2003–04 Aston Villa F.C. season

Former Leeds United manager David O'Leary was appointed Villa manager in the summer of 2003. Under O'Leary, Villa made a very sluggish start to the campaign and found themselves in the relegation zone after winning just two of their first 13 league fixtures. They were still in the bottom three in mid-December before O'Leary galvanized them and they gradually climbed the table. Villa had a fantastic second half of the season and, with two matches remaining, had a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. After extending their unbeaten run to eight games by drawing at Southampton, defeat against Manchester United at Villa Park consigned them to sixth place. The Villains finished five points short of a Champions League place and were edged out of a UEFA Cup spot on goal difference by Newcastle United. Nevertheless, it was still a great achievement by O'Leary, who appeared to get the best out of the likes of Gareth Barry, Lee Hendrie, Jlloyd Samuel and 16-goal Juan Pablo Ángel. The Colombian was the club's leading scorer, while Darius Vassell bagged 9 goals to cement his place in England's Euro 2004 squad. Thomas Sørensen and Gavin McCann both had excellent seasons after moving from Sunderland, while Nolberto Solano quickly became a fans' favourite after his mid-season move from Newcastle. Among the men to represent Villa for the last time during 2003-04 was Dion Dublin, who netted 48 goals in 155 league games. O'Leary's side reached the last four of the Football League Cup by knocking out Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. The semi-final first leg, at Bolton, ended in a disappointing 5-2 defeat. Villa Park goals by Thomas Hitzlsperger and Samuel were not quite enough to prevent the Trotters from clinching a place in the final. Manchester United came from behind to knock Villa out of the FA Cup in a third round tie at Villa Park. Despite narrowly missing out on qualifying for Europe, the mood around Villa Park was extremely positive in the summer of 2004. With the likes of Liam Ridgewell, Steven Davis, Peter Whittingham and the Moore brothers (Stefan and Luke) forcing open the first team door, David O'Leary had an abundance of young talent at his disposal.

The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the reserves.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 21 MF Steven Davis 22 MF Hassan Kachloul (on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers) 29 DF Rob Edwards[notes 3] 30 MF Stephen Cooke

No. Position Player 39 GK Wayne Henderson MF Colin Marshall (on loan to Clyde) FW Peter Hynes (on loan to Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town)

The following players did not appear for the first team this season, and spent most of the season playing for the youth team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.

Under-19s

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Antoni Pecora GK Andrew Yarnold GK Jon Masalin DF Stuart Bridges DF Gary Cahill DF Scott Cormell DF Lee Grant DF Nick Green DF James O'Connor

No. Position Player DF Kevin Mulcahy MF Neil Kilkenny[notes 4] (on trial from Arsenal) MF Kyle Nix[notes 5] MF Stephen Foley-Sheridan FW Alan Brazil (on loan to Coleraine) FW Jamie Ward[notes 6] FW Mika Ääritalo FW Amadou Kouman Template:Country data MF John Grady

Under-17s

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Jake Meredith GK Bobby Olejnik DF Ashley Edkins DF Paul Green DF Michael Tuohy DF Stephen O'Halloran DF Magnus Troest MF Morgan Evans MF Craig Gardner MF Nigel Julien (on trial) MF Dan McDonald MF Michael Noakes MF Isaiah Osbourne

No. Position Player MF Charlie Reeves MF Jay Sztybel MF Christian Tshimanga Kabeya[notes 7] FW Gabriel Agbonlahor FW Scott Bridges FW Shane Paul FW Sam Williams Template:Country data DF Seyi Morgan Template:Country data DF Matt Saunders Template:Country data MF Luke Sampson Template:Country data Abdiligan Abshir Template:Country data Ross Hughes

The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Lee Boyle DF Pierre Ennis (to Dublin City) DF Youness Bengelloun (on trial from Paris Saint-Germain) DF Tal Ben Haim (on trial from Maccabi Tel Aviv) MF Ishmel Demontagnac MF Daryl Taylor

No. Position Player MF Kenneth Browne MF André Schembri (on trial from Hibernians) MF Freddy Grisales (on trial from Atlético Nacional) Template:Country data GK Matthew Allen Template:Country data MF Rowan Caney Template:Country data Phelan