The 2003–04 season was

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

's ninth under professionalism, and their third under head coach

Alan Solomons Alan Solomons (born 31 July 1950 in Uitenhage, South Africa) is a former rugby union coach. Law career After studying law at the University of Cape Town, Solomons practised law for 20 years where he was a partner at Sonnenberg, Hoffmann & Galomb ...

. They competed in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

and the inaugural Celtic Cup. Ulster introduced a new logo this season, featuring a red hand surrounded by the outline shapes of two crossed rugby balls in red and black, which remains in use. A proposal to rebrand the team the "Ulster Knights" was discussed, but rejected. The numbers of teams in the Celtic League was reduced from sixteen to twelve in a single league table, with a full home and away schedule increasing each team's fixture list from seven to 22 matches. There would be no playoffs to determine the league's champions, but a knockout competition, the Celtic Cup, was introduced alongside the league. This meant that the Irish provinces could now operate as full-time professional clubs, with provincial players no longer able to play for clubs in the All-Ireland League. Ulster finished second in the table.

Tyrone Howe Tyrone Gyle Howe (born 2 April 1971, Newtownards, Northern Ireland) formerly played in rugby union on the wing for University of St Andrews RFC, Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. Howe was brought up in Dromore and attended Banbrid ...

was the league's joint third leading try scorer with nine. In the Heineken Cup, they came third in Pool 1, not qualifying for the knockout stage. They won the Celtic Cup, defeating

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the final. Making their debuts for the province this season were props Bryan Young and Simon Shawe, lock Tim Barker, back row forward Roger Wilson, scrum-half Reece Spee, wing

Tommy Bowe Thomas John Bowe (born 22 February 1984) is an Irish former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. In March 2012, after four years with Ospreys in Swansea, Wa ...

and centre

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon (; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to 2 ...

. New signings were props Ronan McCormack and Rod Moore, locks Rowan Frost and Matt Mustchin, and centre

Paul Steinmetz Paul Christopher Steinmetz (born 26 January 1977 in Paraparaumu, New Zealand) is a retired professional rugby union footballer. He made one appearance for the All Blacks in 2002. Playing career Provincial Rugby Steinmetz made his debut for Wel ...

James Topping James “Jimmy” Topping (born 18 December 1974) is an Irish rugby former player and current coach. As a player, he won eight caps for the Ireland national rugby union team between 1996 and 2003, playing on the wing. Topping was born in Belfast ...

became only the second player, after

Gary Longwell Gary Longwell (born 30 July 1971 in Belfast) is an Irish international rugby player. His usual position is as a lock, or second row. He spent his entire career playing for Irish provincial side Ulster, making his debut aged 19 in 1991. He was par ...

, to make 100 appearances for Ulster.

was named

IRUPA The Rugby Players Ireland is the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland. Founded in October 2001, its aims are to promote and protect the welfare of professional rugby players in Ireland. The Chief Executive Officer is Sim ...

Young Player of the Year. Roger Wilson was Ulster's Player of the Year. Head coach Alan Solomons and forwards coach Adrian Kennedy left at the end of the season to join

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. Backs coach

Mark McCall Mark McCall (born 29 November 1967 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland) is an Irish former rugby union player and current Director of Rugby (DoR) at Saracens. While DoR for Saracens the team has won the English Premiership Rugby competition ...

was named as the new head coach.

Staff

Squad

Senior squad

Players in

* Tim Barker from

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

Gavin Mairs
"Rugby: New faces on show as Ulster slip into gear"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 4 July 2008 *

from

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey, and squash. The club is associated on and off the fi ...

* Rowan Frost from

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

"Ulster sign Connacht duo"
BBC Sport, 23 April 2003 * Gary Brown from

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

from

* Andy Maxwell from

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

* Ronan McCormack from

* Rod Moore from Waratahs * Matt Mustchin from

Canterbury Crusaders The Crusaders (formerly Canterbury Crusaders and BNZ Crusaders due to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the mos ...

* Simon Shawe from

* Reece Spee from City of Derry *

from

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 compet ...

* Roger Wilson from

* Bryan Young from

Players out

Mark Blair Mark Blair (born 27 November 1974 in Matlock, Derbyshire) is a British auto racing driver. He started his racing career in karting in 1986, and represented England in the 1990 World Kart Championships. In 1992 he switched to rallying, driving i ...

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

* Sheldon Coulter ''released'' * Jan Cunningham ''released'' * Jeremy Davidson ''retired'' *

Justin Fitzpatrick Justin Michael Fitzpatrick (born 21 November 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player who most recently was head coach of the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for London Irish, Castres Olympique, Dungannon ...

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

* Russell Nelson to

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

* David Spence ''released''

2003–04 Heineken Cup

Pool 1

2003-04 Celtic League

Celtic Cup

Quarter-final

Semi-final

Final

Ulster Rugby Awards

The Ulster Rugby Awards ceremony was held at the Ramada Hotel on 20 May 2004. Winners were:"Emotional end to Ulster season", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 21 May 2004 *Ulster Rugby personality of the year:

*Ulster player of the year: Roger Wilson *Club Ulster supporters' player of the year: Andy Ward *Schools player of the year: John McCall,

Royal School, Armagh The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school, founded in the 17th century, in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. It has a boarding department with an international intake. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Hea ...

*Coach of the year: Kenny Hooks,

*Club of the year:

*Team of the year:

2nd XV *Youth player of the year: Neville Farr,

Banbridge RFC Banbridge RFC (Banbridge Rugby Football Club) is a rugby union club based in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It currently plays in Division 1B of the Energia All-Ireland League after gaining promotion in 201 ...

*Dorrington B. Faulkner Award: Brian Banks *Merit award: Bob Montgomery and Brian Elliott, Ravenhill grounds staff *Media liaison of the year: John Dickson,

Ballynahinch RFC Ballynahinch Rugby Club is an Irish rugby union club based in the County Down town of Ballynahinch in Northern Ireland. Founded in 1954, the club is affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The first team currently pl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Ulster Rugby season Ulster Rugby seasons

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...