During the 2004–05 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.
Season summary While a poor start to the season saw Sunderland win just one of their first six matches, putting manager Mick McCarthy under pressure, the board kept faith with the manager, and were rewarded with a much more consistent season than the previous one. The team never dropped out of the top six after a victory over Millwall in mid-October, and their form steadily improved over the season. Along with a collapse by early-season pace-setters Ipswich Town, this lifted Sunderland to the top of the table with seven matches remaining, and they held onto top spot, returning to the Premier League after two seasons.
Transfers
In
Summer DatePosNameFromFee1 June 2004FW Stephen ElliottManchester CityFree10 June 2004MF Carl RobinsonPortsmouthFree21 June 2004MF Dean WhiteheadOxford UnitedFree25 June 2004MF Liam LawrenceMansfield TownFree27 June 2004DF Steven CaldwellNewcastle UnitedFree15 July 2004DF Mark LynchManchester UnitedFree13 August 2004DF Neill CollinsDumbarton£25,00010 September 2004MF Simon JohnsonLeeds UnitedLoan (September to November)16 September 2004MF Darren CarterBirmingham CityLoan (September to December)23 September 2004FW Michael BridgesBolton WanderersLoan until the end of the season11 October 2004DF Danny CollinsChester City£140,00023 November 2004MF Andy WelshStockport County£35,0001 December 2004FW Michael BridgesBolton WanderersFree
January DatePosNameFromFee24 March 2005FW Brian DeaneLeeds UnitedFree
Out
Summer DatePosNameToFee25 June 2004MF Tommy SmithDerby CountyFree18 June 2004DF Simon RamsdenGrimsby TownFree19 July 2004MF Jason McAteerMcAteer was born in Tranmere, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in March 1994.Tranmere RoversFree20 July 2004FW Michael ReddyGrimsby TownFree21 July 2004FW Darren ByfieldByfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.GillinghamFree27 July 2004MF Paul ThirlwellSheffield UnitedFree5 August 2004DF Joachim BjorklundWolverhampton WanderersFree31 August 2004MF Nicolás MedinaReal MurciaFree10 September 2004MF Thomas ButlerDunfermline AthleticFree23 September 2004DF Darren WilliamsCardiff CityLoan22 October 2004DF Ben ClarkHartlepool UnitedFree5 November 2004MF John OsterLeeds UnitedLoan10 December 2004DF Darren WilliamsCardiff CityFree
January DatePosNameToFee29 January 2005MF John OsterBurnleyFree
Players First-team squad Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Reserves The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.
Results Sunderland's score comes first.
WinDrawLoss
League Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst round24 August 2004 Chester CityStadium of Light3-011,450Hessey (own goal), Kyle, CaldwellSecond round21 September 2004 Crewe AlexandraAlexandra Stadium3-3(lost 2–4 on pens)3,804Brown (2), Elliott
FA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersThird round8 January 2005 Crystal PalaceStadium of Light2-117,536Welsh, Stewart (pen)Fourth round29 January 2005 EvertonGoodison Park0-333,186
Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 7 August 2004 Coventry CityHighfield Road0-216,460 10 August 2004 Crewe AlexandraStadium of Light3–122,341Robinson, Stewart, Elliott 14 August 2004 Queens Park RangersStadium of Light2–226,063Stewart, Caldwell 21 August 2004 Plymouth ArgyleHome Park1–216,874Stewart 28 August 2004 Wigan AthleticStadium of Light1–126,330Elliott 31 August 2004 ReadingMadjeski Stadium0–115,792 11 September 2004 GillinghamPriestfield Stadium4–08,775Stewart (3), Elliott 14 September 2004 Nottingham ForestStadium of Light2–023,540Arca, Wright 18 September 2004 Preston North EndStadium of Light3–124,264Elliott (2), Carter 24 September 2004 Leeds UnitedElland Road1–028,926Robinson 28 September 2004 Sheffield UnitedBramall Lane0–117,908 2 October 2004 Derby CountyStadium of Light0–029,881 16 October 2004 MillwallStadium of Light1–023,839Muscat (own goal) 19 October 2004 WatfordVicarage Road1–113,198Elliott 25 October 2004 Rotherham UnitedMillmoor1–06,026Whitehead 30 October 2004 Brighton & Hove AlbionStadium of Light2–025,532Arca, Lawrence (pen) 2 November 2004 Wolverhampton WanderersStadium of Light3–123,925Lawrence (2), Elliott 5 November 2004 MillwallThe Den0–210,513 13 November 2004 Leicester CityWalkers Stadium1–025,897Caldwell 21 November 2004 Ipswich TownStadium of Light2–031,723Elliott, Brown 27 November 2004 Stoke CityBritannia Stadium1–016,980Bridges 4 December 2004 West Ham UnitedStadium of Light0–229,510 11 December 2004 Cardiff CityNinian Park2–012,528Whitehead, Lawrence 18 December 2004 BurnleyStadium of Light2–127,102Arca, Bridges 26 December 2004 Leeds UnitedStadium of Light2–343,253Lawrence (pen), Arca 28 December 2004 Nottingham ForestCity Ground2–127,457Elliott, Stewart 1 January 2005 Preston North EndDeepdale2–322,051Elliott, Thornton 3 January 2005 GillinghamStadium of Light1–127,147Brown 16 January 2005 Derby CountyPride Park2–022,995Elliott, Whitehead 22 January 2005 Sheffield UnitedStadium of Light1–027,337Stewart 4 February 2005 Wolverhampton WanderersMolineux1–126,968Elliott 12 February 2005 WatfordStadium of Light4–224,948Stewart (3, 1 pen), Brown 19 February 2005 Brighton & Hove AlbionWithdean Stadium1–26,647Arca 22 February 2005 Rotherham UnitedStadium of Light4–122,267Whitehead, Thornton (2), Breen 26 February 2005 Cardiff CityStadium of Light2–132,788Breen, Stewart 4 March 2005 BurnleyTurf Moor2–012,103Lawrence, Stewart 12 March 2005 Crewe AlexandraAlexandra Stadium1–07,949Elliott 15 March 2005 Plymouth ArgyleStadium of Light5–125,258Whitehead, Arca, Stewart (pen), Caldwell, Thornton 19 March 2005 Coventry CityStadium of Light1–029,424Brown 2 April 2005 Queens Park RangersLoftus Road3–118,198Welsh, Brown, Arca 5 April 2005 Wigan AthleticJJB Stadium1–020,745Stewart 9 April 2005 ReadingStadium of Light1–234,237Arca 17 April 2005 Ipswich TownPortman Road2–229,230Elliott, Robinson 23 April 2005 Leicester CityStadium of Light2–134,815Stewart, Caldwell 29 April 2005 West Ham UnitedBoleyn Ground2–133,482Arca, Elliott 8 May 2005 Stoke CityStadium of Light1–047,350Robinson
Topscorers
Marcus Stewart - 17 Stephen Elliott - 16 Julio Arca - 9 Chris Brown - 7 Liam Lawrence - 6 Dean Whitehead - 5 Carl Robinson, Sean Thornton and Steven Caldwell - 4 Michael Bridges, Andy Welsh and Gary Breen - 2 Kevin Kyle, Darren Carter and Stephen Wright - 1
References
Mart Poom calms fears of fans - https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/3631300.stm
Notes