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
Lowest home attendance	5447
Average home league attendance	9150 (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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 November 2003 SPL	Hibernian	2–2	Dundee United	Easter Road, Edinburgh
	Brown File:Soccerball shade.svg 15' McCracken File:Soccerball shade.svg 90' (o.g.)		McLaren File:Soccerball shade.svg 28' Robson File:Soccerball shade.svg 83'	Attendance: 8,756 Referee: Richmond

23 November 2003 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–0	Hibernian	Tynecastle, Edinburgh
	Orman File:Soccerball shade.svg 9' (o.g.) Smith File:Soccerball shade.svg 67' (o.g.)			Attendance: 16,632 Referee: Dallas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 May 2004 SPL	Hibernian	1–2	Partick Thistle	Easter Road, Edinburgh
	Murdock File:Soccerball shade.svg 33'		Grady File:Soccerball shade.svg 38' Murdock File:Soccerball shade.svg 60' (o.g.)	Attendance: 5,447 Referee: Thomson

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

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

Final table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^{[lower-alpha 1]}
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	Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round^{[lower-alpha 2]}
9	Livingston	38	10	13	15	48	57	−9	43
10	Kilmarnock	38	12	6	20	51	74	−23	42

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
↑ Hibernian qualified for the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup as the highest placed team to apply to participate in the competition.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scottish Cup

Results

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

Transfers

Players in

Player	From	Fee
Scotland Stephen Dobbie	Rangers	Free
England Roland Edge	Gillingham	Free
Scotland Stephen Glass	Watford	Free
Denmark Morten Hyldgaard	Coventry City	Free
Northern Ireland Colin Murdock	Preston North End	Free
Scotland Gary Caldwell	Newcastle United	Free

Players out

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

Loans in

Loans out

Player	To
Republic of Ireland Nick Colgan	Stockport County
Scotland 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
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	Sweden SWE	Daniel Andersson	44	0	38	0	1	0	5	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	Jonathan Baillie	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	Gary Caldwell	19	1	17	1	0	0	2	0
	DF	France FRA	Mathias Kouo-Doumbé	39	2	33	2	1	0	5	0
	DF	England ENG	Roland Edge	24	0	20	0	0	0	4	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	John Kane	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Northern Ireland NIR	Colin Murdock	37	3	32	3	1	0	4	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	Jay Shields	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	Gary Smith	23	0	20	0	1	0	2	0
	DF	Scotland SCO	Steven Whittaker	33	1	28	1	1	0	4	0
	DF	France FRA	Yannick Zambernardi	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	Scotland SCO	Grant Brebner	26	2	22	1	1	0	3	1
	MF	Scotland SCO	Scott Brown	41	4	36	3	1	0	4	1
	MF	Scotland SCO	Stephen Glass	14	0	12	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	Scotland SCO	Jamie McCluskey	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	England ENG	Kevin McDonald	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	Scotland SCO	Ian Murray	16	2	14	1	0	0	2	1
	MF	Scotland SCO	Kevin Nicol	16	1	15	1	1	0	0	0
	MF	Austria AUT	Alen Orman	20	0	18	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	Scotland SCO	Alan Reid	23	1	20	1	0	0	3	0
	MF	Scotland SCO	Kevin Thomson	27	2	23	1	1	0	3	1
	MF	Finland FIN	Jarkko Wiss	14	0	13	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	Scotland SCO	Stephen Dobbie	33	6	28	2	1	0	4	4
	FW	Scotland SCO	Steven Fletcher	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Scotland SCO	Tam McManus	37	3	32	3	0	0	5	0
	FW	Scotland SCO	Garry O'Connor	39	7	33	5	1	0	5	2
	FW	Scotland SCO	Derek Riordan	40	18	34	15	1	0	5	3

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Average Home League Game Attendances". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 Few Hibees will mourn Williamson, BBC Sport, 20 April 2004.
↑ "Thordarson rejects Hibs". BBC Sport. 3 May 2004.
↑ "Mowbray is new Hibs boss". BBC Sport. 24 May 2004.
↑ "Hibernian 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
↑ The soccerbase statistics inaccurately attribute Kevin Thomson's appearance against Rangers on 30 November 2003 to "Steven Thomson" Archived 2012-09-11 at archive.today.

External links

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

[5] Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

[table_note_res_IC0.10950171906012-6] Hibernian qualified for the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup as the highest placed team to apply to participate in the competition.

[att-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Average Home League Game Attendances". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.

[few_Hibees_will_mourn-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 Few Hibees will mourn Williamson, BBC Sport, 20 April 2004.

[3] "Thordarson rejects Hibs". BBC Sport. 3 May 2004.

[4] "Mowbray is new Hibs boss". BBC Sport. 24 May 2004.

[stats-7] "Hibernian 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 December 2009.

[8] The soccerbase statistics inaccurately attribute Kevin Thomson's appearance against Rangers on 30 November 2003 to "Steven Thomson" Archived 2012-09-11 at archive.today.

[1]

[2]

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[lower-alpha 1]

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[6]

v t e 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 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

2003–04 Hibernian F.C. season

Contents

League season

Results

Final table

Scottish League Cup

Results

Scottish Cup

Results

Transfers

Players in

Players out

Loans in

Loans out

Player stats

See also

Notes

External links

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