During the 2003–04 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League .
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).
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
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
Leicester City's score comes first [ 1]
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
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.
Left club during the season
edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Competition
Record
Premier League
38
6
15
17
48
65
−17
0 15.79
FA Cup
2
0
1
1
3
5
−2
00 0.00
League Cup
2
1
0
1
1
1
+0
0 50.00
Total
42
7
16
19
52
71
−19
0 16.67
Appearances and goals
edit
As of end of season [ 7]
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, freePeter Canero – Kilmarnock , 2 February, £250,000[ 17] Lee Morris – Derby County , 2 February, nominal fee[ 18] Nicolas Priet – Lyon , free Tim Flowers – retired, 7 MayMartin 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 MayJon 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]
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] Leeds United , 15 September 2003)[ 33]
^ "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 .^ Sinclair was born in Lambeth , England , but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
^ Izzet was born in Tower Hamlets , England , but qualified to represent Turkey internationally and made his international debut for Turkey in 2000.
^ Elliott was born in Wandsworth , England , but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his full international debut for Scotland in November 1997.
^ Benjamin was born in Kettering , England , but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in November 2002.
^ Thatcher was born in Swindon , England , but qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 2004.
^ "All Leicester City players: 2004" .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes move for Howey" . BBC News . 5 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes snap up Scimeca" . BBC News . 24 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Brooker joins Leicester" . BBC News . 24 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester sign Coyne" . BBC News . 3 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "Foxes sign Gillespie" . Archived from the original on 10 August 2003. Retrieved 6 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes snap up Nalis" . BBC News . 11 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Ferdinand signs for Leicester" . BBC News . 11 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Foxes sign Thatcher" . BBC News . 17 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester swoop for Hignett" . BBC News . 18 July 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "Foxes delight for Canero" . BBC News . 19 January 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2022 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester land Morris" . BBC News . 2 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Northampton Town | Reeves pens Cobblers deal" . BBC News . 9 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Charlton Athletic | Royce returns to Charlton" . BBC News . 26 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "Walsall sign duo" . BBC Sport . Retrieved 6 September 2003 .^ "Jones forced to retire" . BBC Sport . 4 June 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | West Ham Utd | West Ham sign Deane" . BBC News . 31 October 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Bolton Wanderers | Howey completes Bolton switch" . BBC News . 29 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Portsmouth | Pompey land LuaLua" . BBC News . 2 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Stoke City | Taggart joins Stoke City" . BBC News . 26 February 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Bent makes Leicester move" . BBC News . 1 September 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Dabizas to join Leicester" . BBC News . 1 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester City | Leicester land Freund" . BBC News . 30 January 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Stoke City | Taggart joins Stoke" . BBC News . 9 December 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012 .^ a b "Leicester City Annual Player Awards" . LCFC.co.uk. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2011 .^ a b Awards Ceremony Picture Special the original on 5 September 2012, retrieved 19 January 2011 ^ "Dickov leaves Leeds reeling" . BBC Sport . 15 September 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2011 .
ENG
WAL
JAM
SCO
FRA
GRE
TUR
NIR
GER