2003–04 Ipswich Town F.C. season

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

Ipswich Town

2003–04 season
Chairman	David Sheepshanks
Manager	Joe Royle
Stadium	Portman Road
First Division	5th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Play-offs	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Darren Bent (15) All: Darren Bent (16)
Highest home attendance	30,152 (vs Norwich City, 21 Dec 2003, First Division)
Lowest home attendance	11,118 (vs Kidderminster Harriers, 13 Aug 2003, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	24,519
Home colours Away colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Season summary

Ipswich Town, in their second consecutive season in English football's second tier, finished the campaign in fifth place. Having scored 84 goals, Town suffered from their poor defensive record: with 72 goals conceded, Town had the third worst defensive record in the whole division, and the worst of the top 18 teams. Town won the first leg of their play-off, against fourth-placed West Ham United, with a goal from teenage striker Darren Bent (who scored 15 goals in the league alone), but lost the second leg 2–0, condemning Town to another season in the new championship.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1][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 1 GK  ENG Kelvin Davis 2 DF  NED Fabian Wilnis 3 DF  ENG Chris Makin 4 DF  ENG John McGreal 5 DF  GUI Drissa Diallo 6 DF  SCO Matt Elliott (on loan from Leicester City) 7 MF  NIR Jim Magilton (captain) 8 MF  ENG Tommy Miller 9 FW  ESP Pablo Couñago 10 FW  ENG Alun Armstrong 11 MF  ENG Jermaine Wright

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 DF  ENG Richard Naylor 14 DF  ENG Matt Richards 15 DF  CPV Georges Santos 17 FW  ENG Dean Bowditch 18 FW  ENG Darren Bent 23 MF  ENG Chris Bart-Williams 30 MF  NED Martijn Reuser 32 FW  FIN Shefki Kuqi 33 MF  ENG Ian Westlake 34 GK  WAL Lewis Price

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 16 FW  ENG Marcus Bent (on loan to Leicester City) 19 GK  ENG Andy Marshall (on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Millwall) 22 GK  ENG Nathan Abbey (to Burnley)

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 MF  IRL Alan Mahon (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) 26 GK  ENG James Pullen (to Peterborough United) 27 MF  ENG Matt Bloomfield (to Wycombe Wanderers)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF  ENG Aidan Collins 21 DF  ENG Scott Mitchell 24 MF  NED Nabil Abidallah 26 DF  ENG Scott Barron

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 DF  IRL Gerard Nash 29 FW  ENG Antonio Murray 31 FW  NIR Sam Morrow

Pre-season

Ipswich's pre-season preparations for the 2003–04 season included a pre-season tour of Scandinavia in July.^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 July 2003	Southend United	A	4–2	Unknown	Westlake, M Bent, D Bent, Couñago
18 July 2003	Mjällby	A	3–1	Unknown	M Bent, D Bent, Couñago
20 July 2003	Helsingør IF	A	3–1	Unknown	D Bent (2), M Bent
22 July 2003	Trelleborgs FF	A	5–0	Unknown	D Bent (pen), Couñago, Reuser, M Bent, Wilnis
26 July 2003	Colchester United	A	3–0	Unknown	M Bent, D Bent (2)
30 July 2003	Boston United	A	2–0	Unknown	Westlake, Armstrong
1 August 2003	Levski Sofia	H	1–1	Unknown	Couñago

Competitions

Football League First Division

Main article: 2003–04 Football League First Division

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
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
6	Crystal Palace (O, P)	46	21	10	15	72	61	+11	73
7	Wigan Athletic	46	18	17	11	60	45	+15	71

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Ipswich Town's score comes first^[4]

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 2003	Reading	H	1–1	24,830	Miller (pen)
16 August 2003	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–1	6,982
23 August 2003	Coventry City	H	1–1	22,419	M Bent
26 August 2003	Wigan Athletic	A	0–1	8,292
30 August 2003	West Ham United	H	1–2	29,679	Wright
13 September 2003	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–4	24,954	Naylor
16 September 2003	Walsall	H	2–1	20,912	Armstrong (pen), D Bent
20 September 2003	Wimbledon	H	4–1	23,428	Armstrong, Naylor, D Bent, Couñago (pen)
27 September 2003	Watford	A	2–1	15,350	Kuqi, Magilton
30 September 2003	Sunderland	A	2–3	24,840	D Bent, Naylor
4 October 2003	Rotherham United	H	2–1	21,859	Couñago (2) (pen)
11 October 2003	Bradford City	A	1–0	10,229	Mahon
14 October 2003	Burnley	H	6–1	22,048	Couñago (2), Wright, Chris Bart-Williams, Chaplow (o.g.), Kuqi
18 October 2003	Stoke City	H	1–0	22,122	Richards
21 October 2003	Crystal Palace	A	4–3	15,483	Naylor (2), Couñago, Kuqi
25 October 2003	Preston North End	A	1–1	14,863	Couñago (pen)
1 November 2003	Gillingham	H	3–4	24,788	Westlake, Couñago, Miller
8 November 2003	Derby County	A	2–2	19,976	Miller (pen), D Bent
22 November 2003	Sheffield United	H	3–0	25,004	Kuqi (pen), Westlake, D Bent
29 November 2003	Cardiff City	A	2–3	17,833	Miller, Santos, Bart-Williams
3 December 2003	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	21,558	D Bent
6 December 2003	Derby County	H	2–1	25,018	D Bent, Mawene (o.g.)
13 December 2003	Millwall	A	0–0	9,829
21 December 2003	Norwich City	H	0–2	30,152
26 December 2003	West Ham United	A	2–1	35,021	Couñago (2) (pen)
28 December 2003	Crystal Palace	H	1–3	27,629	Wright
10 January 2004	Reading	A	1–1	17,362	McGreal
17 January 2004	Crewe Alexandra	H	6–4	22,071	Miller (2), Kuqi (2), Reuser, Couñago
31 January 2004	Coventry City	A	1–1	14,441	Westlake
7 February 2004	Wigan Athletic	H	1–3	22,093	Kuqi
14 February 2004	Bradford City	H	3–1	21,478	Kuqi, Westlake, D Bent
21 February 2004	Burnley	A	2–4	12,418	Miller, Reuser
28 February 2004	Preston North End	H	2–0	23,359	Miller, Westlake
2 March 2004	Stoke City	A	0–2	11,435
7 March 2004	Norwich City	A	1–3	23,942	Miller
13 March 2004	Millwall	H	1–3	23,582	D Bent
16 March 2004	Walsall	A	3–1	6,562	D Bent (3)
20 March 2004	Watford	H	4–1	23,524	Bowditch (3), Wright
27 March 2004	Wimbledon	A	2–1	6,389	D Bent, Kuqi
4 April 2004	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–3	24,608	Miller, D Bent
10 April 2004	Rotherham United	A	3–1	6,561	Wright, D Bent, Kuqi
12 April 2004	Sunderland	H	1–0	26,801	Miller (pen)
17 April 2004	Gillingham	A	2–1	9,641	Reuser, D Bent
24 April 2004	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	27,848	Bowditch
30 April 2004	Sheffield United	A	1–1	24,184	Westlake
9 May 2004	Cardiff City	H	1–1	28,703	Kuqi

First Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	15 May 2004	West Ham United	H	1–0	28,435	D Bent
SF 2nd Leg	18 May 2004	West Ham United	A	0–2	34,002

FA Cup

Main article: 2003–04 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 2004	Derby County	H	3–0	16,159	Naylor, Miller, Kuqi
R4	24 January 2004	Sunderland	H	1–2	21,406	Reuser

League Cup

Main article: 2003–04 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	13 August 2003	Kidderminster Harriers	H	1–0	11,118	Bowditch
R4	23 September 2003	Notts County	A	1–2	4,059	Couñago

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Ref
4 June 2003	DF	Drissa Diallo	Burnley	Free transfer	[5]
17 July 2003	DF	Georges Santos	Grimsby Town	Free transfer	[6]
28 July 2003	GK	Kelvin Davis	Wimbledon	Free transfer	[7]
27 November 2003	FW	Shefki Kuqi	Sheffield Wednesday	Free transfer	[8]
11 December 2003	MF	Chris Bart-Williams	Charlton Athletic	Undisclosed	[9]
17 December 2003	GK	Nathan Abbey	Hayes	Free transfer	[10]

Loans in

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
5 September 2003	DF	Alan Mahon	Blackburn Rovers	22 December 2003	[11]
10 September 2003	MF	Chris Bart-Williams	Charlton Athletic	11 December 2003	[12]
26 September 2003	FW	Shefki Kuqi	Sheffield Wednesday	27 November 2003	[13]
14 March 2004	DF	Matt Elliott	Leicester City	30 June 2004	[14]

Transfers out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Ref
9 June 2003	DF	Lee Beevers	Boston United	Free transfer	[15]
12 June 2003	MF	Finidi George	Free agent	Mutual Consent	[16]
16 June 2003	MF	Matt Holland	Charlton Athletic	£750,000	[17]
19 June 2003	MF	Ulrich Le Pen	Strasbourg	Free transfer	[18]
1 July 2003	MF	Matthew Robinson	Free agent	Released	[19]
10 July 2003	DF	Mark Venus	Cambridge United	Free transfer	[20]
18 July 2003	GK	Matteo Sereni	Lazio	Undisclosed	[21]
31 July 2003	DF	Thomas Gaardsøe	West Bromwich Albion	Undisclosed	[22]
2 September 2003	DF	Erdem Artun	Darlington	Free transfer	[23]
3 November 2003	GK	James Pullen	Peterborough United	Free transfer	[24]
23 December 2003	MF	Matt Bloomfield	Wycombe Wanderers	Free transfer	[25][26]
16 January 2004	GK	Nathan Abbey	Burnley	Free transfer	[27]
25 March 2004	GK	Andy Marshall	Millwall	Free transfer	[28]

Loans out

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
4 August 2003	GK	James Pullen	Dagenham & Redbridge	19 October 2003	[29]
1 September 2003	FW	Marcus Bent	Leicester City	30 June 2004	[30]
11 November 2003	GK	Andy Marshall	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1 January 2004	[31][32]
10 December 2003	FW	Sam Morrow	Boston United	11 January 2004	[33]
10 December 2003	DF	Chris Hogg	Boston United	14 March 2004	[33][34]
22 December 2003	FW	Alun Armstrong	Bradford City	18 March 2004	[35]
17 January 2004	MF	Nabil Abidallah	Northampton Town	17 February 2004	[36]
28 January 2004	GK	Andy Marshall	Millwall	24 March 2004	[37][38]

Squad statistics

All statistics updated as of end of season

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Kelvin Davis	51	0	45	0	2	0	2	0	2	0
34	GK	WAL	Lewis Price	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	DF	NED	Fabian Wilnis	46	0	41	0	2	0	1	0	2	0
3	DF	ENG	Chris Makin	6	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
4	DF	ENG	John McGreal	21	1	18	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
5	DF	GUI	Drissa Diallo	20	0	16+3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF	SCO	Matt Elliott	12	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
12	DF	ENG	Richard Naylor	45	6	28+11	5	2	1	1+1	0	2	0
14	DF	ENG	Matt Richards	50	1	41+3	1	2	0	2	0	2	0
15	DF	CPV	Georges Santos	36	1	28+6	1	0	0	2	0	0	0
21	DF	ENG	Scott Mitchell	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	IRL	Gerard Nash	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF	NIR	Jim Magilton	52	1	46	1	1+1	0	2	0	2	0
8	MF	ENG	Tommy Miller	39	12	27+7	11	2	1	1	0	2	0
11	DF	ENG	Jermaine Wright	51	5	42+3	5	2	0	2	0	2	0
23	MF	ENG	Chris Bart-Williams	28	2	23+3	2	1	0	0	0	0+1	0
30	MF	NED	Martijn Reuser	21	4	3+14	3	1+1	1	1	0	0+1	0
33	MF	ENG	Ian Westlake	43	6	30+9	6	1	0	1	0	2	0
Forwards
9	FW	ESP	Pablo Couñago	33	12	18+11	11	2	0	2	1	0	0
10	FW	ENG	Alun Armstrong	9	2	5+2	2	0	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
17	FW	ENG	Dean Bowditch	20	5	7+9	4	0+1	0	1+1	1	0+1	0
18	FW	ENG	Darren Bent	41	16	32+5	15	1	0	1	0	2	1
22	FW	ENG	Darryl Knights	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	FW	NIR	Sam Morrow	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
32	FW	FIN	Shefki Kuqi	40	12	29+7	11	1+1	1	0	0	1+1	0
Players transferred out during the season
16	FW	ENG	Marcus Bent	5	1	4	1	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
23	MF	IRL	Alan Mahon	12	1	7+4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
27	MF	ENG	Matt Bloomfield	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0

Last updated: end of season
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	First Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Play-offs	Total
18	FW		Darren Bent	15	0	0	1	16
8	MF		Tommy Miller	11	1	0	0	12
9	FW		Pablo Couñago	11	0	1	0	12
32	FW		Shefki Kuqi	11	1	0	0	12
12	DF		Richard Naylor	5	1	0	0	6
33	MF		Ian Westlake	6	0	0	0	6
11	MF		Jermaine Wright	5	0	0	0	5
17	FW		Dean Bowditch	4	0	1	0	5
30	MF		Martijn Reuser	3	1	0	0	4
10	FW		Alun Armstrong	2	0	0	0	2
23	MF		Chris Bart-Williams	2	0	0	0	2
4	DF		John McGreal	1	0	0	0	1
7	MF		Jim Magilton	1	0	0	0	1
14	DF		Matt Richards	1	0	0	0	1
15	DF		Georges Santos	1	0	0	0	1
16	FW		Marcus Bent	1	0	0	0	1
25	MF		Alan Mahon	1	0	0	0	1
Own goal				1	0	0	0	1
Total				82	4	2	1	89

Clean sheets

No.	Nat	Player	First Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Play-offs	Total
1		Kelvin Davis	6	1	1	1	9
Total			6	1	1	1	9

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs		Total
1	GK	Kelvin Davis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2	DF	Fabian Wilnis	7	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	10	0
3	DF	Chris Makin	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF	John McGreal	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
5	DF	Drissa Diallo	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
6	DF	Matt Elliott	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
7	MF	Jim Magilton	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
8	MF	Tommy Miller	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
9	FW	Pablo Couñago	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
11	MF	Jermaine Wright	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
12	DF	Richard Naylor	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
14	DF	Matt Richards	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
15	DF	Georges Santos	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
17	FW	Dean Bowditch	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
18	FW	Darren Bent	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
23	MF	Chris Bart-Williams	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
25	MF	Alan Mahon	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
30	MF	Martijn Reuser	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
32	FW	Shefki Kuqi	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
33	MF	Ian Westlake	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Total			76	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	80	1

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[39]

No. Pos. Nat. Name MS Notes 1 GK Kelvin Davis 51 2 RB Fabian Wilnis 46 15 CB Georges Santos 30 6 CB Richard Naylor 50 3 LB Matt Richards 47 11 RM Jermaine Wright 48 8 CM Tommy Miller 32 Chris Bart-Williams has 24 starts 7 CM Jim Magilton 51 33 LM Ian Westlake 34 18 CF Darren Bent 36 32 CF Shefki Kuqi 31

4–4–2 Formation Davis Wilnis Santos Naylor Richards Miller Westlake Magilton(C) Wright Kuqi Bent

Awards

Player awards

Award	Player	Ref
Player of the Year	Ian Westlake	[40]
Players' Player of the Year	Jermaine Wright	[41]
Young Player of the Year	Dean Bowditch	[42]

References

1. "FootballSquads - Ipswich Town - 2003/04".
2. "Ipswich Town players: League Division 1 2004".
3. "Swedish Tour Info". TWTD. 25 July 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
4. "Ipswich Town 2001-2002 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
5. "Diallo Signing Confirmed". TWTD. 4 June 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
6. "Santos signs for Ipswich". BBC Sport. 17 July 2003. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
7. "Davis Signed". TWTD. 28 July 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
8. "Kuqi Deal Done". TWTD. 27 November 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
9. "Sheepshanks on Bart Deal". TWTD. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
10. "Ipswich sign Abbey". BBC Sport. 17 December 2003. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
11. "Mahon Loan Confirmed". TWTD. 5 September 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
12. "Ipswich complete Bart-Williams deal". BBC News. 11 September 2003.
13. "Kuqi Signs on Loan". TWTD. 26 September 2003.
14. "Elliott Joins on Loan". TWTD. 14 March 2004.
15. "Beevers Signs At Boston". TWTD. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
16. "The rise and fall of Ipswich in the Premier League". These Football Times. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
17. "Charlton sign Holland". The Daily Telegraph. London. 16 June 2003.
18. "Le Pen Leaves". TWTD. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
19. "Robinson Cherries Trial". TWTD. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
20. "Venus Joining Cambridge". TWTD. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
21. "Sereni set for Lazio move". BBC. 18 July 2003.
22. "Gaardsøe Move Confirmed". TWTD. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
23. "Erdem Artun at Soccerbase". TWTD. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
24. Pullen joins Posh
25. "Town release duo". Sky Sports. 26 November 2003. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
26. "Wycombe seal Bloomfield deal". Sky Sports. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
27. "Abbey Leaves Town". TWTD. 13 January 2004. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
28. "Marshall Leaves Town". TWTD. 25 March 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
29. Hill brings in Pullen
30. "Bent Agrees to Move". TWTD. 1 September 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
31. "Marshall at Wolves". TWTD. 11 November 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
32. "Andy Loan Confirmed". TWTD. 16 December 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
33. "Morrow and Hogg to Boston". TWTD. 10 December 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
34. "Hogg Staying at Boston". TWTD. 30 December 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
35. "Alun Joins Bradford". TWTD. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
36. "Nabil Joins Northampton". TWTD. 15 January 2004. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
37. "Marshall Move Confirmed". TWTD. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
38. "Marshall Staying at Den". TWTD. 27 February 2004. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
39. "All Ipswich Town players: 2004".
40. "Westy Wins!". twtd.co.uk (Those Were The Days). 3 October 2004. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
41. "Jamma Players' Choice". twtd.co.uk (Those Were The Days). 8 May 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
42. "Westy Player of the Year". twtd.co.uk (Those Were The Days). 2 May 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2020.