2003–04 Hibernian F.C. season

Hibernian

2003–04 season
Chairman	Ken Lewandowski
Manager	Bobby Williamson (until 20 April 2004)
SPL	8th
Scottish Cup	R3
CIS Cup	Final
Top goalscorer	League: Riordan, 15 All: Riordan, 18
Highest home attendance	15060[1]
Lowest home attendance	5447[1]
Average home league attendance	9150[1] (down 787)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Season 2003–04 was a disappointment for Hibernian, as the team again finished in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League, and was knocked out at the first stage of the Scottish Cup. The main highlight of the season was the run to the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs reached by defeating both halves of the Old Firm. This also ended in disappointment, however, as the Final was lost 2–0 to Livingston. A month after that defeat, manager Bobby Williamson was allowed to leave the club to manage Plymouth Argyle.^[2]

League season

With the Hibs squad "stretched to its limits" by injuries to Ian Murray, Grant Brebner, Stephen Glass and Yannick Zambernardi, Hibs again struggled in the league.^[2] Financial problems meant that the club had sold or released many of its senior players during Bobby Williamson's time in charge, and even Williamson's own long term contract was renegotiated to a shorter term and lower salary.^[2] The Hibs board were also apparently willing to allow Plymouth Argyle to take Williamson when made an approach in April 2004.^[2] Williamson's assistants, Gerry McCabe and Jim Clark, took charge of the team for the remainder of the season,^[3] with Tony Mowbray appointed soon after its conclusion.^[4]

Results

SPL	Dundee United		1 – 2		Hibernian	Tannadice Park, Dundee	9 August 2003
Samuel  46'					Riordan  74' McManus  88' (pen)	Attendance: 9,809 Referee: Clark

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 0		Heart of Midlothian	Easter Road, Edinburgh	17 August 2003
O'Connor  90'						Attendance: 14,803 Referee: Dougal

SPL	Rangers		5 – 2		Hibernian	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow	23 August 2003
Mols  34' Murray  43' (og) Mols  62' Arteta  67' Burke  84'					Murray  29' McManus  36'	Attendance: 49,642 Referee: McDonald

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 1		Aberdeen	Easter Road, Edinburgh	30 August 2003
Brown  69'					Anderson  6'	Attendance: 10,682 Referee: Brines

SPL	Hibernian		0 – 2		Motherwell	Easter Road, Edinburgh	13 September 2003
					Clarkson  45' Clarkson  75'	Attendance: 8,387 Referee: Clark

SPL	Dunfermline Athletic		0 – 0		Hibernian	East End Park, Dunfermline	20 September 2003
						Attendance: 9,715 Referee: McCurry

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 2		Celtic	Easter Road, Edinburgh	27 September 2003
Doumbe  38'					Thompson  40' (pen) Larsson  51'	Attendance: 12,032 Referee: Freeland

SPL	Partick Thistle		0 – 1		Hibernian	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow	4 October 2003
					Brebner  90'	Attendance: 4,125 Referee: Rowbotham

SPL	Hibernian		0 – 2		Livingston	Easter Road, Edinburgh	18 October 2003
					Lilley  38' Lilley  83'	Attendance: 8,562 Referee: Thomson

SPL	Hibernian		3 – 1		Kilmarnock	Easter Road, Edinburgh	25 October 2003
Murdock  13' Riordan  16' O'Connor  90'					Nish  80'	Attendance: 7,191 Referee: Underhill

SPL	Dundee		1 – 1		Hibernian	Dens Park, Dundee	1 November 2003
Novo  33'					Riordan  81'	Attendance: 7,032 Referee: Clark

SPL	Hibernian		2 – 2		Dundee United	Easter Road, Edinburgh	8 November 2003
Brown  15' McCracken  90' (og)					McLaren  28' Robson  83'	Attendance: 8,756 Referee: Richmond

SPL	Heart of Midlothian		2 – 0		Hibernian	Tynecastle, Edinburgh	23 November 2003
Orman  9' (og) Smith  67' (og)						Attendance: 16,632 Referee: Dallas

SPL	Hibernian		0 – 1		Rangers	Easter Road, Edinburgh	30 November 2003
					Hughes  90'	Attendance: 11,160 Referee: Dougal

SPL	Aberdeen		3 – 1		Hibernian	Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen	7 December 2003
Hinds  26' Booth  85' Booth  90' (pen)					Dobbie  57'	Attendance: 7,863 Referee: Clark

SPL	Motherwell		0 – 1		Hibernian	Fir Park, Motherwell	13 December 2003
					Riordan  90'	Attendance: 4,533 Referee: Thomson

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 2		Dunfermline Athletic	Easter Road, Edinburgh	21 December 2003
Riordan  63'					Brewster  1' Brewster  36'	Attendance: 9,085 Referee: Fyfe

SPL	Celtic		6 – 0		Hibernian	Celtic Park, Glasgow	27 December 2003
Sutton  4' Hartson  45' Sutton  54' (pen) Hartson  60' Larsson  66' Petrov  77'						Attendance: 59,609 Referee: Freeland

SPL	Hibernian		3 – 2		Partick Thistle	Easter Road, Edinburgh	3 January 2004
O'Connor  9' Dobbie  35' Whittaker  84'					Grady  53' Madaschi  78'	Attendance: 8,875 Referee: Brines

SPL	Livingston		1 – 0		Hibernian	Almondvale, Livingston	17 January 2004
Makel  26'						Attendance: 5,621 Referee: Underhill

SPL	Kilmarnock		0 – 2		Hibernian	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	24 January 2004
					Brown  48' O'Connor  50'	Attendance: 5,571 Referee: Dallas

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 1		Dundee	Easter Road, Edinburgh	31 January 2004
Riordan  69' (pen)					Fotheringham  44'	Attendance: 8,023 Referee: Conroy

SPL	Dundee United		0 – 0		Hibernian	Tannadice Park, Dundee	10 February 2004
						Attendance: 6,389 Referee: Thomson

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 1		Heart of Midlothian	Easter Road, Edinburgh	15 February 2004
Riordan  24'					Pressley  47' (pen)	Attendance: 15,060 Referee: McCurry

SPL	Rangers		3 – 0		Hibernian	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow	21 February 2004
Arveladze  9' (pen) Mols  66' Thompson  83' (pen)						Attendance: 49,698 Referee: Dallas

SPL	Hibernian		0 – 1		Aberdeen	Easter Road, Edinburgh	28 February 2004
					Morrison  5'	Attendance: 10,416 Referee: Brines

SPL	Hibernian		0 – 4		Celtic	Easter Road, Edinburgh	21 March 2004
					Agathe  18' Larsson  35' Larsson  49' Agathe  81'	Attendance: 9,456 Referee: McDonald

SPL	Hibernian		3 – 3		Motherwell	Easter Road, Edinburgh	24 March 2004
Nicol  6' Reid  37' Riordan  62' (pen)					Lasley  46' Adams  60' (pen) Doumbe  80' (og)	Attendance: 5,670 Referee: Freeland

SPL	Partick Thistle		1 – 1		Hibernian	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow	27 March 2004
Thomson  70' (pen)					Murdock  68'	Attendance: 3,155 Referee: Rowbotham

SPL	Hibernian		3 – 1		Livingston	Easter Road, Edinburgh	3 April 2004
McManus  39' Riordan  54' Riordan  83'					Lilley  50'	Attendance: 6,507 Referee: Dallas

SPL	Hibernian		3 – 0		Kilmarnock	Easter Road, Edinburgh	10 April 2004
Caldwell  22' Thomson  45' Riordan  64' (pen)						Attendance: 7,326 Referee: Toner

SPL	Dunfermline Athletic		1 – 1		Hibernian	East End Park, Dunfermline	13 April 2004
Dempsey  78'					Riordan  5'	Attendance: 5,041 Referee: Thomson

SPL	Dundee		2 – 2		Hibernian	Dens Park, Dundee	17 April 2004
Lovell  38' Milne  90'					Riordan  45' Riordan  50' (pen)	Attendance: 5,508 Referee: McDonald

SPL	Kilmarnock		2 – 0		Hibernian	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	24 April 2004
Boyd  28' Boyd  85'						Attendance: 4,886 Referee: Clark

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 0		Dundee	Easter Road, Edinburgh	1 May 2004
Riordan  42'						Attendance: 6,180 Referee: Mackay

SPL	Hibernian		1 – 2		Partick Thistle	Easter Road, Edinburgh	5 May 2004
Murdock  33'					Grady  38' Murdock  60' (og)	Attendance: 5,447 Referee: Thomson

SPL	Aberdeen		0 – 1		Hibernian	Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen	8 May 2004
					O'Connor  90'	Attendance: 6,781 Referee: Clark

SPL	Livingston		4 – 1		Hibernian	Almondvale, Livingston	15 May 2004
Lovell  8' Lilley  64' Fernandez  78' Makel  89'					Doumbe  75'	Attendance: 4,409 Referee: McCurry

Final table

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic	38	31	5	2	105	25	80	98	UEFA Champions League 2004-05 Group stage
2	Rangers	38	25	6	7	76	33	43	81	UEFA Champions League 2004-05 Third qualifying round
3	Hearts	38	19	11	8	56	40	16	68	UEFA Cup 2004-05 First round
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	UEFA Intertoto Cup 2004 second round
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	38	6	8	24	39	67	-28	26	Relegated to First Division 2004-05

Source: SPL official website

Scottish League Cup

As one of the SPL clubs who had not automatically qualified for European competition, Hibs entered at the last 32 stage (second round) of the competition, in which they defeated Montrose 9–0 at Easter Road. Hibs were then given another home draw in the last 16, against Queen of the South, which Hibs won 2–1. In the quarter-final, Hibs were again drawn to play at home, but this time had to face league leaders Celtic. Despite falling behind early in the second half, Hibs won 2–1 thanks to a late goal by Kevin Thomson. Hibs were then given another tough draw for the semi-final, playing the other half of the Old Firm, Rangers. Nonetheless, Hibs won the tie 4–3 on penalties, with Frank de Boer's miss sending Hibs through. These two upset victories sent Hibs to the Final, where they met Livingston.^[2] Hibs sold a remarkable 37,000 tickets for the game, suggesting that the club still had the drawing power to be a major force in Scottish football.^[2] The match ended in major disappointment, however, as Livingston won 2–0 to lift the trophy.^[2]

Results

Scottish League Cup	Hibernian		9 – 0		Montrose	Easter Road, Edinburgh	23 September 2003
Dobbie  1' O'Connor  18' Dobbie  29' Dobbie  31' (pen) Murray  66' Kerrigan  70' (og) Riordan  78' O'Connor  85' Brown  86'						Attendance: 5,032 Referee: Toner

Scottish League Cup	Hibernian		2 – 1		Queen of the South	Easter Road, Edinburgh	28 October 2003
Riordan  11' Riordan  23'					Burke  90' (pen)	Attendance: 7,613 Referee: McCurry

Scottish League Cup	Hibernian		2 – 1		Celtic	Easter Road, Edinburgh	18 December 2003
Brebner  64' (pen) Thomson  82'					Varga  56'	Attendance: 9,246 Referee: Rowbotham

Scottish League Cup	Hibernian		1 – 1 AET (4 – 3 pen.)		Rangers	Hampden Park, Glasgow	5 February 2004
Dobbie  79'					Mols  40'	Attendance: 27,954 Referee: Clark

Scottish League Cup	Hibernian		0 – 2		Livingston	Hampden Park, Glasgow	14 March 2004
					Lilley  50' McAllister  52'	Attendance: 45,500 Referee: Young

Scottish Cup

Results

Scottish Cup	Hibernian		0 – 2		Rangers	Easter Road, Edinburgh	10 January 2004
					Arveladze  35' Løvenkrands  49'	Attendance: 11,392 Referee: McCurry

Transfers

Players In Player From Fee Stephen Dobbie Rangers Free Roland Edge Gillingham Free Stephen Glass Watford Free Morten Hyldgaard Coventry City Free Colin Murdock Preston North End Free Gary Caldwell Newcastle United Free

Players Out Player To Fee Frederic Arpinon Nîmes Olympique Free Derek Townsley Oxford United Free David Proctor Inverness CT Free Darran Thomson Inverness CT Free Calvin Shand Cowdenbeath Free Mixu Paatelainen St. Johnstone Free Ryan Harding Livingston Free Paul Hilland Berwick Rangers Free John O'Neil Falkirk Free Morten Hyldgaard Luton Town Free

Loans In

Loans Out Player To Nick Colgan Stockport County Alistair Brown Cowdenbeath

Player stats

During the 2003–04 season, Hibs used 27 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.^[5][6] Goalkeeper Daniel Andersson was the only player to appear in every match, playing in 38 SPL matches, five League Cup ties and the one Scottish Cup tie.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		SPL		Scottish Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Daniel Andersson	44	0	38	0	1	0	5	0
	DF		Jonathan Baillie	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
	DF		Gary Caldwell	19	1	17	1	0	0	2	0
	DF		Mathias Kouo-Doumbé	39	2	33	2	1	0	5	0
	DF		Roland Edge	24	0	20	0	0	0	4	0
	DF		John Kane	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Colin Murdock	37	3	32	3	1	0	4	0
	DF		Jay Shields	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Gary Smith	23	0	20	0	1	0	2	0
	DF		Steven Whittaker	33	1	28	1	1	0	4	0
	DF		Yannick Zambernardi	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Grant Brebner	26	2	22	1	1	0	3	1
	MF		Scott Brown	41	4	36	3	1	0	4	1
	MF		Stephen Glass	14	0	12	0	0	0	2	0
	MF		Jamie McCluskey	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Kevin McDonald	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Ian Murray	16	2	14	1	0	0	2	1
	MF		Kevin Nicol	16	1	15	1	1	0	0	0
	MF		Alen Orman	20	0	18	0	0	0	2	0
	MF		Alan Reid	23	1	20	1	0	0	3	0
	MF		Kevin Thomson	27	2	23	1	1	0	3	1
	MF		Jarkko Wiss	14	0	13	0	0	0	1	0
	FW		Stephen Dobbie	33	6	28	2	1	0	4	4
	FW		Steven Fletcher	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Tam McManus	37	3	32	3	0	0	5	0
	FW		Garry O'Connor	39	7	33	5	1	0	5	2
	FW		Derek Riordan	40	18	34	15	1	0	5	3

See also

• List of Hibernian F.C. seasons

Notes

External links

• Fixtures & Results, Hibernian F.C. official site
• Hibernian 2003/2004 results and fixtures, Soccerbase

Hibernian F.C. seasons 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

2003–04 in Scottish football « 2002–03 2004–05 » Domestic leagues Premier League Football League First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League Domestic cups Scottish Cup (Final) League Cup (Final) Challenge Cup (Final) European competitions Champions League UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Related to national team Results Euro 2004 qualifying (Group 5, play-offs) Club seasons Premier League Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Livingston Motherwell Partick Thistle Rangers First Division Ayr United Brechin City Clyde Falkirk Inverness Caledonian Thistle Queen of the South Raith Rovers Ross County St. Johnstone St. Mirren Second Division Airdrie United Alloa Athletic Arbroath Berwick Rangers Dumbarton East Fife Forfar Athletic Greenock Morton Hamilton Academical Stenhousemuir Third Division Albion Rovers Cowdenbeath East Stirlingshire Elgin City Gretna Montrose Peterhead Queen's Park Stirling Albion Stranraer