Under O'Leary, Villa made a very sluggish start to the campaign and found themselves in the relegation zone after winning just two of their first 13 league fixtures. They were still in the bottom three in mid-December before O'Leary galvanized them and they gradually climbed the table. Villa had a fantastic second half of the season and, with two matches remaining, had a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. After extending their unbeaten run to eight games by drawing at Southampton, defeat against Manchester United at Villa Park consigned them to sixth place. The Villains finished five points short of a Champions League place and were edged out of a UEFA Cup spot on goal difference by Newcastle United.
Nevertheless, it was still a great achievement by O'Leary, who appeared to get the best out of the likes ofGareth Barry,Lee Hendrie,Jlloyd Samuel and 16-goalJuan Pablo Ángel. The Colombian was the club's leading scorer, whileDarius Vassell bagged 9 goals to cement his place in England's Euro 2004 squad.Thomas Sørensen andGavin McCann both had excellent seasons after moving from Sunderland, whileNolberto Solano quickly became a fans' favourite after his mid-season move from Newcastle.
Among the men to represent Villa for the last time during 2003–04 wasDion Dublin, who netted 48 goals in 155 league games. O'Leary's side reached the last four of the Football League Cup by knocking out Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. The semi-final first leg, at Bolton, ended in a disappointing 5–2 defeat. Villa Park goals byThomas Hitzlsperger and Samuel were not quite enough to prevent the Trotters from clinching a place in the final. Manchester United came from behind to knock Villa out of the FA Cup in a third round tie at Villa Park. Despite narrowly missing out on qualifying for Europe, the mood around Villa Park was extremely positive in the summer of 2004. With the likes ofLiam Ridgewell,Steven Davis,Peter Whittingham and the Moore brothers (Stefan andLuke) forcing open the first team door, David O'Leary had an abundance of young talent at his disposal.
Source:Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. Notes:
^Since Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as2003–04 FA Cupwinners went toFirst Division clubMillwall, who were the FA Cup runners-up.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the reserves.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the youth team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^Myhill was born inModesto,California,United States, but was raised inEngland from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut forWales in March 2008.
^Edwards was born inMadeley,England, and represented them at U-16 level, but also qualified to representWales internationally through his parents and made his international debut forWales in March 2003.
^Kilkenny was born inEnfield,England, but was raised inAustralia and also qualified to represent theRepublic of Ireland internationally through his grandparents. He represented England at U-18 and U-20 level and the Republic of Ireland at U-19 level before making his international debut for Australia in June 2006.
^Nix was born inSydney,Australia, but was raised inEngland and represented England at U-16, U-18, U-20, and C level.
^Ward was born inBirmingham,England, but also qualifies to representNorthern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.
Thomas Sørensen
Nolberto Solano
Øyvind Leonhardsen
John McGrath
Alpay Özalan
Incheon United
Boaz Myhill
Peter Enckelman
Boško Balaban
Club Brugge
Mustapha Hadji
Espanyol
NED
TRI
SWE
ECU
ENG
GER
COL
