2003–04 Ipswich Town F.C. season

Ipswich Town
2003–04 season
ChairmanDavid Sheepshanks
ManagerJoe Royle
StadiumPortman Road
First Division5th
FA CupFourth round
League CupSecond round
Play-offsSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Darren Bent (15)
All: Darren Bent (16)
Highest home attendance30,152
(vs Norwich City, 21 Dec 2003, First Division)
Lowest home attendance11,118
(vs Kidderminster Harriers, 13 Aug 2003, League Cup)
Average home league attendance24,519

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

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; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Kelvin Davis
2 DF Netherlands NED Fabian Wilnis
3 DF England ENG Chris Makin
4 DF England ENG John McGreal
5 DF Guinea GUI Drissa Diallo
6 DF Scotland SCO Matt Elliott (on loan from Leicester City)
7 MF Northern Ireland NIR Jim Magilton (captain)
8 MF England ENG Tommy Miller
9 FW Spain ESP Pablo Couñago
10 FW England ENG Alun Armstrong
11 MF England ENG Jermaine Wright
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 DF England ENG Richard Naylor
14 DF England ENG Matt Richards
15 DF Cape Verde CPV Georges Santos
17 FW England ENG Dean Bowditch
18 FW England ENG Darren Bent
23 MF England ENG Chris Bart-Williams
30 MF Netherlands NED Martijn Reuser
32 FW Finland FIN Shefki Kuqi
33 MF England ENG Ian Westlake
34 GK Wales WAL Lewis Price

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
16 FW England ENG Marcus Bent (on loan to Leicester City)
19 GK England ENG Andy Marshall (on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Millwall)
22 GK England ENG Nathan Abbey (to Burnley)
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Mahon (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
26 GK England ENG James Pullen (to Peterborough United)
27 MF England ENG Matt Bloomfield (to Wycombe Wanderers)

Reserve squad

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
20 DF England ENG Aidan Collins
21 DF England ENG Scott Mitchell
24 MF Netherlands NED Nabil Abidallah
26 DF England ENG Scott Barron
No. Pos. Nation Player
28 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Gerard Nash
29 FW England ENG Antonio Murray
31 FW Northern Ireland 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 England Southend United A 4–2 Unknown Westlake, M Bent, D Bent, Couñago
18 July 2003 Sweden Mjällby A 3–1 Unknown M Bent, D Bent, Couñago
20 July 2003 Denmark Helsingør IF A 3–1 Unknown D Bent (2), M Bent
22 July 2003 Sweden Trelleborgs FF A 5–0 Unknown D Bent (pen), Couñago, Reuser, M Bent, Wilnis
26 July 2003 England Colchester United A 3–0 Unknown M Bent, D Bent (2)
30 July 2003 England Boston United A 2–0 Unknown Westlake, Armstrong
1 August 2003 Bulgaria Levski Sofia H 1–1 Unknown Couñago

Competitions

Football League First Division

Main article: 2003–04 Football League First Division

League table

Pos Team
 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 Guinea Drissa Diallo England Burnley Free transfer [5]
17 July 2003 DF Cape Verde Georges Santos England Grimsby Town Free transfer [6]
28 July 2003 GK England Kelvin Davis England Wimbledon Free transfer [7]
27 November 2003 FW Finland Shefki Kuqi England Sheffield Wednesday Free transfer [8]
11 December 2003 MF England Chris Bart-Williams England Charlton Athletic Undisclosed [9]
17 December 2003 GK England Nathan Abbey England Hayes Free transfer [10]

Loans in

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

Transfers out

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

Loans out

Date from Pos Name From Date until Ref
4 August 2003 GK England James Pullen England Dagenham & Redbridge 19 October 2003 [29]
1 September 2003 FW England Marcus Bent England Leicester City 30 June 2004 [30]
11 November 2003 GK England Andy Marshall England Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 January 2004 [31][32]
10 December 2003 FW England Sam Morrow England Boston United 11 January 2004 [33]
10 December 2003 DF England Chris Hogg England Boston United 14 March 2004 [33][34]
22 December 2003 FW England Alun Armstrong England Bradford City 18 March 2004 [35]
17 January 2004 MF Netherlands Nabil Abidallah England Northampton Town 17 February 2004 [36]
28 January 2004 GK England Andy Marshall England 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 England ENG Kelvin Davis 51 0 45 0 2 0 2 0 2 0
34 GK Wales WAL Lewis Price 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Defenders
2 DF Netherlands NED Fabian Wilnis 46 0 41 0 2 0 1 0 2 0
3 DF England ENG Chris Makin 6 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
4 DF England ENG John McGreal 21 1 18 1 2 0 0 0 1 0
5 DF Guinea GUI Drissa Diallo 20 0 16+3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
6 DF Scotland SCO Matt Elliott 12 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
12 DF England ENG Richard Naylor 45 6 28+11 5 2 1 1+1 0 2 0
14 DF England ENG Matt Richards 50 1 41+3 1 2 0 2 0 2 0
15 DF Cape Verde CPV Georges Santos 36 1 28+6 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
21 DF England ENG Scott Mitchell 2 0 0+2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Gerard Nash 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Midfielders
7 MF Northern Ireland NIR Jim Magilton 52 1 46 1 1+1 0 2 0 2 0
8 MF England ENG Tommy Miller 39 12 27+7 11 2 1 1 0 2 0
11 DF England ENG Jermaine Wright 51 5 42+3 5 2 0 2 0 2 0
23 MF England ENG Chris Bart-Williams 28 2 23+3 2 1 0 0 0 0+1 0
30 MF Netherlands NED Martijn Reuser 21 4 3+14 3 1+1 1 1 0 0+1 0
33 MF England ENG Ian Westlake 43 6 30+9 6 1 0 1 0 2 0
Forwards
9 FW Spain ESP Pablo Couñago 33 12 18+11 11 2 0 2 1 0 0
10 FW England ENG Alun Armstrong 9 2 5+2 2 0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0
17 FW England ENG Dean Bowditch 20 5 7+9 4 0+1 0 1+1 1 0+1 0
18 FW England ENG Darren Bent 41 16 32+5 15 1 0 1 0 2 1
22 FW England ENG Darryl Knights 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 FW Northern Ireland NIR Sam Morrow 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0 0
32 FW Finland FIN Shefki Kuqi 40 12 29+7 11 1+1 1 0 0 1+1 0
Players transferred out during the season
16 FW England ENG Marcus Bent 5 1 4 1 0 0 0+1 0 0 0
23 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Mahon 12 1 7+4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
27 MF England 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 England Darren Bent 15 0 0 1 16
8 MF England Tommy Miller 11 1 0 0 12
9 FW Spain Pablo Couñago 11 0 1 0 12
32 FW Finland Shefki Kuqi 11 1 0 0 12
12 DF England Richard Naylor 5 1 0 0 6
33 MF England Ian Westlake 6 0 0 0 6
11 MF England Jermaine Wright 5 0 0 0 5
17 FW England Dean Bowditch 4 0 1 0 5
30 MF Netherlands Martijn Reuser 3 1 0 0 4
10 FW England Alun Armstrong 2 0 0 0 2
23 MF England Chris Bart-Williams 2 0 0 0 2
4 DF England John McGreal 1 0 0 0 1
7 MF Northern Ireland Jim Magilton 1 0 0 0 1
14 DF England Matt Richards 1 0 0 0 1
15 DF Cape Verde Georges Santos 1 0 0 0 1
16 FW England Marcus Bent 1 0 0 0 1
25 MF Republic of Ireland 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 England 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
Yellow card Red card Yellow card Red card Yellow card Red card Yellow card Red card Yellow card Red card
1 GK England Kelvin Davis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2 DF Netherlands Fabian Wilnis 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 10 0
3 DF England Chris Makin 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
4 DF England John McGreal 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
5 DF Guinea Drissa Diallo 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
6 DF Scotland Matt Elliott 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
7 MF Northern Ireland Jim Magilton 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
8 MF England Tommy Miller 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
9 FW Spain Pablo Couñago 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
11 MF England Jermaine Wright 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
12 DF England Richard Naylor 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
14 DF England Matt Richards 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
15 DF Cape Verde Georges Santos 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
17 FW England Dean Bowditch 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
18 FW England Darren Bent 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
23 MF England Chris Bart-Williams 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
25 MF Republic of Ireland Alan Mahon 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
30 MF Netherlands Martijn Reuser 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
32 FW Finland Shefki Kuqi 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
33 MF England 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]

Awards

Player awards

Award Player Ref
Player of the Year England Ian Westlake [40]
Players' Player of the Year England Jermaine Wright [41]
Young Player of the Year England 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. ^ a b "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.