2003–04 AFC Ajax season

Ajax 2003–04 football season

Ajax

2003–04 season

Manager

Ronald Koeman

Eredivise

1st

KNVB Cup

Round of 16

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Top goalscorer

Zlatan Ibrahimović (13)

Home colours

Away colours

← 2002–03

2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 Dutch football season, AFC Ajax competed in the Eredivisie.

Season summary

Ajax reclaimed the Eredivisie title.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ROU	Bogdan Lobonț
2	DF	TUN	Hatem Trabelsi
4	DF	FRA	Julien Escudé
5	MF	USA	John O'Brien
6	DF	CZE	Tomáš Galásek
7	MF	BEL	Tom Soetaers
8	MF	RSA	Steven Pienaar
9	FW	SWE	Zlatan Ibrahimović
10	MF	NED	Rafael van der Vaart (captain)
11	MF	NED	Victor Sikora
12	DF	NED	John Heitinga
14	DF	BEL	Jelle Van Damme
15	DF	BRA	Maxwell
16	MF	NED	Nigel de Jong
17	FW	GRE	Yannis Anastasiou


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	NED	Wesley Sneijder
19	FW	BEL	Wesley Sonck
20	MF	FIN	Jari Litmanen
21	GK	NED	Maarten Stekelenburg
22	MF	GHA	Abubakari Yakubu
23	DF	CZE	Zdeněk Grygera
26	MF	GHA	Anthony Obodai
27	MF	NED	Daniël de Ridder
29	MF	ROU	Nicolae Mitea
30	MF	AUS	Jason Culina
31	GK	NED	Sander Boschker
33	DF	BEL	Thomas Vermaelen
37	MF	BEL	Tom De Mul
39	FW	NED	Ryan Babel

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	FIN	Petri Pasanen (on loan to Portsmouth)
17	FW	BRA	Wamberto (on loan to Mons)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
27	MF	NED	Cedric van der Gun (on loan to ADO Den Haag)
28	MF	MAR	Nourdin Boukhari^{[notes 1]} (on loan to NAC Breda)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	NED	Jamal Akachar

Transfers

In

Zdeněk Grygera - Sparta Prague, 22 July, €3,500,000
Wesley Sonck - Genk
Sander Boschker - Twente
Julien Escudé - Rennes
Nicolae Mitea - Dinamo București
Tom Soetaers - Roda JC
Yannis Anastasiou - Roda JC

Out

Mido - Marseille, 12 July, €12,000,000
Nikos Machlas - contract terminated, July
Cristian Chivu - Roma, September, €18,000,000
Andy van der Meyde - Inter Milan, £4,000,000
Mitchell Piqué - FC Oss
Richard Witschge - ADO' 20
Joey Didulica^{[notes 2]} - Austria Wien
André Bergdølmo - Borussia Dortmund

Loan out

Cedric van der Gun - ADO Den Haag, 4 September, end of season
Nourdin Boukhari - NAC Breda, 4 September, end of season
Stefano Seedorf - NAC Breda, end of season
Petri Pasanen - Portsmouth, end of season
Wamberto - Mons, 18 months

Results

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

GAK

Ajax

12 August 2003	GAK	1–1	Ajax	Stadion Graz-Liebenau, Graz
20:30	Pogatetz 56'	Report MatchCentre	Sneijder 76'	Referee: Massimo De Santis (Italy)

Ajax

GAK

27 August 2003	Ajax	2–1 (a.e.t.)	GAK	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
20:30	Ibrahimović 15' Galásek 103' (pen.)	Report MatchCentre	Kollmann 40'	Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

Group stage

Milan

Ajax

16 September 2003	Milan	1–0	Ajax	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Inzaghi 67'	Report MatchCentre		Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

Ajax

Club Brugge

1 October 2003	Ajax	2–0	Club Brugge	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
20:45	Sonck 11', 54'	Report MatchCentre		Referee: Graham Barber (England)

Ajax

Celta Vigo

22 October 2003	Ajax	1–0	Celta Vigo	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
20:45	Ibrahimović 53'	Report MatchCentre		Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

Celta Vigo

Ajax

4 November 2003	Celta Vigo	3–2	Ajax	Balaídos, Vigo
20:45	Luccin 25' (pen.) Milošević 39' Vágner 63'	Report MatchCentre	Sonck 53' Van der Vaart 82'	Referee: Gilles Veissière (France)

Ajax

Milan

26 November 2003	Ajax	0–1	Milan	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
20:45		Report MatchCentre	Shevchenko 52'	Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

Club Brugge

Ajax

9 December 2003	Club Brugge	2–1	Ajax	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges
20:45	Lange 27' Sæternes 84'	Report MatchCentre	Sonck 42' (pen.)	Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy)

References

^ "FootballSquads - Ajax - 2003/04".

Notes

^ Boukhari was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, but also qualified to represent Morocco internationally and made his international debut for Morocco in November 2001.
^ Didulica was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and represented Australia at U-23 level, but also qualified to represent Croatia internationally through his father and made his international debut for Croatia in March 2004.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax

Players
- M
- F
Managers
Honours
Seasons
- M
- F
Cup
Europe
Records and statistics
Current season

History

Teams

I. Ajax 1 (First team)
II. Jong Ajax (Reserves)
III. Ajax Zaterdag (Amateurs)
Ajax vrouwen (Women's)
Ajax eSports (Pro Gaming)

Grounds

Het Veldje (1893–1900)
Amsterdam-Noord (1900–1907)
Het Houten Stadion (1907–1934)
De Meer Stadion (1934–1996)
Olympic Stadium (1934–1996)
Johan Cruyff Arena (1996–present)

Training grounds

Sportpark De Toekomst (1996–present)
adidas miCoach Performance Centre (2011–present)

Academy

Ajax Youth Academy

Tournaments

Amsterdam Tournament (1975–2009)
U19: Copa Amsterdam (2005–present)
U17: Future Cup (2010–present)

Rivalries

De Klassieker (with Feyenoord)
De Topper (with PSV)
Noord-Hollandse Derby (with AZ ‧ Telstar ‧ FC Volendam)
Hofstad vs. Hoofdstad (with ADO Den Haag)
Stadsderby (with Blauw-Wit ‧ DWS ‧ De Volewijckers)
Other (with FC Groningen ‧ FC Twente ‧ FC Utrecht)

Supporters

Culture

A.F.C.A (clothing)
A.F.C.A (hooligans)
AFC Ajax N.V.
"Ajax"
Ajax Experience
"Ajax Hup Hup Hup"
"Ajax-mars"
"Ajax, Olé Olé Olé"
Ajax Supportershome
Battle of Beverwijk
Big Three
"Blah Blah Blah"
"Bloed, zweet en tranen"
Club van 100
F-side
Halte ArenA
"Hava Nagila"
De kabel
Kamp Seedorf
Lucky Lynx
"Mijn Stad"
De Mistwedstrijd
Nail bombs incident
North Up Alliance
"Oei Oei Oei (Dat Was Me Weer Een Loei)"
South Crew
Staafincident
"Three Little Birds"
"Tokyo"
Total Football
VAK410
"De Voetbalmatch"
Vuurwerkincident
"We gaan naar Londen"
"We gaan naar Rome"
"Wij zijn Ajax"
World of Ajax

Media

Former teams

Ajax Baseball Club (1922–1972)
Ajax Cape Town (1999–2020)
Ajax Orlando Prospects (2002–2007)
Ajax Hellas Youth Academy (2011–2016)

Affiliated clubs

v t e AFC Ajax seasons
1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

AFC Ajax seasons

1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24

2003–04 in Dutch football

« 2002–03

2004–05 »

League competitions	Eredivisie Eerste Divisie Hoofdklasse Eerste Klasse
Cup competitions	KNVB Cup (Final) Johan Cruyff Shield KNVB Women's Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup

Club seasons
Eredivisie	ADO Den Haag Ajax AZ Feyenoord Groningen Heerenveen NAC Breda NEC PSV RBC RKC Roda JC Twente Utrecht Vitesse Volendam Willem II Zwolle
Eerste Divisie	AGOVV Cambuur Den Bosch Dordrecht Eindhoven Emmen Excelsior Fortuna Sittard Go Ahead Eagles De Graafschap Haarlem Helmond Sport Heracles Almelo MVV Sparta Rotterdam Telstar TOP Oss Veendam VVV-Venlo