During the 2004–05 season, Middlesbrough participated in the FA Premier League.
Final league table
Kit During this season, Middlesbrough had a new sponsor, 888.com. The team's kit was produced by Errea. The home shirt included a white band on it for the first time since the 2000–01 season. The away strip was mainly white with maroon sleeves, navy blue shorts and white socks. Away to Southampton, white shorts and navy socks were worn with the away shirt.
Season review After the triumph in the League Cup final the previous season and a solid 11th-place finish in the league, Boro fans were optimistic that this season would be a success. Steve McClaren signed Boudewijn Zenden and Doriva on permanent deals following their loan spells, as well as adding high-profile signings Ray Parlour, Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Michael Reiziger to the squad. With these new additions, the supporters felt that, come the end of the season, Boro would be pushing for a league place good enough to qualify for Europe.
The season started well and Middlesbrough found themselves in fourth position following only one loss in the first 5 games. Despite a slight drop in their form, Boro kept in and around the top four until mid-November.
However, the UEFA Cup took its toll on the small Boro squad and their form stuttered towards Christmas. The team seemed to consist of more and more young players who were deputising for more senior players such as Gaizka Mendieta and Malcolm Christie who were ruled out for the season with injuries.
Following a 2–0 win at home to Norwich City on 28 December, Boro were in fifth place. However, not helped by an injury to George Boateng, after only one win in the next ten games the team found themselves in ninth and seemed to have undone their good work at the start of the season.
Things did finally pick up and, following only three losses in the final 12 games of the season, they found themselves up against Manchester City in the final game of the season. Both teams were in direct contest for the seventh place that Boro occupied, and a win for either side would mean qualification for the UEFA Cup. A last-minute penalty save by Mark Schwarzer gave Boro a 1–1 draw and the all-important seventh-placed finish. For the first time in their history, Middlesbrough had qualified for Europe through the league.
The season was full of highs and lows for the Boro fans. The disappointment of losing their early strong position due to the injury crisis was offset against the emergence of several promising youngsters such as Stewart Downing, James Morrison and Anthony McMahon.
Both domestic cups were disappointing for the Boro team and the draws weren't favourable towards them. They only lasted two rounds in each competition, going out in the fourth round of both cups, to Manchester United in the FA Cup and to a young Liverpool side in the League Cup. The UEFA Cup run - Middlesbrough's first foray into Europe, having won the first major trophy of their history, the League Cup, the previous season - held greater joy. The first round was a two-legged knockout match against Baník Ostrava - Boro's first ever European match, with the first leg was at home. With a fantastic atmosphere at the Riverside, Middlesbrough cruised through the first leg 3–0; with a comfortable 1–1 draw in the away leg, they had qualified for the group stages and were guaranteed another 4 matches.
Middlesbrough were drawn in Group D, along with Villarreal, Lazio, Egaleo and Partizan Belgrade. The fans were confident that the team could earn at least a third-place finish in the group and therefore qualify for the knockout stages.
Boro went on to exceed all expectations, beating Egalio and Partizan Belgrade as expected and also achieving a fantastic 2–0 victory over Lazio - the only blot being a 2–0 away loss to Villarreal. This was enough to earn them a second-place finish and qualification for the next round, where Middlesbrough were drawn against Grazer AK. Middlesbrough managed a 2–2 draw against the then Austrian champions in the first leg, away. The team duly built on this in the return leg and progressed to the next round following a 2–1 win.
The round of 16 saw Boro face Sporting CP for a place in the quarter finals. However, luck wasn't with Middlesbrough and they found themselves in the middle of an injury crisis. The first leg was at home and remained goalless at half time. Sporting then proceed to show their class and scored 3 in a thirty-minute spell after the break. Boro looked like they were to exit the competition, but a spectacular overhead scissor kick from Joseph Desire-Job and a late Chris Riggott goal gave a weakened Boro team a fairly respectable 3–2 loss. The second leg didn't go to plan though; despite fantastic support from 3,000 travelling fans, Middlesbrough went down 1–0, losing 4–2 on aggregate. The Boro fans took the defeat in good heart, however, and partied late into the night in Lisbon.
Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run was seen as a huge success by the fans, and expectations were high for the following year's campaign.
First-team squad The following are all the players who were involved the Middlesbrough F.C. first team at some point during the 2004-05 season.
Transfers
In
DatePlayerPrevious clubCost 6 July 2004 Michael Reiziger BarcelonaFree 8 July 2004 Mark VidukaLeeds United£4,500,000 9 July 2004 Jimmy Floyd HasselbainkChelseaFree 23 July 2004 Ray ParlourArsenalFree 3 August 2004 Boudewijn ZendenChelseaFree
Out
DatePlayerBuying clubCost22 April 2004 RicardinhoReleasedFree23 June 2004 Michael RickettsLeeds UnitedFree23 June 2004 Robbie StockdaleRotherham UnitedNominal29 June 2004 Jonathan GreeningWest Bromwich Albion£1,250,00025 August 2004 Juninho CelticFree23 March 2005 Carlo NashPreston North End£175,000
Results
Premier League
Results per matchday
Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.
GameDateVenueOpponentResultF–AAttendanceBoro goalscorersMan of the match114 August 2004HNewcastle United2–234,268Downing 73', Hasselbaink 90'Reiziger222 August 2004AArsenal3–537,415Job 43', Hasselbaink 50', Queudrue 53'Queudrue325 August 2004AFulham2–017,759Viduka 54', Németh 79'Parlour428 August 2004HCrystal Palace2–131,560Popovic (o.g.) 61', Hasselbaink 78'Mendieta511 September 2004HBirmingham City2–130,252Viduka (2) 27', 48'Boateng619 September 2004AEverton0–134,078 Schwarzer725 September 2004HChelsea0–132,341 Schwarzer83 October 2004AManchester United1–167,988Downing 33'Southgate916 October 2004ABlackburn Rovers4–020,385Hasselbaink (3) 46', 57', 90', Boateng 50'Hasselbaink1024 October 2004HPortsmouth1–130,964Downing 74'Parlour1130 October 2004ACharlton Athletic2–126,031El Karkouri (o.g.) 21', Zenden 58'Zenden127 November 2004HBolton Wanderers1–129,656Boateng 90'Boateng1314 November 2004AWest Bromwich Albion2–124,008Purse (o.g.) 32', Zenden 52'Schwarzer1420 November 2004HLiverpool2–034,751Riggott 36', Zenden 62'Parlour1528 November 2004ATottenham Hotspur0–235,772Riggott166 December 2004HManchester City3–229,787Viduka (2) 9', 54', Hasselbaink 65'Viduka1711 December 2004ASouthampton2–229,018Higginbotham (o.g.) 89', Downing 90'Downing1818 December 2004HAston Villa3–031,338Hasselbaink 20', Job 68', Reiziger 88'McMahon1926 December 2004ABirmingham City0–229,082 Reiziger2028 December 2004HNorwich City2–0{34,836Job (2) 52', 54'Downing211 January 2005HManchester United0–234,199 Downing224 January 2005AChelsea0–2 40,982 Parlour2316 January 2005HEverton1–1 31,794Zenden 26'Zenden2422 January 2005ANorwich City4–424,547Hasselbaink (2) 34', 78', Queudrue (2) 49', 55'Downing251 February 2005APortsmouth1–2 19,620Christie 35'Parlour265 February 2005HBlackburn Rovers1–0 30,564Queudrue 35'Zenden2712 February 2005ABolton Wanderers0–024,322 Schwarzer2827 February 2005HCharlton Athletic2–229,603Riggott 74', Graham 86'Riggott295 March 2005AAston Villa0–234,201 Parnaby3020 March 2005HSouthampton1–330,082Hasselbaink 41'Doriva312 April 2005ACrystal Palace1–024,274Queudrue 35'Queudrue329 April 2005HArsenal0–133,874 Boateng3319 April 2005HFulham1–130,650Zenden (pen.) 90'Queudrue3423 April 2005HWest Bromwich Albion4–032,951Németh (2) 27', 37', Hasselbaink 33', Downing 90'+3 Németh3527 April 2005ANewcastle United0–052,047 Jones3630 April 2005ALiverpool1–143,250Németh 4'Southgate377 May 2005HTottenham Hotspur1–034,766Boateng 11'Boateng3815 May 2005AManchester City1–147,221Hasselbaink 23'Southgate
League Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers 327 October 2004Coventry CityHome3-011,833Nemeth, Morrison, Graham 410 November 2004LiverpoolAway2-028,176
FA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers38 January 2005Notts CountyAway2-113,671Doriva, Job429 January 2005Manchester UnitedAway3-067,251
UEFA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersReferee1 Leg 116 September 2004 Baník OstravaHome3-029,746Hasselbaink, Viduka (2) Pascal Garibian (France)1 Leg 230 September 2004 Baník OstravaAway1-1 (3–1 agg)15,351Morrison Matteo Trefoloni (Italy)Grp E21 October 2004 EgaleoAway1-04,000Downing Attila Hanacsek (Hungary)Grp E4 November 2004 LazioHome2-033,991Zenden (2) Yuri Baskakov (Russia)Grp E25 November 2004 VillarrealAway2-014,250 Jan Wegereef (Netherlands)Grp E15 December 2004 PartizanHome3-020,856Nemeth, Job, Morrison Grzegorz Gilewski (Poland)3 Leg 117 February 2005 Grazer AKAway2-213,000Zenden, Hasselbaink Edo Trivković (Croatia)3 Leg 224 February 2005 Grazer AKHome2-1 (4–3 agg)20,371Morrison, Hasselbaink Eduardo Iturralde González (Spain)4 Leg 110 March 2005 SportingHome2-323,739Job, Riggott Stefano Farina (Italy)4 Leg 217 March 2005 SportingAway1-0 (4–2 agg)21,217 Éric Poulat (France)
Player statistics
Goalscorers Goalscoring statistics for 2004-05. +NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropeTotal Hasselbaink1300316 Job51028 Viduka50027 Zenden40037 Downing50016 Németh40116 Queudrue50005 Morrison00134 Boateng30003 Riggott20013 Graham10102 Reiziger10001 Christie10001 Doriva01001 Own Goals40004
Appearances and discipline Appearance and disciplinary records for 2004-05 league and cup matches. +NameAppearancesYellow cardsRed cards Schwarzer4300 Jones500 Nash400 Parnaby20+410 Queudrue4382 Ehiogu11+110 Riggott31+140 Southgate4760 Reiziger21+410 Bates0+200 Davies4+100 McMahon16+330 Cooper17+400 Wheater0+100 Mendieta7+110 Boateng2980 Wilson100 Downing40+810 Morrison12+1120 Johnson0+100 Doriva26+1260 Parlour40+1131 Zenden48+190 Kennedy0+100 Viduka19+200 Christie2+100 Hasselbaink43+230 Graham1+1600 Németh25+1510 Job17+1600
References and notes