2003–04 Crystal Palace F.C. season

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Crystal Palace
2003–04 season
ChairmanSimon Jordan
ManagerSteve Kember
Kit Symons (caretaker)
Iain Dowie
StadiumSelhurst Park
First Division6th (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offsWinners
FA CupThird round
League CupFourth round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Andy Johnson (28)
All:
Andy Johnson (32)
Average home league attendance19,968

During the 2003–04 English football season, Crystal Palace competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary[]

Crystal Palace started the season on the right foot, winning their first three games to top the table, but that was as good as it got under manager Steve Kember and, after a 5–0 defeat at newly promoted Wigan Athletic in November saw the club in 20th place, Kember was sacked (chairman Simon Jordan had previously declared that Kember would have a "job for life" at Palace). Kit Symons stepped up as caretaker until Northern Irishman and former Palace striker Iain Dowie was appointed. Under Dowie, Palace rocketed up the table to reach the play-offs. After beating Sunderland on penalties in the semi-final to reach the Millennium Stadium, they beat West Ham United to regain promotion to the Premiership.

Crucial to Palace's promotion was striker Andy Johnson, who scored 28 times in the league alone. He finished as the First Division's top scorer, and was voted as the club's Player of the Year.

Kit[]

English company Admiral Sportswear became Palace's kit manufacturers. The new home kit retained the navy shorts worn last season, albeit with a new blue and red striped design along the sides, and the navy socks, which now featured white trim. Palace's traditional blue and red striped shirts were modified with navy trim on the sleeves.

Churchill Insurance remained the kit sponsors for the fourth consecutive season.[1]

Final league table[]

Main article: 2003–04 Football League First Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
4 West Ham United 46 19 17 10 67 45 +22 74 Qualification for the First Division play-offs
5 Ipswich Town 46 21 10 15 84 72 +12 73
6 Crystal Palace (O, P) 46 21 10 15 72 61 +11 73
7 Wigan Athletic 46 18 17 11 60 45 +15 71
8 Sheffield United 46 20 11 15 65 56 +9 71
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted

Results[]

Crystal Palace's score comes first

Legend[]

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division[]

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 2003 Burnley A 3–2 12,976 Freedman (3, 1 pen)
16 August 2003 Watford H 1–0 15,333 Shipperley
23 August 2003 Wimbledon A 3–1 6,113 Butterfield, Freedman (pen), Hughes
26 August 2003 Sheffield United H 1–2 15,466 Johnson
30 August 2003 Millwall A 1–1 14,425 Watson
13 September 2003 Sunderland A 1–2 27,324 Johnson
16 September 2003 Bradford City H 0–1 13,514
20 September 2003 West Bromwich Albion H 2–2 17,477 Freedman, Johnson
27 September 2003 Norwich City A 1–2 16,425 Derry
1 October 2003 West Ham United A 0–3 31,861
4 October 2003 Cardiff City H 2–1 16,160 Routledge, Shipperley
14 October 2003 Derby County H 1–1 14,344 Butterfield
18 October 2003 Rotherham United H 1–1 18,715 Freedman
21 October 2003 Ipswich Town H 3–4 15,483 Johnson, Freedman (2, 1 pen)
25 October 2003 Gillingham A 0–1 8,889
1 November 2003 Wigan Athletic A 0–5 6,796
8 November 2003 Preston North End H 1–1 14,608 Johnson
22 November 2003 Walsall A 0–0 6,910
25 November 2003 Stoke City A 1–0 10,277 Johnson
29 November 2003 Coventry City H 1–1 14,622 Edwards
6 December 2003 Preston North End A 1–4 12,836 Derry
9 December 2003 Crewe Alexandra H 1–3 12,259 Butterfield
13 December 2003 Nottingham Forest H 1–0 16,935 Johnson
20 December 2003 Reading A 3–0 12,743 Johnson (2), Routledge
26 December 2003 Millwall H 0–1 19,737
28 December 2003 Ipswich Town A 3–1 27,629 Johnson, Gray
10 January 2004 Burnley H 0–0 15,276
17 January 2004 Watford A 5–1 15,017 Johnson (2, 1 pen), Routledge, Gray, Freedman
24 January 2004 Bradford City A 2–1 10,310 Johnson, Shipperley
31 January 2004 Wimbledon H 3–1 20,552 Johnson (2), Granville
7 February 2004 Sheffield United A 3–0 23,816 Johnson, Popovic, Shipperley
14 February 2004 Stoke City H 6–3 16,715 Johnson (3, 2 pens), Hughes, Shipperley, Routledge
21 February 2004 Derby County A 1–2 21,856 Hughes
28 February 2004 Gillingham H 1–0 17,485 Butterfield
6 March 2004 Reading H 2–2 17,853 Freedman, Johnson
13 March 2004 Nottingham Forest A 2–3 28,306 Shipperley, Granville
20 March 2004 Norwich City H 1–0 23,798 Routledge
27 March 2004 West Bromwich Albion A 0–2 24,990
6 April 2004 Rotherham United A 2–1 6,001 Gray, Shipperley
10 April 2004 Cardiff City A 2–0 16,656 Johnson, Routledge
12 April 2004 West Ham United H 1–0 23,977 Freedman
17 April 2004 Wigan Athletic H 1–1 18,799 Granville
21 April 2004 Sunderland H 3–0 18,291 Johnson (pen), Shipperley, Freedman
24 April 2004 Crewe Alexandra A 3–2 8,136 Johnson (3, 1 pen)
1 May 2004 Walsall H 1–0 21,518 Johnson
9 May 2004 Coventry City A 1–2 22,195 Freedman

First Division play-offs[]

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg 14 May 2004 Sunderland H 3–2 25,287 Shipperley, Butterfield, Johnson
SF 2nd Leg 17 May 2004 Sunderland A 1–2 (won 5–4 on pens) 34,536 Powell
F 29 May 2004 West Ham United H 1–0 72,523 Shipperley

FA Cup[]

Main article: 2003–04 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 3 January 2004 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–3 32,340

League Cup[]

Main article: 2003–04 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 12 August 2003 Torquay United A 1–1 (won 3–1 on pens) 3,366 Freedman
R2 23 September 2003 Doncaster Rovers H 2–1 4,904 Johnson (2 pens)
R3 28 October 2003 Blackpool H 3–1 6,010 Johnson (2), Freedman
R4 3 December 2003 Aston Villa A 0–3 24,258

Players[]

First-team squad[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Curtis Fleming[notes 1]
3 DF England ENG Danny Granville
4 DF England ENG Danny Butterfield
5 DF Wales WAL Kit Symons[notes 2]
6 DF Australia AUS Tony Popovic
8 FW England ENG Andy Johnson
9 FW Scotland SCO Dougie Freedman
10 MF England ENG Shaun Derry
11 FW England ENG Neil Shipperley
12 DF England ENG Jamie Smith
13 GK France FRA Cédric Berthelin
14 MF England ENG Ben Watson
15 MF Finland FIN Aki Riihilahti
16 MF England ENG Tommy Black
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF Northern Ireland NIR Michael Hughes
18 DF England ENG Gary Borrowdale
20 DF England ENG Mark Hudson (on loan from Fulham)
21 MF England ENG Julian Gray
22 MF England ENG Wayne Routledge
23 FW Wales WAL Gareth Williams[notes 3]
24 MF England ENG Mikele Leigertwood[notes 4]
26 MF England ENG
27 GK Belgium BEL Nico Vaesen (on loan from Birmingham City)
28 MF England ENG Tom Soares
29 MF Mauritius MRI Gavin Heeroo[notes 5]
30 GK England ENG Lance Cronin
32 MF England ENG Darren Powell
36 DF England ENG

Left club during season[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Matt Clarke (retired)
7 MF England ENG Hayden Mullins (to West Ham United)
19 DF Wales WAL Rob Edwards[notes 6] (on loan from Aston Villa)
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 GK Norway NOR Thomas Myhre (on loan from Sunderland)
31 FW Nigeria NGA Ade Akinbiyi[notes 7] (to Stoke City)

Notes[]

  1. ^ Fleming was born in Manchester, England.
  2. ^ Symons was born in Basingstoke, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his father and made his international debut for Wales in February 1992.
  3. ^ Williams was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
  4. ^ Leigertwood was born in Enfield, England, but qualified to represent Antigua and Barbuda internationally and would make his international debut for Antigua and Barbuda in November 2008.
  5. ^ Heeroo was born in Haringey, England, but qualified to represent Mauritius internationally and made his international debut for Mauritius in 2002.
  6. ^ Edwards was born in Madeley, England, but qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 2003.
  7. ^ Akinbiyi was born in Hackney, England, but also qualified to represent Nigeria internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Nigeria in 1999.

References[]

  1. ^ "Crystal Palace - Historical Football Kits". www.historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. ^ "FootballSquads - Crystal Palace - 2003/04".
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