The 2003–04 Football Conference season was the 25th season of the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

and the last consisting of a single division. The top team and the winner of the play-offs were promoted to

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

, 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

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Teams promoted from

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

* Tamworth Teams promoted from

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

* Aldershot Town Teams relegated from Third Division *

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

* Shrewsbury Town

Overview

Chester City clinched the league title and won promotion to

. Shrewsbury Town also earned promotion to League Two following their 3–0

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

win on penalties after a 1–1 draw with

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. 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 Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

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.''Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2005''. Glenda Rollin & Jack Rollin (eds.), Headline, 2004. The regular season began on 9 August 2003, and ended on 24 April 2004.

Final league table

Locations

Results

Play-offs

The

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

play-offs determined the second team that would be promoted to

. 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.

Semifinals

''Aldershot Town won 4–2 on penalties after tying 1–1 on Aggregate.'' ---- ''Shrewsbury Town won 5–3 on penalties after tying 2–2 on Aggregate.''

Play-Off Final

Top scorers in order of league goals

Source:

References

External links

Official Football Conference website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Football Conference National League (English football) seasons 5 English