Stoke City
2004–05 season
ChairmanGunnar Gíslason
ManagerTony Pulis
StadiumBritannia Stadium
Championship12th (61 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Gifton Noel-Williams (13)
All: Gifton Noel-Williams (13)
Highest home attendance23,029 vs Ipswich Town
(14 September 2004)
Lowest home attendance12,785 vs Cardiff City
(5 April 2005)
Average home league attendance16,455

The 2004–05 season was Stoke City's 98th season in the Football League and the 38th in the second tier, it was also the first season in the new re-branded Football League Championship.

With supporter expectation now rising there were hopes that Stoke could soon begin to mount a serious attempt to return to the top flight. But after a poor summer in terms of transfer activity those hopes subsided, but soon returned after a good start to the season with Stoke going top of the table in early September. But any hopes of a promotion push soon vanished with some poor performances and most notably a lack of goals being scored. In fact Stoke went on a dull run of 'binary' results, from 23 October 2004 to 22 February 2005 the only score line was that of 0–0, 1–0, 0–1 and 1–1. Supporters began to vent their anger at the lack of entertainment on offer as the side fell into mid-table obscurity and a final finish of 12th the outcome of a forgettable season.[1]

Season review

League

Prior to the start of the season the Football League went through a re-branding process with the First Division been renamed the Football League Championship. Stoke had a poor summer in the transfer market with only Dave Brammer and Steve Simonsen joining the club before the start of the season.[1] However these worries were forgotten with a fine pre-season victory over Spanish giants Valencia.[1] Stoke began the 2004–05 season very well beating promotion favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 on the opening day.[1] Victories over Gillingham, Cardiff City and Derby County followed and after a thrilling win over Ipswich Town Stoke went top of the table.[1]

However Stoke then lost their form and went seven matches without a win before beating Millwall 1–0 on Halloween.[1] Prior to that on 22 October Stoke drew 1–1 away at Leicester City a result which sparked a dull run of results.[1] Through until 22 February the only score line was that of 0–0, 1–0, 0–1 and 1–1 which saw manager Tony Pulis come under heavy criticism from supporters form the lack of attacking football and entertainment on offer.[1] New signings again failed to arrive with Michael Duberry from Leeds United and Lewis Buxton from Portsmouth the only mainstays from a series of loans, however both players were defenders.[1] Ade Akinbiyi was sold to Burnley despite there being a lack of goalscoring.[1] The 'binary' run of results finally ended with a 3–2 win over Leicester City which prompted an upturn in results but any hopes of a late push for a play-off place was ended with an awful defeat at home to rock bottom Rotherham United.[1]

FA Cup

Stoke drew Premier League side Arsenal away in the third round and took the lead through Wayne Thomas. But Stoke could not hold out and Arsenal scored twice to go through 2–1.[1]

League Cup

Stoke made another poor exit in the first round losing against League One side Oldham Athletic.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
10 Millwall 46 18 12 16 51 45 +6 66
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 17 11 18 54 58 4 62
12 Stoke City 46 17 10 19 36 38 2 61
13 Burnley 46 15 15 16 38 39 1 60
14 Leeds United 46 14 18 14 49 52 3 60
Updated to match(es) played on 9 December 2011. Source: Football League Tables
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Pre-Season Friendlies

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
111 July 2004Newcastle TownA4–1Noel-Williams, Clarke, Akinbiyi, Neal
213 July 2004WrexhamA1–11,821Noel-Williams 40'
317 July 2004Mansfield TownA1–0Russell 28'
423 July 2004AS RomaA0–2
523 July 2004Levski SofiaA1–1Taggart
628 July 2004ValenciaH1–09,905Asaba 30'
731 July 2004West Bromwich AlbionH2–1Brammer 16', Akinbiyi 32'

Football League Championship

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
18 August 2004Wolverhampton WanderersH2–117,066Russell 50', Clarke 70' (pen)Report
210 August 2004Sheffield UnitedA0–019,723Report
314 August 2004Rotherham UnitedA1–15,925Akinbiyi 85'Report
421 August 2004GillinghamH2–013,234Noel-Williams 42', Akinbiyi 72'Report
528 August 2004Cardiff CityA1–012,929Noel-Williams 37'Report
630 August 2004Derby CountyH1–018,673Hall 90+3'Report
711 September 2004Preston North EndA0–312,759Report
814 September 2004Ipswich TownH3–223,029Thomas (2) 45', 75', Akinbiyi 85'Report
918 September 2004Nottingham ForestH0–021,115Report
1025 September 2004BurnleyA2–212,981Akinbiyi (2) 34', 50'Report
1128 September 2004Leeds UnitedA0–025,759Report
122 October 2004Queens Park RangersH0–116,877Report
1316 October 2004ReadingH0–115,574Report
1419 October 2004West Ham UnitedA0–229,808Report
1523 October 2004Leicester CityA1–122,882Asaba 37'Report
1630 October 2004MillwallH1–014,125Greenacre 86'Report
172 November 2004Wigan AthleticH0–115,882Report
186 November 2004ReadingA0–114,831Report
1913 November 2004Crewe AlexandraH1–017,640Noel-Williams 64'Report
2020 November 2004Plymouth ArgyleA0–015,264Report
2127 November 2004SunderlandH0–116,980Report
224 December 2004WatfordA1–012,169Noel-Williams 24'Report
2311 December 2004Coventry CityH1–015,744Akinbiyi 21'Report
2417 December 2004Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–06,028Akinbiyi 85'Report
2526 December 2004Preston North EndH0–020,350Report
2628 December 2004Ipswich TownA0–126,217Report
271 January 2005Nottingham ForestA0–122,051Report
283 January 2005BurnleyH0–115,689Report
2914 January 2005Queens Park RangersA0–113,559Report
3022 January 2005Leeds UnitedH0–118,372Report
315 February 2005Wigan AthleticA1–09,938Noel-Williams 39'Report
3219 February 2005MillwallA1–011,036Jones 15'Report
3322 February 2005Leicester CityH3–214,076Brammer 24', Noel-Williams 34', Taggart 59'Report
3426 February 2005Coventry CityA0–013,871Report
355 March 2005Brighton & Hove AlbionH2–014,908Noel-Williams (2) 39', 44' (2 pen)Report
3612 March 2005Sheffield UnitedH2–017,019Noel-Williams (2) 57', 59'Report
3715 March 2005GillinghamA1–27,766Jones 54'Report
3819 March 2005Wolverhampton WanderersA1–128,103Noel-Williams 41'Report
392 April 2005Rotherham UnitedH1–216,552Noel-Williams 83'Report
405 April 2005Cardiff CityH1–312,785Hill 40'Report
419 April 2005Derby CountyA1–327,640Taggart 7'Report
4216 April 2005Plymouth ArgyleH2–013,017Jones 28', Russell 41'Report
4319 April 2005West Ham UnitedH0–114,534Report
4423 April 2005Crewe AlexandraA2–09,166Neal 79', Noel-Williams 89'Report
4530 April 2005WatfordH0–115,229Report
468 May 2005SunderlandA0–147,350Report

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R39 January 2005ArsenalA1–236,579Thomas 44'Report

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R124 August 2004Oldham AthleticA1–22,861Asaba 24'Report

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1GKNetherlands Ed de Goey 170000017000
2DFEngland Wayne Thomas 352111037361
3DFRepublic of Ireland Clive Clarke 421101044171
4MFEngland John Eustace 2(5)00(1)0002(6)030
5DFEngland Michael Duberry 250000025041
6DFEngland Clint Hill 31(1)1001032(1)171
7FWEngland Carl Asaba 14(19)10(1)01015(20)240
8MFEngland Dave Brammer 42(1)100(1)0042(2)180
9FWEngland Gifton Noel-Williams 41(5)13000(1)041(6)1321
10FWNigeria Ade Akinbiyi 297100030760
11MFScotland Kevin Harper 8(1)000008(1)010
14GKEngland Ben Foster 0000000000
15GKEngland Steve Simonsen 29(2)0101031(2)020
16DFEngland Marcus Hall 19(1)1101021(1)120
17MFEngland Darel Russell 452101047270
18MFEngland Lewis Neal 10(13)1001011(13)100
19FWEngland Chris Greenacre 18(14)1101020(14)120
20DFRepublic of Ireland Richard Keogh 0000000000
21MFEngland John Halls 20(2)0101022(2)051
22MFEngland Steve Guppy 0(4)000000(4)000
22DFEngland Lewis Buxton 14(2)0100015(2)040
23MFEngland Karl Henry 14(20)00(1)01015(21)030
24DFEngland Chris Clark 1(2)000001(2)010
25DFWales Gareth Owen 0(2)000000(2)000
27DFEngland Chris Barker 4000004000
27FWEngland Jason Jarrett 2010003000
27FWTrinidad and Tobago Kenwyne Jones 133000013310
28DFEngland Andy Wilkinson 0(1)000000(1)000
29FWEngland Michael Ricketts 1(10)000001(10)020
30FWNorthern Ireland Martin Paterson 0(3)000000(3)000
31FWEngland Jermaine Palmer 0(1)000000(1)000
32DFNorthern Ireland Gerry Taggart 3121000322101
33MFIceland Þórður Guðjónsson 0(2)000000(2)000
34MFIceland Tryggvi Guðmundsson 0000000000
35MFUnited States Jay Denny 0000000000
36DFEngland Carl Dickinson 0(1)000000(1)000

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Stoke City season review 2004-05 Binary bore for City fans". The Sentinel. 16 May 2005.
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