The2003–04 season was the first in the history ofAdelaide United Football Club since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in theNational Soccer League for the first and only time.

Despite the rush to form the team, and starting five weeks into the season (the first four rounds of matches were squeezed in later in the season), the team lost just twice in its first 13 matches. Hectic catch up phases in November and December (7 matches in 31 days for 4 wins and 3 draws) and February (6 matches in 24 days for 4 wins and 2 losses) passed by with success. Aside from the debut win over Brisbane, regular season highlights included a 2–1 away win overParramatta Power, a resounding 2–0 home victory againstSouth Melbourne, and a 1–0 win over an in-formMarconi and the effective sealing of third spot.

Despite the high position, many people expected the wheels to fall off in the finals. But the finals phase served up two more fairytale results. Everything came together for the first leg of the Elimination Final, and the 3–0 win over the Brisbane Strikers was the team's first win by more than two goals. The roller coaster ride passed deep into a trough the following week in Brisbane with a 4–1 loss – but United won the Elimination Final over all due to theaway goals rule, progressing to the Minor Semi-Final versus South Melbourne. This attracted the club's largest ever crowd, officially 16,558, in a tough win on penalties. The team was then outclassed by the eventual premiers,Perth Glory, 5–0 atSubiaco Oval in the Preliminary Final.

Built up from the core of Adelaide City's 2002–03 squad, the Adelaide United team forged ahead with a burgeoning team spirit that became their signature attribute. The previous season's Adelaide City players Mike Valkanis, Aaron Goulding, Kristian Rees and captainAurelio Vidmar merged superbly with the return to Adelaide of Alagich (fromBrisbane), Aloisi (Italy) and others to form an outfit which performed consistently all season.CoachJohn Kosmina, also returning after 25 years to his home city, is a clear favourite of the fans.

With the winding-down of the NSL, the team has become a founding member of theA-League.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS David Scarsella 2 DF  AUS Richie Alagich 4 DF  AUS Aaron Goulding 5 DF  AUS Michael Valkanis 7 MF  AUS David Terminello 8 FW  AUS Carl Veart 9 FW  NZL Shane Smeltz 10 MF  AUS Aurelio Vidmar 11 MF  AUS Goran Lozanovski 12 MF  AUS Shane Thompson

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  AUS Sean Widera 15 MF  AUS Aaron Westervelt 16 FW  AUS Michael Brooks 17 FW  AUS Mimi Saric 18 MF  AUS Fred Agius 19 FW  AUS Elias Demourtzidis 21 MF  AUS Adriano Pellegrino 22 GK  AUS Nick Crossley 23 MF  AUS Nick Budin 24 MF  AUS Matthew Kemp

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
2	DF	Richie Alagich	Brisbane Strikers	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
6	MF	Ross Aloisi	Pro Sesto	Free transfer	5 years	July 2003	[1]
20	GK	Robert Bajic	Rochedale Rovers	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
16	FW	Michael Brooks	Para Hills Knights	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
23	MF	Nick Budin	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
22	GK	Nick Crossley	Modbury Jets	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
19	FW	Elias Demourtzidis	Sydney Olympic	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
4	DF	Aaron Goulding	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
24	MF	Matthew Kemp	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
11	MF	Goran Lozanovski	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
21	MF	Adriano Pellegrino	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
3	DF	Kristian Rees	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
17	FW	Mimi Saric	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
1	GK	David Scarsella	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
9	FW	Shane Smeltz	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
13	FW	Félix Tagawa	Brisbane Strikers	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
7	MF	David Terminello	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
5	DF	Michael Valkanis	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
8	FW	Carl Veart	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
10	FW	Aurelio Vidmar	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
15	MF	Aaron Westervelt	Adelaide City	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]
14	MF	Sean Widera	Croydon Kings	Free transfer	1 year	July 2003	[1]

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
	FW	Félix Tagawa	A.S. Dragon	Free transfer	December 2003	[1]
6	MF	Ross Aloisi	Selangor	Free transfer	March 2004	[1]
20	GK	Robert Bajic	Enfield City	Free transfer	March 2004	[1]
3	DF	Kristian Rees	Modbury Jets	Free transfer	March 2004	[1]

No.	Pos.	Name	National Soccer League		National Soccer League Finals		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	David Scarsella	20	0	4	0	24	0
2	DF	Richie Alagich	24	2	4	1	28	3
4	DF	Aaron Goulding	24	0	4	0	28	0
5	DF	Michael Valkanis	20+1	1	4	0	25	1
7	MF	David Terminello	8+8	1	3	0	19	1
8	MF	Carl Veart	23	10	4	2	27	12
9	FW	Shane Smeltz	4+3	1	0	0	7	1
10	MF	Aurelio Vidmar	23	2	4	0	27	2
11	MF	Goran Lozanovski	12+2	0	0	0	14	0
12	MF	Shane Thompson	7+4	1	1+1	0	13	1
15	MF	Aaron Westervelt	11+7	0	0+3	0	23	0
16	FW	Michael Brooks	0+5	2	0+3	1	8	3
17	FW	Mimi Saric	5+9	2	0	0	14	2
18	MF	Fred Agius	6+3	0	3+1	1	13	1
19	FW	Elias Demourtzidis	5+6	0	0+1	0	12	0
21	MF	Adriano Pellegrino	7+10	1	0	0	17	1
23	MF	Nick Budin	8+7	1	4	0	19	1
24	MF	Matthew Kemp	8	1	2+1	0	11	1
Players sold but featured this season
3	DF	Kristian Rees	23	0	3	0	26	0
6	MF	Ross Aloisi	22	3	4	1	26	4
20	GK	Robert Bajic	4	0	0	0	4	0
—	FW	Félix Tagawa	0	0	0	0	0	0

Rank	Position	Name	National Soccer League		National Soccer League Finals		Total
1	FW	Aurelio Vidmar	2	1	0	0	2	1
2	FW	Elias Demourtzidis	0	0	0	1	0	1
3	MF	Ross Aloisi	6	0	1	0	7	0
4	MF	Carl Veart	5	0	1	0	6	0
5	MF	Nick Budin	4	0	1	0	5	0
6	DF	Michael Valkanis	3	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	Aaron Westervelt	4	0	0	0	4	0
8	MF	Goran Lozanovski	3	0	0	0	3	0
	MF	Adriano Pellegrino	3	0	0	0	3	0
	DF	Kristian Rees	3	0	0	0	3	0
11	MF	Fred Agius	1	0	0	0	1	0
	GK	David Scarsella	1	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	David Terminello	1	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	Shane Thompson	1	0	0	0	1	0

Rank	Name	National Soccer League	National Soccer League Finals	Total
1	David Scarsella	9	1	10
2	Robert Bajic	1	0	1
Total		10	1	11

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