Season 2003–04 Folded Telford United Champion Chester City F.C. Goals scored 1,343 | Relegated to Conference North/Conference South Margate (South) Dates 9 Aug 2003 – 16 May 2004 Location England, United Kingdom Matches played 462 | |
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Champions Chester City (1st Football Conference title) Promoted Chester City,
Shrewsbury Town Promoted for the next season Canvey Island,
Crawley Town People also search for 2002–03 Football Conference | ||
Since its inception in 1979, The Football Conference has formed the fifth highest level of the overall English Football League System.
Contents
- Promotion and relegation
- Overview
- Final league table
- Results
- Play offs
- Top scorers in order of league goals
- References
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 2002–03 Northern Premier League
Teams promoted from 2002–03 Southern Football League
Teams promoted from 2002–03 Isthmian League
Teams relegated from 2002–03 Football League 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.
The regular season began on 9 August 2003, and ended on 24 April 2004.
Final league table
Results
Source: [1] Soccerbase; Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2003
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Play-offs
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.
Top scorers in order of league goals
Source: