Middlesbrough F.C. season 2004-05
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| Season 2004-05 | |
| League | FA Premier League |
| Manager | Steve McClaren |
| Chairman | Steve Gibson |
| League position | 7th |
| Top goalscorer | League: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (13) All: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (16) |
| Highest attendance | Home: 34,836 v Norwich (Premier League) Away: 67,988 v Manchester United(Premier League) |
| Lowest attendance | Home: 29,603 v Charlton Athletic (Premier League) Away: 17,759 v Fulham (Premier League) |
| FA Cup | Fourth Round |
| League Cup | Fourth Round |
| UEFA Cup | Round of 16 |
During the 2004-05 season, Middlesbrough participated in the FA Premier League.
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[edit] Team Kit and Sponsors
During this season, Middlesbrough had a new sponsor of 888.com the team's strip was produced by Errea. The home shirt included a white band on it for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The away strip was mainly white, with maroon sleeves and blue shorts.
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[edit] Season review
[edit] League review
After the triumph in the Carling Cup final the previous May, and a solid 11th place finish in the league, Boro fans were optimistic that this season would be a success. Steve McClaren signed Boudewijn Zenden and Doriva on permanent deals following their loan spells, as well as adding high profile signings Ray Parlour, Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Michael Reiziger to the squad. With these new additions, the supporters felt that come the end of the season, Boro would be pushing for a league place good enough to qualify for Europe.
The season started well, and Middlesbrough found themselves in 4th position following only one loss in the first 5 games. Despite a slight drop in their form, Boro kept in and around the top four until mid November.
The UEFA Cup took it's toll on the small Boro squad though, and their form stuttered towards Christmas. The team seemed to consist of more and more young players who were deputising for more senior players such as Gaizka Mendieta and Malcolm Christie who were ruled out for the season with injuries.
Following a 2-0 win at home to Norwich on 28 December, Boro were in 5th place. But only one win in the next ten games the team found themselves in 9th and seemed to have undone their good work at the start of the season.
Things did finally pick up and following only 3 losses in the final 12 games of the season, they found themselves up against Manchester City in the final game of the season. Both teams were in direct contest for the 7th place that Boro occupied, and a win for either side would mean qualification for the UEFA Cup. A last minute penalty save by Mark Schwarzer gave Boro a 1-1 draw and the all important 7th placed finish. For the first time in their history, Middlesbrough had qualified for Europe through the league.
The season was full of highs and lows for the Boro fans. The disappointment of losing their early strong position due to the injury crisis was offset against the emergence of several promising youngsters such as Stewart Downing, James Morrison and Anthony McMahon.
[edit] Domestic Cup review
Both domestic cups were disappointing for the Boro team and the draws weren't favourable towards them. They only lasted two rounds in each competition, going out in the 4th round of the FA Cup to Manchester United and the 4th round of the League Cup to a young Liverpool side.
[edit] UEFA Cup Review
This was Middlesbrough's first foray into Europe, having won the first major trophy of their history - the Carling Cup - the previous season.
The first round was a 2 legged knockout match and Boro were drawn against Banik Ostrava in their first ever European match, the first leg was at home. With a fantastic atmosphere at the Riverside, Middlesbrough cruised through the first leg 3-0, and with a comfortable 1-1 draw in the away leg, they had qualified for the group stages and were guaranteed another 4 matches.
Middlesbrough were drawn in Group D, along with Villarreal, Lazio, Aigaleo and Partizan Belgrade. The fans were confident that the team could earn at least a 3rd place finish in the group, and therefore qualify for the knockout stages.
Boro went on to exceed all expectations, beating Aigalio and Partizan Belgrade as expected and a fantastic 2-0 victory over Lazio - the only blot being a 2-0 away loss to Villarreal. This was enough to earn them a 2nd place finish and qualification for the next round.
Middlesbrough were drawn against Grazer AK in the 3rd round. The away leg was first and Middlesbrough managed a 2-2 draw against the then Austrian champions. The team duly built on this in the return leg and following a 2-1 win, they had progressed to the next round.
The round of 16 saw Boro face Sporting Lisbon for a place in the quarter finals. However, luck wasn't with Middlesbrough and they found themselves in the middle of an injury crisis. The first leg was at home and remained goalless at half time. Sporting then proceed to show their class and scored 3 in a half an hour spell after the break and Boro looked like they were to exit the competition. However, two late goals from Joseph Job (a spectacular overhead scissor kick) and Chris Riggott gave a weakened Boro team a fairly respectable 3-2 loss. The second leg didn't go to plan though, and although there was fantastic support from the 3,000 travelling fans, Middlesbrough went down 1-0, losing 4-2 on aggregate.
The Boro fans took the defeat in good heart however and partied late into the night in Lisbon.
Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run was seen as a huge success by the fans, and expectations were high for the following years campaign.
[edit] Squad
[edit] Senior squad
The following are all the players who were involved the Middlesbrough F.C. first team at some point during the 2004-05 season.[1][2]
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[edit] Transfers
[edit] In
[edit] Out
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