2003–04 Football League Trophy

The 2003–04 Football League Trophy, known as the LDV Vans Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd 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
Runners-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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Tranmere Rovers 2,838 2 Carlisle United 2–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Rochdale 1,828 3 Chester City 0–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Doncaster Rovers 1,141 4 Chesterfield 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Macclesfield Town 1,631 5 Darlington 1–3 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Hull City 1,578 6 Halifax Town 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine York City 1,148 7 Lincoln City 3–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Telford United 1,503 8 Mansfield Town 1–2 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Stockport County 3,718 9 Oldham Athletic 3–3 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Hartlepool United 3,575 Oldham Athletic won 5–3 on penalties 10 Scarborough 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Port Vale 1,003 11 Scunthorpe United 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Shrewsbury Town 1,265 12 Wrexham 4–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Morecambe 1,078 13 Notts County 0–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Barnsley 1,220 Barnsley won 4–2 on penalties 14 Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Forest Green Rovers 3,969 2 Barnet 3–3 Archived 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Brentford 1,248 Brentford won 3–1 on penalties 3 Cheltenham Town 1–3 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 1,324 4 Peterborough United 3–2 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Torquay United 1,980 5 Plymouth Argyle 4–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bristol City 4,927 6 Queens Park Rangers 2–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Kidderminster Harriers 3,671 7 Southend United 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bristol Rovers 1,714 8 Stevenage Borough 0–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 1,754 9 Wycombe Wanderers 1–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Cambridge United 977 10 Yeovil Town 2–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Bournemouth 5,035 11 Boston United 2–1 Archived 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Swindon Town 1,514 12 Dagenham & Redbridge 4–1 Archived 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Leyton Orient 1,857 13 Oxford United 0–1 Archived 2004-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Rushden & Diamonds 2,510 14 Hereford United 2–0 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Oldham Athletic 3,102 2 Blackpool 1–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Doncaster Rovers 2,954 3 Carlisle United 2–0 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Huddersfield Town 1,346 4 Hull City 1–3 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Scunthorpe United 6,656 5 Lincoln City 4–3 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Chesterfield 2,395 6 Scarborough 0–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Halifax Town 899 7 Stockport County 5–4 Wrexham 1,469 8 Sheffield Wednesday 1–0 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Boston United 4,026 2 Hereford United 1–1 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Wycombe Wanderers 4,298 Wycombe Wanderers won 4–2 on penalties 5 Queens Park Rangers 2–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Dagenham & Redbridge 3,036 6 Rushden & Diamonds 1–2 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 2,746 7 Swansea City 1–2 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Southend United 2,055 8 Yeovil Town 2–2 Archived 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 Archived 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Scunthorpe United 1,246 2 Carlisle United 0–3 Archived 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Sheffield Wednesday 2,869 3 Stockport County 0–1 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Blackpool 2,337 4 Halifax Town 1–0 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Brighton & Hove Albion 7,536 2 Northampton Town 2–1 Archived 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Peterborough United 4,290 3 Southend United 3–0 Archived 2004-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Luton Town 2,027 4 Wycombe Wanderers 2–3 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Halifax Town 4,764 2 Sheffield Wednesday 4–0 Archived 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 Archived 2004-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Colchester United 4,034 2 Southend United 4–0 Archived 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)