The 2003–04 season was the 124th season of association football in England. Arsenal completed the season without losing a league match, becoming Premier League champions in the process. Leeds United avoided going into administration, but were unable to avoid relegation and lost their place in the Premier League - along with Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Norwich City won promotion to the Premier League as Champions after nine years in Division 1. They were joined by runners-up West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace, who beat West Ham United in the play-off final. Wimbledon completed their relocation to Milton Keynes and moved into the former England National Hockey Stadium, which would be used as a temporary home until a new stadium was built at Denbigh North. At the end of the season, following the Dons' relegation, club directors changed its name to Milton Keynes Dons. Bradford City and Walsall joined them in relegation to Football League One.
Plymouth Argyle were Division Two champions and ensured that they would be playing in the second tier of English football for the first time in 12 years. Queens Park Rangers joined them together with Brighton & Hove Albion who won the play-off. At the bottom, Rushden & Diamonds were relegated to Division Three along with Grimsby Town, who suffered a second consecutive relegation after losing the last game of the season. Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers were also relegated. In the same division, Oldham Athletic were in financial difficulties but they avoided going into administration after a takeover bid was confirmed.
Doncaster Rovers became Division Three champions to earn their second successive promotion, having been Conference play-off winners the previous season. They had not played above the league's lowest tier for nearly 20 years; they were joined by Hull City, Torquay United and play-off winners Huddersfield Town.
Carlisle United were relegated to the Conference from Division Three. They had spent all but two of the previous 17 seasons in the league's fourth tier. York City followed them out of the Football League after a poor second half of the season. Chester City and Shrewsbury Town were promoted to the Football League from the Football Conference.
Telford United, who had been members of the Conference for every season since its formation in 1979, went out of business at the end of a season in which they had reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. The club was quickly reformed as A.F.C. Telford United and joined the Northern Premier League.
Diary of the season 26 June 2003: Marc-Vivien Foé, who scored 9 goals in 35 games on loan at Manchester City—and had previously had a spell with West Ham United between 1999 and 2000—collapsed and died during a FIFA Confederations Cup tie for Cameroon. 1 July 2003: Liverpool signed defender Steve Finnan from Fulham for £3.6 million. 2 July 2003: David Beckham completed his £25 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid. 3 July 2003: Birmingham City paid a club record £5.5 million for Blackburn Rovers midfielder David Dunn. 9 July 2003: Liverpool signed Leeds United's Harry Kewell for £5 million. 15 July 2003: Manchester United signed American goalkeeper Tim Howard from MetroStars for £2.3 million; Chelsea paid £6 million for 19-year-old West Ham defender Glen Johnson. 16 July 2003: Chelsea signed Cameroon midfielder Geremi from Real Madrid for £7 million. 21 July 2003: Chelsea signed Southampton defender Wayne Bridge for £7 million and Blackburn winger Damien Duff for a club record £17 million. 30 July 2003: The Premier League was officially declared the richest football league in Europe. 4 August 2003: The Premier League ruled out the possibility of Rangers and Celtic gaining membership. 6 August 2003: Chelsea signed Juan Sebastián Verón from Manchester United for £15 million and Joe Cole from West Ham for £6.6 million. 12 August 2003: Manchester United signed 18-year-old Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.24 million from Sporting CP and Brazil's World Cup-winning midfielder Kléberson for £5.93 million from Atlético Paranaense. 14 August 2003: Chelsea signed Romanian striker Adrian Mutu from Parma for £15.8million. 25 August 2003: Chelsea signed Russian midfielder Alexei Smertin from Bordeaux for £3.45 million and immediately loaned him to Portsmouth for the season. 26 August 2003: Chelsea signed Argentine striker Hernán Crespo from Inter Milan for £16.8 million. 29 August 2003: Blackburn paid £7.5 million for Rangers and Scotland midfielder Barry Ferguson. 31 August 2003: The first month of the season ended with Arsenal and Manchester United at the top of the league with three wins from their first three Premier League games, while their nearest challengers were Portsmouth (newly promoted), Manchester City and Chelsea. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers lost the first three games of their first top flight campaign for 20 years; Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough completed the bottom three. The race to get into the Premier League was headed by West Bromwich Albion, who were a point ahead of their nearest rivals Reading and Sheffield United at the top of Division One. Wigan Athletic, Crystal Palace and West Ham completed the top six. 1 September 2003: Chelsea signed Real Madrid and France midfielder Claude Makélélé for £16.6 million. 21 September 2003: Tottenham Hotspur sacked Glenn Hoddle after two-and-a-half years as manager. Director of football David Pleat took temporary charge. 27 September 2003: Wimbledon relocated to Milton Keynes where they would play at the National Hockey Stadium, but this was a temporary measure; there were plans to build a new 25,000-seat stadium at Denbigh North which was expected to be completed in either 2006 or 2007. 30 September 2003: Arsenal led the Premier League, but their nearest challengers Chelsea and Manchester United were just a point behind. Surprise title contenders Birmingham City and Southampton completed the top five, but there was widespread doubt as to whether they could continue their good form and make a serious challenge to record their first-ever top division title. Wolverhampton Wanderers were still bottom and looking for their first win of the season; Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur completed the bottom three. Sheffield United led the way in Division One, a point ahead of former leaders West Brom. Wigan Athletic, Norwich City, Sunderland and West Ham occupied the play-off zone. 31 October 2003: Chelsea were ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with equal goal difference but with more goals scored; Manchester United were a point behind in third place. Birmingham remained fourth, while Fulham moved into the top five at the expense of Southampton. Leicester City and Middlesbrough propped up the Premier League after an upturn in fortunes for Wolves and Tottenham; Leeds had slipped into the relegation zone as the mass sale of players to help pay off mounting debts took its toll on the field. Newcastle were in eighth place, just below Manchester City. West Brom were top of Division One, where Wigan were playing for the first time in their history. Norwich, Sheffield United, Sunderland and West Ham completed the top six. Ipswich Town were a single goal short of the play-off places. 8 November 2003: Senior executives from the 20 Premier League clubs backed plans for clubs to be deducted ten points if they enter receivership. 10 November 2003: Peter Reid was sacked after eight months as manager of Leeds United, who were bottom of the Premier League after losing 8 of their opening 12 games. Long-serving coach and former manager Eddie Gray took over on a temporary basis. 30 November 2003: Chelsea lead the Premier League, one point ahead of Arsenal and four points ahead of Manchester United. Debt-ridden Leeds propped up the top flight, joined in the relegation zone by Wolves and Everton. West Brom and Norwich were top of Division One, followed by Sheffield United, Ipswich, Wigan and Reading. 19 December 2003: Rio Ferdinand received an eight-month ban from football and a £50,000 fine as penalty for missing a drugs test on 22 September. The ban commenced on 19 January, though Ferdinand was intent on appealing against it. 31 December 2003: Manchester United were leaders of the Premier League; their nearest contenders Arsenal (unbeaten) and Chelsea were four points behind. Charlton Athletic and Fulham completed the top five, with Liverpool and Newcastle close behind. Wolves and Leeds were bottom of the division; Everton were comfortably clear of the bottom three. Norwich held a six-point lead over West Brom at the top of Division One followed by Sheffield United, Sunderland, Ipswich and Wigan. 9 January 2004: Gordon Strachan announced that he would not renew his contract as Southampton manager when it expired at the end of the season, amid speculation that he will return to his old club Leeds as their new manager. 14 January 2004: Manchester City signed goalkeeper David James from West Ham for £2 million, prompting the retirement of 40-year-old David Seaman. 23 January 2004: Manchester United signed Fulham striker Louis Saha for £12.8 million. 28 January 2004: Arsenal signed Sevilla striker José Antonio Reyes for £10.5 million. 30 January 2004: Chelsea signed Charlton midfielder Scott Parker for £10 million. 31 January 2004: Manchester United topped the Premier League, with unbeaten Arsenal a point behind and a game in hand. Chelsea's bid for the title took a setback; they were in third place with a seven-point gap between them and the top spot followed by Charlton and Liverpool. Leeds, Wolves and Leicester occupied the bottom three places. Norwich and West Brom were still leading the way at the top of Division One. Sheffield United, Sunderland, Ipswich and Wigan occupied the play-off zone. 2 February 2004: Tottenham paid £7 million for West Ham striker Jermain Defoe. 29 February 2004: Middlesbrough won their first ever trophy as a professional club by beating Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final. In the Premier League, Arsenal were still unbeaten and were top of the league with a nine-point advantage over Chelsea and Manchester United. Newcastle and Charlton completed the top five, followed closely by Liverpool and Aston Villa. Leeds and Leicester remained in the bottom three, but Wolves had climbed out of the drop zone at the expense of Portsmouth. Norwich and West Brom remained at the top of Division One, and West Ham edged Sheffield United out of an otherwise unchanged play-off zone. 2 March 2004: Gordon Strachan, who was due to depart as Southampton manager at the end of the season, resigned from the club with immediate effect. 4 March 2004: Paul Sturrock departed from Division Two leaders Plymouth Argyle to become Southampton's new manager. 5 March 2004: Three Leicester City players – Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair – were charged with sexual assault while on a training camp in La Manga, Spain. 7 March 2004: A brace from Malky Mackay followed up by a goal from Darren Huckerby secured East Anglian derby victory for Norwich over Ipswich. 31 March 2004: Arsenal, the first team to complete 30 matches unbeaten at the start of a league season, led Chelsea by seven points with Manchester United a further five points behind. They were also in contention for both the Champions League and the FA Cup. Liverpool and Newcastle completed the top five as Charlton's bid for a European place was fading fast, the competition now coming from Birmingham and Aston Villa. At the other end of the table, time was running out for Wolves and Leeds; Leicester were still giving the rest of the bottom ten a good run for their money. Norwich and West Brom were equal on points at the top of Division One, and Millwall had edged Wigan out of the top six. 10 April 2004: Arsenal's double hopes ended when they lost 1–0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park.