The 2004–05 season was Stoke City's 98th season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and the 38th in the second tier, it was also the first season in the new re-branded Football League Championship. With supporter expectation now rising there were hopes that Stoke could soon begin to mount a serious attempt to return to the top flight. But after a poor summer in terms of transfer activity those hopes subsided, but soon returned after a good start to the season with Stoke going top of the table in early September. But any hopes of a promotion push soon vanished with some poor performances and most notably a lack of goals being scored. In fact Stoke went on a dull run of 'binary' results, from 23 October 2004 to 22 February 2005 the only score line was that of 0–0, 1–0, 0–1 and 1–1. Supporters began to vent their anger at the lack of entertainment on offer as the side fell into mid-table obscurity and a final finish of 12th the outcome of a forgettable season.

Season review

League

Prior to the start of the season

went through a re-branding process with the First Division been renamed the Football League Championship. Stoke had a poor summer in the transfer market with only

Dave Brammer David Brammer (born 28 February 1975) is an English former Association football, footballer. A midfielder, in a sixteen-year career he scored 22 goals in 455 games in the English Football League, Football League. Starting his career at Wrexham ...

and Steve Simonsen joining the club before the start of the season. However these worries were forgotten with a fine pre-season victory over Spanish giants

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. Stoke began the 2004–05 season very well beating promotion favourites

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

2–1 on the opening day. Victories over Gillingham, Cardiff City and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

followed and after a thrilling win over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

Stoke went top of the table. However Stoke then lost their form and went seven matches without a win before beating

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

1–0 on Halloween. Prior to that on 22 October Stoke drew 1–1 away at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

a result which sparked a dull run of results. Through until 22 February the only score line was that of 0–0, 1–0, 0–1 and 1–1 which saw manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

come under heavy criticism from supporters form the lack of attacking football and entertainment on offer. New signings again failed to arrive with

Michael Duberry Michael Wayne Duberry (born 14 October 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He started his career with Premier League side Chelsea, and also played in the top flight for Leeds United and Reading, and ...

from

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and Lewis Buxton from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

the only mainstays from a series of loans, however both players were defenders.

Ade Akinbiyi Adeola Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi (born 10 October 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Leicester City and Sheffield United, as well as ...

was sold to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

despite there being a lack of goalscoring. The 'binary' run of results finally ended with a 3–2 win over

which prompted an upturn in results but any hopes of a late push for a play-off place was ended with an awful defeat at home to rock bottom

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

FA Cup

Stoke drew

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side Arsenal away in the third round and took the lead through Wayne Thomas. But Stoke could not hold out and Arsenal scored twice to go through 2–1.

League Cup

Stoke made another poor exit in the first round losing against

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

Season review

League

FA Cup

League Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Pre-Season Friendlies

Football League Championship

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics

References