2003–04 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

Blackburn Rovers
2003–04 season
Manager	Graeme Souness
FA Premier League	15th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
UEFA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Andrew Cole (11); All: ; Andrew Cole (11)
Highest home attendance	30,074 (vs. Liverpool, 13 September 2003)
Lowest home attendance	19,939 (vs. Charlton Athletic, 20 October 2003)
Average home league attendance	24,376
	← 2002–03 2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 English football season, Blackburn Rovers competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

Finishing sixth in the Premiership at the end of 2002–03 had booked Blackburn Rovers their second successive UEFA Cup campaign, but it was short-lived, and their Premiership form was far too dismal to give the side any hope of a third successive European qualification. Indeed, much of the season was spent battling against relegation; a decent finish to the season saw relegation fears eradicated by the end of April. Rovers finished 15th in the final table, putting intense pressure on manager Graeme Souness to turn things around.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

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	USA	Brad Friedel
2	DF	AUS	Lucas Neill
3	DF	SVK	Vratislav Greško
5	DF	ITA	Lorenzo Amoruso
6	DF	ENG	Craig Short
7	MF	ENG	Garry Flitcroft
8	MF	TUR	Tugay Kerimoğlu
9	FW	ENG	Andrew Cole
10	FW	ENG	Matt Jansen
11	DF	GER	Markus Babbel (on loan from Liverpool)
12	MF	IRL	Steven Reid^[1]
14	DF	SWE	Nils-Eric Johansson


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	DF	ENG	Andy Todd
17	FW	SCO	Paul Gallagher
18	FW	ENG	Jonathan Stead
19	FW	TRI	Dwight Yorke
20	MF	ENG	David Thompson
23	MF	AUS	Brett Emerton
24	MF	SCO	Barry Ferguson
25	MF	NOR	Martin Andresen (on loan from Stabæk)
26	MF	IRL	Jonathan Douglas
30	MF	ENG	Neil Danns
31	GK	FIN	Peter Enckelman
33	DF	ENG	Michael Gray

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
4	DF	ENG	Martin Taylor (to Birmingham City)
13	GK	IRL	Alan Kelly (retired)
16	MF	IRL	Alan Mahon (on loan to Ipswich Town; to Wigan Athletic)
18	FW	ITA	Corrado Grabbi (to Ancona)
21	MF	ITA	Dino Baggio (on loan from Lazio)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
22	FW	NOR	Egil Østenstad (to Rangers)
25	DF	GER	Sebastian Pelzer (to Eintracht Trier)
26	MF	IRL	Jonathan Douglas (on loan to Blackpool)
27	DF	SCO	Gordon Greer (to Kilmarnock)
30	MF	ENG	Neil Danns (on loan to Blackpool and Hartlepool United)

Reserve 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
22	MF	ENG	Ciaran Donnelly
28	GK	GER	David Yelldell^[2]


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
29	DF	ENG	Jay McEveley^[3]

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering appearances in all competitions^[4]

GK: #1, Brad Friedel, 40
RB: #2, Lucas Neill, 33
CB: #11, Markus Babbel, 26
CB: #6, Craig Short, 26
LB: #15, Andy Todd, 21
RM: #23, Brett Emerton, 33
CM: #8, Tugay Kerimoğlu, 34
CM: #7, Garry Flitcroft, 31
LM: #3, Vratislav Greško, 26
CF: #9, Andrew Cole, 29
CF: #19, Dwight Yorke, 17

Results

Premier League

16 August 2003 1	Blackburn Rovers	5–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Blackburn
15:00 BST	Amoruso 17' Thompson 29' Emerton 52' Cole 79', 87'	Report	Iversen 71'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 26,270 Referee: Jeff Winter

23 August 2003 2	Bolton Wanderers	2–2	Blackburn Rovers	Bolton
15:00 BST	Youri Djorkaeff 3' (pen.) Kevin Davies 25'		Matt Jansen 50' Dwight Yorke 90'

25 August 2003 3	Blackburn Rovers	2–3	Manchester City	Blackburn
20:00	Sinclair 44' (o.g.) Amoruso 61'		4' Tarnat 59' Barton 87' Anelka	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 23,361 Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

30 August 2003 4	Chelsea	2–2	Blackburn Rovers	London
15:00 BST (UTC+01)	Mutu 45' Hasselbaink 63' (pen.)	Report	Cole 1', 58'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 41,066 Referee: Mike Dean

12 September 2003 5	Blackburn	1–3	Liverpool	Blackburn
	Jansen 8' Neill 45'	Report	Owen 12' (pen.), 68' Kewell 90'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 30,074 Referee: Neale Barry

20 September 2003 6	Portsmouth	1–2	Blackburn Rovers	Portsmouth, Hampshire
	De Zeeuw 57'	Report	Neill 35' Cole 43'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,024 Referee: Paul Durkin

7	Blackburn Rovers	0-2	Fulham	Ewood Park, Blackburn
15:00			Luís Boa Morte 5' Louis Saha 56'

8	Leeds	2-1	Blackburn Rovers
15:00	Seth Johnson 11', 27'		Dino Baggio 86'

20 October 2003 9	Blackburn Rovers	0–1	Charlton Athletic	Blackburn, Lancashire
20:00 BST		[ Report]	Hreidarsson 33'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 19,939 Referee: Graham Barber

10	Southampton	2-0	Blackburn Rovers
15:00	James Beattie 59' Léandre Griffit 87'

11	Leicester	2-0	Blackburn
16:05	Marcus Bent 75' Steve Howey 82'

12	Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Everton	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Markus Babbel 6' Dwight Yorke 13'		Tomasz Radzinski 49'

13	Manchester United	2-1	Blackburn Rovers
	Ruud van Nistelrooy 24' Kleberson 38'		Brett Emerton 62'

14	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Tottenham	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Vratislav Greško 78'

6 December 2003 15	Birmingham City	0–4	Blackburn Rovers	St Andrew's, Birmingham
15:00 GMT (UTC)	Dugarry 72'	[ Report]	Ferguson 66' Neill 68' Tugay 82' Gallagher 88'	Attendance: 29,354 Referee: Graham Barber

14 December 2003 (2003-12-14) 16	Arsenal	1–0	Blackburn Rovers	London
14:00 GMT	Bergkamp 11'	[ Report]		Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 37,677 Referee: Andy D'Urso

17	Blackburn Rovers	0-2	Aston Villa	Ewood Park, Blackburn
			Stefan Moore 62' Juan Pablo Ángel 75'

18	Blackburn Rovers	2-2	Middlesbrough	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Markus Babbel 3', 90'		Juninho 31', 51'

19	Newcastle	0-1	Blackburn Rovers
			Paul Gallagher 72'

7 January 2004 20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Blackburn Rovers	Wolverhampton
19:45 GMT	Butler 63' Rae 72'	Report	Cole 14' Yorke 78'	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 27,393 Referee: Neale Barry

21	Blackburn Rovers	3-4	Bolton	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Vratislav Greško 3' Dwight Yorke 24' Andy Cole 34'		Kevin Nolan 1' Youri Djorkaeff 43' Stelios Giannakopoulos 73' Kevin Nolan 78'

17 January 2004 22	Manchester City	1–1	Blackburn Rovers	Manchester
15:00	Anelka 50'	[ Report]	55' Flitcroft	Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium Attendance: 47,090 Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

1 February 2004 23	Blackburn Rovers	2–3	Chelsea	Blackburn
	Flitcroft 3' Gallagher 87'	Report	Lampard 25', 35' Johnson 88'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 24,867 Referee: Dermot Gallagher

24	Middlesbrough	0-1	Blackburn Rovers
			Jon Stead 39'

25	Blackburn Rovers	1-1	Newcastle	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Jon Stead 85'		Craig Bellamy 52'

26	Charlton	3-2	Blackburn Rovers
	Carlton Cole 10' Jason Euell 36' Claus Jensen 90'		Andy Cole 74' Brad Friedel 90'

27	Blackburn Rovers	1-1	Southampton	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Andy Cole 52'		Kevin Phillips 5'

13 March 2004 (2004-03-13) 28	Blackburn Rovers	0–2	Arsenal	Blackburn
15:00 GMT		[ Report]	Henry 57' Pirès 87'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 28,627 Referee: Alan Wiley

20 March 2004 29	Aston Villa	0–2	Blackburn Rovers	Birmingham
15:00			Garry Flitcroft 26' Jon Stead 36'	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 37,532

27 March 2004 30	Blackburn Rovers	1–2	Portsmouth	Blackburn, Lancashire
	Tugay 37'	Report	Sheringham 17' Yakubu 82'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 22,855 Referee: Paul Durkin

4 April 2004 31	Liverpool	4–0	Blackburn Rovers	Liverpool
	Owen 7', 24' Todd 22' (o.g.) Heskey 79'	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 41,559 Referee: Jeff Winter

32	Blackburn Rovers	1-2	Leeds	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Steven Caldwell 2' Mark Viduka 89'		Craig Short 90'

33	Fulham	3-4	Blackburn Rovers
	Collins John 26' Collins John 45' Luís Boa Morte 60'		Andy Cole 23' Jonathan Douglas 49' Lorenzo Amoruso 51' Jon Stead 75'

34	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Leicester	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Nikos Dabizas 42' (o.g.)

35	Everton	0-1	Blackburn Rovers
			Jon Stead 81'

36	Blackburn Rovers	1-0	Manchester United	Ewood Park, Blackburn
	Jon Stead 85'

37	Tottenham	1-0	Blackburn Rovers
	Jermain Defoe 18'

15 May 2004 38	Blackburn Rovers	1–1	Birmingham City	Ewood Park, Blackburn
15:00 BST (UTC+01)	Cole 24'	[ Report]	John 83'	Attendance: 26,070 Referee: Dermot Gallagher

FA Cup

3 January 2004 Round 3	Birmingham City	4-0	Blackburn Rovers	St Andrew's, Birmingham
15:00	Morrison 23' Clemence 36' Forssell 78' Hughes 84'			Attendance: 18,688

League Cup

29 October 2003 Round 3	Blackburn Rovers	3-4	Liverpool	Ewood Park, Blackburn
20:00				Attendance: 16,918

UEFA Cup

24 September 2003 Round 1 Leg 1	Gençlerbirliği S.K.	3-1	Blackburn Rovers
14:55	Skoko 42' Youla 43', 60'		Emerton 57'

15 October 2003 Round 1 Leg 2	Blackburn Rovers	1-1	Gençlerbirliği S.K.	Ewood Park, Blackburn
20:15	Jansen 64'		Ozkan 66'	Attendance: 14,573

Top scorers

Premiership

External links

FootballSquads - Blackburn Rovers - 2003/04

References

^ Reid was born in Kingston upon Thames, England, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his mother, and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 2001.
^ Yelldell was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, but also qualified to represent the United States internationally and made his international debut for the United States in March 2011
^ McEveley was born in Liverpool, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his full international debut for Scotland in August 2007
^ http://www.11v11.com/teams/blackburn-rovers/tab/players/season/2004

[1] Reid was born in Kingston upon Thames, England, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his mother, and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 2001.

[2] Yelldell was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, but also qualified to represent the United States internationally and made his international debut for the United States in March 2011

[3] McEveley was born in Liverpool, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his full international debut for Scotland in August 2007

[4] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/blackburn-rovers/tab/players/season/2004

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[2]

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