2003–04 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland
	2003–04 season
Manager	Mick McCarthy
Stadium	Stadium of Light
First Division	3rd
Play-offs	Semi-finals
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	Marcus Stewart (16)
← 2002–03	2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Transfers

In

Summer

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
4 August 2003	MF	Jeff Whitley	Manchester City	Free
5 August 2003	DF	Gary Breen	West Ham United	Free
25 September 2003	MF	Tommy Smith	Watford	Free
3 October 2003	MF	Alan Quinn	Sheffield Wednesday	Loan
30 October 2003	MF	Stewart Downing	Middlesbrough	Loan

January

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
7 January 2004	MF	Kevin Cooper	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Loan
6 February 2004	FW	Darren Byfield	Rotherham United	Straight Swap With Michael Proctor
12 March 2004	DF	Colin Cooper	Middlesbrough	Loan
24 March 2004	MF	Carl Robinson	Portsmouth	Loan

Out

Summer

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
1 June 2003	MF	Stefan Schwarz	Retired	Retired
11 June 2003	DF	Cliff Byrne	Scunthorpe United	Free
1 July 2003	FW	David Bellion	Manchester United	Free
3 July 2003	GK	Jurgen Macho	Chelsea	Free
9 July 2003	FW	Lilian Laslandes	Nice	Free
9 July 2003	DF	Bernt Haas	West Bromwich Albion	£400,000
24 July 2003	MF	Gavin McCann	Aston Villa	£2.25 million
31 July 2003	DF	Jody Craddock	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£1.75 million
8 August 2003	GK	Thomas Sorensen	Aston Villa	£2.25 million
14 August 2003	FW	Kevin Phillips	Southampton	£3.25 million
20 August 2003	MF	Nicolas Medina	Leganes	Season Long Loan
23 August 2003	FW	Tore Andre Flo	Siena	Undisclosed
29 August 2003	MF	Claudio Reyna	Manchester City	£2.5 million
29 August 2003	DF	Emerson Thome	Bolton Wanderers	Free
1 September 2003	MF	Kevin Kilbane	Everton	£1 million
1 September 2003	DF	Michael Gray	Celtic	4 Month Loan (September - December)
25 September 2003	FW	Keith Graydon	Scarborough	Free
3 October 2003	FW	Michael Reddy	Sheffield Wednesday	Loan
3 October 2003	FW	Chris Brown	Doncaster Rovers	Loan
23 October 2003	GK	Thomas Myhre	Crystal Palace	Loan
13 November 2003	DF	Craig James	Darlington	Loan

January

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
27 January 2004	DF	Michael Gray	Blackburn Rovers	Free
6 February 2004	FW	Neil Teggart	Darlington	Loan
6 February 2004	FW	Michael Proctor	Rotherham United	Straight Swap With Darren Byfield
25 February 2004	MF	Jonjo Dickman	York City	Loan
15 March 2004	GK	Michael Ingham	Wrexham	Loan
19 March 2004	DF	Craig James	Port Vale	Loan
25 March 2004	MF	Chris Black	Doncaster Rovers	Free

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Mart Poom
2	DF	Stephen Wright
3	DF	George McCartney
4	MF	Jason McAteer
5	DF	Gary Breen
6	DF	Ben Clark
7	MF	Matt Piper
8	MF	Jeff Whitley
9	FW	Kevin Kyle
10	FW	Marcus Stewart
11	FW	Tommy Smith
12	MF	John Oster
13	GK	Michael Ingham
15	MF	Sean Thornton
16	DF	Darren Williams
17	FW	Darren Byfield
18	DF	Phil Babb
20	MF	Thomas Butler
21	MF	Paul Thirlwell

No.	Position	Player
22	DF	Joachim Björklund
24	MF	Carl Robinson (on loan from Portsmouth)
25	MF	Colin Healy
26	MF	Jonjo Dickman
27	MF	Richie Ryan
28	DF	Patrick Collins
30	MF	Grant Leadbitter
31	FW	Chris Brown
32	DF	Mark Rossiter
33	DF	Julio Arca
34	DF	Mark Rossiter
35	DF	Chris Scott
36	DF	Simon Ramsden
38	MF	Chris Kingsberry
39	FW	Neil Teggart
40	GK	Thomas Myhre
41	GK	Ben Alnwick
42	GK	Euan McLean
43	FW	Michael Reddy

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
11	MF	Kevin Kilbane (to Everton)
14	FW	Michael Proctor (to Rotherham United)
14	DF	Colin Cooper (on loan from Middlesbrough)
17	DF	Michael Gray (to Blackburn Rovers)
19	FW	Kevin Phillips (to Southampton)
19	MF	Alan Quinn (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)
19	MF	Kevin Cooper (on loan from Wolves)

No.	Position	Player
23	MF	Chris Black (to Doncaster Rovers)
24	MF	Claudio Reyna (to Manchester City)
24	MF	Stewart Downing (on loan from Middlesbrough)
29	FW	Tore André Flo (to Siena)
34	DF	Craig James (to Port Vale)
37	DF	Emerson Thome (to Bolton Wanderers)
42	MF	Nicolás Medina (on loan to Leganés)

Results

Sunderland's score comes first.

Win	Draw	Loss

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 August 2003	Round 1	Mansfield Town	Field Mill	2-1	5,665	Kyle, Artell (own goal)
23 September 2003	Round 2	Huddersfield Town	Stadium of Light	2-4	13,516	Kyle (2)

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
2 January 2004	Round 3	Hartlepool United	Stadium of Light	1-0	40,816	Arca
24 January 2004	Round 4	Ipswich Town	Portman Road	2-1	21,406	Smith, Arca
14 February 2004	Round 5	Birmingham City	Stadium of Light	1-1	24,966	Kyle
25 February 2004	Round 5 Replay	Birmingham City	St. Andrews	2-0 (after extra time)	25,645	Smith (2)
7 March 2004	Quarter Final	Sheffield United	Stadium of Light	1-0	37,115	Smith
4 April 2004	Semi-final	Millwall	Old Trafford	0-1	56,112

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 2003	Nottingham Forest	City Ground	0-2	23,529
16 August 2003	Millwall	Stadium of Light	0-1	24,877
23 August 2003	Preston North End	Deepdale	2-0	14,080	Thornton, Stewart
25 August 2003	Watford	Stadium of Light	2-0	23,600	Wright, Stewart (pen)
30 August 2003	Bradford City	Valley Parade	4-0	14,116	Thornton, Stewart, Arca, Breen
13 September 2003	Crystal Palace	Stadium of Light	2-1	27,324	Kyle, Stewart (pen)
16 September 2003	Stoke City	Britannia Stadium	1-3	15,005	Kyle
20 September 2003	Derby County	Pride Park	1-1	22,535	Poom
26 September 2003	Reading	Stadium of Light	2-0	22,420	Arca, Oster
30 September 2003	Ipswich Town	Stadium of Light	3-2	24,840	Breen, Oster, Kyle
4 October 2003	Sheffield United	Bramall Lane	1-0	27,008	Kyle
14 October 2003	Cardiff City	Stadium of Light	0-0	26,835
18 October 2003	Walsall	Stadium of Light	1-0	36,278	Stewart
21 October 2003	Rotherham United	Stadium of Light	0-0	24,506
25 October 2003	Norwich City	Carrow Road	0-1	16,427
1 November 2003	West Bromwich Albion	The Hawthorns	0-0	26,135
4 November 2003	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	3-1	9,066	Downing, Oster, Stewart
8 November 2003	Coventry City	Stadium of Light	0-0	27,247
22 November 2003	Crewe Alexandra	Gresty Road	3-0	9,807
29 November 2003	Burnley	Stadium of Light	1-1	29,852	Kyle
2 December 2003	Wigan Athletic	Stadium of Light	1-1	22,167	Downing (pen)
8 December 2003	Coventry City	Highfield Road	1-1	12,913	Downing
13 December 2003	West Ham United	Boleyn Ground	2-3	30,329	Oster, McAteer
20 December 2003	Wimbledon	Stadium of Light	2-1	22,334	Proctor, Stewart (pen)
26 December 2003	Bradford City	Stadium of Light	3-0	29,639	McAteer, Smith, Kyle
28 December 2003	Rotherham United	Millmoor	2-0	11,455	Stewart (2, 1 pen)
10 January 2004	Nottingham Forest	Stadium of Light	1-0	26,340	Arca
17 January 2004	Millwall	The Den	1-2	13,048	Stewart
7 February 2004	Watford	Vicarage Road	2-2	16,798	Stewart, Byfield
21 February 2004	Cardiff City	Ninian Park	0-4	17,337
3 March 2004	Walsall	Bescot Stadium	3-1	7,185	Arca, Stewart, Kyle
10 March 2004	Preston North End	Stadium of Light	3-3	27,181	Stewart (pen), Thornton, Mears (own goal)
13 March 2004	West Ham United	Stadium of Light	2-0	29,533	Whitley, Kyle
16 March 2004	Stoke City	Stadium of Light	1-1	24,510	Byfield
20 March 2004	Reading	Madjeski Stadium	2-0	18,019	Byfield, Smith
23 March 2004	Gillingham	Stadium of Light	2-1	23,262	Byfield, Thornton
27 March 2004	Derby County	Stadium of Light	2-1	30,838	Smith, Oster
6 April 2004	Wimbledon	National Hockey Stadium	2-1	4,800	Byfield, Stewart
9 April 2004	Sheffield United	Stadium of Light	3-0	27,472	Breen, Smith, Kyle
12 April 2004	Ipswich Town	Portman Road	0-1	26,801
18 April 2004	West Bromwich Albion	Stadium of Light	0-1	32,201
21 April 2004	Crystal Palace	Selhurst Park	0-3	18,291
24 April 2004	Wigan Athletic	JJB Stadium	0-0	11,380
1 May 2004	Crewe Alexandra	Stadium of Light	1-1	25,311	Whitley
4 May 2004	Norwich City	Stadium of Light	1-0	35,174	Robinson
9 May 2004	Burnley	Turf Moor	2-1	18,252	Breen, Kyle

Football League First Division play-offs

Date	Leg	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 May 2004	Leg 1	Crystal Palace	Selhurst Park	2-3	25,287	Kyle, Stewart (pen)
17 May 2004	Leg 2	Crystal Palace	Stadium of Light	2-1 (4-4 on aggregate, Sunderland lost 5-4 on penalties)	34,536	Kyle, Stewart

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Norwich City (C) (P)	46	28	10	8	79	39	+40	94	Promotion to 2004–05 FA Premier League
2	West Bromwich Albion (P)	46	25	11	10	64	42	+22	86	Promotion to 2004–05 FA Premier League
3	Sunderland	46	22	13	11	62	45	+17	79	Qualification to 2003–04 First Division Play-offs
4	West Ham United	46	19	17	10	67	45	+22	74
5	Ipswich Town	46	21	10	15	84	72	+12	73
6	Crystal Palace (P)	46	21	10	15	72	61	+11	73
7	Wigan Athletic	46	18	17	11	60	45	+15	71
8	Sheffield United	46	20	11	15	65	56	+9	71
9	Reading	46	20	10	16	55	57	−2	70
10	Millwall	46	18	15	13	55	48	+7	69	2004–05 UEFA Cup First round
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	51	+10	60
15	Preston North End	46	15	14	17	69	71	−2	59
16	Watford	46	15	12	19	54	68	−14	57
17	Rotherham United	46	13	15	18	53	61	−8	54
18	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	11	21	57	66	−9	53
19	Burnley	46	13	14	19	60	77	−17	53
20	Derby County	46	13	13	20	53	67	−14	52
21	Gillingham	46	14	9	23	48	67	−19	51
22	Walsall (R)	46	13	12	21	45	65	−20	51	Relegation to 2004-05 League One
23	Bradford City (R)	46	10	6	30	38	69	−31	36
24	Wimbledon (R)	46	8	5	33	41	89	−48	29

Updated to games played on 30 April 2011.
Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Goal scorers

Position	Nation	Number	Name	League	League Cup	FA Cup	Total
FW		10	Marcus Stewart	16	0	0	16
FW		9	Kevin Kyle	12	3	1	16
MF		11	Tommy Smith	4	0	4	8
MF		33	Julio Arca	4	0	2	6
FW		17	Darren Byfield	5	0	0	5
MF		12	John Oster	5	0	0	5
MF		15	Sean Thornton	4	0	0	4
DF		5	Gary Breen	4	0	0	4
MF		24	Stewart Downing	3	0	0	3
MF		4	Jason McAteer	2	0	0	2
MF		8	Jeff Whitley	2	0	0	2
/	/	/	Own goals	1	1	0	2
MF		24	Carl Robinson	1	0	0	1
DF		2	Stephen Wright	1	0	0	1
GK		1	Mart Poom	1	0	0	1
FW		14	Michael Proctor	1	0	0	1
/	/	/	Totals	62	4	7	73