# 2003–04 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The 2003–04 season was the 105th full season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the Premiership, the highest level of English football. This marked their first ever appearance in the modern Premier League, and their first season in the top flight since 1983–84. The club had been promoted after having won the play-off final at the end of the previous season to earn the final promotion spot.
Their return to the top level proved short-lived as the team struggled throughout the campaign and were eventually relegated in 20th place, finishing bottom of the division on goal difference, seven points short of safety. They were officially relegated after failing to win their penultimate game, although their vastly inferior goal difference meant that survival was effectively ruled out on 1 May 2004, despite victory, owing to relegation rivals Manchester City also winning.
Wolves became the third team in Premier League history to fail to win an away game during a season. Contributing to this outcome was a series of serious injuries to key players, with Matt Murray and Joleon Lescott missing almost the entire season and Mark Kennedy and Kenny Miller kept out for long periods.

## Results
### Pre season

Wolves split their squad into two groups, one led by manager Dave Jones, another by coach Terry Connor after assistant manager John Ward left the club. Preparations also included a week's warm weather training in Jerez, Spain. A planned friendly against Dutch side ADO Den Haag was cancelled on the day of the game after a water leak hit the venue, Telford United's Bucks Head stadium. Only the final friendly was held at Wolves' Molineux home.

### FA Premiership

A total of 20 teams competed in the FA Premiership in the 2003–04 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 19 June 2003, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.
Final 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: Statto.com
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 |
| Result | L | L | L | D | L | L | D | W | D | W | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | D | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | D | W | D | L |
| Position | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 20 |

### League Cup
## Players
### Statistics

Key: ‡ On loan from another club * First appearance(s) for the club
* # = Squad number
* Pos = Playing position
* P = Number of games played 10
* G = Number of goals scored
* GK = Goalkeeper
* DF = Defender
* MF = Midfielder
* FW = Forward
* = Yellow cards
* = Red cards
* † Permanent player left club during the season
* ¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season
Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.
| No. | Pos | Name | P | G | P | G | P | G | P | G | | |
| No. | Pos | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Michael Oakes | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 25(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Denis Irwin | 30(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31(2) | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Lee Naylor | 37(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42(1) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Alex Rae | 27(6) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2(1) | 2 | 30(7) | 8 | 10 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Joleon Lescott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Paul Butler | 37 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Shaun Newton | 20(8) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 22(10) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Paul Ince (c) | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Nathan Blake | 10(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11(3) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Colin Cameron | 25(5) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28(5) | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Mark Kennedy | 28(3) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 32(4) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Jody Craddock | 31(1) | 1 | 2(1) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 36(2) | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Matt Murray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Silas | 2(7) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5(9) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Kevin Cooper ¤ | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | Kenny Miller | 17(8) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 22(8) | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Henri Camara | 29(1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31(1) | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | George Ndah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Steffen Iversen | 11(5) | 4 | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14(6) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Adam Proudlock † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Vio Ganea | 6(10) | 3 | 2(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8(11) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Ívar Ingimarsson † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | Paul Jones | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Oleh Luzhnyi | 4(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Mark Clyde | 6(3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9(3) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Keith Andrews ¤ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Isaac Okoronkwo | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Joey Guðjónsson ‡ | 5(6) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9(7) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | Carl Cort | 13(3) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(3) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | Andy Marshall ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Dean Sturridge ¤ | 2(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 2(4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | Hassan Kachloul ‡ | 0(4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | John Melligan ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | Sammy Clingan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | Jimmi Lee Jones † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | Ian McGrane † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | Marlon Walters | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | GK | Carl Ikeme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | Leon Clarke ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | Keith Lowe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Fans' Player of the Season | Henri Camara |
| Young Player of the Season | Mark Clyde |
| Academy Player of the Season | Kevin O'Connor |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 7 July 2003 | Oleh Luzhnyi | Unattached | Free |
| 8 July 2003 | Isaac Okoronkwo | Shakhtar Donetsk | Free |
| 9 July 2003 | Silas | União de Leiria | £1 million |
| 31 July 2003 | Jody Craddock | Sunderland | £1.75 million |
| 1 August 2003 | Henri Camara | Sedan | £1.5 million |
| 1 August 2003 | Steffen Iversen | Tottenham Hotspur | Free |
| 31 December 2003 | Vio Ganea | Bursaspor | Free |
| 25 January 2004 | Carl Cort | Newcastle United | £2 million |
| 29 January 2004 | Paul Jones | Southampton | £250,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| June 2003 | Michael Branch | Released | Free |
| June 2003 | Kenny Coleman | Released | Free |
| June 2003 | Marc Edworthy | Released | Free |
| June 2003 | Ludovic Pollet | Released | Free |
| June 2003 | Graham Ward | Released | Free |
| 25 June 2003 | Mo Camara | Burnley | Free |
| 22 July 2003 | Cédric Roussel | Racing Genk | Undisclosed |
| 5 September 2003 | Adam Proudlock | Sheffield Wednesday | £150,000 |
| 10 October 2003 | Ian McGrane | Released | Free |
| 23 October 2003 | Ívar Ingimarsson | Reading | £100,000 |
| 17 March 2004 | Jimmi-Lee Jones | Released | Free |
| 25 March 2004 | Nathan Talbott | Yeovil Town | Free |

### Loans in

| Start date | Player | From | End date |
| 29 August 2003 | Joey Guðjónsson | Real Betis | End of season |
| 1 September 2003 | Hassan Kachloul | Aston Villa | 16 January 2004 |
| 12 November 2003 | Andy Marshall | Ipswich Town | 12 January 2004 |

### Loans out

| Start date | Player | To | End date |
| 8 August 2003 | Keith Andrews | Stoke City | 9 November 2003 |
| 15 August 2003 | Jimmi-Lee Jones | Forest Green Rovers | 15 September 2003 |
| 3 October 2003 | John Melligan | Kidderminster Harriers | 6 November 2003 |
| 18 November 2003 | John Melligan | Doncaster Rovers | End of season |
| 30 December 2003 | Dean Sturridge | Sheffield United | 8 February 2004 |
| 7 January 2004 | Kevin Cooper | Sunderland | 18 March 2004 |
| 12 March 2004 | Keith Andrews | Walsall | End of season |
| 19 March 2004 | Kevin Cooper | Norwich City | End of season |
| 25 March 2004 | Leon Clarke | Kidderminster Harriers | End of season |

## Kit

The season saw a new away kit, manufactured by Admiral, that was all black with minor gold trimmings. The home kit was the same as the previous season. Doritos sponsored the club for a second and final season.