25		67	45	+22		74
5	Ipswich Town	46		12	3	8	49	36		9	7	7	35	36		84	72	+12		73
6	Crystal Palace	46		10	8	5	34	25		11	2	10	38	36		72	61	+11		73
7	Wigan Athletic	46		11	8	4	29	16		7	9	7	31	29		60	45	+15		71
8	Sheffield United	46		11	6	6	37	25		9	5	9	28	31		65	56	+9		71
9	Reading	46		11	6	6	29	25		9	4	10	26	32		55	57	– 2		70
10	Millwall	46		11	8	4	28	15		7	7	9	27	33		55	48	+7		69	UEFA Cup 2004–05 First round
11	Stoke City	46		11	7	5	35	24		7	5	11	23	31		58	55	+3		66
12	Coventry City	46		9	9	5	34	22		8	5	10	33	32		67	54	+13		65
13	Cardiff City	46		10	6	7	40	25		7	8	8	28	33		68	58	+10		65
14	Nottingham Forest	46		8	9	6	33	25		7	6	10	28	33		61	58	+3		60
15	Preston North End	46		11	7	5	43	29		4	7	12	26	42		69	71	– 2		59
16	Watford	46		9	8	6	31	28		6	4	13	23	40		54	68	– 14		57
17	Rotherham United	46		8	8	7	31	27		5	7	11	22	34		53	61	– 8		54
18	Crewe Alexandra	46		11	3	9	33	26		3	8	12	24	40		57	66	– 9		53
19	Burnley	46		9	6	8	37	32		4	8	11	23	45		60	77	– 17		53
20	Derby County	46		11	5	7	39	33		2	8	13	14	34		53	67	– 14		52
21	Gillingham	46		10	1	12	28	34		4	8	11	20	33		48	67	– 19		51
22	Walsall	46		8	7	8	29	31		5	5	13	16	34		45	65	– 20		51
23	Bradford City	46		6	3	14	23	35		4	3	16	15	34		38	69	– 31		36
24	Wimbledon	46		3	4	16	21	40		5	1	17	20	49		41	89	– 48		29

^[1]

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	FA Cup runners-up, qualified for UEFA Cup
	Relegated

First Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 14th/15th; 2nd leg – May 17th/18th, 2004							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 29th, 2004
	3rd	Sunderland	2	2	4 (4)
	6th	Crystal Palace (pens.)	3	1	4 (5)
								4th	West Ham United	0
								6th	Crystal Palace	1
	4th	West Ham United	0	2	2
	5th	Ipswich Town	1	0	1

First Division maps

Bradford City

Burnley

Cardiff City

Coventry

Crewe Alexandra

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Gillingham

Ipswich Town

Millwall

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Preston North End

Reading

Rotherham

Sheffield United

Stoke

Sunderland

Walsall

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham

Wigan Athletic

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League First Division 2003–2004 teams

Crystal Palace

Millwall

Watford

West Ham

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 2003–2004

First Division topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	League
1	Andrew Johnson	Crystal Palace	28
2	Marlon Harewood	West Ham United / Nottingham Forest	25
3	Robert Earnshaw	Cardiff City	21
4	Dean Ashton	Crewe Alexandra	19
=	Robbie Blake	Burnley	19
6	Nathan Ellington	Wigan Athletic	18
7	Darren Bent	Ipswich Town	17
=	Ricardo Fuller	Preston North End	17
9	Marcus Stewart	Sunderland	16
10	David Healy	Preston North End	15
=	Martin Butler	Rotherham United	15
=	Steve Jones	Crewe Alexandra	15

^[3]

Second Division

Football League, Second Division

Season	2003–04
Champions	Plymouth Argyle (2nd third tier title)
Direct promotion	Plymouth Argyle, Queens Park Rangers
Promoted through play-offs	Brighton & Hove Albion
Relegated	Grimsby Town, Notts County, Rushden & Diamonds, Wycombe Wanderers
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1460 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Leon Knight (Brighton & Hove Albion), 25 Stephen McPhee (Port Vale), 25 [2]
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Plymouth Argyle	46		17	5	1	52	13		9	7	7	33	28		85	41	+44		90
2	Queens Park Rangers	46		16	7	0	47	12		6	10	7	33	33		80	45	+35		83
3	Bristol City	46		15	6	2	34	12		8	7	8	24	25		58	37	+21		82
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	46		17	4	2	39	11		5	7	11	25	32		64	43	+21		77
5	Swindon Town	46		12	7	4	41	23		8	6	9	35	35		76	58	+18		73
6	Hartlepool United	46		10	8	5	39	24		10	5	8	37	37		76	61	+15		73
7	Port Vale	46		15	6	2	45	28		6	4	13	28	35		73	62	+10		73
8	Tranmere Rovers	46		13	7	3	36	18		4	9	10	23	38		59	56	+3		67
9	Bournemouth	46		11	8	4	35	25		6	7	10	21	26		56	51	+5		66
10	Luton Town	46		14	6	3	44	27		3	9	11	25	39		69	66	+3		66
11	Colchester United	46		11	8	4	33	23		6	5	12	19	33		52	56	– 4		64
12	Barnsley	46		7	12	4	25	19		8	5	10	29	39		54	58	– 4		62
13	Wrexham	46		9	6	8	27	21		8	3	12	23	39		50	60	– 10		60
14	Blackpool	46		9	5	9	31	28		7	6	10	27	37		58	65	– 7		59
15	Oldham Athletic	46		9	8	6	37	25		3	13	7	29	35		66	60	+6		57
16	Sheffield Wednesday	46		7	9	7	25	26		6	5	12	23	38		48	64	– 16		53
17	Brentford	46		9	5	9	34	38		5	6	12	18	31		52	69	– 17		53
18	Peterborough United	46		5	8	10	36	33		7	8	8	22	25		58	58	±0		52
19	Stockport County	46		6	8	9	31	36		5	11	7	31	34		62	70	– 8		52
20	Chesterfield	46		9	7	7	34	31		3	8	12	15	40		49	71	– 22		51
21	Grimsby Town	46		10	5	8	36	26		3	6	14	19	55		55	31	– 26		50
22	Rushden & Diamonds	46		9	5	9	37	34		4	4	15	23	40		60	74	– 14		48
23	Notts County	46		6	9	8	32	27		4	3	16	18	51		50	78	– 28		42
24	Wycombe Wanderers	46		5	7	11	31	39		1	12	10	19	36		50	75	– 25		37

^[1]

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Second Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 15th/16th; 2nd leg – May 19th/20th, 2004							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 30th, 2004
	3rd	Bristol City	1	2	3
	6th	Hartlepool United	1	1	2
								3rd	Bristol City	0
								4th	Brighton & Hove Albion	1
	4th	Brighton & Hove Albion (pens.)	1	1	2 (4)
	5th	Swindon Town	0	2	2 (3)

Second Division maps

Barnsley

Blackpool

Bournemouth

Brentford

Brighton & Hove

Bristol City

Chesterfield

Colchester

Grimsby Town

Hartlepool

Luton Town

Notts County

Oldham

Peterborough

Plymouth Argyle

Port Vale

QPR

Rushden & Diamonds

Sheffield Wednesday

Stockport

Swindon

Tranmere

Wrexham

Wycombe

Locations of the Football League Second Division 2003–2004 teams

Brentford

Queens Park Rangers

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 2003–2004

Second Division topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Leon Knight	Brighton & Hove Albion	26
2	Stephen McPhee	Port Vale	24
3	Paul Heffernan	Notts County	20
=	Sam Parkin	Swindon Town	20
5	Tommy Mooney	Swindon Town	19
6	Kevin Gallen	Queens Park Rangers	17
7	Eugene Dadi	Tranmere Rovers	16
=	Paul Furlong	Queens Park Rangers	16
=	Scott Taylor	Blackpool	16
10	Onandi Lowe	Rushden & Diamonds	15

^[4]

Third Division

Football League, Third Division

Season	2003–04
Champions	Doncaster Rovers (3rd fourth tier title)
Direct promotion	Doncaster Rovers, Hull City, Torquay United
Promoted through play-offs	Huddersfield Town
Relegated to Conference	Carlisle United, York City
New club in the league	Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil Town
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1398 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve MacLean (Scunthorpe United), 23 [2]
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Doncaster Rovers	46		17	4	2	47	13		10	7	6	32	24		79	37	+42		92
2	Hull City	46		16	4	3	50	21		9	9	5	32	23		82	44	+38		88
3	Torquay United	46		15	6	2	44	18		8	6	9	24	26		68	44	+24		81
4	Huddersfield Town	46		16	4	3	42	18		7	8	8	26	34		68	52	+16		81
5	Mansfield Town	46		13	5	5	44	25		9	4	10	32	37		76	62	+14		75
6	Northampton Town	46		13	4	6	30	23		9	5	9	28	28		58	51	+7		75
7	Lincoln City	46		9	11	3	36	23		10	6	7	32	24		68	47	+21		74
8	Yeovil Town	46		14	3	6	40	19		9	2	12	30	38		70	57	+13		74
9	Oxford United	46		14	8	1	34	13		4	9	10	21	31		55	44	+11		71
10	Swansea City	46		9	8	6	36	26		6	6	11	22	35		58	61	– 3		59
11	Boston United	46		11	7	5	35	21		5	4	14	15	33		50	54	– 4		59
12	Bury	46		10	7	6	29	26		5	4	14	25	38		54	64	– 10		56
13	Cambridge United	46		6	7	10	26	32		8	7	8	29	35		55	67	– 12		56
14	Cheltenham Town	46		11	4	8	37	38		3	10	10	20	33		57	71	– 14		56
15	Bristol Rovers	46		9	7	7	29	26		5	6	12	21	35		50	61	– 11		55
16	Kidderminster Harriers	46		9	5	9	28	29		5	8	10	17	30		45	59	– 14		55
17	Southend United	46		8	4	11	27	29		6	8	9	24	34		51	63	– 12		54
18	Darlington	46		10	4	9	30	28		4	7	12	23	33		53	61	– 8		53
19	Leyton Orient	46		8	9	6	28	27		5	5	13	20	38		48	65	– 17		53
20	Macclesfield Town	46		8	9	6	28	25		5	4	14	26	44		54	69	– 15		52
21	Rochdale	46		7	8	8	28	26		5	6	12	21	32		49	58	– 9		50
22	Scunthorpe United	46		7	10	6	36	27		4	6	13	33	45		69	72	– 3		49
23	Carlisle United	46		8	5	10	23	27		4	4	15	23	42		46	69	– 23		45
24	York City	46		7	6	10	22	29		3	8	12	13	37		35	66	– 31		44

^[1]

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	New club in the league, see also Doncaster Rovers
	Relegated to Conference

Third Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 15th/16th; 2nd leg – May 19th/20th, 2004							Final at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff May 31st, 2004
	4th	Huddersfield Town	2	2	4
	7th	Lincoln City	1	2	3
								4th	Huddersfield Town (pens.)	0 (4)
								5th	Mansfield Town	0 (1)
	5th	Mansfield Town (pens.)	2	1	3 (5)
	6th	Northampton Town	0	3	3 (4)

^[1]

Third Division maps

Boston United

Bristol Rovers

Bury

Cambridge Utd

Carlisle United

Cheltenham

Darlington

Doncaster

Huddersfield

Hull

Kidderminster Harriers

Leyton Orient

Lincoln City

Macclesfield

Mansfield

Northampton Town

Oxford

Rochdale

Scunthorpe United

Southend

Swansea City

Torquay

Yeovil Town

York City

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 2003–2004

Third Division topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	League
1	Steven MacLean	Scunthorpe United	23
2	David Graham	Torquay United	22
3	Leon Constantine	Southend United	21
4	Liam Lawrence	Mansfield Town	19
5	Gregg Blundell	Doncaster Rovers	18
=	Ben Burgess	Hull City	18
7	Gary Fletcher	Lincoln City	17
=	Lee Trundle	Swansea City	17
9	Matthew Tipton	Macclesfield Town	16
=	Jon Stead	Huddersfield Town	16

^[5]

See also

• 2003-04 in English football
• 2003 in association football
• 2004 in association football

References

1. "England 2003–04". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
3. soccernet.espn.go.com
4. soccernet.espn.go.com
5. soccernet.espn.go.com