# 2003–04 Stockport County F.C. season

The 2003–04 season is Stockport County's 122nd season in football. Stockport finished the league season in 19th, two places off the relegation zone. This season ran from 9 August 2003 to 8 May 2004.

## Background

Following a poor start to the 2003–2004 season player-manager Carlton Palmer was sacked by the club in September.
Upon completion of the Euro 2004 qualifying matches with Northern Ireland, Sammy McIlroy re-entered club management signing a three-year deal in October 2003.

## Summary
### Second Division table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 17 | Brentford | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 52 | 69 | −17 | 53 | |
| 18 | Peterborough United | 46 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 52 | |
| 19 | Stockport County | 46 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 62 | 70 | −8 | 52 | |
| 20 | Chesterfield | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 49 | 71 | −22 | 51 | |
| 21 | Grimsby Town (R) | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 55 | 81 | −26 | 50 | Relegation to Football League Two |

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

| No. | Pos | Name | Total |
| 10 | MF | Rickie Lambert | 12 |
| 8 | FW | Aaron Wilbraham | 8 |
| 21 | FW | Stuart Barlow | 8 |
| 12 | DF | Jim Goodwin | 4 |
| 9 | FW | Luke Beckett | 4 |
| 23 | MF | Chris Williams | 3 |
| 31 | FW | Simon Lynch | 3 |
| 16 | FW | Jon Daly | 3 |
| 14 | MF | Fraser McLachlan | 3 |
| 5 | DF | Robert Clare | 3 |
| 3 | MF | Danny Jackman | 2 |
| 6 | MF | Mark Robertson | 1 |
| 20 | FW | Owen Morrison | 1 |
| 19 | MF | Andy Welsh | 1 |
| 15 | FW | Kevin Ellison | 1 |
| 24 | FW | Michael Byrne | 1 |
| 2 | DF | Danny Griffin | 1 |

## Results
### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Cup

First Round

### League Cup

First Round

### Football League Trophy

First Round

## Team
### Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | NIR | Danny Griffin |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Danny Jackman |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Dave Challinor |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Robert Clare |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Mark Robertson |
| 7 | DF | ENG | Aaron Lescott |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Aaron Wilbraham |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Luke Beckett |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Rickie Lambert |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Martin Pemberton |
| 12 | DF | IRL | Jim Goodwin |
| 13 | GK | ENG | James Spencer |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Fraser McLachlan |
| 15 | FW | ENG | Kevin Ellison |
| 16 | FW | IRL | Jon Daly |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | DF | ENG | John Hardiker |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Andy Welsh |
| 20 | FW | NIR | Owen Morrison |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Stuart Barlow |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Lee Cartwright |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Chris Williams |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Michael Byrne |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Adam Le Fondre |
| 27 | FW | ENG | David Holt |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Jamie Baguley |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Matt Bailey |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Alex Lord |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Danny Adams |
| 32 | GK | ENG | Ben Coppinger |
| 33 | DF | WAL | Ashley Williams |

#### Left during the season

| No. | Position | Name | To | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Lee Jones | Blackpool | |
| 1 | GK | Boaz Myhill | Aston Villa | Loan Expired |
| 2 | DF | Shaun Smith | Hull City | Loan Expired |
| 3 | DF | Anthony Tonkin | Crewe Alexandra | |
| 6 | MF | Carlton Palmer | Unattached | Sacked as Player Manager (Subsequently, left the club) |
| 6 | DF | Matt Heath | Leicester City | Loan Expired |
| 24 | MF | Wayne Collins | Unattached | |
| 25 | GK | Nick Colgan | Hibernian | Loan Expired |
| 25 | GK | Anthony Williams | Hartlepool United | Loan Expired |
| 25 | MF | Ali Gibb | Bristol Rovers | |
| 31 | MF | Simon Lynch | Preston North End | Loan Expired |
| 31 | MF | Dave Walton | Derby County | Loan Expired |