2004–05 Stoke City F.C. season


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.

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. However these worries were forgotten with a fine pre-season victory over Spanish giants Valencia. Stoke began the 2004–05 season very well beating promotion favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 on the opening day. Victories over Gillingham, Cardiff City and Derby County followed and after a thrilling win over Ipswich Town Stoke went top of the table.
However Stoke then lost their form and went seven matches without a win before beating Millwall 1–0 on Halloween. Prior to that on 22 October Stoke drew 1–1 away at Leicester City a result which sparked a dull run of results. 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. 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. Ade Akinbiyi was sold to Burnley despite there being a lack of goalscoring. 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.

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.

League Cup

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

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Pre-Season Friendlies

Football League Championship

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

FA Cup

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

League Cup

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

Squad statistics