# 2003–04 Leicester City F.C. season

During the 2003–04 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League.

## Season summary

Micky Adams had guided Leicester back to the Premiership at the first attempt, despite the club spending part of their Division One campaign in receivership before a takeover safeguarded their future. But he was unable to keep them there, and their relegation was confirmed at the beginning of May. A 4–0 thumping of fellow relegation rivals Leeds United in September appeared to have set the tone for the rest of the season but it was soon followed by a setback of five straight defeats despite promising displays. A run of three wins in five games in November kept Leicester in close contention of survival, with the 2–0 victory at Portsmouth seeing them rise to as high as 12th; however, it all went wrong as, after a creditable 1–1 draw with eventual champions Arsenal, the team went into freefall and endured a dreadful run of only one win in 22 games (though most scorelines were reasonably close and they dropped too many points from 12 games they drew which they could have won). Ultimately, Leicester were relegated in a 2–2 draw at Charlton Athletic, which left them eight points adrift of Manchester City with two games remaining. It was a traumatic end to a season which had seen the club plagued with crises on and off the field, including the La Manga controversy when players Keith Gillespie, Frank Sinclair and Paul Dickov were accused of sexual assault following an alleged incident at a hotel in Spain (all charges were finally dropped).

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Manchester City | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 41 | |
| 17 | Everton | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 39 | |
| 18 | Leicester City (R) | 38 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 48 | 65 | −17 | 33 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |
| 19 | Leeds United (R) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 40 | 79 | −39 | 33 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |
| 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (R) | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 38 | 77 | −39 | 33 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: 2003-04 FA Premier League table

### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | L | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | D | D | D | L | D | L | L | D | D | D | W | D | D | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | L |
| Position | 7 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 18 |

## Results

Leicester City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 16 August 2003 | Southampton | H | 2–2 | 31,611 | Dickov (pen), Ferdinand |
| 23 August 2003 | Chelsea | A | 1–2 | 41,073 | Scowcroft |
| 26 August 2003 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–0 | 30,823 | |
| 30 August 2003 | Aston Villa | A | 1–3 | 32,274 | Izzet |
| 15 September 2003 | Leeds United | H | 4–0 | 30,460 | Nalis, Dickov (2), Scowcroft |
| 20 September 2003 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 44,094 | Bent |
| 27 September 2003 | Manchester United | H | 1–4 | 32,044 | Sinclair |
| 4 October 2003 | Fulham | A | 0–2 | 14,562 | |
| 19 October 2003 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–2 | 31,521 | Dickov |
| 25 October 2003 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–4 | 28,578 | Ferdinand (2), Scimeca |
| 2 November 2003 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–0 | 30,975 | Bent, Howey |
| 9 November 2003 | Manchester City | A | 3–0 | 46,966 | Stewart, Dickov (pen), Bent |
| 22 November 2003 | Charlton Athletic | H | 1–1 | 30,242 | Ferdinand |
| 29 November 2003 | Portsmouth | A | 2–0 | 20,061 | Ferdinand, Bent |
| 6 December 2003 | Arsenal | H | 1–1 | 32,108 | Hignett |
| 13 December 2003 | Birmingham City | H | 0–2 | 30,639 | |
| 20 December 2003 | Everton | A | 2–3 | 37,007 | Ferdinand, Scowcroft |
| 26 December 2003 | Newcastle United | H | 1–1 | 32,148 | Dickov |
| 28 December 2003 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–2 | 28,353 | Bent, Ferdinand |
| 7 January 2004 | Southampton | A | 0–0 | 31,053 | |
| 11 January 2004 | Chelsea | H | 0–4 | 31,547 | |
| 17 January 2004 | Middlesbrough | A | 3–3 | 27,125 | Dickov (2), Bent |
| 31 January 2004 | Aston Villa | H | 0–5 | 31,056 | |
| 7 February 2004 | Newcastle United | A | 1–3 | 52,125 | Ferdinand |
| 10 February 2004 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 26,674 | Ferdinand |
| 22 February 2004 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 4–4 | 35,218 | Doherty (own goal), Ferdinand, Thatcher, Bent |
| 28 February 2004 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 31,768 | |
| 13 March 2004 | Birmingham City | A | 1–0 | 29,491 | Ferdinand |
| 20 March 2004 | Everton | H | 1–1 | 31,650 | Bent |
| 28 March 2004 | Liverpool | H | 0–0 | 32,013 | |
| 5 April 2004 | Leeds United | A | 2–3 | 34,036 | Dickov, Izzet |
| 10 April 2004 | Fulham | H | 0–2 | 28,392 | |
| 13 April 2004 | Manchester United | A | 0–1 | 67,749 | |
| 17 April 2004 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–1 | 22,749 | |
| 24 April 2004 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | 31,457 | Scowcroft |
| 1 May 2004 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–2 | 26,034 | Bent, Ferdinand |
| 8 May 2004 | Portsmouth | H | 3–1 | 31,536 | Dickov, Scowcroft, Taylor (own goal) |
| 15 May 2004 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | 38,419 | Dickov |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 2004 | Manchester City | A | 2–2 | 30,617 | Dickov, Bent |
| R3R | 14 January 2004 | Manchester City | H | 1–3 | 18,916 | Ferdinand |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 23 September 2003 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–0 | 27,675 | Dickov (pen) |
| R3 | 29 October 2003 | Aston Villa | A | 0–1 | 26,729 | |

## Squad

    Squad at end of season
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 |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Ian Walker |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Andrew Impey |
| 3 | DF | JAM | Frank Sinclair |
| 5 | MF | ENG | Craig Hignett |
| 6 | MF | TUR | Muzzy Izzet |
| 7 | MF | NIR | Keith Gillespie |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Lilian Nalis |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Les Ferdinand |
| 10 | FW | ENG | James Scowcroft |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Jordan Stewart |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Paul Brooker |
| 13 | MF | GER | Steffen Freund (on loan from 1. FC Kaiserslautern) |
| 14 | DF | SCO | Callum Davidson |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Alan Rogers |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | GK | WAL | Danny Coyne |
| 18 | DF | SCO | Matt Elliott |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Trevor Benjamin |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Riccardo Scimeca |
| 22 | FW | SCO | Paul Dickov |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Matt Heath |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Steve Guppy |
| 28 | MF | SCO | Peter Canero |
| 32 | MF | SCO | Billy McKinlay |
| 33 | DF | WAL | Ben Thatcher |
| 34 | DF | FRA | Nicolas Priet |
| 38 | FW | ENG | Marcus Bent (on loan from Ipswich Town) |
| 44 | DF | GRE | Nikos Dabizas |

### Left club during the season

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 |
| 4 | DF | NIR | Gerry Taggart (to Stoke City) |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Steve Howey (to Bolton Wanderers) |
| 27 | FW | ENG | Brian Deane (to West Ham United) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Jon Ashton (to Oxford United) |
| 29 | DF | ENG | John Curtis (to Portsmouth) |
| — | MF | ENG | Nicky Summerbee (to Bradford City) |

## Reserve 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 |
| 17 | MF | WAL | Matt Jones |
| 19 | GK | IRL | Paul Murphy |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Tommy Wright |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Lee Morris |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Junior Lewis |
| 30 | FW | FIN | Tomi Petrescu |
| — | GK | IRL | Conrad Logan |
| — | DF | ENG | Richard Stearman |
| — | DF | IRL | Alan Sheehan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | AUS | James Wesolowski |
| — | MF | ENG | Tom Williamson |
| — | MF | IRL | Stephen Dawson |
| — | MF | SLE | Ahmed Deen |
| — | MF | PAK | Usman Gondal |
| — | FW | ENG | Louis Dodds |
| — | FW | ENG | Chris O'Grady |
| — | FW | ENG | Lee Tomlin |

## Statistics
### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 38 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 48 | 65 | −17 | 015.79 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 000.00 |
| League Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Total | 42 | 7 | 16 | 19 | 52 | 71 | −19 | 016.67 |

### Appearances and goals

    As of end of season
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premiership | Premiership | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ENG | Ian Walker | 40 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | WAL | Danny Coyne | 5 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 3 | DF | JAM | Frank Sinclair | 17 | 1 | 11+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | ENG | Jordan Stewart | 29 | 1 | 16+9 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | SCO | Callum Davidson | 15 | 0 | 8+5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | SCO | Matt Elliott | 8 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Riccardo Scimeca | 31 | 1 | 28+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Matt Heath | 15 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | WAL | Ben Thatcher | 29 | 1 | 28+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | FRA | Nicolas Priet | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | GRE | Nikos Dabizas | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 2 | MF | ENG | Andy Impey | 16 | 0 | 11+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | ENG | Craig Hignett | 15 | 1 | 3+10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | TUR | Muzzy Izzet | 33 | 2 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | NIR | Keith Gillespie | 13 | 0 | 7+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Lilian Nalis | 22 | 1 | 11+9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Paul Brooker | 6 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | GER | Steffen Freund | 14 | 1 | 13+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Alan Rogers | 8 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Steve Guppy | 17 | 0 | 9+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | SCO | Peter Canero | 7 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | SCO | Billy McKinlay | 19 | 0 | 15+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ENG | Les Ferdinand | 31 | 13 | 20+9 | 12 | 1+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | James Scowcroft | 39 | 5 | 33+2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Trevor Benjamin | 4 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | SCO | Paul Dickov | 39 | 13 | 28+7 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 38 | FW | ENG | Marcus Bent | 35 | 10 | 28+5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred or loaned out during the season ||||||||||||
| 4 | DF | NIR | Gerry Taggart | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Steve Howey | 15 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | ENG | Brian Deane | 7 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | ENG | John Curtis | 17 | 1 | 14+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Last updated: 31 June 2004 Source: Competitions

## Transfers
### In

* Steve Howey – Manchester City, 5 June, undisclosed
* Riccardo Scimeca – Nottingham Forest, 24 June, free
* Paul Brooker – Brighton and Hove Albion, 24 June, free
* Danny Coyne – Grimsby Town, 3 July, free
* Keith Gillespie – Blackburn Rovers, 8 July, free
* Lilian Nalis – Chievo, 11 July, free
* Les Ferdinand – West Ham United, 11 July, free
* Ben Thatcher – Tottenham Hotspur, 17 July, £300,000
* Craig Hignett – Blackburn Rovers, 18 July, free
* Steve Guppy – Celtic, 13 January, free
* Peter Canero – Kilmarnock, 2 February, £250,000
* Lee Morris – Derby County, 2 February, nominal fee
* Nicolas Priet – Lyon, free

### Out

* Tim Flowers – retired, 7 May
* Martin Reeves – released, 7 May (later joined Northampton Town on 9 June)
* Simon Royce – released, 7 May (later joined Charlton Athletic on 26 June)
* Stefan Oakes – released, 7 May (later joined Walsall on 3 July
* Nicky Summerbee – released, 7 May (later joined Bradford City on 4 September)
* Jon Ashton – released, 7 May (later joined Oxford United on 8 September)
* Matt Jones – released, 7 May (later retired on 4 June 2004)
* Michael Price – released, 7 May
* Darren Eadie – released, 7 May
* Jon Stevenson – released, 7 May (later joined Swindon Town)
* Brian Deane – West Ham United, 31 October, free
* Steve Howey – Bolton Wanderers, 29 January, undisclosed
* John Curtis – Portsmouth, 2 February, free
* Gerry Taggart – Stoke City, 26 February, free

### Loan in

* Marcus Bent – Ipswich Town, 1 September, season-long loan
* Nikos Dabizas – Newcastle United, 1 January, six-month loan
* Steffen Freund – Kaiserlautern, 30 January, season-long loan

### Loan out

* Tommy Wright – Brentford, 12 September
* Gerry Taggart – Stoke City, 9 December, two months

## Awards
### Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2003–04 season.