+ Results summary All competitions WinsDrawsLossesWin %Home7 125 29.2%Away9 6 1233.3%Both16181731.4% Premier League WinsDrawsLossesWin %Home5 9 5 26.3%Away4 5 1021.1%Both9 141523.7%
The 2003–04 season was Manchester City Football Club's second consecutive season playing in the Premier League, the top division of English football, and its seventh season since the Premier League was first created with Manchester City as one of its original 22 founding member clubs. Overall, it was the team's 112th season playing in a division of English football, most of which have been spent in the top flight.
Season review
After finishing ninth during the club's final season at 80-year-old Maine Road, Manchester City's debut season at the City of Manchester Stadium was a major disappointment. A ninth-place finish had not been good enough to earn City an opportunity to play in the UEFA Cup, but the team was rewarded with that opportunity anyway due to being awarded a "Fair Play" slot in the UEFA Cup competition this season. City reached the second round proper of the competition thanks to aggregate victories against The New Saints and Lokeren, but exited the competition on the away goals rule after two draws against Polish club Groclin.
Having embarked on a new era for the club by signing a host of experienced players in the summer, such as Claudio Reyna and Steve McManaman, to combine with such burgeoning talents coming through from the MCFC youth academy as Stephen Ireland and Shaun Wright-Phillips, City started their season very brightly with three wins in five games, sending them near the top of the table. They were still in the top-half of the table after winning five, drawing three and losing three of their first 11 games, with three notably big wins: a 3–0 opening-game away win at Charlton Athletic, a 4–1 home victory over Aston Villa and a 6–2 thumping of Bolton Wanderers. However, a dreadful 3–0 home defeat against unlikely opponents Leicester City in November started a gradual downturn in form and City then ended up battling against relegation. At one point, City went on a run of winning only one game out of 18 league and cup matches played, sparking media rumours of unrest in the squad. Survival in the Premier League was not confirmed until City won their 36th game of the league season. That victory meant that City were six points ahead of the relegation places, but the club's survival was effectively confirmed due to it having a far superior goal difference to Leicester, Leeds and Wolves, who were relegated.
Perhaps the most memorable game played by Manchester City during this season was the FA Cup fourth-round replay fixture against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, which featured what many people consider to be one of the most extraordinary comebacks in the history of the competition. City fell three goals behind during the first half, had Nicolas Anelka substituted due to injury and Joey Barton was sent off during half-time for verbally abusing the referee. Despite having one man less than their opponents during the second half, City came all the way back to win 4–3 and reach the next round. Rookie Icelandic goalkeeper Árni Arason made a key double save and Jon Macken scored the winning goal. In the next round, a Manchester derby at Old Trafford, City lost 4–2 to exit the competition.
Team kit There was a change in the producer of the team kits for this season, with Reebok replacing the previous season's supplier, Le Coq Sportif. The shirt sponsorship was provided by the financial and legal services group First Advice, who had also been the sponsors for the previous season.
First-team squad
Left club during season
Historical league performance Prior to this season, the history of Manchester City's performance in the English football league hierarchy since the creation of the Premier League in 1992 is summarised by the following timeline chart – which commences with the last season (1991–92) of the old Football League First Division (from which the Premier League was formed).
Friendly games
Pre-season
First game ever played at CoMS
Competitive games
Premier League
Table
Results summary
Points breakdown
Points at home: 24 Points away from home: 17
Points against "Big Four" teams: 4 Points against promoted teams: 3
6 points: Bolton Wanderers 4 points: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Everton 3 points: Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton 2 points: Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur 1 point: Birmingham City, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 points: Arsenal, Chelsea, Middlesbrough
Biggest & smallest Biggest home wins: 6–2 vs. Bolton Wanderers, 18 October 2003 5–1 vs. Everton, 15 May 2004 Biggest home defeat: 0–3 vs. Leicester City, 9 November 2003 Biggest away win: 0–3 vs. Charlton Athletic, 17 August 2003 Biggest away defeat: 3–0 vs. Newcastle United, 22 November 2003
Biggest home attendance: 47,304 vs. Chelsea, 28 February 2004 Smallest home attendance: 44,307 vs. Charlton Athletic, 7 January 2004 Biggest away attendance: 67,645 vs. Manchester United, 13 December 2003 Smallest away attendance: 16,124 vs. Fulham, 20 September 2003
Results by round
Individual match reports
UEFA Cup
Final aggregate score 1–1 with Groclin progressing on away goals rule
League Cup
FA Cup
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season
Starting 11
Goal scorers
All competitions ScorerGoals Nicolas Anelka24 Shaun Wright-Phillips11 Robbie Fowler10 Antoine Sibierski7 Paulo Wanchope6 Jon Macken4 Michael Tarnat Sylvain Distin3 Sun Jihai2 Trevor Sinclair David Sommeil Joey Barton1 Paul Bosvelt Darren Huckerby Christian Negouai Claudio Reyna
Premier League ScorerGoals Nicolas Anelka16 Robbie Fowler7 Shaun Wright-Phillips Paulo Wanchope6 Antoine Sibierski5 Michael Tarnat3 Sylvain Distin2 Joey Barton1 Sun Jihai Jon Macken Claudio Reyna David Sommeil Trevor Sinclair
UEFA Cup ScorerGoals Nicolas Anelka4 Robbie Fowler1 Darren Huckerby Sun Jihai Christian Negouai Shaun Wright-Phillips Antoine Sibierski Trevor Sinclair David Sommeil
League Cup and FA Cup ScorerGoals Nicolas Anelka4 Jon Macken3 Shaun Wright-Phillips Robbie Fowler2 Paul Bosvelt1 Sylvain Distin Antoine Sibierski Michael Tarnat
Information current as of 15 May 2004 (end of season)
Transfers and loans
Transfers in Date Pos. Player From club Transfer fee 4 June 2003 MF Michael Tarnat Bayern Munich Free 21 June 2003 GK David Seaman Arsenal Free 21 July 2003 MF Trevor Sinclair West Ham United £2.5 million 24 July 2003 MF Paul Bosvelt Feyenoord Undisclosed 2 August 2003 MF Antoine Sibierski Lens £700,000 29 August 2003 MF Claudio Reyna Sunderland £2.5 million 30 August 2003 MF Steve McManaman Real Madrid Free 14 January 2004 GK David James West Ham United £2 million Jan. 2004 GK Árni Gautur Arason Rosenborg Free
Transfers out Exit date Pos. Player To club Transfer fee May 2003 James Almond Released May 2003 Mark Egerton Released May 2003 Philip Gilder Released May 2003 Adam James Released May 2003 Adrian Orr Released May 2003 David Tickle Released May 2003 Ashley Timms Released May 2003 FW Gary Browne Whitby Town Released May 2003 DF Stephen Paisley Longford Town Released 23 May 2003 DF Tyrone Loran Tranmere Rovers Undisclosed 5 June 2003 DF Steve Howey Leicester City £200,000 8 July 2003 DF Niclas Jensen Borussia Dortmund £750,000 24 July 2003 GK Brian Murphy Swansea City Free 25 July 2003 DF Alf-Inge Haaland Retired 27 July 2003 MF Ali Benarbia Al-Rayyan Free 1 August 2003 FW Shaun Goater Reading £500,000 14 August 2003 GK Carlo Nash Middlesbrough Nominal 15 August 2003 MF Kevin Horlock West Ham United £300,000 22 August 2003 DF Paul Ritchie Walsall Free 25 August 2003 DF Lucien Mettomo Kaiserslautern £500,000 26 December 2003 FW Darren Huckerby Norwich City £750,000 8 January 2004 MF Eyal Berkovic Portsmouth £500,000 15 January 2004 GK David Seaman Retired
Loans in Date from Date to Pos. Player From club 31 Jan 2004 31 May 2004 DF Daniel Van Buyten Marseille
Loans out Date from Date to Pos. Player To club 3 July 2003 31 May 2004 FW Matias Vuoso Santos Laguna 7 Aug 2003 7 Nov 2003 MF Chris Shuker Rochdale 10 Sep 2003 12 Dec 3 FW Darren Huckerby Norwich City 29 Sep 2003 30 Oct 2003 MF Glenn Whelan Bury 11 Dec 2003 ??? 2004 MF Chris Shuker Hartlepool United 24 Dec 2003 24 Jan 2004 MF Glenn Whelan Bury Jan. 2004 Daniel Bardiello Barnsley 31 Jan 2004 31 May 2004 DF David Sommeil Marseille 2 Feb 4 Dorryl Profitt Coventry City MF Christian Negouai Sturm Graz 15 Mar 2004 15 Apr 2004 MF Willo Flood Rochdale
References