Wikipedia

2003–04 Scottish Premier League

The 2003–04 Scottish Premier League was won by Celtic.

Scottish Premier League
Season2003–04
Dates8 August 2003 – 15 May 2004
ChampionsCeltic
3rd Premier League title
39th Scottish title
Champions LeagueCeltic
Rangers
UEFA CupHeart of Midlothian
Dunfermline
Intertoto CupHibernian
Top goalscorerHenrik Larsson (30)
Biggest home winCeltic 6–0 Hibernian (27 December)
Biggest away winKilmarnock 0–5 Celtic (1 November)
Highest attendance59,739 – Celtic v Dunfermline (2 May)
Lowest attendance2,677 – Livingston v Kilmarnock (7 April)

As league champions, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage, with runners-up Rangers also qualifying to the third qualifying round. Third-placed Hearts qualified for the UEFA Cup, as did Dunfermline Athletic, who took the Scottish Cup place despite losing the final to Celtic.

During the season, Celtic set a Scottish record of 25 successive wins.[1]

Partick Thistle were relegated, and First Division winners Inverness Caledonian Thistle were promoted.

Celtic's Henrik Larsson was the top scorer with 30 goals.

Teams edit

Promotion and relegation from 2002–03 edit

Motherwell finished bottom of the 2002–03 Scottish Premier League but were spared relegation, as 2002–03 Scottish First Division champions Falkirk were denied promotion due to their lack of an appropriate stadium for the Scottish Premier League.

Stadia and locations edit

Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Dens Park Tannadice Park
Capacity: 20,866[2] Capacity: 60,411[3] Capacity: 11,506[4] Capacity: 14,223[5]
       
Dunfermline Athletic
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2003–04 Scottish Premier League


 Heart of Midlothian
East End Park Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 12,509[6] Capacity: 17,420[7]
   
Hibernian Kilmarnock
Easter Road Rugby Park
Capacity: 16,531[8] Capacity: 17,889[9]
   
Livingston Motherwell Partick Thistle Rangers
Almondvale Stadium Fir Park Firhill Stadium Ibrox Stadium
Capacity: 10,016[10] Capacity: 13,677[11] Capacity: 13,300[12] Capacity: 50,817[13]
       

Personnel edit

Team Manager
Aberdeen   Steve Paterson
Celtic   Martin O'Neill
Dundee   Jim Duffy
Dundee United   Ian McCall
Dunfermline Athletic   Jimmy Calderwood
Heart of Midlothian   Craig Levein
Hibernian   Tony Mowbray
Kilmarnock   Jim Jefferies
Livingston   David Hay
Motherwell   Terry Butcher
Partick Thistle   Gerry Britton
  Derek Whyte (co-managers)
Rangers   Alex McLeish

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Partick Thistle   John Lambie 24 May 2003 Retired Pre-season   Gerry Collins 25 May 2003
Livingston   Jim Leishman 4 June 2003 Resigned   Márcio Máximo 4 June 2003
Livingston   Márcio Máximo 14 October 2003 Resigned 8th   David Hay 15 October 2003
Partick Thistle   Gerry Collins 30 November 2003 Sacked 12th   Gerry Britton
  Derek Whyte (co-managers) 		30 November 2003 (interim)
23 December 2003 (permanent)
Hibernian   Bobby Williamson 20 April 2003 Signed by Plymouth Argyle 7th   Tony Mowbray 24 May 2004

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Celtic (C) 38 31 5 2 105 25 +80 98 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Rangers 38 25 6 7 76 33 +43 81 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 38 19 11 8 56 40 +16 68 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[b]
4 Dunfermline Athletic 38 14 11 13 45 52 −7 53
5 Dundee United 38 13 10 15 47 60 −13 49
6 Motherwell 38 12 10 16 42 49 −7 46
7 Dundee 38 12 10 16 48 57 −9 46
8 Hibernian 38 11 11 16 41 60 −19 44 Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round[c]
9 Livingston 38 10 13 15 48 57 −9 43
10 Kilmarnock 38 12 6 20 51 74 −23 42
11 Aberdeen 38 9 7 22 39 63 −24 34
12 Partick Thistle (R) 38 6 8 24 39 67 −28 26 Relegation to the Scottish First Division
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. ^ As Celtic, the 2003–04 Scottish Cup winners, qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed onto Dunfermline Athletic, the cup runners-up.
  3. ^ Hibernian qualified for the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup as the highest placed team to apply to participate in the competition.

Results edit

Matches 1–22 edit

During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN DNF HOM HIB KIL LIV MOT PAR RAN
Aberdeen 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–2 0–1 3–1 3–1 0–3 0–3 2–1 2–3
Celtic 4–0 3–2 5–0 5–0 5–0 6–0 5–1 5–1 3–0 3–1 3–0
Dundee 2–0 0–1 2–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 0–2
Dundee United 3–2 1–5 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–0 1–3
Dunfermline Athletic 2–2 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–3 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–0
Heart of Midlothian 2–0 0–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 0–4
Hibernian 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 3–1 0–2 0–2 3–2 0–1
Kilmarnock 1–3 0–5 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–3 2–0 2–1 2–3
Livingston 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–3 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–0
Motherwell 1–0 0–2 0–3 3–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1
Partick Thistle 0–3 1–2 1–2 0–2 4–1 1–4 0–1 2–4 1–1 1–0 0–1
Rangers 3–0 0–1 3–1 2–1 4–0 2–1 5–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 3–1
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33 edit

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DND DUN DNF HOM HIB KIL LIV MOT PAR RAN
Aberdeen 3–0 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–0 1–1
Celtic 1–2 2–1 2–2 5–1 1–1
Dundee 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–1
Dundee United 2–2 0–0 4–1 1–0 2–0
Dunfermline Athletic 1–4 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–0
Heart of Midlothian 1–0 3–1 3–1 1–1 1–1
Hibernian 0–1 0–4 1–1 3–0 3–1 3–3
Kilmarnock 3–1 0–1 4–2 1–1 2–1
Livingston 2–3 0–0 1–1 3–1 1–1
Motherwell 5–3 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 0–1
Partick Thistle 1–4 1–1 1–0 1–1 5–2
Rangers 1–2 4–0 4–1 3–0 2–0 2–0
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38 edit

During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.

Top scorers edit

Player Club Goals
  Henrik Larsson Celtic 30
  Chris Sutton Celtic 19
  Nacho Novo Dundee 19
  James Grady Partick Thistle 15
  Kris Boyd Kilmarnock 15
  Derek Riordan Hibernian 15
  Stevie Crawford Dunfermline Athletic 13
  Mark de Vries Hearts 13
  Derek Lilley Livingston 12
  Shota Arveladze Rangers 12
  David Clarkson Motherwell 11
  Alan Thompson Celtic 11

Source: SPL official website

Attendances edit

The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2003/04 season are shown below:

Team Average
Celtic 57,657
Rangers 48,992
Hearts 11,947
Aberdeen 10,389
Hibernian 9,137
Dundee United 7,785
Dundee 7,089
Kilmarnock 6,966
Dunfermline Athletic 6,235
Motherwell 6,225
Livingston 5,116
Partick Thistle 4,710

Source: SPL official website

Monthly awards edit

Main article: Scottish Premier League monthly awards
Month Manager Player Young Player
August   Alex McLeish (Rangers)   Michael Ball (Rangers)   Mikel Arteta (Rangers)
September   Alex McLeish (Rangers)   Shota Arveladze (Rangers)   Zurab Khizanishvili (Rangers)
October   Martin O'Neill (Celtic)   Roddy McKenzie (Livingston)   Liam Miller (Celtic)
November   Martin O'Neill (Celtic)   Chris Sutton (Celtic)   Stephen Hughes (Rangers)
December   Steve Paterson (Aberdeen)   Craig Brewster (Dunfermline Athletic)   Craig Gordon (Hearts)
January   Jim Duffy (Dundee)   Stilian Petrov (Celtic)   David Clarkson (Motherwell)
February   Terry Butcher (Motherwell)   Steven Pressley (Hearts)   Alexander Diamond (Aberdeen)
March   Ian McCall (Dundee United)   Neil Lennon (Celtic)   David Marshall (Celtic)
April   Jimmy Calderwood (Dunfermline Athletic)   Barry Nicholson (Dunfermline Athletic)   Derek Riordan (Hibernian)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Celtic tipped to break 2004 25-game winning streak by Mjallby". The Daily Record. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Dundee Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Partick Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2003–04_Scottish_Premier_League&oldid=1214354172"