2003–04 Football League Cup

The 2003–04 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 44th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling.

2003–04 Football League Cup
Carling Cup, League Cup
Tournament details
Country England
 Wales
Teams92
Defending championsLiverpool
Final positions
ChampionsMiddlesbrough (1st title)
Runner-upBolton Wanderers
Tournament statistics
Matches played93
Top goal scorer(s)Juan Pablo Ángel
(7 goals)

The competition began in August 2003 and ended with the final on 29 February 2004. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final match, as it had done since 2001 as the reconstruction was still taking place on Wembley Stadium in London.

The winners were Middlesbrough who beat Bolton Wanderers in the final 2-1 and collected their first major piece of silverware in their history and as a result of their victory qualified for European football for the first time. Joseph Desire-Job gave Middlesbrough the lead with just 2 minutes gone and a Bolo Zenden penalty five minutes later doubled their advantage. Kevin Davies pulled a goal back in the 21st minute but Middlesbrough held on. It was to be until 2008 when another English manager won a domestic tournament when Harry Redknapp (then at Portsmouth) lifted the FA Cup.

First round

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1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round

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The 36 winners from the First Round joined 12 of the 20 Premier League clubs not participating in the UEFA Champions League in Round Two.

  • The draw was made on 16 August 2003.
  • Matches occurred during the week commencing 22 August.
  • Extra time played when the scores were level after 90 minutes.
Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Blackpool 1 – 0 Birmingham City 7,370
2 Bristol City 0 – 0 Watford 5,213
Bristol City win 1 – 0 after extra time
3 Cardiff City 2 – 3 West Ham 10,724
4 Charlton Athletic 3 – 3 Luton Town 10,905
4 – 4 after extra time - Charlton Athletic win 8 - 7 on penalties
5 Crystal Palace 2 – 1 Doncaster Rovers 4,904
6 Hartlepool United 1 – 2 West Bromwich Albion 5,265
7 Leicester City 1 – 0 Crewe Alexandra 27,675
8 Notts County 2 – 1 Ipswich Town 4,059
9 Portsmouth 5 – 2 Northampton Town 11,130
10 Rotherham United 1 – 0 Colchester United 2,474
11 Scunthorpe United 2 – 3 Burnley 2,915
12 Sheffield United 0 – 2 QPR 9,578
13 Stoke City 0 – 2 Gillingham 4,607
14 Sunderland 2 – 4 Huddersfield Town 13,516
15 Tranmere Rovers 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest 4,477
0 – 0 after extra time - Nottingham Forest win 4 - 1 on penalties
16 Wigan Athletic 1 – 0 Fulham 4,874
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – 0 Darlington 10,232
18 Wycombe Wanderers 0 – 5 Aston Villa 6,072
19 Bolton Wanderers 3 – 1 Walsall 5,229
20 Coventry City 0 – 3 Tottenham Hotspur 15,474
21 Everton 3 – 0 Stockport County 19,807
22 Leeds United 2 – 2 Swindon Town 29,211
2 – 2 after extra time - Leeds United win 4 - 3 on penalties
23 Middlesbrough 0 – 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 10,435
Middlesbrough win 1 – 0 after extra time
24 Oxford United 1 – 3 Reading 9,870

1 Score after 90 minutes

Third round

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Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City joined the 24 winners from the Second Round. Matches were played on the week commencing 27 October 2003

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Aston Villa 1 – 0 Leicester City 26,729
2 Blackburn Rovers 3 – 4 Liverpool 16,918
3 Chelsea 4 – 2 Notts County 35,997
4 Everton 1 – 0 Charlton Athletic 24,863
5 Newcastle United 1 – 1 West Bromwich Albion 46,932
West Bromwich Albion win 2 – 1 after extra time
6 Nottingham Forest 2 – 4 Portsmouth 20,078
7 Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 0 West Ham
Tottenham Hotspur win 1 – 0 after extra time
8 Wigan Athletic 1 – 2 Middlesbrough 8,046
9 Arsenal 1 – 1 Rotherham United 27,451
1 – 1 after extra time - Arsenal win 9 - 8 on penalties
10 Blackpool 1 – 3 Crystal Palace 6,010
11 Bolton Wanderers 2 – 1 Gillingham 5,258
12 Bristol City 1 – 3 Southampton 17,408
13 Leeds United 1 – 1 Manchester United 37,546
Manchester United win 3 – 2 after extra time
14 QPR 0 – 3 Manchester City 16,773
15 Reading 1 – 0 Huddersfield Town 11,892
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – 0 Burnley 18,548

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

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  • The draw was made on 30 November 2003.
  • Matches were played in the week commencing 1 December.
  • Extra time played when scores level at 90 minutes.
Aston Villa3–0Crystal Palace
Symons   22' (o.g.)
McCann   70'
Ángel   79'
Attendance: 24,258
Referee: Mike Dean

Liverpool2–3Bolton Wanderers
Murphy   66'
Šmicer   88'
Jardel   4'
Okacha   79'
Djorkaeff   90' (pen.)
Attendance: 33,185
Referee: Mike Riley

Middlesbrough0–0 (a.e.t.)Everton
Penalties
5–4
Attendance: 18,568
Referee: Mark Halsey

Reading0–1Chelsea
Hasselbaink   57'
Attendance: 24,107
Referee: Steve Bennett

Tottenham Hotspur3–1Manchester City
Anderton   9'
Postiga   30'
Kanouté   90'
Fowler   80'
Attendance: 31,727
Referee: Paul Durkin

West Bromwich Albion2–0Manchester United
Haas   6'
Dobie   56'
Attendance: 25,282
Referee: Jeff Winter

Arsenal5–1Wolverhampton Wanderers
Aliadière   24', 71'
Kanu   68'
Wiltord   79'
Fàbregas   88'
Rae   81'
Highbury, London
Attendance: 28,161

Southampton2–0Portsmouth
Beattie   33', 90'
Attendance: 29,201
Referee: Graham Poll

Quarter-finals

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The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 6 December 2003. Matches were played in the week beginning 15 December 2003. The only team from outside the Premier League competing in this round was West Bromwich Albion, who lost 2–0 to Arsenal.

West Bromwich Albion0–2Arsenal
Kanu   25'
Aliadière   57'
Attendance: 20,369
Referee: Matt Messias

Bolton Wanderers1–0 (a.e.t.)Southampton
Pedersen   115'
Attendance: 13,957
Referee: Phil Dowd

Tottenham Hotspur1–1 (a.e.t.)Middlesbrough
Anderton   2' M. Ricketts   86'
Penalties
4–5
Attendance: 25,307
Referee: Mike Dean

Aston Villa2–1Chelsea
Ángel   16'
McCann   78'
J. Cole   69'
Attendance: 30,414
Referee: Neale Barry

Semi-finals

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The semi-final draw was made on 20 December 2003 Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 19 January and 26 January 2004, however the second leg of Middlesbrough v Arsenal was not played until 3 February 2004.

First leg

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Arsenal0–1Middlesbrough
Juninho   53'
Highbury, London
Attendance: 31,070
Referee: Steve Dunn

Bolton Wanderers5–2Aston Villa
Okocha   2', 80'
Nolan   9'
Giannakopoulos   17'
Ngotty   74'
Ángel   20', 56'
Attendance: 16,302
Referee: Paul Durkin

Second leg

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Aston Villa2–0Bolton Wanderers
Hitzlsperger   10'
Samuel   88'
Attendance: 36,883
Referee: Steve Bennett

Bolton Wanderers won 5–4 on aggregate.


Middlesbrough2–1Arsenal
Zenden   69'
Reyes   85' (o.g.)
Edu   77'

Middlesbrough won 3–1 on aggregate.

Final

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The 2004 Carling Cup Final was played on 29 February 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was contested by Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough won the match 2-1 and in doing so collected their first major piece of silverware in their history and qualified for the European football in the UEFA Cup for the first time.

Bolton Wanderers1–2Middlesbrough
Davies   21' Report Job   2'
Zenden   7' (pen.)

See also

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