2003–04 Plymouth Argyle F.C. season

Plymouth Argyle

2003–04 season
Manager	Paul Sturrock August–March Kevin Summerfield (caretaker) March–April Bobby Williamson April onwards
Division Two champions	26 wins, 12 draws, 8 defeats, 85 goals for, 41 goals against, 90 points
FA Cup	First Round
League Cup	First Round
Football League Trophy	Second Round (South)
Top goalscorer	David Friio (14 goals)
Highest home attendance	Queens Park Rangers (19,888) Away: Sheffield Wednesday (20,090)
Lowest home attendance	Wycombe Wanderers (4,298) Away: Colchester United (2,367)
Biggest win	7-0 Chesterfield (home)
Biggest defeat	3-0 Queens Park Rangers (away) 3-0 Tranmere Rovers (away) 4-1 Oldham Athletic (away)

The 2003/04 football season saw Plymouth Argyle regain a place in the second tier of English football for the first time in twelve seasons, Along the way to capturing the Division Two championship they accumulated 90 league points, 21 clean sheets and a club record of 7 straight clean sheets whilst also losing arguably the most successful manager in recent history in Paul Sturrock to Southampton F.C..

Current squad

As of 4 November 2014

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Romain Larrieu 2 DF David Worrell 3 MF Lee Hodges 4 MF David Friio 5 DF Graham Coughlan 6 MF Steve Adams 7 MF David Norris 8 MF Jason Bent 9 FW Michael Evans 10 FW Ian Stonebridge 11 MF Martin Phillips

No. Position Player 14 DF Tony Capaldi 15 DF Paul Wotton (club-captain) 16 DF Hasney Aljofree 18 FW Nathan Lowndes 19 MF Marino Keith 21 MF David Beresford 21 FW Blair Sturrock 22 DF Paul Connolly 23 GK Luke McCormick 24 DF Peter Gilbert 25 DF Matt Villis

Last updated: 4 November 2014
Source:Greens on Screen

Pre-Season

Matches

St Blazey v Plymouth Argyle

Tiverton v Plymouth Argyle

SV Wacker Burghausen v Plymouth Argyle

23 July 2003	SV Wacker Burghausen	1-0	Plymouth Argyle

SC Schwanenstadt v Plymouth Argyle

26 July 2003	SC Schwanenstadt	0-0	Plymouth Argyle
		45 Minute Match

FC Astra Giurgiu v Plymouth Argyle

26 July 2003	FC Astra Giurgiu	1-0	Plymouth Argyle
		45 Minute Match

SV Bad Ischl v Plymouth Argyle

28 July 2003	SV Bad Ischl	1-1	Plymouth Argyle
			Beresford

Plymouth Argyle v Charlton Athletic

Plymouth Argyle v West Bromwich Albion

2 August 2003	Plymouth Argyle	0-0	West Bromwich Albion	Home Park

Saltash United v Plymouth Argyle

Last updated: 5 November 2014
Source:Greens on Screen

Football League Division Two

Results By Round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	W	D	D	W	W	D	D	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	D	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	D	W	W	D	D	L	W	L	L	W	W	W
Position	11	17	14	16	15	11	7	9	8	5	8	9	5	2	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Last updated: 4 November 2014.
Source: Statto
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

Plymouth Argyle v Grimsby Town

9 August 2003 1	Plymouth Argyle	2-2	Grimsby Town	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Keith  32' Coughlan  51' Capaldi		Boulding  28' Anderson  64' Barnard Cas	Attendance: 9,590 Referee: L Cable

Rushden and Diamonds v Plymouth Argyle

16 August 2003 2	Rushden and Diamonds	2-1	Plymouth Argyle	Nene Park, Irthlingborough
15:00	Lowe  54' Jack  56' Mills		Capaldi  77' Friio	Attendance: 4,045 Referee: B Knight

Plymouth Argyle v Stockport County

23 August 2003 3	Plymouth Argyle	3-1	Stockport County	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Keith  21' Hodges  23' Bent  28' Norris Evans		Beckett  43' Goodwin Gibb	Attendance: 7,594 Referee: Eddie Ilderton

Chesterfield v Plymouth Argyle

25 August 2003 4	Chesterfield	1-1	Plymouth Argyle	Saltergate, Chesterfield
19:45	Brandon  50' Mark Allott		Friio  66'	Attendance: 4,089 Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Plymouth Argyle v Brighton

30 August 2003 5	Plymouth Argyle	3-3	Brighton	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Coughlan  19' Stonebridge  81' Friio  89' Wotton Evans		Connolly (o.g.) Butters  36' Knight  73' Roberts Hart	Attendance: 9,289 Referee: M Fletcher

Brentford v Plymouth Argyle

6 September 2003 6	Brentford	1-3	Plymouth Argyle	Griffin Park, London
15:00	May  27' Fieldwick Roget  89'		Stonebridge  9' Evans  58'  84'	Attendance: 5,688 Referee: Steve Tomlin

Plymouth Argyle v Luton Town

12 September 2003 7	Plymouth Argyle	2-1	Luton Town	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Evans  82' Friio  90' Wotton		McSheffrey  58' Coyne Showunmi	Attendance: 9,894 Referee: Anthony Bates

Peterborough United v Plymouth Argyle

16 September 2003 8	Peterborough United	2-2	Plymouth Argyle	London Road, Peterborough
19:45	Arber  pen' (27) Clarke  81' Legg Shields		Wotton  pen' (10) Capaldi  84'	Attendance: 4,183 Referee: R Pearson

Wrexham v Plymouth Argyle

20 September 2003 9	Wrexham	2-2	Plymouth Argyle	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
15:00	Lawrence  28' Jones  Pen' (42) Whitley Edwards		Norris  31' Capaldi  49' Wotton	Attendance: 3,945 Referee: Michael Ryan

Plymouth Argyle v Barnsley

27 September 2003 10	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Barnsley	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Coughlan  38' Evans  75'		Gallimore Fallon	Attendance: 8,695 Referee: Richard Beeby

Plymouth Argyle v Bristol City

27 September 2003 11	Plymouth Argyle	0-1	Bristol City	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Evans		Peacock  27' Butler Lita	Attendance: 13,923 Referee: P Armstrong

Wycombe Wanderers v Plymouth Argyle

4 October 2003 12	Wycombe Wanderers	0-0	Plymouth Argyle	Adams Park, High Wycombe
15:00	Vinnicombe			Attendance: 5,708 Referee: Mike Thorpe

Plymouth Argyle v Tranmere

11 October 2003 13	Plymouth Argyle	6-0	Tranmere	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Friio  7' Wotton  38' Gilbert  45' Keith  49' Evans  56' Norris  79'		Gray Taylor	Attendance: 7,610 Referee: Andre Marriner

Port Vale v Plymouth Argyle

18 October 2003 14	Port Vale	1-5	Plymouth Argyle	Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent
15:00	Keith  35' Friio  38'  72' Adams  45' Wotton  46'		Burns	Attendance: 5,786 Referee: Lee Probert

Sheffield Wednesday v Plymouth Argyle

22 October 2003 15	Sheffield Wednesday	1-3	Plymouth Argyle	Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield
19:45	Reddy  84' Smith Holt		Friio  22'  64' Wotton  pen' (46) Norris	Attendance: 20,090 Referee: G Laws

Plymouth Argyle v Blackpool

25 October 2003 16	Plymouth Argyle	1-0	Blackpool	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Keith  42' Coughlan Adams		Southern Douglas  55' Bullock	Attendance: 12,372 Referee: Steve Tanner

Plymouth Argyle v Oldham

1 November 2003 17	Plymouth Argyle	2-2	Oldham	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Wotton  17' Friio  43' Evans  50'		Beharall  10'  63' Sheridan  43' Murray  76'	Attendance: 11,205 Referee: M Warren

Queens Park Rangers v Plymouth Argyle

15 November 2003 18	Queens Park Rangers	3-0	Plymouth Argyle	Loftus Road, London
15:00	Gallen  35'  75' Thorpe  72' Bean			Attendance: 17,049 Referee: Trevor Parkes

Plymouth Argyle v Hartlepool United

22 November 2003 19	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Hartlepool United	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Keith  45' Lowndes  48' Coughlan Aljofree Norris			Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Iain Williamson

Colchester United v Plymouth Argyle

29 November 2003 20	Colchester United	0-2	Plymouth Argyle	Layer Road, Colchester
15:00	Capaldi  4' Keith  11' McCormick Connolly Gilbert Hodges Wotton			Attendance: 4,332 Referee: Kevin Wright

Swindon Town v Plymouth Argyle

13 December 2003 21	Swindon Town	2-3	Plymouth Argyle	County Ground (Swindon), Swindon
15:00	Fallon  80' Parkin  90' Robinson  90'		Capaldi  13' Norris  76' Keith  90' Wotton	Attendance: 9,374 Referee: B Curson

Plymouth Argyle v Notts County

20 December 2003 22	Plymouth Argyle	3-0	Notts County	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Lowndes  28' Evans  79'  82'		Fenton Bolland Caskey	Attendance: 9,923 Referee: R Olivier

Bournemouth v Plymouth Argyle

26 December 2003 23	Bournemouth	0-2	Plymouth Argyle	Dean Court, Bournemouth
15:00	Feeney Cummings		Wotton  22' Norris  40'	Attendance: 8,901 Referee: Richard Beeby

Plymouth Argyle v Brentford

28 December 2003 24	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Brentford	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Capaldi  48' Lowndes  63' Connolly Coughlan		Kitamirike Roget  42'	Attendance: 17,882 Referee: P Prosser

Plymouth Argyle v Chesterfield

3 January 2004 25	Plymouth Argyle	7-0	Chesterfield	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Hodges  4' Capaldi  11' Lowndes  12'  18' Friio  15' 36' 88'		Davies	Attendance: 13,109 Referee: Keith Hill

Grimsby Town v Plymouth Argyle

10 January 2004 26	Grimsby Town	0-0	Plymouth Argyle	Blundell Park, Grimsby
15:00			Gilbert Aljorfree Friio Hodges	Attendance: 5,007 Referee: Eddie Evans

Plymouth Argyle v Rushden and Diamonds

17 January 2003 27	Plymouth Argyle	3-0	Rushden and Diamonds	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Coughlan  47' Stonebridge  58' Wotton  90'		Bignot  59'	Attendance: 13,021 Referee: Clive Penton

Stockport County v Plymouth Argyle

24 January 2004 28	Stockport County	0-2	Plymouth Argyle	Edgeley Park, Stockport
15:00	Friio  29' Coughlan  62'		Gibb Lambert	Attendance: 6,608 Referee: Paul Robindon

Brighton v Plymouth Argyle

31 January 2004 29	Brighton	2-1	Plymouth Argyle	Withdean Stadium, Brighton
15:00	Benjamin  12' Knight  34' Watson		Lowndes  88'	Attendance: 6,379 Referee: Phil Joslin

Plymouth Argyle v Bournemouth

7 February 2004 30	Plymouth Argyle	0-0	Bournemouth	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Capaldi		Buxton Cummings	Attendance: 13,371 Referee: B Knight

Tranmere Rovers v Plymouth Argyle

17 February 2004 31	Tranmere Rovers	3-0	Plymouth Argyle	Prenton Park, Tranmere
19:45	Dadi  19'  52' Hume  23'		Aljofree Norris	Attendance: 7,948 Referee: M Cowburn

Plymouth Argyle v Port Vale

21 February 2004 32	Plymouth Argyle	2-1	Port Vale	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Phillips  80' Stonebridge  90' Capaldi Aljofree		McPhee  53' Pilkington Paynter	Attendance: 13,371 Referee: B Knight

Blackpool v Plymouth Argyle

28 February 2004 33	Blackpool	0-1	Plymouth Argyle	Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
15:00	Evans		Stonebridge  54' Adams Aljofree	Attendance: 7,253 Referee: Scott Mathieson

Plymouth Argyle v Sheffield Wednesday

2 March 2004 34	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Sheffield Wednesday	Hillsborough Stadium , Sheffield
19:45	Evans  7' Coughlan  77' Connolly		Geary Barry-Murphy Quinn	Attendance: 17,218 Referee: Andy Penn

Notts County v Plymouth Argyle

6 March 2004 35	Notts County	0-0	Plymouth Argyle	Meadow Lane, Nottingham
15:00	Keith		Bolland Scoffham	Attendance: 8,057 Referee: Nigel Miller

Plymouth Argyle v Swindon Town

13 March 2004 36	Plymouth Argyle	2-1	Swindon Town	Home Park, Plymouth
15:00	Keith  11' Evans  84' Friio		Gurney  75' Mooney  90'	Attendance: 16,080 Referee: P Walton

Plymouth Argyle v Peterborough United

16 March 2004 37	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Peterborough United	Home Park, Plymouth
19:45	Lowndes  55' Wotton  pen' (79) Connolly		Arber	Attendance: 13,110 Referee: Joe Ross

Luton Town v Plymouth Argyle

20 March 2004 38	Luton Town	1-1	Plymouth Argyle	Kenilworth Road , Luton
15:00	Coyne  42' Holmes Howard Nicholls  46'		Adams  90' Friio	Attendance: 8,499 Referee: Graham Salisbury

Plymouth Argyle v Wrexham

27 March 2004 39	Plymouth Argyle	0-0	Wrexham	Home Park , Plymouth
15:00	Norris Lowndes Evans		Morgan  56' Ferguson  90'	Attendance: 12,275 Referee: P Taylor

Barnsley v Plymouth Argyle

3 April 2004 40	Barnsley	1-0	Plymouth Argyle	Oakwell , Barnsley
15:00	Birch  81' Betsy Neil Shuker		Norris	Attendance: 9,266 Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Plymouth Argyle v Wycombe Wanderers

10 April 2004 41	Plymouth Argyle	2-1	Wycombe Wanderers	Home Park , Plymouth
15:00	Coughlan  39' Evans  80' Hodges		Tyson  5' Nethercott	Attendance: 14,806 Referee: D R Crick

Bristol City v Plymouth Argyle

13 April 2004 42	Bristol City	1-0	Plymouth Argyle	Ashton Gate , Bristol
19:45	Peacock  85' Roberts Doherty		Bent	Attendance: 19,045 Referee: R Pearson

Oldham Athletic v Plymouth Argyle

17 April 2004 43	Oldham Athletic	4-1	Plymouth Argyle	Boundary Park, Oldham
15:00	Johnson  34' 61' Owen  42' Eyres  45' Murray  67'		Wotton  51' 53'	Attendance: 6,924 Referee: M Cowburn

Plymouth Argyle v Queens Park Rangers

24 April 2004 44	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Queens Park Rangers	Home Park , Plymouth
15:00	Evans  81' Friio  86' Hodges		Padula Ainsworth Gallen	Attendance: 19,888 Referee: Paul Durkin

Hartlepool v Plymouth Argyle

1 May 2004 45	Hartlepool	1-3	Plymouth Argyle	Victoria Park (Hartlepool)
15:00	Boyd  11' Westwood Williams		Hodges  12' Lowndes  42' Tinkler  og' (48)	Attendance: 7,437 Referee: Anthony Leake

Plymouth Argyle v Colchester United

8 May 2004 46	Plymouth Argyle	2-0	Colchester United	Home Park , Plymouth
15:00	Friio  17'  62' Norris  47'		Brown Bowry	Attendance: 19,868 Referee: A R Hall

Last updated: 8 November 2014
Source:Soccerbase

FA Cup

Matches

Northampton v Plymouth Argyle

8 November 2003 Round One	Northampton	3-2	Plymouth Argyle	Sixfields, Northampton
15:00	Walker  37' Hargreaves  60' Asamoah  83' Sampson Trollope		Friio  32' Stonebridge  63' Evans	Attendance: 4,385 Referee: L Cable

Last updated: 9 November 2014
Source:Soccerbase

League Cup

Matches

Colchester United v Plymouth Argyle

12 August 2003 Round One	Colchester United	2-1	Plymouth Argyle	Layer Road, Colchester
19:45	Fagan  22' Pinault  40' Brown Stockley		Evans  24' Gilbert Capaldi Keith	Attendance: 2,367 Referee: Joe Ross

Last updated: 9 November 2014
Source:Soccerbase

Football League Trophy

Matches

Plymouth Argyle v Bristol City

14 October 2003 Round One	Plymouth Argyle	4-0	Bristol City	Home Park, Plymouth
19:45	Keith  10' Lowndes  45' 86' Gilbert  55' Capaldi		Butler Doherty	Attendance: 4,927 Referee: D R Crick

Plymouth Argyle v Wycombe Wanderers

4 November 2003 Round Two	Plymouth Argyle	2-2	Wycombe Wanderers	Home Park, Plymouth
19:45	Coughlan  22' Evans  34'		McSporran  8' 15' Johnson Branston  90'	Attendance: 4,298 Referee: B Curson
Note: (Wycombe Win 4-2 On Penalties)

Last updated: 9 November 2014
Source:Soccerbase

Notable events

• 22 October 2003: Plymouth Argyle defeat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Hillsborough to go top of Division Two.
• 24 October 2003: Argyle receive performance of the week award for their 5-1 victory over Port Vale.
• 1 November 2003: Paul Sturrock named Division Two Manager of the Month for October.
• 6 November 2003: David Friio announced as Division Two player of the month for October.
• 23 December 2003: Paul Sturrock signs a four and a half year contract with Argyle.
• 26 December 2003: Paul Wotton scores Argyle's 5000th League goal in a 2-0 victory over A.F.C. Bournemouth. Plymouth Argyle become the first League side to score 50 goals in that season.
• 2 January 2004: Paul Sturrock named Division Two Manager of the Month for December.
• 3 January 2004: David Friio scores the first hat-trick for Argyle since Paul McGregor in March 2000.
• 6 January 2004: Paul Sturrock named as winner of the second quarter of the League managers Association's Tissot Managers' Performance League.
• 17 January 2004: Billy Rafferty and Paul Mariner make a guest appearance at Home Park. Argyle played Rushden & Diamonds on that day and won 3-0.
• 5 February 2004: Graham Coughlan announced as Division Two player of the month for January.
• 19 February 2004: The club's first retail outlet in Plymouth city centre opens. The club also unveils next season's away kit - the first to be voted for by fans.
• 2 March 2004: Plymouth Argyle complete the second "double" over Sheffield Wednesday in their history, by beating them for a second time in the season. Argyle won the match 2-0.
• 3 March 2004: Paul Sturrock agrees personal terms to take over as Southampton manager.
• 4 March 2004: Sturrock is unveiled by Southampton as their new manager at a press conference.
• 17 March 2004: The club announces that next year's away kit will be white, instead of tangergreen, due to supporter demands.
• 27 March 2004: One hundred former Argyle players returned to Home Park for the game against Wrexham.
• 31 March 2004: Tony Capaldi becomes the first Plymouth Argyle player to win a cap for a home nation since Dave Phillips (Wales) in 1984. Capaldi plays for Northern Ireland.
• 10 April 2004: It becomes mathematically certain that Plymouth Argyle will achieve promotion or a play-off place, following a 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers.
• 20 April 2004: Bobby Williamson is unveiled as the permanent successor to Paul Sturrock, following much speculation about the managerial vacancy.
• 24 April 2004: A 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers hands Argyle both promotion and the Division Two title.
• 6 May 2004: Graham Coughlan is named as the Division Two player of the season.
• 8 May 2004: Mickey Evans is announced as the club's player of the season and Luke McCormick as the most promising player as decided by fans. Plymouth Argyle are presented with the Division Two trophy after their 2-0 win over Colchester United
• 17 May 2004: Paul Sturrock is named as the Division Two manager of the season for his efforts at Argyle.
• 21 May 2004: The club holds its centenary ball to celebrate the previous season. The Plymouth Argyle team of the century, decided by supporters, is announced.

Transfers

Out

Date	Player	Transfer	To	Fee
12 September 2003	Brian McGlinchey	Three month loan	Torquay United	-
24 September 2003	Joe Broad	Sale	Torquay United	Free
2 October 2003	David Beresford	One month loan	Macclesfield Town	-
4 November 2003	David Beresford	Sale	Tranmere Rovers	Free
9 January 2004	Jani Viander	Sale	Brentford	Free
13 January 2004	Brian McGlinchey	Sale	Torquay United	Free
1 June 2004	Martin Phillips	Release	-	-
1 June 2004	Jason Bent	Release	-	-
1 June 2004	Eugene Kangulungu	Release	-	-
1 June 2004	Wayne O'Sullivan	Release	-	-
6 July 2004	Matthew Villis	Season loan	Torquay United	-
30 July 2004	Ian Stonebridge	Sale	Wycombe Wanderers	Free