During the 2003–04 English football season, Portsmouth F.C. competed in the Premier League. It was their first ever season in the Premiership and the first in English football's top flight since the 1987–88 season.
Season summary
Portsmouth's Premiership debut (and only their second top division campaign during the last 45 years) was a fine one, as they finished 13th and established Fratton Park as one of the hardest Premiership grounds to get a result at. Only their dismal away form (with only two away wins all season) prevented them from finishing even higher and challenging for a European place, but it was still a very good season for the only newly promoted side to preserve their Premiership status.
After a good start to the season which saw Portsmouth top of the Premiership after three games, the team slumped into the relegation zone, but rallied and only lost one of their last ten matches to finish 13th – ahead of more established sides like Everton, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur. To their credit, they were one of the only two teams to remain unbeaten against Arsenal's "Invincibles" in the league during the season.
Final league table
Kit
Portsmouth introduced a new kit for the season, still manufactured under the club's own brand, Pompey Sport. ty remained the kit sponsors.
Players
First-team squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.
Transfers
In
Patrik Berger – Liverpool, free, 6 June 2003
Dejan Stefanović – Vitesse Arnhem, £1,850,000, 20 June 2003
Boris Živković – Bayer Leverkusen, free, 24 June 2003
Teddy Sheringham, Tottenham Hotspur, free, 30 June 2003
Amdy Faye – Auxerre, undisclosed (estimated £1,500,000), 5 August 2003
Alexey Smertin – Chelsea, season loan, 27 August 2003
Pavel Srníček – Brescia, free, 1 September 2003
Eyal Berkovic – Manchester City, £500,000, 8 January 2004
Richard Duffy – Swansea City, undisclosed (six-figure sum), 26 January 2004, Sebastian Olszar – Admira Wacker Mödling, free, 26 January 2004 Ivica Mornar – Anderlecht, £400,000, 29 January 2004 Lomana Tresor LuaLua – Newcastle United, three-month loan, £100,000 loan fee, 2 February 2004 John Curtis – Leicester City, free, 2 February 2004 Vincent Péricard – Juventus, July 2003 Harald Wapenaar – Utrecht, 2003 Jason Roberts – West Bromwich Albion, loan, 2003 Petri Pasanen – Ajax Amsterdam, 2004 Sébastien Schemmel – West Ham United Alan Knight – free
Out
Justin Edinburgh – released (later joined Billericay Town), 2003
Jason Crowe – released (later joined Grimsby Town), 20 May 2003
Luke Nightingale – released (later joined Southend United), 20 May 2003
Carl Tiler – retired, 20 May 2003
Gianluca Festa – Cagliari, 13 June 2003
Paul Merson – Walsall, undisclosed, 18 July 2003
Rowan Vine – Colchester United, season loan, 7 August 2003
Carl Robinson – Rotherham United, month loan, 18 September 2003
Boris Živković – Stuttgart, free, 13 January 2004
Jamie Vincent – Derby County, free, 16 January 2004
Neil Barrett – Dundee, loan, 23 January 2004
Carl Robinson – Sheffield United, loan, 30 January 2004
Pavel Srníček – West Ham United, month loan, 19 February 2004
Lee Bradbury – Walsall, free, 25 March 2004
Lewis Buxton – AFC Bournemouth, season loan, October 2003
Yoshi Kawaguchi – FC Nordsjælland
Jason Roberts – West Bromwich Albion, loan ended
Courtney Pitt – Coventry City, loan
Courtney Pitt – Luton Town, loan
Lassina Diabaté – AC Ajaccio
Results
Premier League
Results per matchday
FA Cup
League Cup
Awards
August: Player of the Month, Teddy Sheringham
April: Manager of the Month, Harry Redknapp
Statistics
Appearances and goals
|-
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
|-
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
|-
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
|-
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
|-
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season