Sunderland 2003–04 football season
During the 2003–04 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division .
Season Summary [ ]
While the dismal ending to the previous season, combined with losses in their opening two matches lead to fears that Sunderland might spend the season battling a second successive relegation, a run of 7 wins from their next 10 matches quickly ended any such fears. A couple of spells of indifferent form meant that the club didn't convincingly challenge for automatic promotion until the closing stages of the season, and then another poor run of form in the season's closing stages, including the loss of a six-pointer to fellow promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion, just as quickly ended any such hopes. Sunderland were still considered favourites going into the play-offs, but a loss on penalties to Crystal Palace, who had gate-crashed the play-offs on the final day of the season, meant a second season in Division One (or, as it would be re-branded the following season, the Championship).
Transfers [ ]
In [ ]
Summer [ ]
Date
Pos
Name
From
Fee
4 August 2003
MF
Jeff Whitley
Manchester City
Free [1]
5 August 2003
DF
Gary Breen
West Ham United
Free[2]
25 September 2003
MF
Tommy Smith
Watford
Free[3]
3 October 2003
MF
Alan Quinn
Sheffield Wednesday
Loan[4]
30 October 2003
MF
Stewart Downing
Middlesbrough
Loan[5]
January [ ]
Out [ ]
Summer [ ]
Date
Pos
Name
To
Fee
1 June 2003
MF
Stefan Schwarz
Retired
Retired
11 June 2003
DF
Cliff Byrne
Scunthorpe United
Free[10]
1 July 2003
FW
David Bellion
Manchester United
Free[11]
3 July 2003
GK
Jurgen Macho
Chelsea
Free[12]
9 July 2003
FW
Lilian Laslandes
Nice
Free[13]
9 July 2003
DF
Bernt Haas [notes 1]
West Bromwich Albion
£400,000[14]
24 July 2003
MF
Gavin McCann
Aston Villa
£2.25 million[15]
31 July 2003
DF
Jody Craddock
Wolverhampton Wanderers
£1.75 million[16]
8 August 2003
GK
Thomas Sorensen
Aston Villa
£2.25 million[17]
14 August 2003
FW
Kevin Phillips
Southampton
£3.25 million[18]
20 August 2003
MF
Nicolás Medina
Leganés
Season-long loan[19]
23 August 2003
FW
Tore André Flo
Siena
Undisclosed[20]
29 August 2003
MF
Claudio Reyna
Manchester City
£2.5 million[21]
29 August 2003
DF
Emerson Thome
Bolton Wanderers
Free[22]
1 September 2003
MF
Kevin Kilbane [notes 2]
Everton
£1 million[23]
1 September 2003
DF
Michael Gray
Celtic
Four-month loan (September to December)[24]
25 September 2003
FW
Keith Graydon
Scarborough
Free[25]
3 October 2003
FW
Michael Reddy
Sheffield Wednesday
Loan[26]
3 October 2003
FW
Chris Brown
Doncaster Rovers
Loan[27]
23 October 2003
GK
Thomas Myhre
Crystal Palace
Loan
13 November 2003
DF
Craig James
Darlington
Loan[28]
January [ ]
Players [ ]
First-team squad [ ]
Squad at end of season [36]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season [ ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserves [ ]
The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Results [ ]
Sunderland's score comes first.
League Cup [ ]
FA Cup [ ]
2 January 2004
Third round
Hartlepool United
Stadium of Light
1-0
40,816
Arca
24 January 2004
Fourth round
Ipswich Town
Portman Road
2-1
21,406
Smith , Arca
14 February 2004
Fifth round
Birmingham City
Stadium of Light
1-1
24,966
Kyle
25 February 2004
Fifth round replay
Birmingham City
St. Andrews
2-0 (after extra time)
25,645
Smith (2)
7 March 2004
Quarter-final
Sheffield United
Stadium of Light
1-0
37,115
Smith
4 April 2004
Semi-final
Millwall
Old Trafford
0-1
56,112
[ ]
League table [ ]
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Promotion, qualification or relegation
1
Norwich City (C, P)
46
28
10
8
79
39
+40
94
Promotion to the FA Premier League
2
West Bromwich Albion (P)
46
25
11
10
64
42
+22
86
3
Sunderland
46
22
13
11
62
45
+17
79
Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4
West Ham United
46
19
17
10
67
45
+22
74
5
Ipswich Town
46
21
10
15
84
72
+12
73
Source:
Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion;
(P) Promoted
Results summary [ ]
Overall
Home
Away
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
46
22
13
11
62
45
+17
79
13
8
2
33
15
+18
9
5
9
29
30
−1
Last updated: 4 December 2018.
Source: 11v11
Results by matchday [ ]
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Ground A H A H A H A A H H A H H H A A A H A H H A A H H A H A A A A H H H A H H A H A H A A H H A Result L L W W W W L D W W W D W D L D W D L D D D L W W W W L D L W D W D W W W W W L L L D D W W Position 21 23 17 8 7 4 8 9 5 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 8 6 6 10 8 5 4 4 4 6 7 9 9 7 7 6 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3
Source:[citation needed ] A = Away ; H = Home ; W = Win ; D = Draw ; L = Loss
9 August 2003
Nottingham Forest
City Ground
0-2
23,529
16 August 2003
Millwall
Stadium of Light
0-1
24,877
23 August 2003
Preston North End
Deepdale
2-0
14,080
Thornton , Stewart
25 August 2003
Watford
Stadium of Light
2-0
23,600
Wright , Stewart (pen)
30 August 2003
Bradford City
Valley Parade
4-0
14,116
Thornton , Stewart , Arca , Breen
13 September 2003
Crystal Palace
Stadium of Light
2-1
27,324
Kyle , Stewart (pen)
16 September 2003
Stoke City
Britannia Stadium
1-3
15,005
Kyle
20 September 2003
Derby County
Pride Park
1-1
22,535
Poom
26 September 2003
Reading
Stadium of Light
2-0
22,420
Arca , Oster
30 September 2003
Ipswich Town
Stadium of Light
3-2
24,840
Breen , Oster , Kyle
4 October 2003
Sheffield United
Bramall Lane
1-0
27,008
Kyle
14 October 2003
Cardiff City
Stadium of Light
0-0
26,835
18 October 2003
Walsall
Stadium of Light
1-0
36,278
Stewart
21 October 2003
Rotherham United
Stadium of Light
0-0
24,506
25 October 2003
Norwich City
Carrow Road
0-1
16,427
1 November 2003
West Bromwich Albion
The Hawthorns
0-0
26,135
4 November 2003
Gillingham
Priestfield Stadium
3-1
9,066
Downing , Oster , Stewart
8 November 2003
Coventry City
Stadium of Light
0-0
27,247
22 November 2003
Crewe Alexandra
Gresty Road
3-0
9,807
29 November 2003
Burnley
Stadium of Light
1-1
29,852
Kyle
2 December 2003
Wigan Athletic
Stadium of Light
1-1
22,167
Downing (pen)
8 December 2003
Coventry City
Highfield Road
1-1
12,913
Downing
13 December 2003
West Ham United
Boleyn Ground
2-3
30,329
Oster , McAteer
20 December 2003
Wimbledon
Stadium of Light
2-1
22,334
Proctor , Stewart (pen)
26 December 2003
Bradford City
Stadium of Light
3-0
29,639
McAteer , Smith , Kyle
28 December 2003
Rotherham United
Millmoor
2-0
11,455
Stewart (2, 1 pen)
10 January 2004
Nottingham Forest
Stadium of Light
1-0
26,340
Arca
17 January 2004
Millwall
The Den
1-2
13,048
Stewart
7 February 2004
Watford
Vicarage Road
2-2
16,798
Stewart , Byfield
21 February 2004
Cardiff City
Ninian Park
0-4
17,337
3 March 2004
Walsall
Bescot Stadium
3-1
7,185
Arca , Stewart , Kyle
10 March 2004
Preston North End
Stadium of Light
3-3
27,181
Stewart (pen), Thornton , Mears (own goal)
13 March 2004
West Ham United
Stadium of Light
2-0
29,533
Whitley , Kyle
16 March 2004
Stoke City
Stadium of Light
1-1
24,510
Byfield
20 March 2004
Reading
Madjeski Stadium
2-0
18,019
Byfield , Smith
23 March 2004
Gillingham
Stadium of Light
2-1
23,262
Byfield , Thornton
27 March 2004
Derby County
Stadium of Light
2-1
30,838
Smith , Oster
6 April 2004
Wimbledon
National Hockey Stadium
2-1
4,800
Byfield , Stewart
9 April 2004
Sheffield United
Stadium of Light
3-0
27,472
Breen , Smith , Kyle
12 April 2004
Ipswich Town
Portman Road
0-1
26,801
18 April 2004
West Bromwich Albion
Stadium of Light
0-1
32,201
21 April 2004
Crystal Palace
Selhurst Park
0-3
18,291
24 April 2004
Wigan Athletic
JJB Stadium
0-0
11,380
1 May 2004
Crewe Alexandra
Stadium of Light
1-1
25,311
Whitley
4 May 2004
Norwich City
Stadium of Light
1-0
35,174
Robinson
9 May 2004
Burnley
Turf Moor
2-1
18,252
Breen , Kyle
[ ]
14 May 2004
Leg 1
Crystal Palace
Selhurst Park
2–3
25,287
Kyle , Stewart (pen)
17 May 2004
Leg 2
Crystal Palace
Stadium of Light
2–1 (4–4 on aggregate, Sunderland lost 5–4 on penalties)
34,536
Kyle , Stewart
Goal scorers [ ]
References [ ]
McCarthy vows to keep Arca - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/3349923.stm
Sunderland want Jon Stead - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/3410371.stm
Notes [ ]
^ Haas was born in Vienna , Austria , but also qualified to represent Switzerland internationally and made his international debut for Switzerland in 1996.
^ Kilbane was born in Preston , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for Republic of Ireland in September 1997.
^ McAteer was born in Tranmere , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in March 1994.
^ Breen was born in Barnet , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in May 1996.
^ Whitley was born in Ndola , Zambia , but was raised in England and also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his father. He represented England at U-17 level and Northern Ireland at U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1997.
^ Oster was born in Boston , England , but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and represented them at U-18 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Wales in 1997.
^ Ingham was born in Preston , England , but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and represented them at U-18 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in June 2005.
^ Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield , England , but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.
^ Babb was born in Lambeth , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1994.
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Hellenic League (Premier , One East , One West )
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