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
January
Out
Summer
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
League table
Source: Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.(C) Champions; (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
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
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
Goal scorers
References
^ "Whitley joins Sunderland". 4 August 2003.
^ "Breen seals Sunderland move". 5 August 2003.
^ "McCarthy happy with Smith". 25 September 2003.
^ "Quinn, Reddy swap places". 3 October 2003.
^ "Downing joins Sunderland". 30 October 2003.
^ "Black Cats sign Cooper". 7 January 2004.
^ "Sunderland bag Byfield". 6 February 2004.
^ "Cooper joins Sunderland". 12 March 2004.
^ "Black Cats sign Robinson". 24 March 2004.
^ "Iron sign Byrne". 11 June 2003.
^ "Bellion joins Man Utd". July 2003.
^ "Macho to join Chelsea". 21 May 2003.
^ "Nice land Laslandes". 9 July 2003.
^ "Baggies complete Haas signing". 9 July 2003.
^ "Villa complete McCann deal". 24 July 2003.
^ "Wolves sign Craddock". 31 July 2003.
^ "Sorensen joins Villa". 8 August 2003.
^ "Southampton land Phillips". 14 August 2003.
^ "Medina off to Spain". 20 August 2003.
^ "Flo completes Siena move". 23 August 2003.
^ "Man City sign Reyna". 29 August 2003.
^ "Thome heads to Bolton". 29 August 2003.
^ "Everton capture Kilbane". September 2003.
^ "Celtic move delights Gray". September 2003.
^ "Seasiders sign Graydon". 25 September 2003.
^ "Quinn, Reddy swap places". 3 October 2003.
^ "Doncaster seal Brown deal". 4 October 2003.
^ "James joins Quakers". 13 November 2003.
^ "Blackburn seal Gray deal". 27 January 2004.
^ "Black Cats reject windfall". 6 February 2004.
^ "Sunderland bag Byfield". 6 February 2004.
^ "York seal Dickman deal". 24 February 2004.
^ "Wrexham land Ingham". 15 March 2004.
^ "James joins Vale on loan". 19 March 2004.
^ "Penney poised for promotion". 29 March 2004.
^ "FootballSquads - Sunderland - 2003/04".
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.
National teams
League competitions
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Level 5 Levels 6–7 Levels 8–9
Isthmian League (Two )
Combined Counties League (Premier , One )
Eastern Counties League (Premier , One )
Essex Senior League (level 9 only )
Hellenic League (Premier , One East , One West )
Kent League (level 8 only )
Midland Alliance (level 8 only )
Midland Football Combination (level 9 only )
North West Counties League (One , Two )
Northern Counties East League (Premier , One )
Northern League (One , Two )
Spartan South Midlands League (Premier , One )
Sussex County League (One , Two )
United Counties League (Premier , One )
Wessex League (level 8 only )
West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only )
Western League (Premier , One )
Cup competitions
FA cups Football League cups
European competitions