2003–04 Walsall F.C. season

Walsall 2003–04 football season

Walsall

2003–04 season

Chairman

Jeff Bonser

Manager

Colin Lee (until 16 April)
Paul Merson

22nd (relegated)

Top goalscorer

Jorge Leitão (7)

Average home league attendance

7,853

Home colours

← 2002–03 2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 season, Walsall participated in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

Walsall started the season strongly with 4–1 wins over local rivals West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest, and on Boxing Day were four points off the play-offs. However, the club's form slumped in 2004, with the club not picking up another league win until March. Manager Colin Lee was sacked on 16 April, though the official reason given was that Lee had contacted Plymouth Argyle regarding their managerial vacancy. Paul Merson was appointed temporary player-manager, assisted by fellow player Simon Osborn. Ultimately, Walsall would be relegated on the last day of the season despite a 3–2 win over Rotherham United: an extra two goals scored during the campaign would have been enough for them to climb above Gillingham to safety. Despite the sorry end to the campaign, Paul Merson was handed a permanent contract as manager.

Defender Paul Ritchie was named as the club's Player of the Season, but returned to Scotland to play for Dundee United at the end of the season.

Final league table

Main article: 2003–04 Football League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
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 Football League One
23	Bradford City (R)	46	10	6	30	38	69	−31	36	Relegation to Football League One
24	Wimbledon (R)	46	8	5	33	41	89	−48	29	Renamed Milton Keynes Dons in Football League One

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Jimmy Walker
2	DF	ENG	Darren Bazeley
3	DF	ESP	Zigor Aranalde
5	DF	ENG	Matt Carbon
6	DF	ENG	Ian Roper
7	MF	ENG	Simon Osborn
8	MF	AUS	Steve Corica
9	FW	POR	Jorge Leitão
10	FW	ENG	Paul Merson
11	MF	ENG	Darren Wrack
12	MF	ESP	Pedro Matías
15	MF	ENG	Neil Emblen
16	FW	ENG	Gary Birch
17	MF	ENG	Mark Wright


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	ENG	Vinny Samways
19	MF	SCO	Craig Burley
21	MF	ENG	Kris Taylor
22	MF	ENG	Nick Smith
23	FW	ENG	Andy Bishop
24	FW	ENG	Matty Fryatt
25	DF	ENG	Gavin Caines
26	DF	SCO	Paul Ritchie
27	GK	NIR	Aaron Kerr
28	FW	ENG	Jermaine McSporran
30	DF	ENG	Julian Bennett
32	GK	AUS	Andy Petterson
33	MF	IRL	Keith Andrews (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
34	FW	ENG	Lee Bradbury

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
4	DF	NZL	Danny Hay (to Football Kingz)
14	MF	JAM	Jamie Lawrence (to Grimsby Town)
19	MF	ENG	Craig Stanley (to Telford United)
20	FW	ENG	Karl Hawley (to Hednesford Town)
28	FW	JAM	Deon Burton (on loan from Portsmouth)
28	DF	ENG	Jamie Vincent (on loan from Portsmouth)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
28	FW	SCO	Gary Wales (on loan from Heart of Midlothian)
30	DF	NIR	Chris Baird (on loan from Southampton)
31	GK	ENG	Shaun Allaway (on loan from Leeds United)
32	MF	ENG	Tony Dinning (on loan from Wigan Athletic)
33	MF	ENG	Gary O'Neil (on loan from Portsmouth)
50	MF	ENG	Stefan Oakes (to Notts County)

Transfers

In

Paul Merson - Portsmouth
Simon Osborn - Gillingham, 3 July
Stefan Oakes - Leicester City, 3 July
Paul Ritchie - Manchester City, August, free

Notes

Lawrence was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 2000.
Burton was born in Reading, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in September 1997.

References

"FootballSquads - Walsall - 2003/04".
"Walsall sign duo". BBC Sport. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2016.

v t e Walsall Football Club
Overview	The Club Reserves and Youth Seasons Managers
Grounds	The Chuckery West Bromwich Road Fellows Park Bescot Stadium
Matches	1988 Third Division play-off final 2001 Second Division play-off final 2015 Football League Trophy final
Rivalries	Black Country derby

v t e Walsall F.C. seasons
1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Walsall F.C. seasons

1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–00
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

2003–04 in English football

« 2002–03 2004–05 »

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One North, One South) Northern Premier League (Premier, One) Southern League (Premier, Eastern, Western)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two) Combined Counties League (Premier, One) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One East, One West) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Alliance (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 9 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) Spartan South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Community Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

European competitions

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Portsmouth Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Wolverhampton Wanderers
First Division	Bradford City Burnley Cardiff City Coventry City Crewe Alexandra Crystal Palace Derby County Gillingham Ipswich Town Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Sheffield United Stoke City Sunderland Walsall Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic Wimbledon
Second Division	Barnsley Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Chesterfield Colchester United Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Luton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Rushden & Diamonds Sheffield Wednesday Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers
Third Division	Boston United Bristol Rovers Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Darlington Doncaster Rovers Huddersfield Town Hull City Kidderminster Harriers Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Oxford United Rochdale Scunthorpe United Southend United Swansea City Torquay United Yeovil Town York City
Non-League	Shrewsbury Town

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