2004–05 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

West Bromwich Albion

2004–05 season
Chairman	Jeremy Peace
Manager	Gary Megson (until 26 October)[1] Frank Burrows (caretaker) Bryan Robson (from 9 November)[2]
Stadium	The Hawthorns
FA Premier League	17th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Robert Earnshaw (11) All: Robert Earnshaw (14)
Highest home attendance	27,751 (vs. Portsmouth, 15 May 2005)
Lowest home attendance	23,849 (vs. Bolton, 2 October 2004)
Average home league attendance	25,986
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

During the 2004–05 English football season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the FA Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion managed to retain their Premiership status despite being at the bottom of the table on Christmas Day. This marked the first time in the history of the Premiership that a club has done so. Since then, three other teams have matched this feat: Sunderland in 2013–14, Leicester City in 2014–15, and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022–23, although they secured survival before the final day.

For the first time since the inaugural Premiership season in 1992–93, no team was assured of relegation going into the final round of matches. 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 at the bottom, Southampton and Crystal Palace one point clear and Norwich City in the last safe spot and two points from the bottom. Even worse, only one would survive the drop.^[3][4] The final matchday was publicized 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 beating Portsmouth at home 2–0.^[5] Norwich, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, needed a first away victory of the season at Craven Cottage against Fulham to secure their top-flight status and relegate everyone else irrespective of their results. Instead, they were thrashed 6–0 and went down.^[6] Southampton, despite leading early on, lost 2–1 at home to Manchester United and were relegated.^[7] At The Valley, Crystal Palace led Charlton Athletic 2–1 in the 71st minute, but Jonathan Fortune equalised for Charlton with eight minutes left to send them down.^[8] As a result, West Brom stayed up, and made history by becoming the first club in Premiership history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas.^[9]

After all four matches ended, cameras focused on 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 also celebrated despite their defeat as, through losing, they had "helped" relegate arch-rivals Southampton. 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 goal difference.

Squad at end of season

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 Russell Hoult 2 DF  ENG Riccardo Scimeca 3 DF  ENG Paul Robinson 4 DF  DEN Thomas Gaardsøe 5 DF  JAM Darren Moore[notes 1] 6 DF  ENG Darren Purse 7 MF  WAL Jason Koumas 8 MF  ENG Jonathan Greening 9 FW  ENG Geoff Horsfield 10 MF  WAL Andy Johnson[notes 2] 11 MF  HUN Zoltán Gera 12 MF  ENG Richard Chaplow 14 DF  DEN Martin Albrechtsen

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  ENG Kieran Richardson (on loan from Manchester United) 17 FW  ENG Rob Hulse 18 MF  ENG Lloyd Dyer 19 DF  ENG Neil Clement 20 MF  MKD Artim Šakiri 21 FW  ENG Kevin Campbell 24 DF  ENG Ronnie Wallwork 25 FW  NGA Nwankwo Kanu 28 GK  IRL Joe Murphy 29 GK  POL Tomasz Kuszczak 33 MF  JPN Junichi Inamoto 34 FW  WAL Robert Earnshaw[notes 3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 FW  SCO Scott Dobie[notes 4] (to Millwall) 15 DF  ENG Sean Gregan (to Leeds United) 16 DF  ROU Cosmin Contra (on loan from Atlético Madrid) 18 MF  ENG Lloyd Dyer (on loan to Coventry City) 21 DF  ISL Lárus Sigurðsson (retired) 22 DF  SUI Bernt Haas[notes 5] (to SC Bastia) 23 MF  IRL James O'Connor (to Burnley)

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  MLI Sékou Berthé (released) 27 DF  ENG James Chambers (to Watford) 30 GK  AUS Simon Miotto (released) 31 DF  ENG Phillip Midworth (to Burton Albion) 32 DF  ENG Adam Chambers (to Kidderminster Harriers) — MF  ENG Simon Brown (to Mansfield Town) — DF  ENG Lee Marshall (retired)

As of end of season^[11]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Russell Hoult	39	0	36	0	3	0	0	0
29	GK	POL	Tomasz Kuszczak	4	0	2+1	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
3	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson	33	1	28+2	1	3	0	0	0
4	DF	DEN	Thomas Gaardsøe	31	0	25+4	0	1	0	1	0
5	DF	ENG	Darren Moore	17	0	10+6	0	0	0	1	0
6	DF	ENG	Darren Purse	24	0	22	0	2	0	0	0
14	DF	DEN	Martin Albrechtsen	28	0	20+4	0	3	0	1	0
19	DF	ENG	Neil Clement	38	3	35	3	3	0	0	0
Midfielders
2	MF	ENG	Riccardo Scimeca	36	0	27+6	0	2	0	1	0
7	MF	WAL	Jason Koumas	13	0	5+5	0	1+1	0	1	0
8	MF	ENG	Jonathan Greening	37	0	32+2	0	2	0	0+1	0
10	MF	WAL	Andy Johnson	23	0	22	0	1	0	0	0
11	MF	HUN	Zoltán Gera	42	6	31+7	6	3	0	1	0
12	MF	ENG	Richard Chaplow	4	0	3+1	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	ENG	Kieran Richardson	12	3	11+1	3	0	0	0	0
18	MF	ENG	Lloyd Dyer	5	0	0+4	0	0	0	1	0
20	MF	MKD	Artim Šakiri	3	0	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	ENG	Ronnie Wallwork	23	1	19+1	1	3	0	0	0
33	MF	JPN	Junichi Inamoto	3	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	ENG	Geoff Horsfield	32	4	18+11	3	1+1	0	1	1
17	FW	ENG	Rob Hulse	7	0	0+5	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
21	FW	ENG	Kevin Campbell	18	3	16	3	1+1	0	0	0
25	FW	NGA	Nwankwo Kanu	30	3	21+7	2	2	1	0	0
34	FW	WAL	Robert Earnshaw	34	14	18+13	11	2+1	3	0	0
Players transferred or loaned out during the season
12	FW	SCO	Scott Dobie	6	1	1+4	1	0	0	1	0
16	DF	ROU	Cosmin Contra	6	0	5	0	0	0	1	0
22	DF	SUI	Bernt Haas	10	0	9+1	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	IRL	James O'Connor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0

Considering starts in all competitions^[11]

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	MS	Notes
1	GK		Russell Hoult	39
5	RB		Darren Purse	24
14	CB		Martin Albrechtsen	24
4	CB		Thomas Gaardsoe	27
19	LB		Neil Clement	38
11	RM		Zoltán Gera	35
8	CM		Jonathan Greening	34	Ronnie Wallwork has 22 starts
2	CM		Riccardo Scimeca	30	Andy Johnson has 23 starts
3	LM		Paul Robinson	31
25	CF		Nwankwo Kanu	23
34	CF		Robert Earnshaw	20	Geoff Horsfield has 20 starts

• Riccardo Scimeca – Leicester City, 18 May, undisclosed^[12]
• Martin Albrechtsen – København, 3 June, £2,700,000^[13]
• Darren Purse – Birmingham City, 18 June, £750,000^[14]
• Tomasz Kuszczak – Hertha BSC, 14 July, free^[15]
• Jonathan Greening – Middlesbrough, 29 July, £1,250,000^[16]
• Zoltán Gera – Ferencváros, 30 July, £1,500,000^[17]
• Nwankwo Kanu – Arsenal, 30 July, free^[18]
• Robert Earnshaw – Cardiff City, 30 August, £3,000,000 (rising to £3,620,000 depending on contractual incentives)^[19]
• Cosmin Contra – Atlético Madrid, 31 August, season-long loan^[20]
• Junichi Inamoto – Gamba Osaka, 31 August, £200,000^[21]
• Kevin Campbell – Everton, 10 January, free^[22]
• Kieran Richardson – Manchester United, 29 January, season-long loan^[23]
• Richard Chaplow – Burnley, 31 January, £1,500,000^[24]

• Phil Gilchrist – released, 10 May (later joined Rotherham United)
• Daniel Crane – released, 10 May (later joined Burton Albion)
• Joost Volmer – released, 10 May (later joined Den Bosch)
• Delroy Facey – released, 10 May^[25] (later joined Hull City on 25 June^[26])
• Tamika Mkandawire – released, 10 May (later joined Hereford United on 9 July^[27])
• Mark Kinsella – released, 10 May (later joined Walsall on 27 July)^[28]
• Lee Hughes – contract terminated, 9 August^[29]
• Sean Gregan – Leeds United, £500,000 (rising to £750,000 dependent on appearances), 16 September^[30]
• James Chambers – Watford, £250,000, 25 September^[31]
• Scott Dobie – Millwall, £750,000, 8 November^[32]
• Larus Sigurdsson – retired, 2 December^[33]
• Simon Brown – Mansfield Town, 6 December, £50,000^[34]
• Lloyd Dyer – Coventry City, three-month loan, 22 March^[35]
• Lee Marshall – retired, 22 April^[36]
• Bernt Haas – released, 21 January^[37] (later joined Bastia)
• Rob Hulse – Leeds United, 9 February, season-long loan^[38]
• Sékou Berthé – released, 9 February
• Simon Miotto – released, 9 February
• Adam Chambers – released, 9 February (later joined Kidderminster Harriers)
• James O'Connor – Burnley, £175,000, 24 March^[39]
• Phillip Midworth – released (later joined Burton Albion on 11 February)

Transfers in: £10,800,000

Transfers out: £1,675,000

Total spending: £9,125,000

West Bromwich Albion's result comes first