2003–04 Leicester City F.C. season

During the 2003–04 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League.

Leicester City

2003–04 season
Chairman	Jim McCahill
Manager	Micky Adams
Stadium	Walkers Stadium
Premier League	18th (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Les Ferdinand (12) All: Les Ferdinand Paul Dickov (13 each)
Highest home attendance	32,148 (vs. Newcastle United, 26 December)
Lowest home attendance	18,916 (vs. Manchester City, 14 January)
Average home league attendance	30,983
Home colours Away colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Season summary

Micky Adams had guided Leicester back to the Premiership at the first attempt, despite the club spending part of their Division One campaign in receivership before a takeover safeguarded their future. But he was unable to keep them there, and their relegation was confirmed at the beginning of May. A 4–0 thumping of fellow relegation rivals Leeds United in September appeared to have set the tone for the rest of the season but it was soon followed by a setback of five straight defeats despite promising displays. A run of three wins in five games in November kept Leicester in close contention of survival, with the 2–0 victory at Portsmouth seeing them rise to as high as 12th; however, it all went wrong as, after a creditable 1–1 draw with eventual champions Arsenal, the team went into freefall and endured a dreadful run of only one win in 22 games (though most scorelines were reasonably close and they dropped too many points from 12 games they drew which they could have won). Ultimately, Leicester were relegated in a 2–2 draw at Charlton Athletic, which left them eight points adrift of Manchester City with two games remaining. It was a traumatic end to a season which had seen the club plagued with crises on and off the field, including the La Manga controversy when players Keith Gillespie, Frank Sinclair and Paul Dickov were accused of sexual assault following an alleged incident at a hotel in Spain (all charges were finally dropped).

Final league table

Main article: 2003–04 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
16	Manchester City	38	9	14	15	55	54	+1	41
17	Everton	38	9	12	17	45	57	−12	39
18	Leicester City (R)	38	6	15	17	48	65	−17	33	Relegation to the Football League Championship
19	Leeds United (R)	38	8	9	21	40	79	−39	33
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers (R)	38	7	12	19	38	77	−39	33

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

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
38	6	15	17	48	65	−17	33	3	10	6	19	28	−9	3	5	11	29	37	−8

Source: 2003-04 FA Premier League table

Results by round

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
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	D	W	D	L	L	D	D	D	L	D	L	L	D	D	D	W	D	D	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	L
Position	7	13	13	16	11	13	15	19	20	20	18	15	15	12	15	16	17	18	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	17	17	18	18	19	19	19	19	20	18	18

Source: 11v11.com: 2003–04 Leicester City results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Leicester City's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 August 2003	Southampton	H	2–2	31,611	Dickov (pen), Ferdinand
23 August 2003	Chelsea	A	1–2	41,073	Scowcroft
26 August 2003	Middlesbrough	H	0–0	30,823
30 August 2003	Aston Villa	A	1–3	32,274	Izzet
15 September 2003	Leeds United	H	4–0	30,460	Nalis, Dickov (2), Scowcroft
20 September 2003	Liverpool	A	1–2	44,094	Bent
27 September 2003	Manchester United	H	1–4	32,044	Sinclair
4 October 2003	Fulham	A	0–2	14,562
19 October 2003	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–2	31,521	Dickov
25 October 2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	3–4	28,578	Ferdinand (2), Scimeca
2 November 2003	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–0	30,975	Bent, Howey
9 November 2003	Manchester City	A	3–0	46,966	Stewart, Dickov (pen), Bent
22 November 2003	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	30,242	Ferdinand
29 November 2003	Portsmouth	A	2–0	20,061	Ferdinand, Bent
6 December 2003	Arsenal	H	1–1	32,108	Hignett
13 December 2003	Birmingham City	H	0–2	30,639
20 December 2003	Everton	A	2–3	37,007	Ferdinand, Scowcroft
26 December 2003	Newcastle United	H	1–1	32,148	Dickov
28 December 2003	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–2	28,353	Bent, Ferdinand
7 January 2004	Southampton	A	0–0	31,053
11 January 2004	Chelsea	H	0–4	31,547
17 January 2004	Middlesbrough	A	3–3	27,125	Dickov (2), Bent
31 January 2004	Aston Villa	H	0–5	31,056
7 February 2004	Newcastle United	A	1–3	52,125	Ferdinand
10 February 2004	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–1	26,674	Ferdinand
22 February 2004	Tottenham Hotspur	A	4–4	35,218	Doherty (own goal), Ferdinand, Thatcher, Bent
28 February 2004	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–0	31,768
13 March 2004	Birmingham City	A	1–0	29,491	Ferdinand
20 March 2004	Everton	H	1–1	31,650	Bent
28 March 2004	Liverpool	H	0–0	32,013
5 April 2004	Leeds United	A	2–3	34,036	Dickov, Izzet
10 April 2004	Fulham	H	0–2	28,392
13 April 2004	Manchester United	A	0–1	67,749
17 April 2004	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1	22,749
24 April 2004	Manchester City	H	1–1	31,457	Scowcroft
1 May 2004	Charlton Athletic	A	2–2	26,034	Bent, Ferdinand
8 May 2004	Portsmouth	H	3–1	31,536	Dickov, Scowcroft, Taylor (own goal)
15 May 2004	Arsenal	A	1–2	38,419	Dickov

FA Cup

Main article: 2003–04 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 2004	Manchester City	A	2–2	30,617	Dickov, Bent
R3R	14 January 2004	Manchester City	H	1–3	18,916	Ferdinand

League Cup

Main article: 2003–04 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	23 September 2003	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–0	27,675	Dickov (pen)
R3	29 October 2003	Aston Villa	A	0–1	26,729

Squad

Squad at end of 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  ENG Ian Walker 2 DF  ENG Andrew Impey 3 DF  JAM Frank Sinclair[2] 5 MF  ENG Craig Hignett 6 MF  TUR Muzzy Izzet[3] 7 MF  NIR Keith Gillespie 8 MF  FRA Lilian Nalis 9 FW  ENG Les Ferdinand 10 FW  ENG James Scowcroft 11 MF  ENG Jordan Stewart 12 MF  ENG Paul Brooker 13 MF  GER Steffen Freund (on loan from 1. FC Kaiserslautern) 14 DF  SCO Callum Davidson 15 DF  ENG Alan Rogers

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 GK  WAL Danny Coyne 18 DF  SCO Matt Elliott[4] 20 FW  JAM Trevor Benjamin[5] 21 DF  ENG Riccardo Scimeca 22 FW  SCO Paul Dickov 25 DF  ENG Matt Heath 27 MF  ENG Steve Guppy 28 MF  SCO Peter Canero 32 MF  SCO Billy McKinlay 33 DF  WAL Ben Thatcher[6] 34 DF  FRA Nicolas Priet 38 FW  ENG Marcus Bent (on loan from Ipswich Town) 44 DF  GRE Nikos Dabizas

Left club during the 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 4 DF  NIR Gerry Taggart (to Stoke City) 24 DF  ENG Steve Howey (to Bolton Wanderers) 27 FW  ENG Brian Deane (to West Ham United)

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 MF  ENG Jon Ashton (to Oxford United) 29 DF  ENG John Curtis (to Portsmouth) — MF  ENG Nicky Summerbee (to Bradford City)

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 17 MF  WAL Matt Jones 19 GK  IRL Paul Murphy 23 FW  ENG Tommy Wright 24 FW  ENG Lee Morris 26 MF  ENG Junior Lewis 30 FW  FIN Tomi Petrescu — GK  IRL Conrad Logan — DF  ENG Richard Stearman — DF  IRL Alan Sheehan

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  AUS James Wesolowski — MF  ENG Tom Williamson — MF  IRL Stephen Dawson — MF  SLE Ahmed Deen — MF  PAK Usman Gondal — FW  ENG Louis Dodds — FW  ENG Chris O'Grady — FW  ENG Lee Tomlin

Statistics

Overview

Competition	Record
	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Premier League	38	6	15	17	48	65	−17	015.79
FA Cup	2	0	1	1	3	5	−2	000.00
League Cup	2	1	0	1	1	1	+0	050.00
Total	42	7	16	19	52	71	−19	016.67

Appearances and goals

As of end of season^[7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Ian Walker	40	0	37	0	2	0	1	0
16	GK	WAL	Danny Coyne	5	0	1+3	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
3	DF	JAM	Frank Sinclair	17	1	11+3	1	1	0	2	0
11	DF	ENG	Jordan Stewart	29	1	16+9	1	1+1	0	1+1	0
14	DF	SCO	Callum Davidson	15	0	8+5	0	2	0	0	0
18	DF	SCO	Matt Elliott	8	0	3+4	0	0+1	0	0	0
21	DF	ENG	Riccardo Scimeca	31	1	28+1	1	1	0	1	0
25	DF	ENG	Matt Heath	15	0	13	0	2	0	0	0
33	DF	WAL	Ben Thatcher	29	1	28+1	1	0	0	0	0
34	DF	FRA	Nicolas Priet	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
44	DF	GRE	Nikos Dabizas	18	0	18	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
2	MF	ENG	Andy Impey	16	0	11+2	0	1	0	2	0
5	MF	ENG	Craig Hignett	15	1	3+10	1	1	0	1	0
6	MF	TUR	Muzzy Izzet	33	2	30	2	1	0	0+2	0
7	MF	NIR	Keith Gillespie	13	0	7+5	0	0	0	0+1	0
8	MF	FRA	Lilian Nalis	22	1	11+9	1	0	0	2	0
12	MF	ENG	Paul Brooker	6	0	0+3	0	0+1	0	2	0
13	MF	GER	Steffen Freund	14	1	13+1	1	0	0	0	0
15	MF	ENG	Alan Rogers	8	0	7+1	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	ENG	Steve Guppy	17	0	9+6	0	0	0	2	0
28	MF	SCO	Peter Canero	7	0	2+5	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF	SCO	Billy McKinlay	19	0	15+1	0	2	0	1	0
Forwards
9	FW	ENG	Les Ferdinand	31	13	20+9	12	1+1	1	0	0
10	FW	ENG	James Scowcroft	39	5	33+2	5	2	0	1+1	0
20	FW	JAM	Trevor Benjamin	4	0	2+2	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW	SCO	Paul Dickov	39	13	28+7	11	2	1	2	1
38	FW	ENG	Marcus Bent	35	10	28+5	9	2	1	0	0
Players transferred or loaned out during the season
4	DF	NIR	Gerry Taggart	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	ENG	Steve Howey	15	1	13	1	0	0	2	0
27	FW	ENG	Brian Deane	7	0	0+5	0	0	0	2	0
29	DF	ENG	John Curtis	17	1	14+1	1	1	0	1	0

Last updated: 31 June 2004
Source: Competitions

Transfers

In

• Steve Howey – Manchester City, 5 June, undisclosed^[8]
• Riccardo Scimeca – Nottingham Forest, 24 June, free^[9]
• Paul Brooker – Brighton and Hove Albion, 24 June, free^[10]
• Danny Coyne – Grimsby Town, 3 July, free^[11]
• Keith Gillespie – Blackburn Rovers, 8 July, free^[12]
• Lilian Nalis – Chievo, 11 July, free^[13]
• Les Ferdinand – West Ham United, 11 July, free^[14]
• Ben Thatcher – Tottenham Hotspur, 17 July, £300,000^[15]
• Craig Hignett – Blackburn Rovers, 18 July, free^[16]
• Steve Guppy – Celtic, 13 January, free
• Peter Canero – Kilmarnock, 2 February, £250,000^[17]
• Lee Morris – Derby County, 2 February, nominal fee^[18]
• Nicolas Priet – Lyon, free

Out

• Tim Flowers – retired, 7 May
• Martin Reeves – released, 7 May (later joined Northampton Town on 9 June^[19])
• Simon Royce – released, 7 May (later joined Charlton Athletic on 26 June^[20])
• Stefan Oakes – released, 7 May (later joined Walsall on 3 July^[21]
• Nicky Summerbee – released, 7 May (later joined Bradford City on 4 September)
• Jon Ashton – released, 7 May (later joined Oxford United on 8 September)
• Matt Jones – released, 7 May (later retired on 4 June 2004^[22])
• Michael Price – released, 7 May
• Darren Eadie – released, 7 May
• Jon Stevenson – released, 7 May (later joined Swindon Town)
• Brian Deane – West Ham United, 31 October, free^[23]
• Steve Howey – Bolton Wanderers, 29 January, undisclosed^[24]
• John Curtis – Portsmouth, 2 February, free^[25]
• Gerry Taggart – Stoke City, 26 February, free^[26]

Loan in

• Marcus Bent – Ipswich Town, 1 September, season-long loan^[27]
• Nikos Dabizas – Newcastle United, 1 January, six-month loan^[28]
• Steffen Freund – Kaiserlautern, 30 January, season-long loan^[29]

Loan out

• Tommy Wright – Brentford, 12 September
• Gerry Taggart – Stoke City, 9 December, two months^[30]

Awards

Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2003–04 season.

Player of the Season	Les Ferdinand[31]
Players' Player of the Season	Les Ferdinand[31]
Supporters' Club Player of the Season	N/A
Academy Player of the Season	Richard Stearman[32]
Goal of the Season	Lilian Nalis[32] (vs. Leeds United, 15 September 2003)[33]

References

1. "Leicester City results for the 2003-2004 season - Statto.com". www.statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
2. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
3. Izzet was born in Tower Hamlets, England, but qualified to represent Turkey internationally and made his international debut for Turkey in 2000.
4. Elliott was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his full international debut for Scotland in November 1997.
5. Benjamin was born in Kettering, England, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in November 2002.
6. Thatcher was born in Swindon, England, but qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 2004.
7. "All Leicester City players: 2004".
8. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes move for Howey". BBC News. 5 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
9. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes snap up Scimeca". BBC News. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
10. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Brooker joins Leicester". BBC News. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
11. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester sign Coyne". BBC News. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
12. "Foxes sign Gillespie". Archived from the original on 10 August 2003. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
13. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes snap up Nalis". BBC News. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
14. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Ferdinand signs for Leicester". BBC News. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
15. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes sign Thatcher". BBC News. 17 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
16. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester swoop for Hignett". BBC News. 18 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
17. "Foxes delight for Canero". BBC News. 19 January 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
18. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester land Morris". BBC News. 2 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
19. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Northampton Town | Reeves pens Cobblers deal". BBC News. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
20. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Charlton Athletic | Royce returns to Charlton". BBC News. 26 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
21. "Walsall sign duo". BBC Sport. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 6 September 2003.
22. "Jones forced to retire". BBC Sport. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
23. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | West Ham Utd | West Ham sign Deane". BBC News. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
24. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Bolton Wanderers | Howey completes Bolton switch". BBC News. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
25. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Portsmouth | Pompey land LuaLua". BBC News. 2 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
26. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Stoke City | Taggart joins Stoke City". BBC News. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
27. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Bent makes Leicester move". BBC News. 1 September 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
28. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Dabizas to join Leicester". BBC News. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
29. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester land Freund". BBC News. 30 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
30. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Stoke City | Taggart joins Stoke". BBC News. 9 December 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
31. "Leicester City Annual Player Awards". LCFC.co.uk. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
32. Awards Ceremony Picture Special, LCFC.com, 17 November 2004, archived from the original on 5 September 2012, retrieved 19 January 2011
33. "Dickov leaves Leeds reeling". BBC Sport. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2011.