2003–04 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
2003–04 season
Chairman England Doug Ellis
Manager Republic of Ireland David O'Leary
FA Premier League 6th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Semi-finals
Top goalscorer Juan Pablo Angel (16)
Average home league attendance 36,621
Home colours
Away colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 English football season, Aston Villa competed in the Premier League.

Season summary

Former Leeds United manager David O'Leary was appointed Villa manager in the summer of 2003. Under O'Leary, Villa made a very sluggish start to the campaign and found themselves in the relegation zone after winning just two of their first 13 league fixtures. They were still in the bottom three in mid-December before O'Leary galvanized them and they gradually climbed the table. Villa had a fantastic second half of the season and, with two matches remaining, had a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. After extending their unbeaten run to eight games by drawing at Southampton, defeat against Manchester United at Villa Park consigned them to sixth place. The Villains finished five points short of a Champions League place and were edged out of a UEFA Cup spot on goal difference by Newcastle United. O'Leary's side had the chance to qualify for Europe through the League Cup, knocking out Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Chelsea to reach the semi-final against Bolton. The first leg, at Bolton, ended in a disappointing 5-2 defeat, and goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger and Jlloyd Samuel in the home leg were not enough to prevent the Trotters clinching a place in the final, 5-4 on aggregate.

The club had worse form in the FA Cup. Manchester United came from behind to knock Villa out in the third round at Villa Park; United went on to win the trophy.

Despite narrowly missing out on qualifying for Europe, the mood around Villa Park was extremely positive in the summer of 2004. With the likes of Liam Ridgewell, Peter Whittingham, Steven Davis and the Moore brothers (Stefan and Luke) forcing open the first-team door, David O'Leary had an abundance of young talent at his disposal for the 2004–05 season.

Among the men to represent Villa for the last time in 2003-04 was Dion Dublin, who netted 48 goals in 155 league games for Villa.

Final league table

Main article: 2003-04 FA Premier League
Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Arsenal 38 26 12 0 73 26  +47 90
2. Chelsea 38 24 7 7 67 30  +37 79
3. Manchester United 38 23 6 9 64 35  +29 75
4. Liverpool 38 16 12 10 55 37  +18 60
5. Newcastle United 38 13 17 8 52 40  +12 56
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
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
19. Leeds United 38 8 9 21 40 79  -39 33
20. Wolverhampton Wanderers 38 7 12 19 38 77  -39 33
Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Relegated to the Championship

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Denmark GK Thomas Sørensen
2 Wales DF Mark Delaney
3 England DF Jlloyd Samuel
4 Sweden DF Olof Mellberg
6 England MF Gareth Barry
7 England MF Lee Hendrie
8 England MF Gavin McCann
9 England FW Dion Dublin
10 England FW Darius Vassell
11 Peru MF Nolberto Solano
12 Germany MF Thomas Hitzlsperger
No. Position Player
13 Netherlands GK Stefan Postma
14 Sweden FW Marcus Allback
15 Ecuador DF Ulises de la Cruz
16 England FW Peter Crouch
17 England MF Peter Whittingham
18 Colombia FW Juan Pablo Angel
23 England FW Stefan Moore
24 England DF Liam Ridgewell
27 Norway DF Ronny Johnsen
31 England FW Luke Moore

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
5 Turkey DF Alpay Özalan (to Incheon United)
19 Croatia FW Boško Balaban (to Club Brugge)
20 Morocco MF Mustapha Hadji (to Espanyol)
25 Finland GK Peter Enckelman (to Blackburn Rovers)
26 Republic of Ireland MF Mark Kinsella (to West Bromwich Albion)
No. Position Player
28 England DF Danny Jackman (to Stockport County)
Wales GK Boaz Myhill[1] (to Hull City)
England DF Jonathan Bewers (to Notts County)
England DF Ryan Amoo (to Northampton Town)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
21 Northern Ireland MF Steven Davis
22 Morocco MF Hassan Kachloul
29 Wales MF Rob Edwards
30 England MF Stephen Cooke
39 Republic of Ireland GK Wayne Henderson

Statistics

Transfers

In

Summer

Date Pos Name From Fee
24 July 2003 MF England Gavin McCann Sunderland £2,250,000
8 August 2003 GK Denmark Thomas Sorensen England Sunderland £2,250,000

January

Date Pos Name From Fee
30 January 2004 MF Peru Nolberto Solano England Newcastle United £1,500,000

Out

Summer

Date Pos Name To Fee
1 June 2003 MF England Ian Taylor Released (joined England Derby County on 26 June 2003) Free
1 June 2003 DF England Alan Wright Released (joined England Middlesbrough on 4 August 2003) Free
23 October 2003 DF Turkey Alpay Ozalan Released (later joined South Korea Incheon United) Free
7 December 2003 GK Finland Peter Enckelman England Blackburn Rovers Month-long loan
4 December 2003 FW Croatia Bosko Balaban Released (later joined Belgium Club Brugge) Free
11 December 2003 GK Wales Boaz Myhill England Hull City £50,000
23 December 2003 DF England Danny Jackman England Stockport County £70,000

January

Date Pos Name To Fee
15 January 2004 MF Republic of Ireland Mark Kinsella England West Bromwich Albion Undisclosed
3 February 2004 MF Morocco Mustapha Hadji Spain Espanyol Free
13 March 2004 GK Republic of Ireland Wayne Henderson England Tamworth Loan
25 March 2004 MF England Jonathan Bewers England Notts County Free
25 March 2004 MF England Ryan Amoo England Northampton Town Free

Pre-season

Date Opponents Home/
Away 		Result
F – A 		Scorers Competition
22 July 2003 FC TPS Turku A 3 – 0 Angel (2), Vassell Friendly
24 July 2003 Pitea A 8 – 0 Allback (3), Crouch (3), Alpay, Hendrie Friendly
26 July 2003 Umea A 4 – 0 Vassell, Hendrie, Hitzlsperger, McCann Friendly
28 July 2003 Bodens BK A 4 – 2 Mellberg, Vassell, Makumbu (og), Crouch Friendly
1 August 2003 Walsall A 1 – 2 Vassell Friendly
2 August 2003 Tamworth A 4 – 1 Kachloul (2), Cooke, Crouch Friendly
5 August 2003 Scunthorpe A 5 – 0 Allback (3), Angel, De la Cruz Friendly
9 August 2003 Leeds N 2 – 2 4–2 on pens) Friendly
10 August 2003 St Patricks N 6 – 0 Angel (3), Allback, Whittingham, Hitzlsperger Friendly

Season results

Date Opponent Venue Result
F–A 		Competition Scorers Attendance
16/08/2003 Portsmouth A [ 1–2] Premier League Barry (pen) 20,101
24/08/2003 Liverpool H [ 0–0] Premier League 42,573
27/08/2003 Arsenal A [ 0–2] Premier League 38,010
30/08/2003 Leicester City H 3–1 Premier League Angel (2), Thatcher (og) 32,274
14/09/2003 Manchester City A 1–4 Premier League Angel 46,687
20/09/2003 Charlton Athletic H [ 2–1] Premier League Alpay, Samuel 31,410
23/09/2003 Wycombe Wanderers A 5–0 League Cup Angel (3) (1 pen), Whittingham, Vassell 6,072
27/09/2003 Chelsea A [ 0–1] Premier League 41,182
05/10/2003 Bolton H [ 1–1] Premier League Angel 30,229
19/10/2003 Birmingham A [ 0–0] Premier League 29,546
25/10/2003 Everton H [ 0–0] Premier League 36,146
29/10/2003 Leicester H [ 1–0] League Cup Hitzlsperger 26,729
10/11/2003 Newcastle A [ 1–1] Premier League Dublin 51,975
08/11/2003 Middlesbrough H [ 0–2] Premier League 29,898
23/11/2003 Tottenham A [ 1–2] Premier League Allback 33,140
29/11/2003 Portsmouth H [ 1–0] Premier League Dublin 31,285
03/12/2003 Crystal Palace H 3–0 League Cup Symons (og), McCann, Angel 24,258
06/12/2003 Manchester United A 0–4 Premier League 67,621
14/12/2003 Wolves H 3–2 Premier League Angel (2), Barry 36,964
17/12/2003 Chelsea H [ 2–1] League Cup Angel, McCann 30,414
20/12/2003 Blackburn Rovers A [ 2–0] Premier League S. Moore, Angel 20,722
26/12/2003 Leeds United A [ 0–0] Premier League 38,513
28/01/2003 Fulham H 3–0 Premier League Angel, Vassell (2) 35,617
04/01/2004 Man Utd H [ 1–2] FA Cup Barry 40,371
06/01/2004 Portsmouth H [ 2–1] Premier League Angel, Vassell 28,625
10/01/2004 Liverpool A [ 0–1] Premier League 43,771
18/01/2004 Arsenal H [ 0–2] Premier League 39,380
21/01/2004 Bolton A 2–5 League Cup Angel (2) 16,302
27/12/2004 Bolton Wanderers H [ 2–0] League Cup Hitzlsperger, Samuel 36,883
31/01/2004 Leicester City A 5–0 Premier League Vassell, Crouch (2), Dublin 31,056
07/02/2004 Leeds United H [ 2–0] Premier League Angel (pen), Johnsen 39,171
11/02/2004 Fulham A [ 2–1] Premier League Angel, Vassell 16,153
22/02/2004 Birmingham H 2–2 Premier League Vassell, Hitzlsperger 40,061
28/02/2004 Everton A [ 0–2] Premier League 39,353
14/03/2004 Wolves A 4–0 Premier League Hitzlsperger, Mellberg, Angel (2) 29,386
20/03/2004 Blackburn Rovers H [ 0–2] Premier League 37,532
27/03/2004 Charlton Athletic A [ 2–1] Premier League Vassell, Samuel 26,250
04/04/2004 Manchester City H [ 1–1] Premier League Angel 37,602
10/04/2004 Bolton Wanderers A [ 2–2] Premier League Crouch, Hendrie 26,374
12/04/2004 Chelsea H 3–2 Premier League Vassell (pen), Hitzlsperger, Hendrie 41,112
18/04/2004 Newcastle United H [ 0–0] Premier League 40,786
24/04/2004 Middlesbrough A [ 2–1] Premier League Barry, Crouch 31,322
02/05/2004 Tottenham Hotspur H [ 1–0] Premier League Angel 42,573
08/05/2004 Southampton A [ 1–1] Premier League Angel 32,054
15/05/2004 Manchester United H [ 0–2] Premier League 42,573

References

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FA competitions
Premier League and
Football League
Football Conference
Lower leagues
European competitions
Related to national team
Club seasons
Premier League
First Division
  • Bradford City
  • Burnley
  • Cardiff City
  • Coventry City
  • Crewe Alexandra
  • Crystal Palace
  • Derby County
  • Gillingham
  • Ipswich Town
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Second Division
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Third Division
  • Boston United
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Football Conference
  • Accrington Stanley
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  • Morecambe
  • Northwich Victoria
  • Scarborough
  • Shrewsbury Town
  • Stevenage Borough
  • Tamworth
  • Telford United
  • Woking
Others
  • Summer 2003 transfers
  • Winter 2003–04 transfers
  • Summer 2004 transfers
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