THE VITALS:

Team: Real Madrid

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2003-04 (Used for the 2003-04 La Liga season)

Name/Number: Beckham #23

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

This near 20 year old shirt still remains in very good condition as the material is excellent nick, as is the embroidered crest and the print on the back, however, as the sponsor has washed out, it prevents it from being labelled as excellent. Please note also note that the name and numbering is not the original club lettering, and this has been reflected in the price.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 21 inches

Shirt Length: 29.5 inches 

Made in Adidas’ ‘ClimaLite’ range that they introduced in 2003; the dimensions of this shirt would seemingly lend themselves better to a size large rather than a size medium as per the sizing of that era.

DESCRIPTION:

Both of Real Madrid’s shirts in the 2003-04 season will be synonymous with the ‘Beckham-Mania’ that surrounded the England captain’s arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2003! While the home shirts was famous for the elasticated colour and font on the back; the away strip will be remembered as adidas's re-introduced the use of a Navy away strip for ‘Los Blancos’; deviating away from the traditional use of black as they change strip. The navy main-body would be complemented by light blue as the secondary colour and this shirt also had the peculiar appearance of the extra space that was in between with the sponsor and the Adidas embroidery and the crest.

THE SEASON:

The 2003-04 season would signal the end of one era and the start of another for Real Madrid! Vicente del Bosque, after guiding Real Madrid back to La Liga glory after a fierce title-tilt in the 2002-03 season; would be let go of after 4 fine years with the club! Club captain: Fernando Hierro would also be let go of after 14 seasons with the club!

The new regime would be spearheaded by the arrival of David Beckham from Manchester United; thus, ending the longest running transfer saga of 2003! He also would be joined by Carlos Queiroz from Manchester United, with the Portuguese taking over from the recently deposed Del Bosque. He would have to begin his new foray into management without the midfield lynchpin: Claude Makelele, with the Frenchman drawing the short-straw to accommodate Beckham into the ‘Galactico’ stratosphere.

With the squad now including: Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, in addition to Roberto Carlos and Raul; anything less than getting off the ground running on all fronts would not be acceptable by the fans and club hierarchy alike. Queiroz’ first opportunity for silverware came in the Supercopa de Espana clashes with Mallorca. Mallorca would stun the La Liga champions in the 1^st Leg at Son Moix, however, Real would overturn the deficit 3 days later, as they won 3-0 at home, with Raul, Ronaldo and crucially, David Beckham netting to bring home the Supercopa!

The La Liga campaign began with a 2-1 over Real Betis on August 30^th, with Beckham and Ronaldo delivering for the home side. Real Madrid would struggle on the road once again as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal in their next outing. That however, was quickly put in the rear view, as they punished Malaga 3-1 away; this win coming just 8 days after thrashing Valladolid 7-2 at home! The Champions League campaign began with a 4-2 at home to Marseille, however the bubble would burst on September 27^th, when they were beaten by Valencia 2-0.

The win galvanised the team as they enjoyed a fine October; scooping up 6 wins from a possible 7; in fact, those 6 wins all came in succession – spanning over La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Champions League! Regrettably, the opportunity to usurp Deportivo La Coruna at the top of the table was missed following the goalless draw away to Real Zaragoza on October 28^th.

November began with a fine 3-0 at home against Athletic Bilbao, which saw them go level on points with Valencia, who had moved to the summit of the division. Once again, the momentum would botch as Sevilla defeated them 4-1 in a stunning upset on November 9^th! An inconsistent month would see them qualify for the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League but fail to establish headway at the top of the table in La Liga.

The final month of a rollercoaster 2003 would feature back to back games against fierce rivals: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Deportivo; and Real were brilliant – first beating their city rivals 2-0 at home, before going to the Camp Nou and claiming a 2-1 victory in the first ‘El Clasico’ of the season! They would make it a trilogy of wins as Depor were also beaten 2-1! They would owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ronaldo who scored in each of the 3 wins and he would end the year having scored in each of his previous 5 La Liga games; and consequently, Real Madrid would end 2003 with a 2 point advantage over Valencia in 2^nd place!

Raul would score the only goal in Real Madrid’s first game of 2004 – a 1-0 win over Murcia on January 3^rd, however, the year would not begin kindly for ‘Los Blancos’ as they would record just 1 victory in each of their next 4 games across league and cup.

Following the January 18^th draw with Real Betis; Real Madrid would seemingly awaken from their slumber and reel off 6 wins on the bounce in both competitions to take a 2-0 advantage into the 2^nd Leg of their Copa del Rey showdown with Sevilla, and restore a 2 point lead ahead of Valencia in the league.

With the 1^st Leg of Champions League Last 16 meeting Bayern Munich at the Olympic Stadium looming on February 24^th; they would hold out for a 1-0 defeat to Sevilla to reach the Spanish Cup Final, and then need a late Luis Figo penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw at home with Valencia. Crucially, the point meant that should both teams finish level on points at the end of the season; Valencia would win the title by way of their superior head-to-head record! Ahead of the Bayern clash, Real Madrid would pick up a fine 4-2 win away against Espanyol, before earning a priceless 1-1 draw with Bayern! They would conclude an indifferent February by seeing off Celta Vigo 4-2 and carving out an 8 point niche for themselves at the top of the table!

A critical month of March unfolded as a disaster for the treble chasing Real Madrid as draws with Racing Santander and Zaragoza, followed by a defeat to Bilbao saw their lead at top reduced to just 1 point! Embarrassingly, they would be beaten 3-2 by Zaragoza in the Copa Del Rey Final on March 17^th! Fortunately, their 1-0 win over Bayern Munich on March 10^th spared any potential embarrassment in Europe, and with a tie against Monaco that came next, they won the 1^st Leg 4-2 on March 24^th in an incredible game! Meanwhile, the league slump ended with a 5-1 hammering of Sevilla; thus, positive results in April could almost instantly eviscerate the memory of March…

April began with a 2-1 win over Albacete on April 3^rd to keep themselves a point clear at the top of La Liga; yet if they thought March was a nightmare, the season would end in unimaginable disaster! First came the sensational 3-1 defeat to Monaco in France on April 6^th – a result that saw the French side prevail to the semi-final on away goals! The April 17^th Madrid Derby victory over Atletico would be their final win of the season as run of 5 defeats in a row – including losses to Barcelona and Deportivo saw them plunge from 1^st to a miserly end of season finish of 4^th place.

The notable players that season were:

Ronaldo, Raul, Fernando Morientes, Javier Portillo, Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Borja, Guti, Santi Solari, David Beckham, Antonio Nunez, Esteban Cambiasso, Alvaro Mejia, Roberto Carlos, Ivan Helguera, Francisco Pavon, Alvaro Arbeloa, Michel Salgado, Alvaro Arbeloa, Juanfran, Raul Bravo, Iker Casillas, Cesar Sanchez, Diego Lopez