2004–05 Watford F.C. season

During the 2004–05 English football season, Watford competed in the Football League Championship.

Watford
2004–05 season
ChairmanGraham Simpson
ManagerRay Lewington (until 22 March)
Aidy Boothroyd (from 29 March)
StadiumVicarage Road
Championship18th
FA CupThird round
League CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Heiðar Helguson (16)

All:
Heiðar Helguson (20)
Average home league attendance14,289

Season summary

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The 2004–05 season saw a continuation of the good form of the end of the previous season, with the club well in the upper half of the Championship at the end of September. However, a long run of poor form subsequently saw the club drop steadily towards the relegation zone. Another good cup run further eased the club's financial position, with the team reaching the semi-final of the League Cup, soundly beating Premiership sides Portsmouth and Southampton on the way, before losing narrowly to Liverpool. The club's poor league form, however, came to a head in March, with a run of terrible performances and Lewington was sacked on 22 March.[1] His sacking was controversial, and many fans were unhappy at the loss of a man who had led the club to two cup semi-finals in three seasons, enduring considerable financial hardships.

At the age of 34, Aidy Boothroyd was appointed manager of Watford after serving at Leeds United as a coach;[2] 70-year-old Keith Burkinshaw was recruited as his assistant. Boothroyd's inexperience raised concerns among fans, who worried that he would not be able to keep the side in the Championship. However, Watford secured enough points to ensure survival with two games to go in the season.

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
16 Cardiff City 46 13 15 18 48 51 −3 54
17 Plymouth Argyle 46 14 11 21 52 64 −12 53
18 Watford 46 12 16 18 52 59 −7 52
19 Coventry City 46 13 13 20 61 73 −12 52
20 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 13 12 21 40 65 −25 51
Updated to match(es) played on 9 December 2011. Source: Football League Tables
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


Results

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Watford's score comes first[3]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Championship

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
7 August 2004 Preston North End A 1–2 12,208 Devlin
9 August 2004 Queens Park Rangers H 3–0 14,737 Webber (2), Dyer
14 August 2004 Burnley H 0–1 12,048
21 August 2004 Leicester City A 1–0 22,478 Webber
28 August 2004 Plymouth Argyle H 3–1 13,104 Ardley, Webber (2)
11 September 2004 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–1 14,148 Webber
14 September 2004 Cardiff City A 3–0 10,606 Webber (2), Ardley
19 September 2004 Millwall A 2–0 10,865 Webber, Helguson
25 September 2004 Reading H 0–1 13,389
28 September 2004 Wigan Athletic H 0–0 11,361
2 October 2004 Crewe Alexandra A 0–3 6,382
16 October 2004 Derby County A 2–2 23,253 Helguson (2)
19 October 2004 Sunderland H 1–1 13,198 Ardley
23 October 2004 Ipswich Town H 2–2 22,497 Helguson, Bouazza
30 October 2004 Nottingham Forest A 2–1 24,473 Helguson (2)
2 November 2004 Gillingham A 0–0 7,009
6 November 2004 Derby County H 2–2 13,689 Helguson, Gunnarsson
13 November 2004 Sheffield United A 1–1 18,454 Gunnarsson
20 November 2004 Rotherham United H 0–0 17,780
24 November 2004 Leeds United A 2–2 24,585 Dyer (2)
27 November 2004 West Ham United A 2–3 24,541 Gunnarsson, Dyer
4 December 2004 Stoke City H 0–1 12,169
11 December 2004 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–1 14,605 Helguson
18 December 2004 Coventry City A 0–1 14,493
26 December 2004 Reading A 0–3 18,757
28 December 2004 Cardiff City H 0–0 13,409
1 January 2005 Millwall H 1–0 13,158 Helguson
3 January 2005 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–2 6,335 Helguson
15 January 2005 Crewe Alexandra H 3–1 11,223 Helguson (2), DeMerit
22 January 2005 Wigan Athletic A 2–2 9,008 Dyer, Webber
5 February 2005 Gillingham H 2–0 15,188 Ashby (own goal), Eagles
12 February 2005 Sunderland A 2–4 24,948 Dyer (2)
22 February 2005 Ipswich Town A 2–1 23,993 DeMerit, Dyer
26 February 2005 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–0 25,060
5 March 2005 Coventry City H 2–3 13,794 Dyer, Webber
8 March 2005 Nottingham Forest H 0–2 12,118
12 March 2005 Queens Park Rangers A 1–3 16,638 Ardley
15 March 2005 Leicester City H 2–2 11,084 DeMerit, Webber (pen)
19 March 2005 Preston North End H 0–2 19,649
2 April 2005 Burnley A 1–3 11,507 Blizzard
5 April 2005 Plymouth Argyle A 0–1 15,333
9 April 2005 Leeds United H 1–2 16,306 Helguson
16 April 2005 Rotherham United A 1–0 5,438 Helguson
23 April 2005 Sheffield United H 0–0 17,138
30 April 2005 Stoke City A 1–0 15,229 Helguson
8 May 2005 West Ham United H 1–2 19,673 Helguson

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 8 January 2005 Fulham H 1–1 14,896 Helguson (pen)
R3R 19 January 2005 Fulham A 0–2 11,306

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 24 August 2004 Cambridge United H 1–0 6,558 Ferrell
R2 21 September 2004 Reading A 3–0 8,429 Cox (pen), Bouazza, Ingimarsson (own goal)
R3 26 October 2004 Sheffield United A 0–0 (won 4–2 on pens) 7,689
R4 9 November 2004 Southampton H 5–2 13,008 Dyer, Chambers (2), Helguson, Bouazza
R5 30 November 2004 Portsmouth H 3–0 18,877 Helguson (2), Dyer
SF 1st Leg 11 January 2005 Liverpool A 0–1 35,739
SF 2nd Leg 25 January 2005 Liverpool H 0–1 19,797

Players

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First-team squad

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Squad at end of season[4]

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 Alec Chamberlain
3 DF   ENG Paul Mayo
4 DF   ISL Brynjar Gunnarsson
5 DF   ENG Neil Cox
6 DF   ENG Sean Dyche
7 FW   ENG Bruce Dyer [notes 1]
8 MF   ENG Gavin Mahon
9 FW   ENG Danny Webber
10 MF   SCO Paul Devlin[notes 2]
11 MF   ENG Andy Ferrell
14 DF   ENG Jermaine Darlington
16 GK   ENG Richard Lee
17 MF   ENG Jamie Hand
18 FW   ISL Heiðar Helguson
19 DF   ENG James Chambers
20 DF   ENG Lloyd Doyley[notes 3]
21 DF   ENG Jack Smith
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF   ENG Dominic Blizzard
23 MF   ENG Anthony McNamee
24 FW   TRI Jason Norville
25 FW   FRA Hameur Bouazza[notes 4]
26 DF   ENG Ben Herd
27 MF   ENG Ashley Young
28 MF   ENG Jamie Collins
29 DF   USA Jay DeMerit
30 FW   ENG Omari Coleman
31 MF   FRA Toumani Diagouraga
32 DF   ENG Danny Cullip (on loan from Sheffield United)
33 DF   ENG Junior Osborne
35 GK   ENG Reece Kirk
37 MF   SLE Al Bangura
38 DF   ENG Adrian Mariappa[notes 5]
39 MF   ENG Joel Grant[notes 6]

Left club during season

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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 MF   ENG Neal Ardley (to Cardiff City)
12 FW   ENG Scott Fitzgerald (to Brentford)
13 GK   WAL Paul Jones (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
15 DF   JAM Marcus Gayle[notes 7] (to Brentford)
No. Pos. Nation Player
32 MF   ENG Johnnie Jackson (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
34 MF   ENG Chris Eagles (on loan from Manchester United)
42 GK   ENG Kevin Hitchcock (retired)

Transfers

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References

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  1. ^ "Watford dismiss manager Lewington". BBC Sport. 22 March 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Watford appoint Boothroyd as boss". BBC Sport. 29 March 2005. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  3. ^ "Watford 2004-2005 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ^ "FootballSquads - Watford - 2004/05".

Notes

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  1. ^ Dyer was born in Redbridge, England, and represented them at U-21 level, but played a friendly game for Montserrat against Ashford Town in September 2007.
  2. ^ Devlin was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally through his father and made his international debut for Scotland in October 2002.
  3. ^ Doyley was born in Tower Hamlets, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in March 2013.
  4. ^ Bouazza was born in Évry, France, but also qualified to represent Algeria internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Algeria in February 2007.
  5. ^ Mariappa was born in Harrow, England, but also qualified to represent Fiji internationally through his father and Jamaica through his maternal grandparents and would make his international debut for Jamaica in June 2012.
  6. ^ Grant was born in Ealing, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and represented Jamaica at U-23 level before making his international debut for Jamaica in May 2014.
  7. ^ Gayle was born in Hammersmith, London, and represented them at U-18 level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
  8. ^ Hyde was born in Newham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 2001.