2003–04 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

During the 2003–04 English football season, Wigan Athletic competed in the Football League First Division.

Wigan Athletic

2003–04 season
Chairman	Dave Whelan
Manager	Paul Jewell
Stadium	JJB Stadium
First Division	7th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	Nathan Ellington (18)
Average home league attendance	9,505

Season summary

Wigan were playing in Division One for the first time in their history, and after losing their first game many tipped them for a swift departure, but Wigan confounded expectations to go unbeaten for the next 17 games and sat at the top the table by November. A weak finish saw Wigan win only three of their last 10 games to finish seventh in Division One – a last minute goal by West Ham's Brian Deane in the final game of the season saw the Latics drop out of the play-off places in favour of eventual play-off winners Crystal Palace.

Final league table

Main article: 2003–04 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
5	Ipswich Town	46	21	10	15	84	72	+12	73	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
6	Crystal Palace (O, 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

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Pre-season

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Notes
15 July 2003	KVC Westerlo	A	1–0
17 July 2003	FC Eindhoven	A	2–2
22 July 2003	Southport	A	3–0
23 July 2003	Bradford Park Avenue	A	4–0
27 July 2003	Falkirk	A	0–1
29 July 2003	Burscough	A	0–2
30 July 2003	Rochdale	A	2–2
2 August 2003	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–0

Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

First Division match details

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 2003	Millwall	A	0–2	10,898
16 August 2003	Preston North End	H	1–1	12,073	McCulloch
23 August 2003	Burnley	A	2–0	13,231	Kennedy, Ellington
26 August 2003	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	8,292	Ellington
30 August 2003	Rotherham United	A	3–0	6,660	Jarrett, Ellington, N. Roberts
13 September 2003	Wimbledon	A	4–2	1,054	Bullard, Liddell, Horsfield, Ellington
16 September 2003	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	12,874	Horsfield
20 September 2003	Watford	H	1–0	9,211	McCulloch
27 September 2003	Coventry City	A	1–1	14,862	Jackson
30 September 2003	Cardiff City	A	0–0	15,143
4 October 2003	Norwich City	H	1–1	9,346	Liddell
11 October 2003	Derby County	A	2–2	19,151	Liddell (2)
14 October 2003	Stoke City	H	2–1	7,678	Horsfield (2)
18 October 2003	Gillingham	H	1–0	6,696	Liddell (pen)
21 October 2003	Sheffield United	H	1–1	12,032	Horsfield
25 October 2003	Walsall	A	0–2	7,041
1 November 2003	Crystal Palace	H	5–0	6,796	Liddell (2, 1 pen), Horsfield, Ellington (2)
8 November 2003	Reading	A	0–1	13,819
22 November 2003	Nottingham Forest	H	2–2	10,403	Ellington, Liddell
29 November 2003	West Ham United	A	0–4	34,375
2 December 2003	Sunderland	A	1–1	22,167	De Vos
6 December 2003	Reading	H	0–2	7,512
13 December 2003	Bradford City	H	1–0	7,256	Horsfield
20 December 2003	Crewe Alexandra	A	3–2	7,873	McCulloch, De Vos, Bullard
26 December 2003	Rotherham United	H	1–2	9,235	Ellington
28 December 2003	Sheffield United	A	1–1	26,056	Ellington
10 January 2004	Millwall	H	0–0	7,047
17 January 2004	Preston North End	A	4–2	19,161	J. Roberts, Ellington (2), Teale
31 January 2004	Burnley	H	0–0	11,147
7 February 2004	Ipswich Town	A	3–1	22,093	J. Roberts, Ellington, Teale
14 February 2004	Derby County	H	2–0	9,146	Ellington, McCulloch
21 February 2004	Stoke City	A	1–1	14,927	Ellington
28 February 2004	Walsall	H	1–0	7,593	Ellington
6 March 2004	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–3	8,367	McCulloch (2)
13 March 2004	Bradford City	A	0–0	11,744
16 March 2004	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–2	26,215	Liddell (pen)
20 March 2004	Coventry City	H	2–1	8,784	J. Roberts (2)
27 March 2004	Watford	A	1–1	13,382	J. Roberts
3 April 2004	Wimbledon	H	0–1	7,622
6 April 2004	Gillingham	A	3–0	7,410	Ellington, J. Roberts, Mahon
9 April 2004	Norwich City	A	0–2	23,446
13 April 2004	Cardiff City	H	3–0	8,052	J. Roberts, Ellington
17 April 2004	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	18,799	Ellington
24 April 2004	Sunderland	H	0–0	11,380
1 May 2004	Nottingham Forest	A	0–1	29,172
9 May 2004	West Ham United	H	1–1	20,669	N. Roberts

FA Cup

Main article: 2003–04 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 2004	West Ham United	H	1–2	11,793	Quinn (own goal)

League Cup

Main article: 2003–04 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	12 August 2003	Hull City	H	2–0	3,295	McCulloch, Jarrett
R2	23 September 2003	Fulham	H	1–0	4,874	Ellington
R3	29 October 2003	Middlesbrough	H	1–2	8,046	Bullard

Squad statistics

Squad at end of season

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Division One		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	AUS	John Filan	47	0	45	0	1	0	1	0
2	DF	ENG	Paul Mitchell	14	0	1+11	0	1	0	0+1	0
3	DF	SCO	Stephen McMillan	16	0	13+2	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	ENG	Matt Jackson	28	1	23+1	1	0+1	0	3	0
5	DF	CAN	Jason De Vos	28	2	25+2	2	1	0	0	0
6	DF	ENG	Ian Breckin	49	0	43+2	0	1	0	3	0
7	MF	SCO	Andy Liddell	43	9	35+5	9	0	0	3	0
8	FW	WAL	Neil Roberts	32	2	9+19	2	1	0	2+1	0
9	FW	ENG	Nathan Ellington	47	19	43+1	18	1	0	1+1	1
10	FW	SCO	Lee McCulloch	45	7	31+10	6	1	0	3	1
11	MF	NIR	Peter Kennedy	15	1	10+2	1	0	0	3	0
12	MF	WAL	Michael Flynn	9	0	1+7	0	0	0	0+1	0
13	GK	ENG	Gary Walsh	5	0	1+2	0	0	0	2	0
14	MF	IRL	Alan Mahon	14	1	13+1	1	0	0	0	0
15	MF	IRL	Gareth Farrelly	7	0	3+4	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	ENG	Tony Dinning	14	0	11+2	0	0	0	1	0
18	MF	ENG	Jason Jarrett	43	2	33+8	1	0	0	2	1
19	DF	ENG	Nicky Eaden	50	0	46	0	1	0	3	0
20	MF	SCO	Gary Teale	30	2	15+13	2	1	0	0+1	0
21	MF	ENG	Jimmy Bullard	50	3	46	2	1	0	3	1
22	FW	BRA	Magno Vieira	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	GK	ENG	James Salisbury	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	ENG	Alan Rogers	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF	ENG	Chris Lynch	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	DF	ENG	Leighton Baines	28	0	23+3	0	1	0	1	0
27	MF	ENG	Greg Traynor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	FW	GRN	Jason Roberts	14	8	14	8	0	0	0	0
33	GK	ENG	Ryan Yeomans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	FW	ENG	David Moore	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Wigan and left during the season:
14	FW	SCO	Mark Burchill	4	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	JAM	Jamie Lawrence	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
15	FW	ENG	Geoff Horsfield	17	7	16	7	0	0	1	0
17	MF	ENG	Ged Brannan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

References

• Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2004). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2005. London: Headline. ISBN 978-0-7553-1311-2.