2003–04 Manchester United F.C. season

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122nd season in existence of Manchester United

Manchester United 2003–04 football season

The 2003–04 season was Manchester United’s 12th season in the Premier League, and their 29th consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1]

United started the season by winning the 2003 FA Community Shield and then secured a record eleventh FA Cup with a 3–0 win over Millwall at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. However, the club surrendered the Premier League title to unbeaten champions Arsenal, with a second-half dip in league form coinciding with Rio Ferdinand starting an eight-month ban from football due to a missed drugs test and restricting United to a third-place finish.

New to the United side were Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazilian 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning midfielder Kléberson, American goalkeeper Tim Howard, Cameroonian midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba and French striker David Bellion.

United’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup dreams ended in the last 16, with the European exit being particularly painful as a last minute goal by eventual champions Porto put them out of the competition and denied them an eighth successive Champions League quarter-final.

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Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

Date Opponents H/A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
22 July 2003 Celtic N 4–0 Van Nistelrooy 7′, Giggs 27′, Solskjær 39′, Bellion 72′ 66,722
27 July 2003 Club América N 3–1 Van Nistelrooy 48′, Forlán (2) 49′, 80′ 57,365
31 July 2003 Juventus N 4–1 Giggs 25′, Scholes 57′, Van Nistelrooy 60′, Solskjær 79′ 79,000
3 August 2003 Barcelona N 3–1 Forlán (2) 25′, 37′, Van Nistelrooy 85′ 68,396
7 August 2003 Sporting CP A 1–3 Hugo 88′ (o.g.) 55,000
13 August 2003 Stoke City A 1–3 Forlán 68′ 21,436

FA Premier League[edit]

Date Opponents H/A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance League
position
16 August 2003 Bolton Wanderers H 4–0 Giggs (2) 35′, 74′, Scholes 77′, Van Nistelrooy 87′ 67,647 2nd
23 August 2003 Newcastle United A 2–1 Van Nistelrooy 51′, Scholes 59′ 52,165 3rd
27 August 2003 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–0 O’Shea 10′ 67,648 2nd
31 August 2003 Southampton A 0–1 32,066 2nd
13 September 2003 Charlton Athletic A 2–0 Van Nistelrooy (2) 62′, 82′ 26,078 2nd
21 September 2003 Arsenal H 0–0 67,639 3rd
27 September 2003 Leicester City A 4–1 Keane 15′, Van Nistelrooy (3) 16′, 45′, 52′ 32,044 3rd
4 October 2003 Birmingham City H 3–0 Van Nistelrooy 36′ (pen.), Scholes 57′, Giggs 82′ 67,633 2nd
18 October 2003 Leeds United A 1–0 Keane 81′ 40,153 2nd
25 October 2003 Fulham H 1–3 Forlán 45′ 67,727 3rd
1 November 2003 Portsmouth H 3–0 Forlán 37′, Ronaldo 80′, Keane 82′ 67,639 3rd
9 November 2003 Liverpool A 2–1 Giggs (2) 58′, 70′ 44,159 3rd
22 November 2003 Blackburn Rovers H 2–1 Van Nistelrooy 24′, Kléberson 38′ 67,748 3rd
30 November 2003 Chelsea A 0–1 41,932 3rd
6 December 2003 Aston Villa H 4–0 Van Nistelrooy (2) 16′, 45′, Forlán (2) 90′, 90′ 67,621 3rd
13 December 2003 Manchester City H 3–1 Scholes (2) 7′, 73′, Van Nistelrooy 34′ 67,645 2nd
21 December 2003 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 O’Shea 15′, Van Nistelrooy 26′ 35,910 1st
26 December 2003 Everton H 3–2 Butt 9′, Kléberson 44′, Bellion 68′ 67,642 1st
28 December 2003 Middlesbrough A 1–0 Fortune 14′ 34,738 1st
7 January 2004 Bolton Wanderers A 2–1 Scholes 24′, Van Nistelrooy 39′ 27,668 1st
11 January 2004 Newcastle United H 0–0 67,622 1st
17 January 2004 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–1 29,396 2nd
31 January 2004 Southampton H 3–2 Saha 18′, Scholes 37′, Van Nistelrooy 61′ 67,758 2nd
7 February 2004 Everton A 4–3 Saha (2) 9′, 29′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 24′, 89′ 40,190 2nd
11 February 2004 Middlesbrough H 2–3 Van Nistelrooy 45′, Giggs 63′ 67,346 2nd
21 February 2004 Leeds United H 1–1 Scholes 64′ 67,744 2nd
28 February 2004 Fulham A 1–1 Saha 14′ 18,306 3rd
14 March 2004 Manchester City A 1–4 Scholes 35′ 47,284 3rd
20 March 2004 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–0 Giggs 30′, Ronaldo 89′, Bellion 90′ 67,634 3rd
28 March 2004 Arsenal A 1–1 Saha 86′ 38,184 3rd
10 April 2004 Birmingham City A 2–1 Ronaldo 60′, Saha 78′ 29,548 3rd
13 April 2004 Leicester City H 1–0 G. Neville 56′ 67,749 3rd
17 April 2004 Portsmouth A 0–1 20,140 3rd
20 April 2004 Charlton Athletic H 2–0 Saha 28′, G. Neville 65′ 67,477 3rd
24 April 2004 Liverpool H 0–1 67,647 3rd
1 May 2004 Blackburn Rovers A 0–1 29,616 3rd
8 May 2004 Chelsea H 1–1 Van Nistelrooy 76′ 67,609 3rd
15 May 2004 Aston Villa A 2–0 Ronaldo 4′, Van Nistelrooy 10′ 42,573 3rd
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion
Notes:
Date Round Opponents H/A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
4 January 2004 Round 3 Aston Villa A 2–1 Scholes (2) 64′, 68′ 40,371
25 January 2004 Round 4 Northampton Town A 3–0 Silvestre 34′, Hargreaves 47′ (o.g.), Forlán 68′ 7,356
14 February 2004 Round 5 Manchester City H 4–2 Scholes 34′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 71′, 80′, Ronaldo 74′ 67,228
6 March 2004 Round 6 Fulham H 2–1 Van Nistelrooy (2) 25′, 62′ 67,614
3 April 2004 Semi-final Arsenal N 1–0 Scholes 32′ 39,939
22 May 2004 Final Millwall N 3–0 Ronaldo 44′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 65′ (pen.), 81′ 71,350

League Cup[edit]

UEFA Champions League[edit]

Group stage[edit]

Date Opponents H/A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance Group
position
16 September 2003 Panathinaikos H 5–0 Silvestre 13′, Fortune 15′, Solskjær 33′, Butt 40′, Djemba-Djemba 83′ 66,520 1st
1 October 2003 VfB Stuttgart A 1–2 Van Nistelrooy 67′ (pen.) 50,348 2nd
22 October 2003 Rangers A 1–0 P. Neville 5′ 48,730 1st
4 November 2003 Rangers H 3–0 Forlán 6′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 43′, 60′ 66,707 1st
26 November 2003 Panathinaikos A 1–0 Forlán 85′ 6,890 1st
9 December 2003 VfB Stuttgart H 2–0 Van Nistelrooy 45′, Giggs 58′ 67,141 1st

Knockout phase[edit]

Date Round Opponents H/A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
25 February 2004 First knockout round
First leg 		Porto A 1–2 Fortune 14′ 49,977
9 March 2004 First knockout round
Second leg 		Porto H 1–1 Scholes 32′ 67,029

Squad statistics[edit]

Transfers[edit]

United’s first departure of the 2003–04 season was David Beckham, who left Old Trafford after ten years with the Red Devils. On 7 July, forward Danny Webber joined Watford. A month after Webber’s departure, Argentinian midfielder, Juan Sebastián Verón joined United’s rivals Chelsea. Two days later, English forward Jimmy Davis died in a car crash.

Coming in during the summer transfer window were French forward David Bellion, Cameroonian midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba, American goalkeeper Tim Howard, Brazilian midfielder Kléberson, and Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Leaving in the winter transfer window was Alan Tate, who joined Swansea City. First-choice goalkeeper Fabien Barthez rejoined Marseille in April, while Danny Pugh joined Leeds United in late May, in exchange for Alan Smith.

Arriving in the winter transfer window was Louis Saha, who signed from Fulham on 23 January for a fee of £12.82 million. Alan Smith joined United on 26 May from Leeds United in exchange for Danny Pugh (see above). Gabriel Heinze joined United on 11 June from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £6.9 million.

In[edit]

Out[edit]

Loan out[edit]

  1. ^ Beckham’s transfer fee could increase to £24.25 million based on Real Madrid’s performance in the UEFA Champions League over the four years of his contract.

References[edit]


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