Middlesbrough picked up their first major trophy in Cardiff on February 29, 2004.
Two early goals and nerves of steel put earlier woes firmly in the past as the packed Millenium Stadium crowd witnessed the highlight of a golden era for Boro.
Here's how the Gazette reported on that historic league cup final.
View gallery Gallery: Boro win the 2004 Carling Cup
View gallery Sheer bliss!
Boro finally put 128 years of failure to rest on the most glorious afternoon that Teesside has surely ever witnessed.
We may have had no fingernails left, thousands of hearts were about to give up beating, while there'll be long queues at doctors' surgeries this week for blood pressure tablets.
But maybe you have to suffer the pain to taste the ecstasy - and it doesn't get any better than this.
The boys did it. They damn well did it.
Boro have won a trophy at last and we're all checking our passports in preparation for next season's trip into Europe.
A whole new generation of young Josephs, Bolos and Gaizkas will be born on Teesside before the end of the year.
Bringing home the Carling Cup was well worth the long wait and the ecstatic scenes scenes that greeted the final whistle - with the celebrations which followed - will live in our memories for the rest of our lives.
Few of us would have expected the game to unfold in the way in which it did because Boro effectively had the cup won after seven stunning minutes.
Two glorious goals - with Joseph Job to the fore in both of them - should have left Bolton on their knees.
The wonderful start that we all dreamed about on Saturday night arrived after only one minute and 45 seconds.
Gaizka Mendieta started the move on the right and brought in Bolo Zenden with a defence-splitting pass out to the left.
The Dutchman made space before hammering an intelligent, low cross right through to the Bolton goalmouth, which was perfect for Job to ghost in and stab home at the far post.
Before we could catch our breaths, Boro had the opportunity to make it two from the penalty spot.
Job turned quickly inside the box after picking up a low through ball from Mendieta and was tripped by Emerson Thome as he prepared to go clear. It was a clear-cut penalty but maybe a brave decision by Mike Riley to award it as such a crucial stage.
Once the referee had waved away Bolton's ten-man protest, Zenden stepped forward to take the kick but slipped as he reached the ball, and he must have been mightily relieved to see his straight-struck shot rebound high into the net off Jussi Jaaskelainen's boot as the keeper dived to the right.
You had to kick yourself because the Cup was apparently in the bag with 83 minutes to play still remaining.
As Boro battled to hold their nerve, they continued to create on the break and might have scored a third goal when a dangerous cross from Juninho was screwed over his own bar by Thome.
Yet the game turned dramatically just two minutes later when Juninho lost the ball on the right.
Kevin Davies received the ball with his back to goal, spun wide round Gareth Southgate but was still as a narrow angle to the goal. So much so that when he unleashed a strong low drive, it looked easy meat for Mark Schwarzer.
But the keeper inexplicably fumbled the shot and there was agony for Boro and their travelling faithful when the ball ended up in the back of the net.
Before Boro could settle again, they were being ripped apart by rampant Bolton attacks.
Jay Jay Okocha sent a dipping free kick onto the roof of Boro's net, which was the start of a spell of pressure that needed every hand to the pumps as Bolton regularly got six men into the box in apparent non-stop attacks.
Bolton were denied by the inside of Boro's left-hand post when Per Frandsen's shot came back off the woodwork and then Schwarzer made a remarkable save from the rebound by smotheirng Youri Djorkarff's follow-up shot when it looked certain the Frenchman would score.
On 32 minutes Ugo Ehiogu got up to head away a Bruno N'Gotty free kick by Djorkaeff picked up the loose ball and fired it niches wide of Boro's left-hand post.
Schwarter then fully redeemed himself with a second fantastic save, again from Djorkaeff, following a mis-kick from Southgate.
Boro were forced to operate on automatic pilot throughout a torrid 15-minute spell, but they somehow kept Bolton at bay and then afterwards always had a slight edge.
The pressure was broken in 37 minutes when Job made a strong run through the middle and linked up with George Boateng before Mendieta fired well wide from a good position.
Schwarzer then made another fine save from a 30-yard piledriver from Okocha as Bolton finished the half strongly.
During the interval there was good reason to assume that Boro might not hang on, but in fact they found new inner strength and were the better side throughout the second half - even though we gained a dozen grey hairs every time Bolton pushed forward.
As Boro reasserted themselves, they created the best chance of the half when Job released Mendieta, who ran clear before chipping over the advancing Jaaskelainen and over the bar.
Nolan wasted a chance for Bolton when heading straight into Schwarzer's arms from a Nicky Hunt cross, but otherwise all the best chances throughout the rest of the half belonged to Boro.
Jaaskelainen made a fine save from a Mendieta free kick and then, as Bolton poured forward in the final ten minutes, Boro created a handful of great openings on the break.
Juninho fired wide after being put through by substitute Michael Ricketts, Mendieta needed too much time after being set up by Juninho and then Ricketts fired straight at Jaaskelainen follwing another pass from Juninho.
Four minutes of added time caused more missed heartbeats, but at the final whistle nobody could argue that Boro deserved to bring the trophy back to Teesside.
As Steve McClaren said afterwards, there were 12 heroes out there.
Maybe none did better than Zenden, who enjoyed his finest hour in a Boro shirt, with his marvellous defensive work supporting his effectiveness on the break.
Mendieta and Juninho also did well on the break after Job's wonderful early show.
In midfield, George Boateng was a colossus, tackling everything that moved.
When the defence was under pressure, every man did his job with Southgate a tower of strength from beginning to end and Ehiogu enjoying a magnificent second half.
Now the club must move forward, after breaking a 128-year hoodoo, and if it is going to get better than this, the I, for one, can't wait.
MATCH STATS
Referee: Mike Riley Weather: Indoors Attendance: 72,634
Shots: Boro 8 Bolton 11
Corners: Boro 2 Bolton 4
Offsides: Boro 5 Bolton 4
Fouls: Boro 18 Bolton 21
Bookings: Boateng, foul on Nolan 23; Frandson, foul on Boateng 23; Campo, foul on Mendieta 39; Charlton, foul on Juninho 90; Ricketts, time wasting 90
Goals: Job 2, Zenden 7, Davies 21
Man of the match: Zenden
Boro: Schwarzer, Mills, Queudrue, Ehiogu, Southgate, Boateng, Mendieta, Doriva, Job (Ricketts 65), Juninho, Zenden. Subs: Jones, Riggott, Downing, Maccarone
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt (Stellos 88), Charlton, Thome, N'Gotty, Campo, Nolan (Moreno 78), Frandsen (Pederson 64), Davies, Okocha, Djorkaeff. Subs: Poole, Barness
