FA Premier League 2004-05
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2004-05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Chelsea F.C. became champions on 30 April 2005.
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[edit] Final league table
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Chelsea |
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Arsenal |
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Manchester United |
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Everton |
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Liverpool |
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Bolton Wanderers |
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Middlesbrough |
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Manchester City |
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Tottenham Hotspur |
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Aston Villa |
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Charlton Athletic |
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Birmingham City |
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Fulham |
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Newcastle United |
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Blackburn Rovers |
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Portsmouth |
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West Bromwich Albion |
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Crystal Palace |
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Championship |
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Norwich City |
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Southampton |
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Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
1. Though they failed to qualify for the Champions League as one of the top four English clubs at the end of the season, Liverpool were given a special dispensation to compete as they were defending champions of the European competition. They were, however, forced to enter in the First Qualifying Round. See Liverpool F.C. Champions League qualification 2005-06
2. Since the finalists of the 2004-05 FA Cup, Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as Chelsea, who won the 2004-05 Carling Cup, were confirmed to qualify for the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League, and the 5th placed team (Liverpool) was moved to the Champions League, the 6th- and 7th-placed teams in the Premiership were rewarded with entry to the 2005-06 UEFA Cup.
| Premier League 2004-05 Winners |
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| Chelsea 1st Title (2nd Top League of English Football Title) |
[edit] Season Statistics
| Total Goals: | 974 |
|---|---|
| Average Goals per game: | 2.56 |
[edit] Top goal scorers
| Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
 Thierry Henry |
25 | Arsenal |
 Andrew Johnson |
21 | Crystal Palace |
| Robert Pirès |
14 | Arsenal |
| Jermain Defoe |
13 | Tottenham Hotspur |
 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink |
13 | Middlesbrough |
| Frank Lampard |
13 | Chelsea |
 Aiyegbeni Yakubu |
13 | Portsmouth |
 Tim Cahill |
12 | Everton |
| Peter Crouch |
12 | Southampton |
 Eiður Guðjohnsen |
12 | Chelsea |
[edit] Promoted teams
These teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:
[edit] Relegated teams
These teams were relegated to the Football League Championship at the end of the season:
[edit] Chelsea's title success
Chelsea completed their first season under the management of José Mourinho with only their second league title, and their first in 50 years. The success was completed with a Premiership record of 95 points (29 wins, 8 draws and 1 defeat) and a unique defensive record of just 15 league goals conceded. Key players in this triumph were goalkeeper Petr Čech, midfielders Frank Lampard and Claude Makélélé, defender John Terry and striker Eiður Guðjohnsen. This was also the most expensive team ever created in England with an estimated 250 million pounds spent on players.
[edit] Also in contention
Although Chelsea led the Premiership virtually all season long, they faced stiff competition from eventual runners-up Arsenal and third-placed Manchester United—who also achieved Champions League qualification. The title seemed to be heading towards Highbury once again, after they continued their unbeaten run to 49 matches and were leading Chelsea by five points and Manchester United by eleven points. However on 24 October Arsenal's unbeaten run ended when they lost 2 - 0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arsenal's form then dropped dramatically as Chelsea continued in great form and Manchester United kickstarted their campaign, at one stage going into second position after defeating Arsenal 4 - 2 at Highbury on 1 February (their first team home defeat since Leeds in 2003). However with Chelsea steamrolling the league with their powerful defensive style, United's form dipped after drawing at home to Blackburn and being defeated by Norwich City; this allowed Arsenal to pass United, taking second place.
The fourth Champions League place went to Everton, who had been among the relegation favourites after the early season sale of striker Wayne Rooney (PFA Young Player of the Year) to Manchester United. Fifth-placed Liverpool would normally have qualified for the UEFA Cup, but eventually were allowed by UEFA to defend their Champions League title, despite finishing outside the top four. The next two teams, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough, achieved UEFA Cup qualification as both FA Cup finalists and League Cup winner had qualified for the Champions League via their league position. Liverpool's entry into the Champions League did not affect either Bolton Wanderers or Boro's UEFA Cup entry. Bolton and Middlesbrough both achieved their best finishes in the Premiership to date.
On June 9, UEFA allowed Liverpool to defend their Champions League title, forfeiting their UEFA Cup slot given to the fifth placed team. They had to enter in the first qualifying round, where they defeated Welsh league champions TNS, and then in the next round defeated Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas before the start of the 2005-06 league season.
[edit] 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 Albion 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, were leading 2-1 after 71 minutes, but with eight minutes to go, the Addicks' Jonathan Fortune equalised to relegate the Eagles back to The Championship. 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 West Brom's ground, 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. Also, 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.
[edit] Going down...
18th place in the final Premiership table went to Crystal Palace, who drew 2-2 with Charlton Athletic on the final day of the season after being eight minutes away from safety. This made way for West Bromwich Albion's Premiership survival. 19th place went to Norwich City, whose fate was confirmed by a 6-0 hammering at Fulham on the final day—a result which underlined the frailty of their defence, which had leaked 77 goals in 38 Premiership games. Bottom place went to Southampton, who lost 2-1 at home to Manchester United and were relegated after 27 years in the top flight.
[edit] ...Coming up
Sunderland, who finished top of the 2004-05 Coca-Cola League Championship, were the first team to secure promotion to the Premiership for the 2005-06 season. The second promotion place was secured on the final day of the season by Championship runners-up Wigan Athletic, in only their 27th season of league football. The third promotion place went to West Ham United, who defeated Preston North End in the Championship playoff final.
[edit] Managerial Changes
- Blackburn Rovers appointed Wales boss Mark Hughes as Manager in September at the departure of Graeme Souness to Newcastle.
- Chelsea replaced Claudio Ranieri with UEFA Champions league winning coach, Jose Mourinho.
- Liverpool appointed Valencia's UEFA Cup winning coach Rafael Benitez as successor to Gerard Houllier.
- Manchester City parted with manager Kevin Keegan in late March and replaced him with first team coach, Stuart Pearce.
- Newcastle United sacked manager Sir Bobby Robson at the end of August and replaced him with Blackburn's Graeme Souness.
- Portsmouth parted company with Harry Redknapp in November and replaced him with executive director Velimir Zajec. He was also replaced by Alain Perrin in March.
- Southampton parted company with Paul Sturrock after less than 6 months and was replaced by Steve Wigley. Wigley was sacked in November and was replaced by Harry Redknapp.
- Tottenham Hotspur appointed former French national coach, Jacques Santini as the new manager in the pre-season. He left in November citing personal problems and was replaced by assistant Martin Jol.
- West Bromwich Albion sacked boss Gary Megson in October and replaced him with former England skipper and Manchester United legend Bryan Robson.
[edit] See also
| Preceded by FA Premier League 2003-04 |
FA Premier League 2004-05 Chelsea |
Succeeded by FA Premier League 2005-06 |
