2003–04 Football League Trophy

The 2003–04 Football League Trophy, known as the LDV Vans Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 21st season in the history of the competition. A straight knockout competition for English football clubs in the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system.^[1]

2003–04 Football League Trophy

LDV Vans Trophy
Tournament details
Country	England  Wales
Teams	60
Final positions
Champions	Blackpool
Runner-up	Southend United
Tournament statistics
Matches played	61
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

In all, 60 clubs entered the competition, including twelve from the Conference National. It was split into two sections, Northern and Southern, with the winners of each section contesting the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The competition began on 13 October 2003 and concluded on 21 March 2004.^[2]

The winners were Blackpool, who defeated Southend United 2–0 to win the title for a second time.^[3]

First round

Four clubs received a bye into the Second Round. Bury and Huddersfield Town in the Northern section, and Northampton Town and Swansea City in the Southern section.

Northern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Blackpool 3–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Tranmere Rovers 2,838 2 Carlisle United 2–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Rochdale 1,828 3 Chester City 0–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Doncaster Rovers 1,141 4 Chesterfield 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Macclesfield Town 1,631 5 Darlington 1–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Hull City 1,578 6 Halifax Town 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine York City 1,148 7 Lincoln City 3–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Telford United 1,503 8 Mansfield Town 1–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Stockport County 3,718 9 Oldham Athletic 3–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Hartlepool United 3,575 Oldham Athletic won 5–3 on penalties 10 Scarborough 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Port Vale 1,003 11 Scunthorpe United 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Shrewsbury Town 1,265 12 Wrexham 4–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Morecambe 1,078 13 Notts County 0–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Barnsley 1,220 Barnsley won 4–2 on penalties 14 Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Grimsby Town 7,323 Sheffield Wednesday won 5–4 on penalties

Southern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Forest Green Rovers 3,969 2 Barnet 3–3 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Brentford 1,248 Brentford won 3–1 on penalties 3 Cheltenham Town 1–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 1,324 4 Peterborough United 3–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Torquay United 1,980 5 Plymouth Argyle 4–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bristol City 4,927 6 Queens Park Rangers 2–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Kidderminster Harriers 3,671 7 Southend United 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bristol Rovers 1,714 8 Stevenage Borough 0–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 1,754 9 Wycombe Wanderers 1–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Cambridge United 977 10 Yeovil Town 2–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bournemouth 5,035 11 Boston United 2–1 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Swindon Town 1,514 12 Dagenham & Redbridge 4–1 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Leyton Orient 1,857 13 Oxford United 0–1 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Rushden & Diamonds 2,510 14 Hereford United 2–0 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Exeter City 1,513

Second round

Northern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Bury 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Oldham Athletic 3,102 2 Blackpool 1–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Doncaster Rovers 2,954 3 Carlisle United 2–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Huddersfield Town 1,346 4 Hull City 1–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Scunthorpe United 6,656 5 Lincoln City 4–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Chesterfield 2,395 6 Scarborough 0–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Halifax Town 899 7 Stockport County 5–4 Wrexham 1,469 8 Sheffield Wednesday 1–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Barnsley 13,575

Southern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 3–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Boston United 4,026 2 Hereford United 1–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Northampton Town 1,517 Northampton Town won 4–3 on penalties 3 Peterborough United 3–2 Brentford 1,821 4 Plymouth Argyle 2–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Wycombe Wanderers 4,298 Wycombe Wanderers won 4–2 on penalties 5 Queens Park Rangers 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Dagenham & Redbridge 3,036 6 Rushden & Diamonds 1–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 2,746 7 Swansea City 1–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Southend United 2,055 8 Yeovil Town 2–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 3,052 Colchester United won 4–2 on penalties

Quarter finals

Northern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Bury 0–1 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Scunthorpe United 1,246 2 Carlisle United 0–3 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Sheffield Wednesday 2,869 3 Stockport County 0–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Blackpool 2,337 4 Halifax Town 1–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Lincoln City 1,162

Southern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Queens Park Rangers 2–1 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Brighton & Hove Albion 7,536 2 Northampton Town 2–1 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Peterborough United 4,290 3 Southend United 3–0 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 2,027 4 Wycombe Wanderers 2–3 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 1,873

Semi finals

Northern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Blackpool 3–2 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Halifax Town 4,764 2 Sheffield Wednesday 4–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Scunthorpe United 10,236

Southern section Tie no. Home team Score Away team Attendance 1 Northampton Town 2–3 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 4,034 2 Southend United 4–0 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Queens Park Rangers 5,824

Area Finals

Northern section

Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday

10 February 2004 First Leg	Blackpool	1 – 0	Sheffield Wednesday	Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
19:45 GMT	Taylor   82'	Report		Attendance: 7,482 Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)

Sheffield Wednesday v Blackpool

25 February 2004 Second Leg	Sheffield Wednesday	0 – 2	Blackpool	Hillsborough, Sheffield
19:45 GMT		Report	Sheron   20' Southern   31'	Attendance: 21,390 Referee: Mike Pike (Lancashire)

Southern Section

Colchester United v Southend United

10 February 2004 First Leg	Colchester United	2 – 3	Southend United	Layer Road, Colchester
19:45 GMT	Pinault   7' Andrews   75'	Report	Constantine   17' Broughton   42' Bramble   68'	Attendance: 5,401 Referee: Graham Laws (Tyne & Wear)

Southend United v Colchester United

17 February 2004 Second Leg	Southend United	1 – 1	Colchester United	Roots Hall, Southend
19:45 GMT	Broughton   45'	Report	Izzet   3'	Attendance: 9,603 Referee: Michael Ryan (Lancashire)

Final

Main article: 2004 Football League Trophy Final

21 March 2004

13:00 GMT

Blackpool	2 – 0	Southend United
Murphy   2' Coid   55'	Report

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 34,031

Referee: Roy Pearson (County Durham)

References

1. "The Football League Trophy". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
2. "2003–04 LDV Vans Trophy". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
3. "Blackpool 2–0 Southend". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 June 2010.

External links