200304 in English football

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The 2003-2004 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game.

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 AFC Telford United and joined the Northern 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.

Events

• 29 February 2004: Middlesbrough win their first ever trophy as a professional club by beating Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final.
• 5 March 2004: Three Leicester City players, Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair, are charged with sexual assault while on a training camp in La Manga, Spain. All charges are dropped in May.
• 27 May 2004: Telford United are liquidated and removed from the Conference as a result.
• 2 June 2004: José Mourinho takes over as manager of Chelsea, replacing Claudio Ranieri.
• 16 June 2004: Rafael Benítez takes over as manager of Liverpool, replacing Gérard Houllier.
• 21 June 2004: Wimbledon F.C. announce that they will change their name to Milton Keynes Dons F.C., reflecting its highly controversial move from South London to Milton Keynes.

National team

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	England scorers
August 20, 2003	Portman Road, Ipswich	Croatia	3-1	F	David Beckham (pen), Michael Owen, Frank Lampard
September 6, 2003	Skopje City Stadium	Macedonia	2-1	ECQ	Wayne Rooney, David Beckham (pen)
September 10, 2003	Old Trafford, Manchester	Liechtenstein	2-0	ECQ	Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney
October 11, 2003	Istanbul	Turkey	0-0	ECQ
November 16, 2003	Old Trafford, Manchester	Denmark	2-3	F	Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole
February 14, 2004	Estádio Algarve, Faro	Portugal	1-1	F	Ledley King
March 31, 2004	Nya Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg	Sweden	0-1	F
June 1, 2004	City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester	Japan	1-1	FA	Michael Owen
June 5, 2004	City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester	Iceland	6-1	FA	Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney (2), Darius Vassell (2), Wayne Bridge
June 13, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon	France	1-2	ECF	Frank Lampard
June 17, 2004	Estádio Cidade, Coimbra	Switzerland	3-0	ECF	Wayne Rooney (2), Steven Gerrard
June 21, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon	Croatia	4-2	ECF	Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney (2), Frank Lampard
June 24, 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon	Portugal	1-1 (FT), 2-2 (aet), 5-6 (P)	ECF	Michael Owen, Frank Lampard

• ECQ - Euro 2004 qualifiers
• ECF - Euro 2004 finals
• F - Friendly; scores are written England first
• FA - FA Summer Tournament (friendly)
• (FT) - Full time
• (aet) - After extra time
• (P) - After penalty shoot out

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.

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.

Main article: FA Premier League 2003-04

Football League First Division

The top three led the division for most of the season, but Sunderland couldn't 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.

 P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Norwich City 46 18 3 2 44 15 10 7 6 35 24 40 94 Promoted
 2 West Bromwich Albion 46 14 5 4 34 16 11 6 6 30 26 22 86 Promoted
 3 Sunderland 46 13 8 2 33 15 9 5 9 29 30 17 79
 4 West Ham United 46 12 7 4 42 20 7 10 6 25 25 22 74
 5 Ipswich Town 46 12 3 8 49 36 9 7 7 35 36 12 73
 6 Crystal Palace 46 10 8 5 34 25 11 2 10 38 36 11 73 Promoted (playoff winners)
 7 Wigan Athletic 46 11 8 4 29 16 7 9 7 31 29 15 71
 8 Sheffield United 46 11 6 6 37 25 9 5 9 28 31 9 71
 9 Reading 46 11 6 6 29 25 9 4 10 26 32 -2 70
10 Millwall 46 11 8 4 28 15 7 7 9 27 33 7 69 UEFA Cup (FA Cup runners up)
11 Stoke City 46 11 7 5 35 24 7 5 11 23 31 3 66
12 Coventry City 46 9 9 5 34 22 8 5 10 33 32 13 65
13 Cardiff City 46 10 6 7 40 25 7 8 8 28 33 10 65
14 Nottingham Forest 46 8 9 6 33 25 7 6 10 28 33 3 60
15 Preston North End 46 11 7 5 43 29 4 7 12 26 42 -2 59
16 Watford 46 9 8 6 31 28 6 4 13 23 40 -14 57
17 Rotherham United 46 8 8 7 31 27 5 7 11 22 34 -8 54
18 Crewe Alexandra 46 11 3 9 33 26 3 8 12 24 40 -9 53
19 Burnley 46 9 6 8 37 32 4 8 11 23 45 -17 53
20 Derby County 46 11 5 7 39 33 2 8 13 14 34 -14 52
21 Gillingham 46 10 1 12 28 34 4 8 11 20 33 -19 51
22 Walsall 46 8 7 8 29 31 5 5 13 16 34 -20 51 Relegated
23 Bradford City 46 6 3 14 23 35 4 3 16 15 34 -31 36 Relegated
24 Wimbledon 46 3 4 16 21 40 5 1 17 20 49 -48 29 Relegated

Football League Second Division

Plymouth 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, 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 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's years of success came to a grinding halt as they crashed back out of the division after being promoted the previous year. Grimsby'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 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.

 P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Plymouth Argyle 46 17 5 1 52 13 9 7 7 33 28 +44 90 Promoted
 2 Queens Park Rangers 46 16 7 0 47 12 6 10 7 33 33 +35 83 Promoted
 3 Bristol City 46 15 6 2 34 12 8 7 8 24 25 +21 82
 4 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 17 4 2 39 11 5 7 11 25 32 +21 77 Promoted (playoff winners)
 5 Swindon Town 46 12 7 4 41 23 8 6 9 35 35 +18 73
 6 Hartlepool United 46 10 8 5 39 24 10 5 8 37 37 +15 73
 7 Port Vale 46 15 6 2 45 28 6 4 13 28 35 +10 73
 8 Tranmere Rovers 46 13 7 3 36 18 4 9 10 23 38 +3 67
 9 A.F.C. Bournemouth 46 11 8 4 35 25 6 7 10 21 26 +5 66
10 Luton Town 46 14 6 3 44 27 3 9 11 25 39 +3 66
11 Colchester United 46 11 8 4 33 23 6 5 12 19 33 -4 64
12 Barnsley 46 7 12 4 25 19 8 5 10 29 39 -4 62
13 Wrexham 46 9 6 8 27 21 8 3 12 23 39 -10 60
14 Blackpool 46 9 5 9 31 28 7 6 10 27 37 -7 59
15 Oldham Athletic 46 9 8 6 37 25 3 13 7 29 35 +6 57
16 Sheffield Wednesday 46 7 9 7 25 26 6 5 12 23 38 -16 53
17 Brentford 46 9 5 9 34 38 5 6 12 18 31 -17 53
18 Peterborough United 46 5 8 10 36 33 7 8 8 22 25 0 52
19 Stockport County 46 6 8 9 31 36 5 11 7 31 34 -8 52
20 Chesterfield 46 9 7 7 34 31 3 8 12 15 40 -22 51
21 Grimsby Town 46 10 5 8 36 26  3 6 14 19 55 -26 50 Relegated
22 Rushden & Diamonds 46 9 5 9 37 34 4 4 15 23 40 -14 48 Relegated
23 Notts County 46 6 9 8 32 27 4 3 16 18 51 -28 42 Relegated
24 Wycombe Wanderers 46 5 7 11 31 39 1 12 10 19 36 -25 37 Relegated

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.

 P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 4 2 47 13 10 7 6 32 24 +42 92 Promoted
 2 Hull City 46 16 4 3 50 21 9 9 5 32 23 +38 88 Promoted
 3 Torquay United 46 15 6 2 44 18 8 6 9 24 26 +24 81 Promoted
 4 Huddersfield Town 46 16 4 3 42 18 7 8 8 26 34 +16 81 Promoted (playoff winners)
 5 Mansfield Town 46 13 5 5 44 25 9 4 10 32 37 +14 75
 6 Northampton Town 46 13 4 6 30 23 9 5 9 28 28 +7 75
 7 Lincoln City 46 9 11 3 36 23 10 6 7 32 24 +21 74
 8 Yeovil Town 46 14 3 6 40 19 9 2 12 30 38 +13 74
 9 Oxford United 46 14 8 1 34 13 4 9 10 21 31 +11 71
10 Swansea City 46 9 8 6 36 26 6 6 11 22 35 -3 59
11 Boston United 46 11 7 5 35 21 5 4 14 15 33 -4 59
12 Bury 46 10 7 6 29 26 5 4 14 25 38 -10 56
13 Cambridge United 46 6 7 10 26 32 8 7 8 29 35 -12 56
14 Cheltenham Town 46 11 4 8 37 38 3 10 10 20 33 -14 56
15 Bristol Rovers 46 9 7 7 29 26 5 6 12 21 35 -11 55
16 Kidderminster Harriers 46 9 5 9 28 29 5 8 10 17 30 -14 55
17 Southend United 46 8 4 11 27 29 6 8 9 24 34 -12 54
18 Darlington 46 10 4 9 30 28 4 7 12 23 33 -8 53
19 Leyton Orient 46 8 9 6 28 27 5 5 13 20 38 -17 53
20 Macclesfield Town 46 8 9 6 28 25 5 4 14 26 44 -15 52
21 Rochdale 46 7 8 8 28 26 5 6 12 21 32 -9 50
22 Scunthorpe United 46 7 10 6 36 27 4 6 13 33 45 -3 49
23 Carlisle United 46 8 5 10 23 27 4 4 15 23 42 -23 45 Relegated
24 York City 46 7 6 10 22 29 3 8 12 13 37 -31 44 Relegated

National League System

Cup competitions

Football Conference

• Champions:
  • Chester City
• Playoff winners:
  • Shrewsbury Town
• Relegated:
  • Margate (forced relegation to Conference South due to failing ground requirements)

Northern Premier League

• Champions:
  • Hucknall Town (to Conference North)
• Also promoted (to Conference North):
  • Droylsden, Barrow, Alfreton Town, Harrogate Town, Southport, Worksop Town, Lancaster City, Vauxhall Motors, Gainsborough Trinity, Stalybridge Celtic, Altrincham, Runcorn FC Halton, Bradford Park Avenue (playoff winners)

Southern League

• Champions:
  • Crawley Town (to Conference National)
• Also promoted (to Conference North):
  • Stafford Rangers, Nuneaton Borough, Worcester City, Hinckley United, Moor Green
• Also promoted (to Conference South):
  • Weymouth, Newport County, Cambridge City, Welling United, Weston-super-Mare, Eastbourne Borough, Havant & Waterlooville, Dorchester Town (playoff winners)

Isthmian League

• Champions:
  • Canvey Island (to Conference National)
• Also promoted (to Conference South):
  • Sutton United, Thurrock, Hornchurch, Grays Athletic, Carshalton Athletic, Hayes, Bognor Regis Town, Bishop's Stortford, Maidenhead United, Ford United, Basingstoke Town, St Albans City (playoff winners)
• Also promoted (to Conference North):
  • Kettering Town

Other leagues

Transfer deals

Summer transfer window

The summer transfer window runs from the end of the previous season until 31 August.

8 May 2003

• Steve Finnan from Fulham to Liverpool, £3.5m

11 May 2003

• Christophe Dugarry from Girondins de Bordeaux to Birmingham City, free

4 June 2003

• David Seaman from Arsenal to Manchester City, free
• Michael Tarnat from Bayern Munich to Manchester City, free

6 June 2003

• Patrik Berger from Liverpool to Portsmouth, free

7 June 2003

• Matt Holland from Ipswich Town to Charlton Athletic, £750,000

11 June 2003

• Gianfranco Zola from Chelsea to Cagliari Calcio, free

25 June 2003

• Hélder Postiga from FC Porto to Tottenham Hotspur, £8.25m

30 June 2003

• Teddy Sheringham from Tottenham Hotspur to Portsmouth

1 July 2003

• Lee Bowyer from West Ham United to Newcastle United, free
• David Bellion from Sunderland to Manchester United, free
• Philippe Senderos from Servette to Arsenal, Undisclosed

2 July 2003

• David Beckham from Manchester United to Real Madrid, £25m

3 July 2003

• David Dunn from Blackburn Rovers to Birmingham City, £5.5m

7 July 2003

• Eric Djemba-Djemba from Nantes to Manchester United, £3.5m

8 July 2003

• Niclas Jensen from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund, £750,000

9 July 2003

• Harry Kewell from Leeds United to Liverpool, £5m

10 July 2003

• Brett Emerton from Feyenoord to Blackburn Rovers, £2.5m

11 July 2003

• Les Ferdinand from West Ham United to Leicester City, free

14 July 2003

• Lorenzo Amoruso from Glasgow Rangers to Blackburn Rovers, £1.4m

15 July 2003

• Tim Howard from Major League Soccer to Manchester United, £2.2m
• Glen Johnson from West Ham United to Chelsea, £6m

16 July 2003

• Geremi from Real Madrid to Chelsea, undisclosed
• Tony Vidmar from Middlesbrough to Cardiff City, free

17 July 2003

• Ivan Campo from Real Madrid to Bolton Wanderers, free

18 July 2003

• Paul Merson from Portsmouth to Walsall, free
• Bobby Zamora from Brighton and Hove Albion to Tottenham Hotspur, £1.5m
• Ben Thatcher from Tottenham Hotspur to Leicester City, free

21 July 2003

• Wayne Bridge from Southampton to Chelsea, £7m
• Damien Duff from Blackburn Rovers to Chelsea, £17m
• Graeme Le Saux from Chelsea to Southampton, £500,000
• Trevor Sinclair from West Ham United to Manchester City, £2.5m
• Doriva from Celta Vigo to Middlesbrough, free

23 July 2003

• Kevin Davies from Southampton to Bolton Wanderers, free

24 July 2003

• Oleg Luzhny from Arsenal to Wolverhampton Wanderers, free
• Gavin McCann from Sunderland to Aston Villa, £2.25m

26 July 2003

• Jens Lehmann from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal, Undisclosed

28 July 2003

• Steven Reid from Millwall to Blackburn Rovers, £2.5m
• Dejan Stefanovic from Vitesse Arnhem to Portsmouth, £1.9m

31 July 2003

• David Connolly from Wimbledon to West Ham United, £285,000
• Jody Craddock from Sunderland to Wolverhampton Wanderers, £1.75m

1 August 2003

• Vratislav Gresko from Parma to Blackburn Rovers, £1.2m
• Shaun Goater from Manchester City to Reading, £500,000
• Steffen Iversen from Tottenham Hotspur to Wolverhampton Wanderers, free
• Henri Camara from Sedan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, £1.5m

2 August 2003

• Antoine Sibierski from RC Lens to Manchester City, £700,000
• Alan Wright from Aston Villa to Middlesbrough, free

3 August 2003

• Rob Lee from Derby County to West Ham United, free

4 August 2003

• Gael Clichy from Cannes to Arsenal, Nominal
• Luciano Figueroa from Rosario to Birmingham, £2.5m
• Frederic Kanoute from West Ham United to Tottenham Hotspur, £3.5m
• Matthew Etherington from Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United, Swap for Kanoute

5 August 2003

• Amdy Faye from Auxerre to Portsmouth, £1.5m
• Gary Breen from West Ham United to Sunderland, free

6 August 2003

• Joe Cole from West Ham United to Chelsea, £6.6m
• Juan Sebastian Veron from Manchester United to Chelsea, £15m

8 August 2003

• Thomas Sørensen from Sunderland to Aston Villa, £2.25m

11 August 2003

• Paolo Di Canio from West Ham United to Charlton Athletic, free

12 August 2003

• Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United, £12m
• Kleberson from Atletico Paranaense to Manchester United, £5.9m

13 August 2003

• Mark Crossley from Middlesbrough to Fulham, £500,000

14 August 2003

• Adrian Mutu from Parma to Chelsea, £15m
• Carlo Nash from Manchester City to Middlesbrough, Nominal
• Sebastian Schemmel from West Ham United to Portsmouth, free

15 August 2003

• Kevin Horlock from Manchester City to West Ham United, £500,000

21 August 2003

• Gaizka Mendieta from Lazio to Middlesbrough, season-long loan

24 August 2003

• Danny Mills from Leeds United to Middlesbrough, season-long loan

25 August 2003

• Alexei Smertin from Girondins de Bordeaux to Chelsea, £3.45m

26 August 2003

• Hernán Crespo from Internazionale to Chelsea, £17m

29 August 2003

• Claudio Reyna from Sunderland to Manchester City, £2.5m
• Barry Ferguson from Glasgow Rangers to Blackburn Rovers, £7.5m

30 August 2003

• Steve McManaman from Real Madrid to Manchester City, free
• Boudewijn Zenden from Chelsea to Middlesbrough, season-long loan

31 August 2003

• Claude Makelele from Real Madrid to Chelsea, £16m

1 September

• Neil Sullivan from Tottenham Hotspur to Chelsea, free
• James McFadden from Motherwell to Everton, £1.25m
• Nigel Martyn from Leeds United to Everton, Nominal
• Kevin Kilbane from Sunderland to Everton, £750,000
• Mark Pembridge from Everton to Fulham, £500,000

January transfer window

The mid-season transfer window runs from 1 to 31 January 2006.

1 January 2004

• Michael Brown from Sheffield United to Tottenham Hotspur, £100,000

2 January 2004

• Fabien Barthez from Manchester United to Olympique de Marseille, season-long loan
• Nikos Dabizas from Newcastle United to Leicester City, free

6 January 2004

• Peter Enckelman from Aston Villa to Blackburn Rovers, £150,000

9 January 2004

• Eyal Berkovic from Manchester City to Portsmouth, free

12 January 2004

• Alan Wright from Middlesbrough to Sheffield United, free

14 January 2004

• David James from West Ham United to Manchester City, £2m

17 January 2004

• Andy Melville from Fulham to West Ham United, free

23 January 2004

• Louis Saha from Fulham to Manchester United, £12.82m

21 January 2004

• Moritz Volz from Arsenal to Fulham, Nominal

22 January 2004

• Nigel Reo-Coker from Wimbledon to West Ham United, Undisclosed

25 January 2004

• Carl Cort from Newcastle United to Wolverhampton Wanderers, £2m

27 January 2004

• Jose Antonio Reyes from Sevilla to Arsenal, £16.5m
• Michael Gray from Sunderland to Blackburn Rovers, free

29 January 2004

• Nolberto Solano from Newcastle United to Aston Villa, £1.5m

30 January 2004

• Scott Parker from Charlton Athletic to Chelsea, £10m
• Ivica Mornar from RSC Anderlecht to Portsmouth, Undisclosed

2 February 2004

• Jerome Thomas from Arsenal to Charlton Athletic, £100,000
• Martin Taylor from Blackburn Rovers to Birmingham City, £1.25m
• Jon Stead from Huddersfield Town to Blackburn Rovers, £1.25m
• Jermain Defoe from West Ham United to Tottenham Hotspur, £7m
• Bobby Zamora from Tottenham Hotspur to West Ham United, Swap for Defoe

For subsequent transfer deals see 2004-05 in English football.

Retirements

David Seaman (Manchester City)

Successful managers

Arsene Wenger took Arsenal to the Premiership title without losing a single league game all season, making him only the third manager in 116 years of English league football to achieve such a feat.

Sir Alex Ferguson guided Manchester United to their eleventh F.A Cup victory of all-time, and their fifth under his managemen.

Steve McClaren helped Middlesbrough win the first major trophy of their history by guiding them to victory in the League Cup final.

Nigel Worthington ended Norwich City's nine-year exile from the Premiership by guiding them to title glory in Division One.

Gary Megson took West Bromwich Albion back into the Premiership at the first time of asking.

Iain Dowie arrived at Crystal Palace just before Christmas, when they stood 19th in Division One, and five months later he took them into the Premiership as playoff winners thanks to a storming run of form.

Ian Holloway's three-year rebuilding programme at Queens Park Rangers finally paid off after he earned them promotion from Division Two.

Dave Penney achieved a second successive promotion with Division Three champions Doncaster Rovers.

Leroy Rosenior took Torquay United to promotion to Division Three, just three years after they had narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference.

Mark Wright took Chester City to title glory in the Conference to end their four-year absence from the Football League.

Successful players

Thierry Henry's prolific goalscoring was a major factor in Arsenal's title success, which was secured without a single defeat all season long.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had another great season for Manchester United and scored twice in the F.A Cup final to gain his second piece of silverware with the club.

Cristiano Ronaldo, 19, was Man of the Match in the F.A Cup final after scoring a brilliant goal which helped Manchester United achieve victory over Millwall.

Frank Lampard's superb form in the Chelsea midfielder earned his club a run to the European Cup semi-finals as well as second place in the Premiership.

Louis Saha's impressive goalscoring for Fulham earned him a mid-season move to Manchester United, worth almost £13million.

Wayne Rooney, still only 18, established himself as an England regular and was the centre of interest from Europe's biggest clubs after another highly promising season with Everton.

Lee Hughes scored 13 Division One goals for promoted West Bromwich Albion, only to have the next three seasons of his career written off by a prison sentence for causing a fatal car crash.

Andy Johnson helped Crystal Palace win promotion to the Premiership after his goalscoring helped them climb from 19th to 6th place in Division One in the space of five months.

Robert Green was touted as a future England goalkeeper after his excellent form between the sticks helped Norwich City win promotion to the Premiership.

Tim Cahill's strong form in the Millwall midfield earned him a move to Premiership side Everton after the Londoners failed to win promotion.

James Hayter scored a record breaking two minutes twenty seconds hat-trick for AFC Bournemouth against Wrexham F.C

Deaths

• Ray Harford, 58, was best remembered for his managerial and coaching career - he was manager of Luton Town when they won the League Cup in 1988 and assistant manager of Blackburn Rovers when they were Premiership champions in 1995. He was promoted from the role of assistant manager to the manager's seat at three clubs - Luton Town, Wimbledon and Blackburn Rovers. He also had spells in charge of Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and finally Queens Park Rangers. His last post was as first-team coach at Millwall, and helped them win the Division Two title in 2001. He was still on the club's payroll at the time of his death from lung cancer.

• Jimmy Davis, 21, Manchester United and England U-21 striker, died in a car crash on the M40 just hours before he was due to play his first game for Watford on a season-long loan deal. He had played once for Manchester United in a League Cup game, and had spent part of the 2001-02 season on loan to Swindon Town.

• Bob Stokoe, 73, was manager of the Sunderland side who achieved a shock F.A Cup victory over Leeds United in the 1973 final. He later managed Carlisle United and returned to Sunderland during the 1986-87 season, but quit after failing to save them from relegation to the old Third Division for the first time in their history.

• John Charles, 72, was the most famous Leeds United player in the pre Don Revie era. His exploits for Leeds United and the Welsh national team attracted attention from all over the world and he was sold to Italian side Juventus in 1958.

Football in the United Kingdom
National teams: England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | UK
UK-wide national team competitions: British Home Championship | Rous Cup
UK-wide club competitions: Coronation Cup | Texaco Cup | Anglo-Scottish Cup
Football in... England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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