| Season | 2003–04 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8 August 2003 – 15 May 2004 |
| Champions | Celtic 3rd Premier League title 39thScottish title |
| Relegated | Partick Thistle |
| Champions League | Celtic Rangers |
| UEFA Cup | Heart of Midlothian Dunfermline |
| Intertoto Cup | Hibernian |
| Top goalscorer | Henrik Larsson (30) |
| Biggest home win | Celtic 6–0Hibernian (27 December) |
| Biggest away win | Kilmarnock 0–5Celtic (1 November) |
| Highest attendance | 59,739 –Celtic vDunfermline (2 May) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,677 –Livingston vKilmarnock (7 April) |
2004–05 → | |
The2003–04 Scottish Premier League was won byCeltic.
As leaguechampions, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage, withrunners-upRangers also qualifying to the third qualifying round. Third-placedHearts qualified for theUEFA Cup, as didDunfermline Athletic, who took theScottish 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, andFirst Division winnersInverness Caledonian Thistle were promoted.
Celtic'sHenrik Larsson was the top scorer with 30 goals.
Motherwell finished bottom of the2002–03 Scottish Premier League but were spared relegation, as2002–03 Scottish First Division championsFalkirk were denied promotion due to their lack of an appropriate stadium for theScottish Premier League.
| 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 |  Location of teams in 2003–04 Scottish Premier League | 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] |
 |  |  |  |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partick Thistle |  John Lambie | 24 May 2003 | Retired | Pre-season | Gerry Collins | 25 May 2003 |
| Livingston | Jim Leishman | 4 June 2003 | Resigned |  Márcio Máximo | 4 June 2003 | |
| Livingston | Márcio Máximo | 14 October 2003 | Resigned | 8th | David Hay | 15 October 2003 |
| Partick Thistle | Gerry Collins | 30 November 2003 | Sacked | 12th | Gerry BrittonDerek Whyte(co-managers) | 30 November 2003(interim) 23 December 2003(permanent) |
| Hibernian | Bobby Williamson | 20 April 2004 | Signed byPlymouth Argyle | 7th |  Tony Mowbray | 24 May 2004 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic(C) | 38 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 105 | 25 | +80 | 98 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Rangers | 38 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 76 | 33 | +43 | 81 | Qualification for theChampions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 68 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round[b] |
| 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 theUEFA Intertoto Cup second round[c] |
| 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(R) | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 39 | 67 | −28 | 26 | Relegation to theScottish First Division |
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 |
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 |
During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.
Top six[edit]
Source:[citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Bottom six[edit]
Source:[citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
Source:SPL official website
The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2003/04 season are shown below:
| Team | Average |
|---|---|
| Celtic | 57,657 |
| Rangers | 48,992 |
| Hearts | 11,947 |
| Aberdeen | 10,389 |
| Hibernian | 9,137 |
| Dundee United | 7,785 |
| Dundee | 7,089 |
| Kilmarnock | 6,966 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 6,235 |
| Motherwell | 6,225 |
| Livingston | 5,116 |
| Partick Thistle | 4,710 |
Source:SPL official website
| Month | Manager | Player | Young Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | Alex McLeish (Rangers) | Michael Ball (Rangers) |  Mikel Arteta (Rangers) |
| September | Alex McLeish (Rangers) |  Shota Arveladze (Rangers) | Zurab Khizanishvili (Rangers) |
| October |  Martin O'Neill (Celtic) | Roddy McKenzie (Livingston) |  Liam Miller (Celtic) |
| November | Martin O'Neill (Celtic) | Chris Sutton (Celtic) | Stephen Hughes (Rangers) |
| December | Steve Paterson (Aberdeen) | Craig Brewster (Dunfermline Athletic) | Craig Gordon (Hearts) |
| January | Jim Duffy (Dundee) |  Stilian Petrov (Celtic) | David Clarkson (Motherwell) |
| February | Terry Butcher (Motherwell) | Steven Pressley (Hearts) | Alexander Diamond (Aberdeen) |
| March | Ian McCall (Dundee United) | Neil Lennon (Celtic) | David Marshall (Celtic) |
| April | Jimmy Calderwood (Dunfermline Athletic) | Barry Nicholson (Dunfermline Athletic) | Derek Riordan (Hibernian) |
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