2004–05 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

West Bromwich Albion
2004–05 season
Chairman Jeremy Peace
Manager Gary Megson (until 26 October)[1]
Frank Burrows (caretaker)
Bryan Robson (from 9 November)[2]
Stadium The Hawthorns
FA Premier League 17th
FA Cup Fourth round
League Cup Second round
Top goalscorer League:
Robert Earnshaw (11)
All:
Robert Earnshaw (14)
Highest home attendance 27,751 (vs. Portsmouth, 15 May 2005)
Lowest home attendance 23,849 (vs. Bolton, 2 October 2004)
Average home league attendance 25,986

During the 2004–05 English football season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary

West Bromwich Albion managed to retain their Premiership status despite being in last place on Christmas Day. This was the first time in the history of the Premiership this had happened. Sunderland and Leicester City have since equalled this feat (Sunderland in 2013-14, Leicester in 2014-15), although they secured survival before the final day.

The relegation dog fight

Going into the final round of matches, no team was assured of relegation. In each of the last three weekends of the season, the team that was bottom of the table at the start of the weekend finished it outside the drop zone. The final round of the season on 15 May started with West Bromwich on the bottom, Southampton and Crystal Palace one point clear and Norwich City in the last safe spot and two points from the bottom. For the first time since the advent of the current Premier League in 1992–1993, no club was assured of relegation going into the final day. The final matchday was publicised by Sky Sports as "Survival Sunday", with accompanying promotional material advertising the last matchday like a title fight or epic movie blockbuster.

West Brom, who had been bottom of the table and eight points from safety at Christmas, did their part by defeating Portsmouth at home 2–0. Norwich, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, lost 6–0 at Fulham and went down. Southampton lost 2–1 at home to Manchester United. Palace, away to Charlton Athletic, were leading 2–1 after 71 minutes, but with eight minutes to go Jonathan Fortune equalised for the Addicks to relegate the Eagles. Thus, West Brom stayed up, and changed history, becoming the first club in Premiership history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas.

At the end of 90 minutes in all 4 matches, Sky cameras focused on the Hawthorns, as confirmation of other results began to filter through. Once the realisation dawned on the players and fans that survival had been achieved, a mass pitch invasion was sparked, with huge celebrations. The Portsmouth fans in the away end of the ground joined in the celebrations and party atmosphere, as, through losing 2-0 to West Brom, they had "helped" relegate arch-rivals Southampton. The defeat itself mattered little to Portsmouth, as they would be unable to improve on their 16th position due to 15th-placed Blackburn Rovers' greater points tally.

Squad

Squad at end of season

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

No. Position Player
1 England GK Russell Hoult
2 England DF Riccardo Scimeca
3 England DF Paul Robinson
4 Denmark DF Thomas Gaardsøe
5 England DF Darren Moore[3]
6 England DF Darren Purse
7 Wales MF Jason Koumas
8 England MF Jonathan Greening
9 England FW Geoff Horsfield
10 Wales MF Andy Johnson[4]
11 Hungary MF Zoltán Gera
12 England MF Richard Chaplow
14 Denmark DF Martin Albrechtsen
No. Position Player
15 England MF Kieran Richardson (on loan from Manchester United)
17 England FW Rob Hulse
18 England MF Lloyd Dyer
19 England DF Neil Clement
20 Republic of Macedonia MF Artim Šakiri
21 England FW Kevin Campbell
24 England DF Ronnie Wallwork
25 Nigeria FW Nwankwo Kanu
28 Republic of Ireland GK Joe Murphy
29 Poland GK Tomasz Kuszczak
33 Japan MF Junichi Inamoto
34 Wales FW Robert Earnshaw[5]

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. Position Player
12 Scotland FW Scott Dobie[6] (to Millwall)
15 England DF Sean Gregan (to Leeds United)
16 Romania DF Cosmin Contra (on loan from Atlético Madrid)
18 England MF Lloyd Dyer (on loan to Coventry City)
21 Iceland DF Larus Sigurdsson (retired)
22 Switzerland DF Bernt Haas (to SC Bastia)
23 Republic of Ireland MF James O'Connor (to Burnley)
No. Position Player
26 Mali DF Sékou Berthé (released)
27 England DF James Chambers (to Watford)
30 Australia GK Simon Miotto (released)
31 England DF Phillip Midworth (to Burton Albion)
32 England DF Adam Chambers (to Kidderminster Harriers)
England MF Simon Brown (to Mansfield Town)
England DF Lee Marshall (retired)

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions[7]
No.
Pos
Nat
Name
MS Notes
1 GK England Russell Hoult 39
5 RB England Darren Purse 24
14 CB Denmark Martin Albrechtsen 24
4 CB Denmark Thomas Gaardsoe 27
19 LB England Neil Clement 38
11 RM Hungary Zoltan Gera 35
8 CM England Jonathan Greening 34 Ronnie Wallwork has 22 starts
2 CM England Riccardo Scimeca 30 Andy Johnson has 23 starts
3 LM England Paul Robinson 31
25 CF Nigeria Nwankwo Kanu 23
34 CF Wales Robert Earnshaw 20 Geoff Horsfield has 20 starts

Transfers

In

Out

Transfers in: Decrease £10,800,000
Transfers out: Increase £1,675,000
Total spending: Decrease £9,125,000

Results

West Bromwich Albion's result comes first

Win Draw Loss

Football League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
Round 221 September 2004 Colchester UnitedLayer Road1-2 (after extra time)4,591Horsfield 50

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
Round 38 January 2005 Preston North EndDeepdale2-013,005Earnshaw 76, 83
Round 429 January 2005 Tottenham HotspurThe Hawthorns1-122,441Earnshaw 17
Round 4 Replay12 February 2005 Tottenham HotspurWhite Hart Lane1-327,860Kanu 12

Premier League

  • Everton 2-1 West Brom
  • West Brom 1-0 Everton
  • West Brom 4-1 Charlton
  • West Brom 2-0 Portsmouth

References

  1. "Megson sacked by West Brom". BBC News. 26 October 2004.
  2. "Baggies appoint Robson as manager". BBC News. 9 November 2004.
  3. Moore was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2006.
  4. Johnson was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in 1998.
  5. Earnshaw was born in Mufulira, Zambia, but was raised in Wales and made his international debut for Wales in 2002.
  6. Dobie was born in Workington, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in 2002.
  7. http://www.11v11.com/teams/west-bromwich-albion/tab/players/season/2005
  8. "Scimeca joins West Brom". BBC Sport. 18 May 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. "Baggies sign Albrechtsen". BBC Sport. 2004-06-03. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  10. "Baggies snatch Purse". BBC Sport. 2004-06-18. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  11. "West Brom bag keeper". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 July 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  12. "Greening joins West Brom". BBC Sport. 29 July 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  13. "Albion bag Gera". BBC Sport. 2004-07-30. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  14. "Baggies seal Kanu deal". BBC News. 30 July 2004.
  15. "Earnshaw signs for Baggies". BBC Sport (BBC). 30 August 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  16. "Baggies snap up Contra". BBC News. 31 August 2004.
  17. "Inamoto signs for West Brom". BBC Sport. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  18. "West Brom sign striker Campbell". BBC Sport. 10 January 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  19. "Man Utd winger signs for Baggies". BBC Sport. 29 January 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  20. "West Brom complete Chaplow deal". BBC Sport. 31 January 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  21. "Eight feel Baggies axe". BBC Sport. 2004-05-10. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  22. "Tigers sign pair". BBC Sport. 2004-06-25. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  23. "Mkandawire joins Bulls". BBC News. 9 July 2004.
  24. "Walsall swoop for Kinsella". BBC Sport article. 2004-07-27. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  25. "Hughes contract cancelled". BBC News. 9 August 2004.
  26. "Gregan seals Leeds move". BBC News. 16 September 2004.
  27. "Hornets land Chambers". BBC News. 25 September 2004.
  28. "Lions pip Preston in Dobie chase". BBC News. 8 November 2004.
  29. "Baggies defender forced to retire". BBC News. 2 December 2004.
  30. "Mansfield complete Brown capture". BBC Sport. 2004-12-06. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  31. "Dyer makes loan move to Coventry". BBC News. 22 March 2005.
  32. "Marshall retires after leg injury". BBC Sport. 2005-04-22. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  33. "Haas parts company with West Brom". BBC News. 21 January 2005.
  34. "Hulse completes Leeds loan switch". BBC News. 9 February 2005.
  35. "O'Connor seals switch to Burnley". BBC News. 24 March 2005.

External links

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