# 2003–04 Cardiff City F.C. season

During the 2003–04 season Cardiff City played in Division One of the Football League. It was the team's first year in the Division One since being promoted from Division Two.

## Squad

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Championship | Championship | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FAW Premier Cup | FAW Premier Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Neil Alexander | 26 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Rhys Weston | 26 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Chris Barker | 42 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Gareth Whalley | 25 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Spencer Prior | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | WAL | Danny Gabbidon | 44 | 3 | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | WAL | John Robinson | 34 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | EIR | Graham Kavanagh | 29 | 7 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Andy Campbell | 29 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | WAL | Robert Earnshaw | 49 | 26 | 46 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Peter Thorne | 25 | 13 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | EIR | Willie Boland | 40 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | WAL | Martyn Margetson | 25 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | WAL | Jason Bowen | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Mark Bonner | 21 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Gary Croft | 29 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | WAL | James Collins | 23 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | WAL | Scott Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | WAL | Leyton Maxwell | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | WAL | Paul Parry | 17 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Gavin Gordon | 18 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Tony Vidmar | 49 | 1 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Arran Lee-Barrett | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | WAL | Stuart Fleetwood | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 24 | FW | EIR | Alan Lee | 25 | 4 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | MF | JAM | Richard Langley | 46 | 6 | 44 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Julian Gray | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Lee Bullock | 11 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | WAL | Nicky Fish | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

## Transfers
### Summer transfers in

| Player | Club | Fee |
| Gary Croft | Unattached | Free |
| Richard Langley | Queens Park Rangers | Undisclosed |
| Alan Lee | Rotherham United | £850,000 |
| John Robinson | Unattached | Free |
| Tony Vidmar | Middlesbrough | Free |

### Summer transfers out

| Player | Club | Fee |
| Gareth Ainsworth | Queens Park Rangers | Undisclosed |
| Leo Fortune-West | Doncaster Rovers | Undisclosed |
| Des Hamilton | Grimsby Town | Undisclosed |
| David Hughes | Retired | – |
| Andy Jordan | Hartlepool United | Free |
| Andy Legg | Peterborough United | Undisclosed |
| Michael Simpkins | Rochdale | Free |
| Mark Walton | Released | – |

### Loans in

| Player | Club | Arrival Date | Return Date |
| Julian Gray | Crystal Palace | August 2003 | September 2003 |
| Lee Bullock | York City | February 2004 | End of Season |

### January Transfers in

| Player | Club | Fee |
| Paul Parry | Hereford United | £75,000 |

### January Transfers out

| Player | Club | Fee |
| Leyton Maxwell | Swansea City | Undisclosed |

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 11 | Stoke City | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 66 |
| 12 | Coventry City | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 67 | 54 | +13 | 65 |
| 13 | Cardiff City | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 68 | 58 | +10 | 65 |
| 14 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 61 | 58 | +3 | 60 |
| 15 | Preston North End | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 69 | 71 | −2 | 59 |

### 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 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | W | D | L | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | D | D | D |
| Position | | 19 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 6 | | 14 | 9 | | 11 | | 11 | 12 | | 9 | 8 | 8 | | 9 | 7 | | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | | 14 | | 12 | 10 | 10 | | 11 | | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 |

## Fixtures and results
### Division One

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 Aug | Rotherham United | A | D 0 – 0 | 8,176 | |
| 16 Aug | Bradford City | H | L 0 – 2 | 16,421 | |
| 23 Aug | Nottingham Forest | A | W 2 – 1 | 23,407 | Earnshaw, Kavanagh |
| 25 Aug | Derby County | H | W 4 – 1 | 15,091 | Lee, Kavanagh, Earnshaw, Collins |
| 30 Aug | Walsall | A | D 1 – 1 | 8,974 | Whalley |
| 13 Sep | Gillingham | H | W 5 – 0 | 15,057 | Earnshaw (4), Thorne |
| 16 Sep | Reading | A | L 1 – 2 | 15,810 | Thorne |
| 20 Sep | Sheffield United | A | L 3 – 5 | 21,323 | Earnshaw (2), Langley |
| 27 Sep | Crewe Alexandra | H | W 3 – 0 | 14,385 | Thorne (2), Earnshaw |
| 30 Sep | Wigan Athletic | H | D 0 – 0 | 15,143 | |
| 4 Oct | Crystal Palace | A | L 1 – 2 | 16,160 | Kavanagh |
| 14 Oct | Sunderland | A | D 0 – 0 | 26,835 | |
| 18 Oct | Coventry City | A | W 3 – 1 | 11,767 | Whalley, Gordon, Earnshaw |
| 25 Oct | West Ham United | H | D 0 – 0 | 19,202 | |
| 28 Oct | Watford | H | W 3 – 0 | 14,011 | Earnshaw, Vidmar, Kavanagh |
| 1 Nov | Burnley | A | D 1 – 1 | 10,886 | Earnshaw |
| 8 Nov | Stoke City | H | W 3 – 1 | 15,227 | Earnshaw (2), Gabbidon |
| 22 Nov | Wimbledon | A | W 1 – 0 | 5,056 | Croft |
| 25 Nov | West Bromwich Albion | H | D 1 – 1 | 17,678 | Earnshaw |
| 29 Nov | Ipswich Town | H | L 2 – 3 | 17,833 | Earnshaw, Thorne |
| 6 Dec | Stoke City | A | W 3 – 2 | 12,208 | Thorne (3) |
| 9 Dec | Preston North End | H | D 2 – 2 | 13,703 | Langley, Thorne |
| 13 Dec | Norwich City | A | L 1 – 4 | 16,428 | Thorne |
| 20 Dec | Millwall | H | L 1 – 3 | 14,610 | Thorne |
| 26 Dec | Walsall | H | L 0 – 1 | 17,531 | |
| 28 Dec | Watford | A | L 1 – 2 | 15,512 | Thorne |
| 10 Jan | Rotherham United | H | W 3 – 2 | 14,021 | Thorne, Kavanagh, Earnshaw |
| 17 Jan | Bradford City | A | W 1 – 0 | 11,132 | Langley |
| 31 Jan | Nottingham Forest | H | D 0 – 0 | 17,913 | |
| 7 Feb | Derby County | A | D 2 – 2 | 20,958 | Earnshaw, Kavanagh |
| 14 Feb | West Bromwich Albion | A | L 1 – 2 | 25,196 | Lee |
| 21 Feb | Sunderland | H | W 4 – 0 | 17,337 | Kavanagh, Langley, Gabbidon, Lee |
| 28 Feb | West Ham United | A | L 0 – 1 | 31,858 | |
| 2 Mar | Coventry City | H | L 0 – 1 | 14,376 | |
| 13 Mar | Norwich City | H | W 2 – 1 | 16,317 | Parry, Earnshaw |
| 16 Mar | Reading | H | L 2 – 3 | 14,051 | Earnshaw, Bullock |
| 20 Mar | Crewe Alexandra | A | W 1 – 0 | 6,650 | Williams (og) |
| 27 Mar | Sheffield United | H | W 2 – 1 | 13,666 | Langley, Robinson |
| 3 Apr | Gillingham | A | W 2 – 1 | 7,852 | Earnshaw, Bullock |
| 7 Apr | Millwall | A | D 0 – 0 | 9,584 | |
| 10 Apr | Crystal Palace | H | L 0 – 2 | 16,656 | |
| 13 Apr | Wigan Athletic | A | L 0 – 3 | 8,052 | |
| 17 Apr | Burnley | H | W 2 – 0 | 13,525 | Langley, Campbell |
| 24 Apr | Preston North End | A | D 2 – 2 | 11,972 | Campbell, Gabbidon |
| 1 May | Wimbledon | H | D 1 – 1 | 15,337 | Robinson |
| 9 May | Ipswich Town | A | D 1 – 1 | 28,703 | Bullock |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 Aug | One | Leyton Orient | H | W 4 – 1 | 4,503 | Earnshaw (3), Campbell |
| 23 Sep | Two | West Ham United | H | L 2 – 3 | 10,724 | Earnshaw (2) |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 3 Jan | Three | Sheffield United | H | L 0 – 1 | 10,525 | |

### FAW Premier Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 26 Jan | Quarter-final | Newport County | A | W 1 – 0 | 812 | Fleetwood |
| 24 Mar | Semi-final | Wrexham | A | L 2 – 2 (6 – 7 on pens) | 1,626 | Lee, Campbell |