2003–04 Football League Cup
Football tournament season
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 .
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
North
Tie no
Home team
Score1
Away team
Attendance
1
Barnsley (3)
1 – 2
Blackpool (3)
5,378
2
Bradford (2)
0 – 0
Darlington (4)
4,077
0 – 0 after extra time — Darlington win 5 – 3 on penalties
3
Chesterfield (3)
0 – 0
Burnley (2)
2,928
0 – 0 after extra time — Burnley win 3 – 2 on penalties
4
Crewe (2)
2 – 0
Wrexham (3)
3,152
5
Doncaster Rovers (4)
3 – 2
Grimsby Town (3)
6,057
6
Huddersfield Town (4)
2 – 1
Derby County (2)
6,672
7
Lincoln City (4)
0 – 1
Stockport County (3)
2,296
8
Macclesfield Town (4)
1 – 2
Sheffield United (2)
2,764
9
Port Vale (3)
0 – 0
Nottingham Forest (2)
4,950
0 – 0 after extra time — Nottingham Forest win 3 – 2 on penalties
10
Preston North End (2)
0 – 0
Notts County (3)
5,016
0 – 0 after extra time — Notts County win 7 – 6 on penalties
11
Rotherham United (2)
2 – 1
York City (4)
2,919
12
Scunthorpe United (4)
2 – 1
Oldham Athletic (3)
2,366
13
Tranmere Rovers (3)
1 – 0
Bury (4)
4,272
14
Walsall (2)
2 – 1
Carlisle United (4)
4,665
15
Wigan Athletic (2)
2 – 0
Hull City (4)
3,295
16
Mansfield Town (4)
1 – 2
Sunderland (2)
17
Sheffield Wednesday (3)
1 – 1
Hartlepool United (3)
13,410
2 - 2 after extra time, Hartlepool win 5 - 4 on penalties
18
Stoke City (2)
2 – 1
Rochdale (4)
4,678
South
Tie no
Home team
Score1
Away team
Attendance
1
Bristol Rovers (4)
0 – 1
Brighton & Hove Albion (3)
5,518
2
Cambridge United (4)
1 – 2
Gillingham (2)
3,044
3
Cardiff (2)
4 – 1
Leyton Orient (4)
4,503
4
Cheltenham (4)
1 – 2
QPR (3)
3,697
5
Colchester (3)
2 – 1
Plymouth (3)
2,367
6
Luton Town (3)
4 – 1
Yeovil Town (4)
4,337
7
Millwall (2)
0 – 1
Oxford United (4)
4,781
8
Northampton Town (4)
1 – 0
Norwich City (2)
5,476
9
Southend United (4)
2 – 3
Swindon Town (3)
3,385
10
Torquay United (4)
1 – 1
Crystal Palace (2)
3,366
1 – 1 after extra time — Crystal Palace win 3 – 1 on penalties
11
Watford (2)
0 – 0
Bournemouth (3)
9,561
Watford win 1 – 0 after extra time
12
West Bromwich Albion (2)
4 – 0
Brentford (3)
10,440
13
Wycombe Wanderers (3)
2 – 0
Wimbledon (2)
1,986
14
Boston United (4)
1 – 3
Reading (2)
2,055
15
Bristol City (3)
1 – 1
Swansea City (4)
5,807
Bristol City win 4 – 1 after extra time
16
Coventry City (2)
2 – 0
Peterborough United (3)
8,280
17
Ipswich Town (2)
0 – 0
Kidderminster Harriers (4)
11,118
Ipswich win 1 – 0 after extra time
18
West Ham (2)
3 – 1
Rushden & Diamonds (3)
13,715
1 Score after 90 minutes
Second round
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
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
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.
Quarter-finals
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.
Semi-finals
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
Second leg
Bolton Wanderers won 5–4 on aggregate.
Middlesbrough won 3–1 on aggregate.
Final
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.
See also
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