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Aston Villa
2003–04 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	David O'Leary
Stadium	Villa Park
FA Premier League	6th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	Juan Pablo Ángel (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. 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.

Nevertheless, it was still a great achievement by O'Leary, who appeared to get the best out of the likes of Gareth Barry, Lee Hendrie, Jlloyd Samuel and 16-goal Juan Pablo Ángel. The Colombian was the club's leading scorer, while Darius Vassell bagged 9 goals to cement his place in England's Euro 2004 squad. Thomas Sørensen and Gavin McCann both had excellent seasons after moving from Sunderland, while Nolberto Solano quickly became a fans' favourite after his mid-season move from Newcastle.

Among the men to represent Villa for the last time during 2003–04 was Dion Dublin, who netted 48 goals in 155 league games. O'Leary's side reached the last four of the Football League Cup by knocking out Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. The semi-final first leg, at Bolton, ended in a disappointing 5–2 defeat. Villa Park goals by Thomas Hitzlsperger and Samuel were not quite enough to prevent the Trotters from clinching a place in the final. Manchester United came from behind to knock Villa out of the FA Cup in a third round tie at Villa Park. 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, Steven Davis, Peter Whittingham 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.

Kit

Kit Supplier	Sponsor
Diadora	Rover / MG*

*Rover sponsored the home shirts, MG sponsored the away

Transfers

Transferred in

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee

24 July 2003	CM	Gavin McCann	Sunderland	£2,250,000
8 August 2003	GK	Thomas Sørensen	Sunderland	£2,250,000
29 January 2004	RM	Nolberto Solano	Newcastle United	£1,500,000
				£6,000,000

Loaned in

Date	Pos	Player	From	Loan End

Transferred out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee

1 July 2003	AM	Øyvind Leonhardsen	-	Released
1 July 2003	CM	John McGrath	Doncaster Rovers	Free transfer
1 July 2003	LB	Steve Staunton	Coventry City	Free transfer
1 July 2003	CM	Ian Taylor	Derby County	Free transfer
1 July 2003	LB	Alan Wright	Middlesbrough	Free transfer
23 October 2003	CB	Alpay Özalan	Incheon United	Free transfer
13 December 2003	GK	Boaz Myhill	Hull City	£50,000
23 December 2003	LB	Danny Jackman	Stockport County	£70,000
6 January 2004	GK	Peter Enckelman	Blackburn Rovers	£150,000
15 January 2004	CM	Mark Kinsella	West Bromwich Albion	Free transfer
21 January 2004	CF	Boško Balaban	Club Brugge	Free transfer
31 January 2004	CM	Mustapha Hadji	Espanyol	Free transfer
25 March 2004	CB	Jonathan Bewers	Notts County	Free transfer
				£270,000

Loaned out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Loan End

6 August 2003	GK	Boaz Myhill	Macclesfield Town	6 September 2003
1 September 2003	AM	Hassan Kachloul	Wolverhampton Wanderers	31 May 2004
4 September 2003	CF	Peter Crouch	Norwich City	7 December 2003
7 November 2003	GK	Peter Enckelman	Blackburn Rovers	31 December 2003
15 November 2003	LB	Rob Edwards	Crystal Palace	21 December 2003
21 November 2003	GK	Boaz Myhill	Stockport County	11 December 2003
11 December 2003	CF	Peter Hynes	Doncaster Rovers	10 January 2004
12 December 2003	CF	Luke Moore	Wycombe Wanderers	12 January 2004
8 January 2004	LB	Rob Edwards	Derby County	31 May 2004
23 January 2004	CF	Peter Hynes	Cheltenham Town	23 February 2004
13 March 2004	GK	Wayne Henderson	Tamworth	23 March 2004
19 April 2004	GK	Wayne Henderson	Wycombe Wanderers	31 May 2004

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure

£6,000,000

Income

£270,000

Balance

£5,730,000

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Liverpool	38	16	12	10	55	37	+18	60	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round^[a]
5	Newcastle United	38	13	17	8	52	40	+12	56	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
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

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

^ Since Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as 2003–04 FA Cup winners went to First Division club Millwall, who were the FA Cup runners-up.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1]^[2]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	DEN	Thomas Sørensen
2	DF	WAL	Mark Delaney
3	DF	ENG	Jlloyd Samuel^{[notes 1]}
4	DF	SWE	Olof Mellberg
6	MF	ENG	Gareth Barry
7	MF	ENG	Lee Hendrie
8	MF	ENG	Gavin McCann
9	FW	ENG	Dion Dublin
10	FW	ENG	Darius Vassell
11	MF	PER	Nolberto Solano
12	MF	GER	Thomas Hitzlsperger


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	GK	NED	Stefan Postma
14	FW	SWE	Marcus Allbäck
15	DF	ECU	Ulises de la Cruz
16	FW	ENG	Peter Crouch
17	MF	ENG	Peter Whittingham
18	FW	COL	Juan Pablo Ángel
23	FW	ENG	Stefan Moore
24	DF	ENG	Liam Ridgewell
27	DF	NOR	Ronny Johnsen
31	FW	ENG	Luke Moore

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
5	DF	TUR	Alpay Özalan (to Incheon United)
19	FW	CRO	Boško Balaban (to Club Brugge)
20	MF	MAR	Mustapha Hadji (to Espanyol)
25	GK	FIN	Peter Enckelman (to Blackburn Rovers)
26	MF	IRL	Mark Kinsella (to West Bromwich Albion)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
28	DF	ENG	Danny Jackman (to Stockport County)
—	GK	WAL	Boaz Myhill^{[notes 2]} (to Hull City)
—	DF	ENG	Jon Bewers (to Notts County)
—	DF	ENG	Ryan Amoo (to Northampton Town)

Reserve squad

The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the reserves.

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	NIR	Steven Davis
22	MF	MAR	Hassan Kachloul (on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers)
29	DF	WAL	Rob Edwards^{[notes 3]}
30	MF	ENG	Stephen Cooke


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
39	GK	IRL	Wayne Henderson
—	MF	SCO	Colin Marshall (on loan to Clyde)
—	FW	IRL	Peter Hynes (on loan to Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town)

Youth squad

The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the youth team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.

Under-19s

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Antoni Pecora
—	GK	ENG	Andrew Yarnold
—	GK	FIN	Jon Masalin
—	DF	ENG	Stuart Bridges
—	DF	ENG	Gary Cahill
—	DF	ENG	Scott Cormell
—	DF	ENG	Lee Grant
—	DF	ENG	Nick Green
—	DF	ENG	James O'Connor


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	IRL	Kevin Mulcahy
—	MF	ENG	Neil Kilkenny^{[notes 4]} (on trial from Arsenal)
—	MF	ENG	Kyle Nix^{[notes 5]}
—	MF	IRL	Stephen Foley-Sheridan
—	FW	SCO	Alan Brazil (on loan to Coleraine)
—	FW	NIR	Jamie Ward^{[notes 6]}
—	FW	FIN	Mika Ääritalo
—	FW	CIV	Amadou Kouman
—	MF		John Grady

Under-17s

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Jake Meredith
—	GK	AUT	Bobby Olejnik
—	DF	ENG	Ashley Edkins
—	DF	ENG	Paul Green
—	DF	ENG	Michael Tuohy
—	DF	IRL	Stephen O'Halloran
—	DF	DEN	Magnus Troest
—	MF	ENG	Morgan Evans
—	MF	ENG	Craig Gardner
—	MF	ENG	Nigel Julien (on trial)
—	MF	ENG	Dan McDonald
—	MF	ENG	Michael Noakes
—	MF	ENG	Isaiah Osbourne


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Charlie Reeves
—	MF	ENG	Jay Sztybel
—	MF	BEL	Christian Tshimanga Kabeya^{[notes 7]}
—	FW	ENG	Gabriel Agbonlahor
—	FW	ENG	Scott Bridges
—	FW	ENG	Shane Paul
—	FW	ENG	Sam Williams
—	DF		Seyi Morgan
—	DF		Matt Saunders
—	MF		Luke Sampson
—			Abdiligan Abshir
—			Ross Hughes

Other players

The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this season.

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	IRL	Lee Boyle
—	DF	IRL	Pierre Ennis (to Dublin City)
—	DF	FRA	Youness Bengelloun (on trial from Paris Saint-Germain)
—	DF	ISR	Tal Ben Haim (on trial from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
—	MF	ENG	Ishmel Demontagnac
—	MF	ENG	Daryl Taylor


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	IRL	Kenneth Browne
—	MF	MLT	André Schembri (on trial from Hibernians)
—	MF	COL	Freddy Grisales (on trial from Atlético Nacional)
—	GK		Matthew Allen
—	MF		Rowan Caney

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of end of season^[3]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	DEN	Thomas Sørensen	45	0	38	0	1	0	6	0
13	GK	NED	Stefan Postma	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	DF	WAL	Mark Delaney	30	0	23+2	0	0	0	5	0
3	DF	TRI	Jlloyd Samuel	45	3	38	2	1	0	6	1
4	DF	SWE	Olof Mellberg	39	1	33	1	1	0	5	0
15	DF	ECU	Ulises de la Cruz	32	0	20+8	0	1	0	3	0
24	DF	ENG	Liam Ridgewell	13	0	5+6	0	0	0	0+2	0
27	DF	NOR	Ronny Johnsen	27	1	21+2	1	1	0	2+1	0
Midfielders
6	MF	ENG	Gareth Barry	43	4	36	3	1	1	6	0
7	MF	ENG	Lee Hendrie	37	2	32	2	1	0	4	0
8	MF	ENG	Gavin McCann	35	2	28	0	1	0	6	2
11	MF	PER	Nolberto Solano	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
12	MF	GER	Thomas Hitzlsperger	38	5	22+10	3	0+1	0	2+3	2
17	MF	ENG	Peter Whittingham	39	1	20+12	0	1	0	4+2	1
Forwards
9	FW	ENG	Dion Dublin	28	3	12+11	3	0	0	4+1	0
10	FW	ENG	Darius Vassell	39	10	26+6	9	1	0	5+1	1
14	FW	SWE	Marcus Allbäck	19	1	7+8	1	0	0	1+3	0
16	FW	ENG	Peter Crouch	18	4	6+10	4	0	0	1+1	0
18	FW	COL	Juan Pablo Ángel	39	23	33	16	1	0	5	7
23	FW	ENG	Stefan Moore	12	1	2+6	1	0+1	0	1+2	0
31	FW	ENG	Luke Moore	7	0	0+7	0	0	0	0	0
Players transferred or loaned out during the season
5	DF	TUR	Alpay Özalan	6	1	4+2	1	0	0	0	0
20	MF	MAR	Mustapha Hadji	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	IRL	Mark Kinsella	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 31 June 2004
Source: Competitions

Pre-season

Date	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F – A	Scorers	Competition
22 July 2003	FC TPS Turku	A	3 – 0	Ángel (2), Vassell	Friendly
24 July 2003	Pitea	A	8 – 0	Allbäck (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	Allbäck (3), Ángel, De la Cruz	Friendly
9 August 2003	Leeds	N	2 – 2	Kachloul, Hitzlsperger (Aston Villa win 4–2 on pens)	Friendly, Dublin Cup
10 August 2003	St Patricks	N	6 – 0	Ángel (3), Allbäck, Whittingham, Hitzlsperger	Friendly, Dublin Cup

Season results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Competition	Scorers	Attendance
16 August 2003	Portsmouth	A	[1–2]	Premier League	Barry (pen) 82'	20,101
24 August 2003	Liverpool	H	[0–0]	Premier League		42,573
27 August 2003	Arsenal	A	[0–2]	Premier League		38,010
30 August 2003	Leicester City	H	3–1	Premier League	Thatcher (og) 8', Ángel 10', 16'	32,274
14 September 2003	Manchester City	A	1–4	Premier League	Ángel 31'	46,687
20 September 2003	Charlton Athletic	H	[2–1]	Premier League	Alpay 37', Samuel 55'	31,410
23 September 2003	Wycombe Wanderers	A	5–0	League Cup	Whittingham 14', Ángel 31, (pen) 50', 55', Vassell (pen) 86'	6,072
27 September 2003	Chelsea	A	[0–1]	Premier League		41,182
5 October 2003	Bolton	H	[1–1]	Premier League	Ángel 58'	30,229
19 October 2003	Birmingham	A	[0–0]	Premier League		29,546
25 October 2003	Everton	H	[0–0]	Premier League		36,146
29 October 2003	Leicester	H	1–0	League Cup	Hitzlsperger 75'	26,729
1 November 2003	Newcastle	A	1–1	Premier League	Dublin 11'	51,975
8 November 2003	Middlesbrough	H	[0–2]	Premier League		29,898
23 November 2003	Tottenham	A	[1–2]	Premier League	Allbäck 66'	33,140
29 November 2003	Southampton	H	[1–0]	Premier League	Dublin 45'	31,285
3 December 2003	Crystal Palace	H	3–0	League Cup	Symons (og) 22', McCann 70', Ángel 79'	24,258
6 December 2003	Manchester United	A	0–4	Premier League		67,621
14 December 2003	Wolves	H	3–2	Premier League	Ángel 21', 24', Barry 48'	36,964
17 December 2003	Chelsea	H	[2–1]	League Cup	Ángel 16', McCann 78'	30,414
20 December 2003	Blackburn Rovers	A	[2–0]	Premier League	S. Moore 62', Ángel 75'	20,722
26 December 2003	Leeds United	A	[0–0]	Premier League		38,513
28 December 2003	Fulham	H	3–0	Premier League	Ángel 33', Vassell 67', 82'	35,617
4 January 2004	Man Utd	H	[1–2]	FA Cup	Barry 19'	40,371
6 January 2004	Portsmouth	H	[2–1]	Premier League	Ángel 22', Vassell 85'	28,625
10 January 2004	Liverpool	A	[0–1]	Premier League		43,771
18 January 2004	Arsenal	H	[0–2]	Premier League		39,380
21 January 2004	Bolton	A	2–5	League Cup	Ángel 20', 56'	16,302
27 January 2004	Bolton Wanderers	H	[2–0]	League Cup	Hitzlsperger 10', Samuel 88'	36,883
31 January 2004	Leicester City	A	5–0	Premier League	Vassell 50', 60', Crouch 57', 68', Dublin 64'	31,056
07 February 2004	Leeds United	H	[2–0]	Premier League	Ángel (pen) 45', Johnsen 59'	39,171
11 February 2004	Fulham	A	[2–1]	Premier League	Ángel 13', Vassell 32'	16,153
22 February 2004	Birmingham	H	2–2	Premier League	Vassell 21', Hitzlsperger 47'	40,061
28 February 2004	Everton	A	[0–2]	Premier League		39,353
14 March 2004	Wolves	A	4–0	Premier League	Hitzlsperger 7', Mellberg 18', Ángel 24', 59'	29,386
20 March 2004	Blackburn Rovers	H	[0–2]	Premier League		37,532
27 March 2004	Charlton Athletic	A	[2–1]	Premier League	Vassell 24', Samuel 54'	26,250
4 April 2004	Manchester City	H	[1–1]	Premier League	Ángel 21'	37,602
10 April 2004	Bolton Wanderers	A	[2–2]	Premier League	Crouch 18', Hendrie 53'	26,374
12 April 2004	Chelsea	H	3–2	Premier League	Vassell (pen) 39', Hitzlsperger 49', Hendrie 52'	41,112
18 April 2004	Newcastle United	H	[0–0]	Premier League		40,786
24 April 2004	Middlesbrough	A	[2–1]	Premier League	Barry 45', Crouch 89'	31,322
2 May 2004	Tottenham Hotspur	H	[1–0]	Premier League	Ángel 5'	42,573
8 May 2004	Southampton	A	[1–1]	Premier League	Ángel (pen) 39'	32,054
15 May 2004	Manchester United	H	[0–2]	Premier League		42,573

Notes

^ Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.
^ Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.
^ Edwards was born in Madeley, England, and represented them at U-16 level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Wales in March 2003.
^ Kilkenny was born in Enfield, England, but was raised in Australia and also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandparents. He represented England at U-18 and U-20 level and the Republic of Ireland at U-19 level before making his international debut for Australia in June 2006.
^ Nix was born in Sydney, Australia, but was raised in England and represented England at U-16, U-18, U-20, and C level.
^ Ward was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.
^ Kabeya was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but also qualifies to represent Belgium internationally and represented them at U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 level.