The 2004–05 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Premier League. It began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season. Chelsea won the title with a then record 95 points, which was previously set by Manchester United in the 1993–94 season, and later surpassed by Manchester City in the 2017–18 season (100), securing the title with a 2–0 win at the Reebok Stadium against Bolton Wanderers. Chelsea also broke a number of other records during their campaign, most notably breaking the record of most games won in a single Premier League campaign, securing 29 wins in the league in home and away matches, which they later surpassed in the 2016–17 season.
Season summary Arsenal were the favourites to defend their title after finishing the previous season unbeaten, but they also faced competition in the form of regular challengers Manchester United and Chelsea, the latter under the new management of Portuguese José Mourinho, who had just won the UEFA Champions League with Porto. Liverpool also had a new manager in Spaniard Rafael Benítez, who had just won La Liga and the UEFA Cup with Valencia and were expected to challenge for the title too. Another managerial change at a club aiming for the top was at Tottenham Hotspur, who appointed Jacques Santini, who had just led France to the quarter-finals of the 2004 European Championship.
At the other end of the table, amongst those tipped for relegation were Norwich City, Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion, having all just been promoted from the First Division (rebranded this season as the Championship). Everton, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth were also tipped to struggle, the first three finishing just outside the relegation places the previous season and Portsmouth being in their second season.
Arsenal's record-breaking unbeaten streak of 49 games ended on 24 October 2004, when Manchester United beat them 2–0 at Old Trafford.
Relegation For the first time since the advent of the Premier League in 1992, no team was relegated before the final day of the season. 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 began with West Bromwich Albion at the bottom, Southampton and Crystal Palace one point ahead and Norwich City a further point ahead, in the last safe spot. West Brom, who had been bottom of the table and eight points from safety on Christmas Day, did their part by beating Portsmouth 2–0. Norwich, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, lost 6–0 to Fulham and went down. Southampton took the lead against Manchester United within 10 minutes through a John O'Shea own goal, but ultimately lost the match 2–1 and were also relegated. Crystal Palace, away to Charlton Athletic, were leading 2–1 after 71 minutes, but with eight minutes to go, Jonathan Fortune equalised for Charlton to send their South East London rivals down. Had Palace won they would have stayed up; instead they became the first team to be relegated from the Premier League four times. As a result, West Brom stayed up, becoming the first club in Premier League history to avoid relegation after being bottom of the table at Christmas.
As all four matches ended, cameras focused on West Brom's home 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 joined in the celebrations as, through losing, they had "helped" relegate arch-rivals Southampton.
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace, returning to the top flight after an absence of nine, one and six years respectively. The promoted teams replaced Leicester City, Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were relegated to the newly branded Championship. Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers were both relegated after a season's presence while Leeds United ended their top flight spell of fourteen years.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium 38,419Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park 42,553Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's 30,079Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium 28,723Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley 27,111ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,360Crystal PalaceLondon Selhurst Park 25,073EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,569FulhamLondon Craven Cottage 24,600LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 45,276Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium 48,000Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford 68,217MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium 35,049Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387Norwich CityNorwichCarrow Road 27,010PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park 20,220SouthamptonSouthamptonSt Mary's Stadium 32,505Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,240West Bromwich AlbionWest BromwichThe Hawthorns 26,484
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal Arsène Wenger Patrick VieiraNikeO2Aston Villa David O'Leary Olof MellbergHummelDWS InvestmentsBirmingham City Steve Bruce Kenny CunninghamDiadoraFlybeBlackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Garry FlitcroftLonsdaleHSABolton Wanderers Sam Allardyce Jay-Jay OkochaReebokReebokCharlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Matt HollandJomaAll:SportsChelsea José Mourinho John TerryUmbroEmiratesCrystal Palace Iain Dowie Michael HughesDiadoraChurchillEverton David Moyes David WeirUmbroChangFulham Chris Coleman Lee ClarkPumadabs.comLiverpool Rafael Benítez Steven GerrardReebokCarlsbergManchester City Stuart Pearce Sylvain DistinReebokThomas CookManchester United Alex Ferguson Roy KeaneNikeVodafoneMiddlesbrough Steve McClaren Gareth SouthgateErreà 888.comNewcastle United Graeme Souness Alan ShearerAdidasNorthern RockNorwich City Nigel Worthington Craig FlemingXaraProtonPortsmouth Alain Perrin Arjan De ZeeuwPompey SportTYSouthampton Harry Redknapp Nigel QuashieSaintsFriends ProvidentTottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Ledley KingKappaThomson HolidaysWest Bromwich Albion Bryan Robson Kevin CampbellDiadoraT-Mobile
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointmentLiverpool Gérard HoullierMutual consent24 May 2004Pre-season Rafael Benítez16 June 2004Chelsea Claudio RanieriSacked31 May 2004 José Mourinho2 June 2004Tottenham Hotspur David Pleat (caretaker)End of caretaker spell1 June 2004 Jacques Santini3 June 2004Southampton Paul SturrockMutual consent23 August 200410th Steve Wigley23 August 2004Newcastle United Sir Bobby RobsonSacked30 August 200417th Graeme Souness6 September 2004Blackburn Rovers Graeme SounessSigned by Newcastle United6 September 200419th Mark Hughes16 September 2004West Bromwich Albion Gary MegsonSacked26 October 200416th Bryan Robson9 November 2004Tottenham Hotspur Jacques SantiniResigned5 November 200411th Martin Jol8 November 2004Portsmouth Harry Redknapp24 November 200412th Velimir Zajec21 December 2004Southampton Steve WigleySacked8 December 200418th Harry Redknapp21 December 2004Manchester City Kevin KeeganResigned11 March 200512th Stuart Pearce (caretaker)11 March 2005Portsmouth Velimir ZajecReturned to director of football position7 April 200516th Alain Perrin7 April 2005Manchester City Stuart Pearce (caretaker)End of caretaker period12 May 20058th Stuart Pearce12 May 2005
League table
Results
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Thierry HenryArsenal252 Andy JohnsonCrystal Palace213 Robert PiresArsenal144 Jermain DefoeTottenham Hotspur13 Jimmy Floyd HasselbainkMiddlesbrough Frank LampardChelsea YakubuPortsmouth8 Andy ColeFulham12 Peter CrouchSouthampton Eiður GuðjohnsenChelsea
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthAugust Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) José Antonio Reyes (Arsenal)September David Moyes (Everton) Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)October Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)November José Mourinho (Chelsea) Arjen Robben (Chelsea)December Martin Jol (Tottenham Hotspur) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)January José Mourinho (Chelsea) John Terry (Chelsea)February Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)March Harry Redknapp (Southampton) Joe Cole (Chelsea)April Stuart Pearce (Manchester City) Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Annual awards Award Winner ClubPFA Players' Player of the Year John TerryChelseaPFA Young Player of the Year Wayne RooneyManchester UnitedPFA Fans' Player of the Year Frank LampardChelseaFWA Footballer of the Year Frank LampardChelseaPremier League Player of the Season Frank LampardChelseaPremier League Golden Boot Thierry HenryArsenalPremier League Golden Glove Petr ČechChelseaPremier League Manager of the Season José MourinhoChelsea PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Petr Čech(Chelsea) Defenders Gary Neville(Manchester United) John Terry(Chelsea) Rio Ferdinand(Manchester United) Ashley Cole(Arsenal) Midfielders Shaun Wright-Phillips(Manchester City) Frank Lampard(Chelsea) Steven Gerrard(Liverpool) Arjen Robben(Chelsea) Forwards Thierry Henry(Arsenal) Andy Johnson(Crystal Palace)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Matches Total attendance Average 1 Manchester United 19 1,289,541 67,871 2 Newcastle United 19 985,040 51,844 3 Manchester City 19 858,655 45,192 4 Liverpool FC 19 809,148 42,587 5 Chelsea FC 19 795,534 41,870 6 Arsenal FC 19 721,602 37,979 7 Aston Villa 19 709,730 37,354 8 Everton FC 19 699,846 36,834 9 Tottenham Hotspur 19 679,980 35,788 10 Middlesbrough FC 19 608,236 32,012 11 Southampton FC 19 581,583 30,610 12 Birmingham City 19 546,434 28,760 13 Charlton Athletic 19 507,770 26,725 14 West Bromwich Albion 19 493,746 25,987 15 Bolton Wanderers 19 492,308 25,911 16 Norwich City 19 462,653 24,350 17 Crystal Palace 19 458,051 24,108 18 Blackburn Rovers 19 423,985 22,315 19 Portsmouth FC 19 381,370 20,072 20 Fulham FC 19 376,928 19,838
See also 2004–05 in English football
References
External links 2004–05 FA Premier League Season at RSSSF