During the 2003–04 season, Middlesbrough participated in the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Team kit and sponsors

Middlesbrough were sponsored by

Dial-a-Phone Dialaphone (Dial-A-Phone, Dial A Phone) was an independent mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom. It was established in February 1995 as a direct marketer and supplier of mobile phones and mobile phone accessories. The e-commerce website ...

, the team's kit was produced by Errea. The home shirt consisted of a plain red shirt, red shorts and red socks with white trim. The away strip was mainly navy blue with maroon shoulders, navy shorts and navy socks, with maroon detailing.

Season review

League review

Middlesbrough had an appalling start to their season, losing four of their first five games (their worst start since the 1984–85 season) and taking only one point. This set the foundations for a very patchy season. Middlesbrough hovered around the relegation spots for the first third of the season. However, they eventually found some form through November and December and went unbeaten for eight games which took them away from the relegation zone. Middlesbrough's form was again inconsistent after Christmas, but they managed to pick up enough points to finish in a respectable 11th place.

Domestic cup review

The league cup campaign was the highlight of the season for Middlesbrough. It was one that would bring them their first major trophy in their 128-year history. It started in late September with a home match against Brighton and Hove Albion and Boro low down in the league due to a terrible start. Middlesbrough made hard work of it against lower league opposition, but managed to scrape through with a 94th minute extra-time goal from

Malcolm Christie Malcolm Neil Christie (born 11 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Initially playing at non-league level for Deeping Rangers and Nuneaton Borough, he went on to play in the Premier League for bo ...

. The next round saw Boro comfortably beat

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

2–1 away with goals from Maccarone and Mendieta to set up a fourth round home match against Everton. The match against Everton was a closely contested affair, which ended 0–0 after extra time - penalties were needed to decide the winner. Middlesbrough won the shoot-out 5–4, with Mark Schwarzer saving from

Leon Osman Leon Osman (born 17 May 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent almost all of his career at Everton, making 433 appearances and scoring 57 goals. Earlier in his career he spent time on loan at Fo ...

and Mendieta converting the winning penalty. The quarter finals saw Middlesbrough face Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Spurs led most of the match through a first-minute

Darren Anderton Darren Robert Anderton (born 3 March 1972) is an English former professional footballer and pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City. His twelve-year spell with ...

goal. It took an 86th-minute equaliser from

Michael Ricketts Michael Barrington Ricketts (born 4 December 1978) is an English former footballer. He played as a striker and was capped once by England, in a friendly against the Netherlands in 2002. Ricketts had a 14-year career which saw him play for W ...

to send the game into extra time. No goals were scored in extra time, meaning Boro had a penalty shoot out for the second successive round. The shoot out went into sudden death, but after

Mauricio Taricco Mauricio Ricardo Taricco (born 10 March 1973) is an Argentine football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant coach at French side Bordeaux. Taricco, whose father was Italian and hailed from Sardinia, was as a full-back capa ...

's penalty hit the post,

Franck Queudrue Franck Roger Queudrue (born 27 August 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back. He began his career with Lens, for whom he played in Ligue 1, and went on to play in the Premier League for Middlesbrough, Fulha ...

converted his penalty to win the game. Boro's semi final was a two legged match against a youthful

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

team. The first leg went Middlesbrough's way with them taking a 1–0 lead thanks to a Juninho goal. Arsenal boss

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

chose a few more experienced players for the vital second leg, but to no avail: Boro won 2–1 on the night for a 3–1 aggregate win. The final was on 29 February 2004 against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. The game started in the best way possible for Boro, with goals from

Joseph Desire-Job Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and

Bolo Zenden Boudewijn Zenden (; born 15 August 1976) also known by his nickname "Bolo", is a Dutch former footballer who played as a left winger or as an attacking midfielder. Named the 1997 Dutch Football Talent of the Year, Zenden played for four teams in ...

giving them an early 2–0 lead. A mistake from Mark Schwarzer let

Kevin Davies Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 2017� ...

get one back, and the score remained 2–1 at half time. Both teams had chances to score in the second half, but the score stayed the same, giving Boro their first ever major trophy. The FA Cup campaign wasn't as successful. After a comfortable 2–0 win at home to Notts County, Boro were drawn against Arsenal in the fourth round. They lost the match 4–1 sending them out of the competition.

Final league table

Squad

Senior squad

Left club during season

Transfers

In

Out

Premier League results

''Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according t
mfc.co.uk
''

Cup results

League Cup

FA Cup

Player statistics

Goalscorers

''Goalscoring statistics for 2003-04.''

Appearances / Discipline

''Appearance and disciplinary records for 2003-04 league and cup matches.''

Starting 11

:''Considering starts in all competitions'' :''Considering a 4-4-2 formation'' * GK: #1, Mark Schwarzer, 44 * RB: #15, Danny Mills, 37 * CB: #6, Gareth Southgate, 34 * CB: #4,

Ugo Ehiogu Ugochuku Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017. He played in the Prem ...

, 19 * LB: #3,

, 40 * RM: #14,

Gaizka Mendieta Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (, ; born 27 March 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A versatile player, with good technique, offensive capabilities and tackling skills, who was capable of creating goals both ...

, 37 * CM: #7,

George Boateng George Antwi Boateng (born 5 September 1975) is a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is Assistant Coach of the Ghana national team. Born in Ghana, raised in Holland and he represented the Netherlands interna ...

, 43 * CM: #10, Juninho, 31 * LM: #27, Boudewijn Zenden, 38 * CF: #9, Massimo Maccarone, 18 * CF: #16, Joseph-Desire Job, 22

Notes

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Middlesbrough F.C. season Middlesbrough F.C. seasons Middlesbrough