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)

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

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

Promotion and relegation from 2002–03

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

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


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

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

Managerial changes

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

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 Celtic 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[lower-alpha 2]
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[lower-alpha 3]
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 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
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

Matches 1–22

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:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

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:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

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

Top scorers

PlayerClubGoals
Sweden Henrik LarssonCeltic30
England Chris SuttonCeltic19
Spain Nacho NovoDundee19
Scotland James GradyPartick Thistle15
Scotland Kris BoydKilmarnock15
Scotland Derek RiordanHibernian15
Scotland Stevie CrawfordDunfermline Athletic13
Suriname Mark de VriesHearts13
Scotland Derek LilleyLivingston12
Georgia (country) Shota ArveladzeRangers12
Scotland David ClarksonMotherwell11
England Alan ThompsonCeltic11

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

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

Team Average
Celtic57,657
Rangers48,992
Hearts11,947
Aberdeen10,389
Hibernian9,137
Dundee United7,785
Dundee7,089
Kilmarnock6,966
Dunfermline Athletic6,235
Motherwell6,225
Livingston5,116
Partick Thistle4,710

Source: SPL official website

Monthly awards

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

See also

References

  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)
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