# 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.
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 | Score$^1$ | 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 | Score$^1$ | 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 |

## 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 | Score$^1$ | 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 | Score$^1$ | 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.

### 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.