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OVERVIEW Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game. Leeds United narrowly avoided going into administration, but despite a valiant effort late in the season to claw back lost points, they were unable to avoid relegation and lost their place in the Premiership to newcomers Portsmouth . Wimbledon completed their controversial relocation to Milton Keynes and moved into the National Hockey Stadium, which would be used as a temporary home until a permanent home was built at Denbigh North. At the end of the season, the club's directors changed its name to Milton Keynes Dons . Telford United , who had been members of the Conference every season since its formation in 1979, went out of business at the end of a season in which they had reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. The club was quickly reformed as A.F.C. Telford United and joined the Northern Premier League. Doncaster Rovers were crowned Division Three champions to earn their second successive promotion, having been Conference playoff winners the previous season. They had not played above the league's lowest tier for nearly 20 years. Carlisle United were relegated to the Conference from Division Three. They had spent all but two of the last 17 seasons in the league's fourth tier, but had been members of the top division during the 1974-75 season and topped the league three games into the season despite getting relegated at the end of it. York City also followed them out of the Football League afer a dreadful second half to the season. Meanwhile, Chester City and Shrewsbury Town were promoted back to the Football League from the Nationwide Conference . EVENTS
NATIONAL TEAM
HONOURS EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION LEAGUE TABLES FA Premier League The Premiership title race was a three-horse race for most of the season, but Arsenal remained unbeaten all season long and clinched the title with 90 points and an 11-point gap over runners-up Chelsea, who had been most people's favourites for the title after a £100million summer spending spree. League Cup winners Middlesbrough qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history, joined by fifth-placed Newcastle United. Seventh-placed Charlton Athletic and eighth-placed Bolton Wanderers both achieved their highest league finishes since the 1950s, while ninth-placed Fulham (many people's pre-season relegation favourites) defied the odds under 33-year-old manager Chris Coleman and achieved the highest league finish of their history. Portsmouth, also considered favourites for relegation pre-season, finished a respectable 13th in their first top-flight season. Newly promoted Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers both went down after just one season, while Leeds United's financial crisis saw them lose most of their key players and eventually saw them relegated from the top flight after 14 successive seasons among the elite. See Also: FA Premier League 2003-04 Football League First Division The top three led the division for most of the season, but Sunderland could not shake off their poor start to the season and eventually lost out to Norwich, returning to the Premiership after nearly a decade, and West Brom, who bounced back to the Premiership after relegation the previous season. Crystal Palace achieved one of the most unlikely promotions of recent times, spending the entire first half of the season in the relegation zone under manager Steve Kember before surging into the play-off places under new manager Iain Dowie . Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes took its toll on the club, and they finished bottom of the table in an abysmal final season for the club before it was renamed as MK Dons . Bradford fared little better, despite the presence of former England captain Bryan Robson in the manager's chair. Walsall made a respectable start to the season before slumping somewhat later in the season, then sacking manager Colin Lee for speaking to Plymouth about their manager's job (even though Walsall gave him their permission, and he turned the job down anyway) and crashing into the relegation zone under caretaker Paul Merson , who was nonetheless given the job permanently. Football League Second Division Plymouth Argyle finished top of the division, though they lost manager Paul Sturrock to Southampton . Queens Park Rangers grabbed the second spot from under the noses of Bristol City , who proceeded to lose the play-off final to Brighton & Hove Albion , another side who bounced back from relegation the previous season. Tony Adams , previously suggested by many as a possible future manager of Arsenal and England, failed to keep Wycombe Wanderers up, ending their ten-year spell in the division. Notts County nearly went bankrupt during the course of the season and the effect on the club was evident, as they slipped into Division Three (or League Two, as it would be called the next season), and Rushden & Diamonds ' years of success came to a grinding halt as they crashed back out of the division after being promoted the previous year. Grimsby Town 's relegation happened in somewhat bizarre fashion - manager Paul Groves was sacked after leading the side into the relegation zone, and caretaker manager Graham Rodger lifted the side up the table, giving them a good chance of survival. Rather than give the job to Rodger permanently, the board instead handed it to Nicky Law (sacked from Bradford City after a dire start to the season), who steered them straight back into the relegation zone, which they were unable to escape from. Unsurprisingly, Law's contract was not renewed over the summer. Football League Third Division Doncaster earned a second successive promotion, showing that the club was firmly back on track after the years of struggle and scandal the club endured in the late 90s. Hull's expensive investment in players finally paid off, and the team was promoted. Torquay, traditionally strugglers, snatched the last automatic promotion spot from Huddersfield on the last day of the season. Huddersfield would make up for this by beating Mansfield in the play-off final. York started the season brightly, but only managed to gain nine points between November 1 and the end of the season and lost their 80-year old League status. Carlisle started the season horrendously, but a late run saw them finish 23rd. A few years ago this would have seen them complete an amazing escape from relegation, but with the introduction of two relegation places from the League it was no longer sufficient, and they dropped into the Conference. NATIONAL LEAGUE SYSTEM Cup competitions Football Conference
Northern Premier League
Southern League
Isthmian League
Other leagues TRANSFER DEALS Summer transfer window The summer transfer window ran from the end of the previous season until 31 August 2003 . ; 8 May 2003
; 11 May 2003
; 4 June 2003
; 6 June 2003
; 7 June 2003
; 11 June 2003
; 25 June 2003
; 30 June 2003
; 1 July 2003
; 2 July 2003
; 3 July 2003
; 7 July 2003
; 8 July 2003
; 9 July 2003
; 10 July 2003
; 11 July 2003
; 14 July 2003
; 15 July 2003
; 16 July 2003
; 17 July 2003
; 18 July 2003
; 21 July 2003
; 23 July 2003
; 24 July 2003
; 26 July 2003
; 28 July 2003
; 31 July 2003
; 1 August 2003
; 2 August 2003
; 3 August 2003
; 4 August 2003
; 5 August 2003
; 6 August 2003
; 8 August 2003
; 11 August 2003
; 12 August 2003
; 13 August 2003
; 14 August 2003
; 15 August 2003
; 21 August 2003
; 24 August 2003
; 25 August 2003
; 26 August 2003
; 29 August 2003
; 30 August 2003
; 31 August 2003
; 1 September
January transfer window The mid-season transfer window runs from 1 January to 31 January 2006 . ; 1 January 2004
; 2 January 2004
; 6 January 2004
; 9 January 2004
; 12 January 2004
; 14 January 2004
; 17 January 2004
; 23 January 2004
; 21 January 2004
; 22 January 2004
; 25 January 2004
; 27 January 2004
; 29 January 2004
; 30 January 2004
; 2 February 2004
For subsequent transfer deals see 2004-05 In English Football . Retirements DEATHS
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