Chairman Sir Roy Gardner Stadium Old Trafford FA Cup Winners | Manager Sir Alex Ferguson Premier League 3rd League Cup Fourth Round | |
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.
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United won a record eleventh FA Cup with a 3–0 win over Millwall at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but 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 World Cup-winning midifelder Kléberson, American goalkeeper Tim Howard, Cameroonian midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba and French striker David Bellion.
United's European Cup 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 European Cup quarter-final.
FA Premier League
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Transfers
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.