2003–04 Football Conference

Since its inception in 1979, The Football Conference has formed the fifth-highest level of the overall English Football League System.

The 2003–04 Football Conference season was the 25th season of the Football Conference and the last consisting of a single division. The top team and the winner of the play-offs were promoted to Football League Two, while this season only one team was relegated.

A total of 22 teams contest the division, including 17 sides from last season, two relegated from the Football League Two and winners of Northern Premier League, Southern Football League and Isthmian League.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from Northern Premier League

Teams promoted from Southern Football League

Teams promoted from Isthmian League

Teams relegated from Third Division

Overview

All teams participating were professional, except for Aldershot Town, who were part-timers. In fact, Aldershot's performance exceeded everyone's expectations.

Chester City clinched the league title and won promotion to Football League Two.

Shrewsbury Town also earned promotion to League Two following their 3–0 play-off win on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Aldershot Town.

No clubs were relegated on the basis of their performances, due to Margate being demoted, Telford folding and the winners and runners-up of the Unibond League not meeting the criteria for a place in the Football Conference.

Shrewsbury Town had the highest attendance, 84,150 in all, with an average of 4,007. Margate and Leigh RMI had the least spectators with 11,905 and 11,881, respectively, with an average of 567 and 566, respectively.

The total number of attendance was 880,220, yielding an average of 1905 per game, which was the all-time record for the Football Conference.[1]

The regular season began on 9 August 2003, and ended on 24 April 2004.

Final league table
Conference National
Season2003–04[1][2]
ChampionsChester City (1st Football Conference title)
PromotedChester City,
Shrewsbury Town
Relegated to Conference North/Conference SouthMargate (South)
FoldedTelford United
Promoted for the next seasonCanvey Island,
Crawley Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,343 (2.91 per match)
Top goalscorerDaryl Clare (Chester City), 29
Biggest home winHereford – Halifax 7–1 (25 November 2003)
Gravesend & Northfleet – Morecambe 6–0 (28 February 2004)
Biggest away winDagenham & Redbridge – Hereford 0–9 (27 February 2004)
Highest scoringDagenham & Redbridge – Hereford 0–9 (27 February 2004)
Longest winning run?
Longest unbeaten runChester City, 18 matches (26 Aug – 6 Dec)
Longest losing run?
Highest attendanceExeter City v Accrington Stanley, 8,256 (24 Apr)
Lowest attendanceMargate v Forest Green Rovers, 255 (4 April 2003)
Average attendance1,905 (+ 18% compared to the previous season)
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Chester City 42 16 4 1 45 18 11 7 3 40 16 +51 92 Football Conference Champions, promoted to League Two
2 Hereford United 42 14 3 4 42 20 14 4 3 61 24 +59 91 Participated in play-offs
3 Shrewsbury Town 42 13 6 2 38 14 7 8 6 29 28 +25 74 Promoted to League Two through play-offs
Relegated from The Football League
4 Barnet 42 11 6 4 30 17 8 8 5 30 29 +14 71 Participated in play-offs
5 Aldershot Town[lower-alpha 1] 42 12 6 3 40 24 8 4 9 40 43 +13 70
6 Exeter City 42 10 7 4 33 24 9 5 7 38 33 +14 69 Relegated from The Football League
7 Morecambe 42 14 4 3 43 25 6 3 12 23 41 0 67
8 Stevenage Borough 42 10 5 6 29 22 8 4 9 29 30 +6 63
9 Woking 42 10 9 2 40 23 5 7 9 25 29 +13 61
10 Accrington Stanley[lower-alpha 1] 42 13 3 5 46 31 2 10 9 22 30 +7 58
11 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 7 6 8 34 35 7 9 5 35 31 +3 57
12 Telford United 42 10 3 8 28 28 5 7 9 21 23 −2 55 Folded following this season
13 Dagenham & Redbridge 42 8 3 10 30 34 7 6 8 29 30 −5 54
14 Burton Albion 42 7 4 10 30 29 8 3 10 27 30 −2 51[lower-alpha 2]
15 Scarborough 42 8 9 4 32 25 4 6 11 19 29 −3 51
16 Margate 42 8 2 11 30 32 6 7 8 26 32 −8 51 Relegated[lower-alpha 3]
17 Tamworth[lower-alpha 1] 42 9 6 6 32 30 4 4 13 17 38 −19 49
18 Forest Green Rovers 42 6 8 7 32 36 6 4 11 26 44 −22 48
19 Halifax Town 42 9 4 8 28 26 3 4 14 15 39 −22 44
20 Farnborough Town 42 7 6 8 31 34 3 3 15 22 40 −21 39
21 Leigh RMI 42 4 6 11 26 44 3 2 16 20 53 −51 29
22 Northwich Victoria 42 2 8 11 15 38 2 3 16 15 42 −50 23
Source: [1][3]
Notes:
  1. New club in the Conference
  2. Burton Albion deducted 1 point for breach of rules.
  3. Margate were relegated due to ground concerns. They were placed in Conference South.

Note: Hednesford Town (Southern Football League Premier Division) were the FA Trophy winners

Locations
Locations of the Football Conference 2003–04 teams
Locations of the Football Conference London teams 2003–2004

Results
Home \ Away ACC ALD BAR BRT CHE D&R EXE FAR FGR GRN HAL HER LEI MAR MOR NOR SCA SHR STB TAM TEL WOK
Accrington Stanley 4–2 2–0 3–1 0–2 2–3 1–2 3–1 4–1 3–3 2–1 2–0 4–1 3–2 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–5 3–3
Aldershot 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 2–2 3–1 1–2 2–0 0–2 2–2 4–3 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 2–1
Barnet 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–4 2–3 0–2 5–0 1–0 4–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–0
Burton Albion 1–1 1–4 2–3 1–1 0–1 3–4 1–0 2–3 3–0 2–2 4–1 3–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–0
Chester City 3–3 4–2 1–0 3–1 2–1 3–2 3–2 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 5–0 3–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–1
Dagenham & Redbridge 0–1 2–3 5–2 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–0 5–2 0–4 0–1 0–9 1–2 4–0 1–3 2–0 1–0 5–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–0
Exeter City 3–2 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 3–2 1–1 4–0 2–0 0–0 3–2 1–0 3–2 0–3 1–2
Farnborough Town 1–1 4–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–2 1–3 1–2 1–0 0–5 1–1 1–1 2–4 2–0 1–2 1–3 2–0 3–3 2–1 1–0
Forest Green Rovers 2–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–5 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–7 2–2 1–2 1–2 0–0 4–0 1–1 3–1 2–1 0–0 2–2
Gravesend & Northfleet 0–0 1–3 1–1 1–2 0–4 1–2 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–5 3–1 2–1 6–0 2–2 1–1 0–3 2–3 2–0 1–2 2–2
Halifax Town 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–4 0–3 3–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 5–3 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–2
Hereford United 1–0 4–3 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 5–1 3–3 7–1 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–1
Leigh RMI 1–2 2–2 1–4 0–1 2–6 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–2 1–1 0–5 4–2 3–1 1–0 1–4 2–2 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–1
Margate 3–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 1–2 3–3 0–1 3–0 2–0 1–3 2–0 1–3 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 0–2 1–4 3–2 1–0 1–2
Morecambe 1–0 2–0 1–3 2–1 0–1 3–2 0–3 3–2 4–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 1–0 3–3 3–0 2–1 3–3 2–1 4–0 1–0 2–1
Northwich Victoria 3–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–4 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–4 0–0 0–1 1–5 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–4
Scarborough 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–2 0–0 2–3 2–1 2–2 2–0 1–0 3–3 4–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 2–2
Shrewsbury Town 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 4–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 3–1 4–1 3–1 3–1 0–0 1–0
Stevenage Borough 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 2–2 3–2 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–2 4–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 3–1 0–1 1–1
Tamworth 1–1 3–3 2–0 1–1 1–5 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–3 2–0 1–3 4–3 1–1 2–3 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–0
Telford United 1–0 2–5 1–2 2–2 0–2 1–0 2–0 2–4 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–3 5–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–0
Woking 2–2 2–2 2–2 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 3–2 2–2 0–1 2–0 0–0 4–1 3–0 2–1 3–3 1–1 4–0 3–1
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Soccerbase; Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2003
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs
Main article: 2004 Football Conference play-off Final

The Conference National play-offs determined the second team that would be promoted to Football League Two. The teams placed second through fifth qualified for the play-offs. The semi-finals were played in a two-leg, home and away format, while the final was played as one leg.

  Semifinals Final at Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
16 May 2004
                     
2nd Hereford United 1 0 1 (2)  
5th Aldershot Town (pen.) 1 0 1 (4)  
    3rd Shrewsbury Town (pen.) 1 (3)
  5th Aldershot Town 1 (0)
3rd Shrewsbury Town (pen.) 1 1 2 (5)
4th Barnet 2 0 2 (3)  

Top scorers in order of league goals
Rank Player Club League Play-offs FA Cup LDV FA Trophy Total
1Daryl ClareChester City29010030
2Steve GuinanHereford United25031029
=David McNivenLeigh RMI25000126
4Giuliano GrazioliBarnet24020026
5Roscoe D'SaneAldershot21120327
6Sean DevineExeter City20020325
=Paul MullinAccrington Stanley20030124
=Darryn StampChester City20000020
9Tim SillsAldershot18010221
10Anthony EldingStevenage Borough17020019
=Lutel JamesAccrington Stanley17010018
=Danny CarltonMorecambe17000017
13Mark CooperTamworth15000015
14David BrownHereford United14002016
=Mark QuayleScarborough14010015

Source:[1]

References
  1. Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2005. Glenda Rollin & Jack Rollin (eds.), Headline, 2004.
  2. Soccerbase
  3. "England 2003–04". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
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