2003–04 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

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
	← 2002–03 2004–05 →

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

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

Pos	Team v t e	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	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
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

Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

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	16,160	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	Roberts, Ellington (2), Teale
31 January 2004	Burnley	H	0–0	11,147
7 February 2004	Ipswich Town	A	3–1	22,093	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	Roberts (2)
27 March 2004	Watford	A	1–1	13,382	Roberts
3 April 2004	Wimbledon	H	0–1	7,622
6 April 2004	Gillingham	A	3–0	7,410	Ellington, Roberts, Mahon
9 April 2004	Norwich City	A	0–2	23,446
13 April 2004	Cardiff City	H	3–0	8,052	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


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

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

First-team squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	John Filan
2	DF	ENG	Paul Mitchell
3	MF	SCO	Stephen McMillan
4	DF	ENG	Matt Jackson
5	DF	CAN	Jason De Vos
6	DF	ENG	Ian Breckin
7	FW	SCO	Andy Liddell
8	FW	WAL	Neil Roberts
9	FW	ENG	Nathan Ellington
10	MF	SCO	Lee McCulloch
11	MF	NIR	Peter Kennedy
12	MF	WAL	Michael Flynn


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	GK	ENG	Gary Walsh
14	MF	IRL	Alan Mahon
15	DF	IRL	Gareth Farrelly
16	MF	ENG	Tony Dinning
18	MF	ENG	Jason Jarrett
19	DF	ENG	Nicky Eaden
20	MF	SCO	Gary Teale
21	MF	ENG	Jimmy Bullard
24	MF	IRL	Alan Rogers (on loan from Leicester City)
26	DF	ENG	Leighton Baines
30	FW	GRN	Jason Roberts^[1]