20 fun facts about the Premier League 20 years ago

Well, there is only one place to start. Arsenal did not merely win the Premier League. This was the Gunners’ iconic “Invincibles” season. Yes, the club managed to go a full season without losing a league game. Now, Arsenal did draw 12 games. Teams have finished with more than 90 points, and with better goal differential than +47. Even so, you can’t argue with that “zero” in the loss column.

The Blues had been fine, having finished no lower than sixth in the table for over half a decade. However, money woes were on the horizon…until Roman Abramovich stepped in. Obviously, the deposed Russian oligarch is a thorny figure now, and reviled everywhere outside Chelsea. That being said, his money changed the game for the Blues. Chelsea finished second in 2003-04, and would win the league the next year.

Man U and Liverpool round out the top four of the table. No surprises there. That being said, United had to fight through adversity, expected and unexpected, to arrive at third. Now, moving David Beckham to Real Madrid was a decision the club made and knew it had to deal with. Then, stalwart centre back (and beloved fixture of English football) Rio Ferdinand was suspended due to a drug test issue. Ferdinand was suspended for eight months, leading to a ton of controversy.

The top six in the table at the end of the 2003-04 season are names even recent converts to football recognize. Then, in seventh, you’ll find Charlton Athletic. This was in the middle of a seven-season run in the Premier League for the South London club. However, after being relegated in 2007 the club has bounced around the lower levels and is currently in League One.

Here are a few more clubs that were playing Premier League football this season. Not only that, but none of them would be relegated at the end of the year. We’re talking the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, and Portsmouth, who were still a few years away from double bouts of administration that almost ended the club’s existence.

Wolverhampton Wanderers has been a common feature of the Premier League lineup for a while now. Leicester may be down in the Championship at the moment – but likely to bounce back up – but it has had plenty of Premier League success, and memorably won the title. Both were relegated at the end of the 2003-04 season, alongside Leeds United.

Now, you may know, or even remember, that before the massive influx of money from the Middle East, Man City was a football also-ran. That being said, 20 years ago City was worse than you may remember. The longtime powerhouse only won nine games this year, finishing 16th in the table. By the way, Tottenham Hotspur finished 14th.

Sure, nowadays Leeds is a yo-yo club at best, but it was once one of the top teams in England, and arguably all of Europe. The finances of the club had gotten untenable, though. Leeds United went through three managers during the course of the 2003-04 season, and when it was relegated, it ended a 14-year run in top-flight football. The club would not return to the Premier League for 16 seasons.

Before the season began, former England manager Graham Taylor resigned as manager of Aston Villa, though it was his final job so that counted as retirement for him. During the season, Glenn Hoddle got the boot from Spurs, and Gordon Strachan resigned as the manager of Southampton.

Fulham finished ninth in the table, and its plus-6 goal differential was actually sixth best in the Premier League. It did all that with limited home-pitch advantage. Craven Cottage was under construction, so Fulham spent the season playing home games at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers.

Sure, it isn’t surprising that one of the best strikers of all-time, in his peak at that, was good. However, Henry was fantastic in pacing Arsenal to an undefeated season. The Frenchman scored 30 goals in the Premier League, putting him into the rarefied air of the 30-goal club.

United came into the 2003-04 season with Ruud van Nistelrooy in tow, and he potted 20 goals on the campaign. The club wasn’t satisfied, though. Louis Saha had tallied 13 goals for Fulham when Man U brought him over in a transfer. He would add seven goals in 12 games with United to hit 20 goals as well, though injuries then plagued the rest of his career.

Chelsea was forever loaning out the talents of Finnish striker Mikael Forssell. Indeed, he spent the 2003-04 season with Birmingham City. Forssell came out of nowhere to score 17 goals, something he couldn’t even replicate later in his career playing in Finland.

Scott Parker started the 2003-04 season in the midfield for Charlton Athletic, before he made the move to Chelsea thanks to Abramovich’s resources. He would go on to be named the PFA Young Player of the Year. Now, Parker did play years in the Premier League, and saw 13 caps for England, but he was never a star. Notably, the shortlist for the award included some names like John Terry, Kolo Toure, and a young Evertonian named Wayne Rooney.

Americans playing football in Europe, much less thriving, used to be rare. When goalkeeper Tim Howard made the move from the MLS to the Premier League, there was skepticism. Instead, Howard took over as the number-one keeper for Manchester United in his debut campaign. Not only that, but Howard was named as the keeper for the PFA’s Team of the Year. Thus began a lengthy tenure in England.

Chelsea, unsurprisingly, paced the Premier League in transfers into the club the summer of 2003. Manchester United made a notable move as well, though. It paid a fee of £12.24 million to Sporting CP to bring in an 18-year-old kid named Cristiano Ronaldo. That worked out.

Seaman was a staple of English football for years. He was the keeper for 405 appearances with Arsenal, and was England’s number-one keeper for years as well. By the 2003-04 season, though, he was 40. Even so, Seaman was the goalie for Manchester City, at least when the season began. He got injured, and during the January transfer window suggested City bring in David James, who had replaced him as England’s number-one keeper. Indeed, City signed James, and Seaman promptly retired.

Though it finished decidedly middle of the table, the 2003-04 campaign was a big one for Middlesbrough. In February, it beat Bolton in the League Cup Final, then branded as the Carling Cup. It was the first trophy of any kind for the club.

United in the FA Cup? Generally speaking, the casual fan wouldn’t be rooting for the club. Then, throw in the fact its opponent was a Division 1 (now Championship) club. Alas, the underdogs we were served up was Millwall, aka the English football club most associated with hooliganism. When your club’s most-famous chant is “No one likes us, we don’t care,” well, you don’t get many bandwagon supporters. United would win comfortably 3-0, though.

We’ll end on a positive note built out of a negative note. Prior to the 2003-04 season, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, and West Ham United were all relegated. Sunderland and West Ham both made the playoff, but Crystal Palace won said playoff. Norwich City, meanwhile, finished atop the table in the then-First Division. West Brom, though, finished second, meaning it got to jump right back into the Premier League.