During the 2003–04 English football season, Everton F.C.

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 competed in the FA Premier League

FA Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

 (known as the Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

In 2002-03

2002–03 Everton F.C. season

During the 2002–03 English football season, Everton F.C. competed in the FA Premier League .-Season summary:...

, all the talk at Goodison Park

Goodison Park

Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...

 was about how David Moyes

David Moyes

David William Moyes is an association football manager and former player, currently managing English Premier League club Everton. He was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year...

 was restoring some pride to the blue half of Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

 thanks to a seventh place finish. 2003-04, however, was quite a different story, as Everton struggled at the wrong end of the Premiership and finished the season one place above the drop zone with 39 points (a tally which in many seasons has seen teams relegated, even under the 38-game format).

18-year-old striker Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...

 was England's

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 key player in their run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2004, but fast-growing rumours that he was about to be sold to Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 put Everton's top flight future under increasing doubt.

Squad

Left club during season

Starting 11

Only considering Premiership starts

• GK: #25,   Nigel Martyn
  Nigel Martyn
  Antony Nigel Martyn , more commonly known as Nigel Martyn, is a retired English football goalkeeper. He played for Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and also won the Full Members Cup. Martyn then left to spend six seasons at Leeds United. He went on...
  
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• RB: #28,   Tony Hibbert
  Tony Hibbert
  Anthony James "Tony" Hibbert is an English footballer, who currently plays for Everton. Originally a midfielder, Hibbert now plays at right back.-Club career:...
  
  , 24
• CB: #4,   Alan Stubbs
  Alan Stubbs
  Alan Stubbs is a retired English footballer who played as a centre back. He was forced to retire from professional football due to a troublesome knee injury on the 20 August 2008. The final match of his career was against Doncaster Rovers on 9 August 2008...
  
  , 25
• CB: #20,   Joseph Yobo
  Joseph Yobo
  Joseph Yobo is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a centre back for Fenerbahçe, on loan from Everton. He is also an international for the Nigerian national team, for which he has 81 caps and currently captains....
  
  , 27
• LB: #15,   Gary Naysmith
  Gary Naysmith
  Gary Andrew Naysmith is a Scottish footballer, currently playing for Huddersfield Town in League One and has been capped for the Scotland national team 46 times...
  
  , 27
• RM: #22,   Tobias Linderoth
  Tobias Linderoth
  Tobias Jan Håkan Linderoth is a former Swedish football player.-Club career:Linderoth played for Stabæk and then an unremarkable spell at Everton marred by injury, where he scored once against Charlton Athletic in the League Cup, before he joined Copenhagen in summer 2004...
  
  , 23
• CM: #16,   Thomas Gravesen
  Thomas Gravesen
  Thomas Gravesen is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has played for teams such as Hamburger SV, Everton F.C., Real Madrid CF and Celtic F.C.....
  
  , 29
• CM: #2,   Steve Watson
  Steve Watson
  Steven Craig "Steve" Watson is a former English footballer, who retired after being released by Sheffield Wednesday on 15 May 2009. As of November 13, 2010, he is the Development Coach at Football League One side Huddersfield Town.-Playing career:Watson began his career with Newcastle United,...
  
  , 22
• LM: #14,   Kevin Kilbane
  Kevin Kilbane
  Kevin Daniel Kilbane is an English-born Irish association footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for Derby County, on loan from Hull City....
  
  , 26
• CF: #18,   Wayne Rooney
  Wayne Rooney
  Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...
  
  , 26
• CF: #8,   Tomasz Radzinski
  Tomasz Radzinski
  Not to be confused with the Czech footballer Tomáš RosickýTomasz Radzinski is a Canadian association footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently unattached.-Club career:...
  
  , 28