2004–05 Boston United F.C. season

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Boston United

2004–05 season
Chairman	Jon Sotnick
Manager	Steve Evans
League 2	16
FA Cup	Third round
Football League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: All: Andy Kirk (20)
Highest home attendance	6445 (v Lincoln)
Lowest home attendance	1489 (v Cambridge)
Average home league attendance	2965
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

After their success in Division Three the previous year, Boston were billed as promotion favourites, as they had bolstered their squad for the 2004–05 Football League Two, Boston's third consecutive season in the Football League, after promotion in 2002.

Hectic pre-season matches in a packed schedule saw Boston play a selection of local and national teams, including Rotherham United, Sheffield United, Stamford A.F.C. and local rivals Boston Town. Boston played a very lucrative friendly against a Newcastle United XI at York Street, bringing in a crowd of 3349. The Pilgrims comfortably won 4–0, with Martin Carruthers scoring a hat-trick. The game saw a number of Newcastle's future players at the game, including Michael Chopra, Matty Pattison and goalkeeper Tony Caig.

A notable addition to the Pilgrims' squad was former England international Paul Gascoigne, who joined the club on a short-term basis, as a player-coach. Assigned his famous number 19 shirt for the forthcoming season, Gascoigne was presented in front of the media against his former club Newcastle, a game which he started. Gascoigne went on to make 10 appearances for Boston before leaving in October.

This season for Boston was also notable for their progression in the Carling Cup. Playing Championship side Luton Town was at first a daunting task for United, but they were in form following two consecutive league wins against Chester and Cambridge. The Pilgrims overcame Luton, winning 4–3, setting up a tie with Premier League club Fulham. 5373 people attended the second round tie at York Street, but Boston lost 4–1 at the hands of Chris Coleman's men. Playing for Fulham were many international players, such as Luis Boa Morte, Steed Malbranque, Brian McBride and Tomasz Radzinski.

It was a season of mixed results, with the team only winning 14 of a possible 46 league games. This saw Boston finish in a comfortable 16th position, but this was disappointing to the fans, considering what many had predicted in August.

End Of Season Squad[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ENG Alan White 4 DF  ENG Paul Ellender (captain) 5 DF  ENG Mark Greaves (vice-captain) 6 MF  ENG Steve Melton 7 MF  ENG Brad Maylett 8 MF  ENG David Noble 9 FW  ENG Jason Lee 11 MF  ENG Chris Holland 12 MF  SCO Simon Rusk 14 DF  SCO Austin McCann 15 MF  ENG Lee Thompson 16 MF  ENG Danny Thomas

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  WAL Jermaine Easter 19 FW  SCO Stephen O'Donnell 20 MF  ENG Paul Raynor (assistant-manager) 22 MF  ENG David Staff 23 MF  ENG Courtney Pitt 24 MF  ENG Luke Forbes 25 MF  ENG Rob Norris 26 GK  ENG Nathan Abbey 27 MF  ENG Tom Hurst 28 DF  ENG Dean West 29 FW  ENG Daryl Clare 31 DF  ENG Stuart Smith

Left the club[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Paul Bastock (to Scarborough) 2 DF  WAL Lee Beevers (to Lincoln) 3 DF  ENG Greg Strong (to Livingston) 3 DF  ENG Dominic Roma (end of loan from Sheffield Utd) 7 MF  ENG Tom Bennett (to Kidderminster) 7 FW  ENG Kevin James (end of loan from Nottingham Forest) 7 MF  ENG Scott Wiseman (end of loan from Hull City) 10 FW  NIR Andy Kirk (to Northampton) 17 MF  ENG Ryan Clarke (to Leigh RMI) 18 FW  ENG Martin Carruthers (to Lincoln) 18 MF  SCO Stephen Boyack (to Blackpool) 18 GK  ENG Luke McCormick (end of loan from Plymouth) 19 MF  ENG Paul Gascoigne (left the club) 21 MF  ENG Matt O'Halloran (to King's Lynn) 24 DF  ENG Gareth Jelleyman (end of loan from Peterborough) 24 DF  ITA Emanule Gabrieli (end of loan from Sheffield Utd) 25 FW  ENG Zema Abbey (end of loan from Norwich) 27 FW  SCO Tam McManus (end of loan from Hibernian)

See also[edit]