| Club: | Sunderland |
| Season: | 2003–04 |
| Manager: | Mick McCarthy |
| Chairman: | Bob Murray |
| Stadium: | Stadium of Light |
| League: | First Division |
| League Result: | 3rd |
| Cup1: | Play-offs |
| Cup1 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup2: | FA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup3: | League Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | Second round |
| League Topscorer: | Marcus Stewart (16) |
| Prevseason: | 2002–03 |
| Nextseason: | 2004–05 |
During the 2003–04 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.
While the dismal ending to the previous season, combined with losses in their opening two matches lead to fears that Sunderland might spend the season battling a second successive relegation, a run of 7 wins from their next 10 matches quickly ended any such fears. A couple of spells of indifferent form meant that the club didn't convincingly challenge for automatic promotion until the closing stages of the season, and then another poor run of form in the season's closing stages, including the loss of a six-pointer to fellow promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion, just as quickly ended any such hopes. Sunderland were still considered favourites going into the play-offs, but a loss on penalties to Crystal Palace, who had gate-crashed the play-offs on the final day of the season, meant a second season in Division One (or, as it would be re-branded the following season, the Championship).
| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 August 2003 | MF | Jeff Whitley | Manchester City | Free[1] | |
| 5 August 2003 | DF | Gary Breen | West Ham United | Free[2] | |
| 25 September 2003 | MF | Tommy Smith | Watford | Free[3] | |
| 3 October 2003 | MF | Alan Quinn | Sheffield Wednesday | Loan[4] | |
| 30 October 2003 | MF | Stewart Downing | Middlesbrough | Loan[5] |
| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 January 2004 | MF | Kevin Cooper | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Loan[6] | |
| 6 February 2004 | FW |  Darren Byfield | Rotherham United | Swap with Michael Proctor[7] | |
| 12 March 2004 | DF | Colin Cooper | Middlesbrough | Loan[8] | |
| 24 March 2004 | MF | Carl Robinson | Portsmouth | Loan[9] |
| Date | Pos | Name | To | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 June 2003 | MF |  Stefan Schwarz | Retired | Retired | |
| 11 June 2003 | DF | Cliff Byrne | Scunthorpe United | Free[10] | |
| 1 July 2003 | FW |  David Bellion | Manchester United | Free[11] | |
| 3 July 2003 | GK |  Jurgen Macho | Chelsea | Free[12] | |
| 9 July 2003 | FW | Lilian Laslandes | Nice | Free[13] | |
| 9 July 2003 | DF | Bernt Haas[14] | West Bromwich Albion | £400,000[15] | |
| 24 July 2003 | MF | Gavin McCann | Aston Villa | £2.25 million[16] | |
| 31 July 2003 | DF | Jody Craddock | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £1.75 million[17] | |
| 8 August 2003 | GK | Thomas Sorensen | Aston Villa | £2.25 million[18] | |
| 14 August 2003 | FW | Kevin Phillips | Southampton | £3.25 million[19] | |
| 20 August 2003 | MF |  Nicolás Medina |  Leganés | Season-long loan[20] | |
| 23 August 2003 | FW |  Tore André Flo |  Siena | Undisclosed[21] | |
| 29 August 2003 | MF |  Claudio Reyna | Manchester City | £2.5 million[22] | |
| 29 August 2003 | DF |  Emerson Thome | Bolton Wanderers | Free[23] | |
| 1 September 2003 | MF | Kevin Kilbane[24] | Everton | £1 million[25] | |
| 1 September 2003 | DF | Michael Gray | Celtic | Four-month loan (September to December)[26] | |
| 25 September 2003 | FW |  Keith Graydon | Scarborough | Free[27] | |
| 3 October 2003 | FW | Michael Reddy | Sheffield Wednesday | Loan[28] | |
| 3 October 2003 | FW | Chris Brown | Doncaster Rovers | Loan[29] | |
| 23 October 2003 | GK | Thomas Myhre | Crystal Palace | Loan | |
| 13 November 2003 | DF | Craig James | Darlington | Loan[30] |
| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 January 2004 | DF | Michael Gray | Blackburn Rovers | Free[31] | |
| 6 February 2004 | FW | Neil Teggart | Darlington | Loan[32] | |
| 6 February 2004 | FW | Michael Proctor | Rotherham United | Swap for Darren Byfield[33] | |
| 25 February 2004 | MF | Jonjo Dickman | York City | Loan[34] | |
| 15 March 2004 | GK | Michael Ingham | Wrexham | Loan[35] | |
| 19 March 2004 | DF | Craig James | Port Vale | Loan[36] | |
| 25 March 2004 | MF | Chris Black | Doncaster Rovers | Free[37] |
Squad at end of season[38]
The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.
Sunderland's score comes first.
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2003 | First round | Mansfield Town | Field Mill | 2-1 | 5,665 | Kyle, Artell (own goal) | |
| 23 September 2003 | Second round | Huddersfield Town | Stadium of Light | 2-4 | 13,516 | Kyle (2) |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 January 2004 | Third round | Hartlepool United | Stadium of Light | 1-0 | 40,816 | Arca | |
| 24 January 2004 | Fourth round | Ipswich Town | Portman Road | 2-1 | 21,406 | Smith, Arca | |
| 14 February 2004 | Fifth round | Birmingham City | Stadium of Light | 1-1 | 24,966 | Kyle | |
| 25 February 2004 | Fifth round replay | Birmingham City | St Andrew's | 2-0 (after extra time) | 25,645 | Smith (2) | |
| 7 March 2004 | Quarter-final | Sheffield United | Stadium of Light | 1-0 | 37,115 | Smith | |
| 4 April 2004 | Semi-final | Millwall | Old Trafford | 0-1 | 56,112 |
See main article: 2003–04 Football League First Division.
| Date | Leg | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 May 2004 | Leg 1 | Crystal Palace | Selhurst Park | 2–3 | 25,287 | Kyle, Stewart (pen) | |
| 17 May 2004 | Leg 2 | Crystal Palace | Stadium of Light | 2–1 (4–4 on aggregate, Sunderland lost 5–4 on penalties) | 34,536 | Kyle, Stewart |
| Position | width=60 | Nation | width=60 | Number | width=150 | Name | width=80 | League | width=80 | League Cup | width=80 | FA Cup | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FW | 10 | Marcus Stewart | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||
| FW | 9 | Kevin Kyle | 12 | 3 | 1 | 16 | ||||||||
| MF | 11 | Tommy Smith | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||||||||
| MF | | 33 | Julio Arca | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |||||||
| FW | | 17 | Darren Byfield | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||||||
| MF | 12 | John Oster | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||
| MF | 15 | Sean Thornton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||
| DF | 5 | Gary Breen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||
| MF | 24 | Stewart Downing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| MF | 4 | Jason McAteer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| MF | 8 | Jeff Whitley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| / | / | / | Own goals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||
| MF | 24 | Carl Robinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| DF | 2 | Stephen Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| GK |  | 1 | Mart Poom | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| FW | 14 | Michael Proctor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| / | / | / | Totals | 62 | 4 | 7 | 73 |
McCarthy vows to keep Arca - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/3349923.stm
Sunderland want Jon Stead - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/3410371.stm