2003–04 Middlesbrough F.C. season

Middlesbrough
Season 2003-04
League	FA Premier League
Manager	Steve McClaren
Chairman	Steve Gibson
League position	11th
Top goalscorer	League: Juninho, Szilárd Németh (8) All: Juninho (9)
Highest attendance	Home: 34,738 v Manchester United (Premier League) Away: 67,346 v Manchester United(Premier League)
Lowest attendance	Home: 10,435 v Brighton (League Cup) Away: 8,046 v Wigan (League Cup)
FA Cup	Fourth Round
League Cup	Winners

During the 2003-04 season, Middlesbrough participated in the FA Premier League.

Team Kit and Sponsors

Middlesbrough were sponsored by Dial-A-Phone for the second season in a row, the team's strip 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.^[1]

Home colours

Away colours

Season review

League review

Middlesbrough had an appalling start to their season - losing 4 of their first 5 games (their worst start since the 1984/85 season) taking only 1 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 8 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 fairly disappointing 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 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.

The next round saw Boro comfortably beat Wigan 2-1 away (with goals from Maccarone and Mendieta) and set up a 4th round home match against Everton.

The match against Everton was a closely contested affair, which ended 0-0 after extra time - therefore penalties were needed to decide the winner. Middlesbrough won the shoot out 5-4 with Mark Schwarzer saving from Leon Osman and Mendieta converting the winning penalty.

The quarter finals saw Middlesbrough face Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Spurs led most of the match through a first minute Darren Anderton goal. It took an 86th minute equaliser from Michael Ricketts 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 when Mauricio Taricco hit the post, Franck Queudrue converted his penalty to win the game.

Boro's semi final was a two legged match against a youthful Arsenal team. The first leg went Middlesbrough's way with them taking a 1-0 lead to the return leg thanks to a Juninho goal. Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger 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 at the Millennium Stadium. The game started in the best way possible for Boro, with goals from Joseph Desire-Job and Bolo Zenden giving them an early 2-0 lead. A mistake from Mark Schwarzer let Kevin Davies 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.

Squad

Senior squad

^[2][3] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Mark Schwarzer 2 DF Robbie Stockdale 3 DF Franck Queudrue 4 DF Ugo Ehiogu 5 DF Chris Riggott 6 DF Gareth Southgate (captain) 7 MF George Boateng 8 FW Szilárd Németh 9 FW Massimo Maccarone 10 MF Juninho 11 FW Malcolm Christie 12 GK Carlo Nash 14 MF Gaizka Mendieta (on loan from Lazio) 15 DF Danny Mills 16 FW Joseph Desire-Job 17 FW Michael Ricketts

No. Position Player 18 MF Mark Wilson 19 MF Stewart Downing 20 MF Doriva 21 DF Stuart Parnaby 24 DF Andrew Davies 27 MF Boudewijn Zenden (on loan from Chelsea) 28 DF Colin Cooper 29 MF Ricardinho (on loan from São Paulo) 31 DF Andrew Taylor 32 MF Allan Johnston 33 DF David Murphy 34 GK Sam Russell 35 GK Brad Jones 36 GK Ross Turnbull 39 MF Craig Dove - FW Gerard Robinson

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 22 DF Alan Wright (to Sheffield United) 23 MF Carlos Marinelli (released) 26 FW Noel Whelan (to Millwall)

No. Position Player 37 DF Brian Close (to Darlington) 41 FW Jamie Cade (to Colchester United) - MF Chris Brunt (to Sheffield Wednesday)

Transfers

In

Date Player Previous Club Cost 1 July 2003 Doriva Celta Vigo Free[4] 4 August 2003 Alan Wright Unattached Free[5] 24 August 2003 Danny Mills Leeds Loan[6] 28 August 2003 Gaizka Mendieta Lazio Loan (signed at end of season)[7] 30 August 2003 Boudewijn Zenden Chelsea Loan[8] 2 February 2004 Ricardinho São Paulo Free[9] Out Date Player New club Cost 5 August 2003 Noel Whelan Millwall Free[10] 13 August 2003 Mark Crossley Fulham Undisclosed[11] 14 November 2003 Carlos Marinelli Released Free[12] 31 October 2003 Alan Wright Sheffield United Loan (made permanent on 12 January 2004)[13] 30 April 2004 Ricardinho Released Free Premier League Results       Win       Draw       Loss Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk. Game Date Venue Opponent Result F–A Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match 1 16 August 2003 A Fulham 2–3 14,546 Marinelli 10', Németh 81' 2 24 August 2003 H Arsenal 0–4 29,450 3 26 August 2003 A Leicester City 0–0 30,823 Davies 4 30 August 2003 H Leeds 2–3 30,414 Németh 60', Juninho 63' Mendieta 5 13 September 2003 A Bolton 0–2 26,419 6 21 September 2003 H Everton 1–0 28,113 Job 6' 7 27 September 2003 A Southampton 1–0 30,772 Christie 13' 8 5 October 2003 H Chelsea 1–2 29,170 Németh 46' 9 18 October 2003 H Newcastle 0–1 34,081 10 26 October 2003 A Tottenham Hotspur 0–0 32,643 11 1 November 2003 H Wolves 2–0 30,305 Mendieta 73', Juninho 83' 12 8 November 2003 A Aston Villa 2–0 29,898 Zenden 30', Ricketts 49'(pen) 13 22 November 2003 H Liverpool 0–0 34,268 14 29 November 2003 A Manchester City 1–0 46,824 Own Goal 15 6 December 2003 H Portsmouth 0–0 28031 16 13 December 2003 H Charlton 0–0 26,721 17 26 December 2003 A Blackburn 2–2 25,452 Juninho 31', 51' 18 28 December 2003 H Manchester United 0–1 34,738 19 7 January 2004 H Fulham 2–1 27,869 Job 15', Németh 67' 20 10 January 2004 A Arsenal 1–4 38,117 Maccarone 89'(pen) 21 20 January 2004 H Leicester 3–3 27,125 Juninho 8', Maccarone 90', Own Goal 90' 22 31 January 2004 A Leeds 3–0 35,970 Zenden 53', Job 77', Ricketts 89'(pen) 23 7 February 2004 H Blackburn 0–1 28,307 24 11 February 2004 A Manchester United 3–2 67,346 Juninho 34', 38', Job 80' 25 21 February 2004 A Newcastle 1–2 52,156 Zenden 33' 26 3 March 2004 A Birmingham 1–3 29,369 Németh 75' 27 9 March 2004 H Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 31,789 Németh 73' 28 13 March 2004 A Charlton 0–1 26,270 29 20 March 2004 H Birmingham 5–3 30,244 Mendieta 5', Maccarone 21', 45', Southgate 30', Németh 90' 30 27 March 2004 A Everton 1–1 38,210 Joseph-Desire Job 83' 31 3 April 2004 H Bolton 2–0 30,107 Own Goal 8', Greening 51' 32 10 April 2004 A Chelsea 0–0 40,873 33 12 April 2004 H Southampton 3–1 30,768 Juninho 23', Németh 32', Maccarone 49' 34 17 April 2004 A Wolves 0–2 27,975 35 24 April 2004 H Aston Villa 1–2 31,322 Job 41' 36 2 May 2004 A Liverpool 0–2 42,031 37 8 May 2004 H Manchester City 2–1 34,734 Maccarone 8', Németh 32' 38 15 May 2004 A Portsmouth 1–5 20,134 Zenden 27' Cup Results Carling Cup Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers 2 24 September 2003 Brighton Home Won 1-0 (AET) 10,435 Christie 3 29 October 2003 Wigan Away Won 2-1 8,046 Maccarone, Mendieta 4 3 December 2003 Everton Home Drew 0-0 (Won 5-4 pens) 18,568 5 17 December 2003 Tottenham Away Drew 1-1 (Won 5-4 pens) 25,307 Ricketts SF Leg 1 January 20, 2004 Arsenal Away Won 1-0 31,070 Juninho SF Leg 2 3 February 2004 Arsenal Home Won 2-1 8,046 Zenden, Reyes og Final 29 February 2004 Bolton Millennium Stadium Won 2-1 72,634 Job, Zenden (pen) FA Cup Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers 3 3 January 2004 Notts County Home Won 2-0 15,061 Richardson og, Zenden 4 24 January 2004 Arsenal Away Lost 4-1 37,256 Job Player statistics Goalscorers Goalscoring statistics for 2003-04.[14] Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Juninho 8 0 1 9 Németh 8 0 0 8 Job 6 1 1 8 Zenden 5 1 2 8 Maccarone 6 0 1 7 Mendieta 2 0 1 3 Ricketts 2 0 1 3 Christie 1 0 1 2 Marinelli 1 0 0 1 Greening 1 0 0 1 Southgate 1 0 0 1 Own Goals 3 1 1 5 Appearances / Discipline Appearance and disciplinary records for 2003-04 league and cup matches.[2] Name Appearances Yellow cards Red cards Schwarzer 44 0 0 Jones 1 0 0 Nash 1 0 0 Parnaby 16 2 0 Queudrue 40 7 0 Ehiogu 19 3 0 Riggott 24 3 0 Southgate 34 1 0 Mills 37 10 0 Wright 2 0 0 Davies 10 0 0 Stockdale 2 0 0 Cooper 21 3 0 Mendieta 38 3 0 Boateng 43 8 1 Juninho 38 3 0 Downing 24 0 0 Morrison 2 0 0 Greening 29 5 0 Doriva 26 6 0 Marinelli 1 0 0 Zenden 39 5 1 Viduka 21 0 0 Maccarone 30 2 0 Ricketts 30 4 0 Németh 38 2 0 Job 29 1 0 References and notes ^ http://www.kitclassics.co.uk/kits/Middlesbro.png ^ a b ESPNsoccernet: Middlesbrough Squad Statistics ^ Middlesbrough FC 2004-05 ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | Doriva signs new contract at Boro ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | Wright joins Boro ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leeds United | Mills in dark about future ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | McClaren hails Mendieta ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | Zenden aims high for Boro ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | Ricardinho arrives at Boro ^ www.soccerbase.com - The Internet Soccer Database ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Fulham | Crossley joins Fulham ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Middlesbrough | Marinelli leaves Boro ^ OCTOBER TRANSFERS | The Football League | News | Transfers | Transfers ^ http://www.boroscoreforecast.co.uk/200405.htm