2004–05 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 2004–05 campaign was their first competitive campaign in the restructured Coca-Cola League One. They finished 9th with 70 points, just one point less than Hartlepool United in 6th, the lowest playoff position.

Huddersfield Town
2004–05 season
ChairmanKen Davy
ManagerPeter Jackson
League One9th
FA CupFirst round
(knocked out by Stockport County)
League CupFirst round
(knocked out by Leeds United)
League TrophySecond round
(knocked out by Blackpool)
Top goalscorerLeague: Pawel Abbott (26)
All: Pawel Abbott (27)
Highest home attendance17,292 vs Sheffield Wednesday (29 March 2005)
Lowest home attendance3,831 vs Morecambe (28 September 2004)
Biggest win4–0 vs Hull City (5 September 2004)
4–0 vs Swindon Town (30 April 2005)
Biggest defeat3–6 vs Blackpool (2 November 2004)
0–3 vs Tranmere Rovers (22 February 2005)

Squad at the start of the season

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 England ENG Ian Gray
2 DF England ENG Andy Holdsworth
3 DF England ENG Anthony Lloyd
4 MF Wales WAL Lee Fowler
5 DF England ENG Steve Yates
6 DF England ENG Nathan Clarke
7 MF England ENG Chris Brandon
8 MF England ENG Tony Carss
9 FW Poland POL Pawel Abbott
10 FW Montserrat MSR Junior Mendes
11 MF England ENG Danny Schofield
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF England ENG Rob Edwards (Club captain)
16 DF Nigeria NGA Efe Sodje (Team captain)
17 DF England ENG David Mirfin
18 MF England ENG Jon Worthington
19 FW Nigeria NGA Akpo Sodje
20 FW Republic of Ireland IRL John McAliskey
22 GK England ENG Phil Senior
23 FW England ENG Andy Booth
24 DF England ENG John McCombe
25 MF Pakistan PAK Adnan Ahmed
27 DF England ENG Nat Brown

Review

Town beat Stockport County on the opening day, but then failed to score in their next 4 games, including a 1–0 defeat to Leeds United in the first round of the League Cup at Elland Road. The season included victories away at eventual champions Luton Town and at home over runners-up Hull City but also included two derby defeats against Bradford City. However, a disastrous mid-season spell of form (including seven successive away league defeats and having Efe Sodje stripped of the captaincy after his red card against Blackpool in the Football League Trophy) saw the side slump and in real danger of a relegation battle.

Jon Worthington was made captain after the Blackpool game, but then Huddersfield gained a recovery in form with the loan signing of Luke Beckett from Sheffield United, but he was then recalled by Sheffield in mid-February.

The team were in deep trouble in mid-March, with relegation being a big possibility, but the play-offs were still possible, although Town had to win all their final 10 games to have a realistic chance of reaching the play-offs and all was going well, until Town played Colchester United at the Galpharm Stadium. With 1 minute to go, Town were leading 2–1, but then a goalkeeping error by Paul Rachubka (signed earlier in the season from Charlton Athletic) let Colchester equalise the game. That proved to be fatal, Town did win all the other 9 games and they missed out on the play-offs by one point.

During the season, many graduates from Town's own academy started to cement first-team places, such as Andy Holdsworth, David Mirfin, Nathan Clarke, Tom Clarke, Adnan Ahmed and Michael Collins. Beckett departed to join local rivals Oldham Athletic before the transfer deadline.

Squad at the end of the season

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 DF England ENG Andy Holdsworth
3 DF England ENG Anthony Lloyd
4 MF Wales WAL Lee Fowler
5 DF England ENG Steve Yates
6 DF England ENG Nathan Clarke
7 MF England ENG Chris Brandon
8 MF England ENG Tony Carss
9 FW Poland POL Pawel Abbott
10 FW Montserrat MSR Junior Mendes
11 MF England ENG Danny Schofield
14 DF England ENG Rob Edwards (Club captain)
17 DF England ENG David Mirfin
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF England ENG Jon Worthington (Team captain)
20 FW Republic of Ireland IRL John McAliskey
21 DF England ENG Danny Adams
22 GK England ENG Phil Senior
23 FW England ENG Andy Booth
24 DF England ENG John McCombe
25 MF Pakistan PAK Adnan Ahmed
26 GK England ENG Paul Rachubka
27 DF England ENG Nat Brown
29 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Michael Collins
36 DF England ENG Tom Clarke

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
7 Bristol City 46 18 16 12 74 57 +17 70
8 Bournemouth 46 20 10 16 77 64 +13 70
9 Huddersfield Town 46 20 10 16 74 65 +9 70
10 Doncaster Rovers 46 16 18 12 65 60 +5 66
11 Bradford City 46 17 14 15 64 62 +2 65
Updated to match(es) played on May 2005. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Pre-season matches

Date Competition Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
12 July 2004 Friendly match Wakefield-Emley A 2 - 1 Mirfin, Holdsworth 1,589
17 July 2004 Friendly match Middlesbrough A 1 - 2 Booth ?
19 July 2004 Friendly match Ossett Town A 2 - 0 A. Sodje, McCombe 1,000+
21 July 2004 Friendly match Bradford Park Avenue A 2 - 1 McAliskey, Carss 800+
24 July 2004 Friendly match Harrogate Town A 2 - 2 Abbott (pen), Brandon 704
27 July 2004 Friendly match Rotherham United A 2 - 0 2 og 1,720
28 July 2004 Friendly match Farsley Celtic A 1 - 1 A. Sodje ?
31 July 2004 Friendly match Macclesfield Town A 1 - 0 Brandon ?
3 August 2004 Friendly match Guiseley A 2 - 0 Brown, Fowler c. 500

Coca-Cola League One

Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance League
position
7 August 2004 Stockport County A 3 - 2 Carss [45], Booth [87], Abbott [90] 7,473 4th
10 August 2004 Chesterfield H 0 - 0 11,942 6th
16 August 2004 Hartlepool United H 0 - 2 9,968 14th
21 August 2004 Sheffield Wednesday A 0 - 1 26,264 17th
28 August 2004 Peterborough United H 2 - 1 McAliskey [16], Worthington [48] 9,531 14th
30 August 2004 Doncaster Rovers A 1 - 2 Worthington [83] 7,068 16th
5 September 2004 Hull City H 4 - 0 Abbott [7], Edwards [14], Brandon [74], Booth [87] 13,542 11th
11 September 2004 Port Vale A 3 - 0 Abbott [62, 67, 65] 6,298 5th
18 September 2004 Barnsley H 0 - 2 14,794 9th
25 September 2004 Bristol City A 3 - 3 Schofield [28], Abbott [35], Brandon [60] 10,783 10th
2 October 2004 Walsall H 3 - 1 Abbott, [29, 68], Mendes [30] 11,324 7th
9 October 2004 Torquay United A 1 - 2 Mendes [39] 3,033 9th
16 October 2004 Luton Town A 2 - 1 Mendes [14, 36] 8,192 7th
19 October 2004 Tranmere Rovers H 1 - 3 Abbott [33] 10,324 8th
23 October 2004 Milton Keynes Dons H 3 - 0 Abbott [33, 45 (pen)], Mendes [45] 10,709 7th
30 October 2004 Blackpool A 1 - 1 Booth [15] 7,676 8th
7 November 2004 Brentford H 1 - 1 Abbott [71] 10,810 9th
20 November 2004 Colchester United A 0 - 0 3,972 11th
27 November 2004 Wrexham H 1 - 2 Schofield [41] 11,127 14th
8 December 2004 Swindon Town A 2 - 1 Abbott [19], Brandon [34] 4,828 10th
11 December 2004 Oldham Athletic A 1 - 2 Abbott [7] 8,389 11th
18 December 2004 Bradford City H 0 - 1 17,281 13th
26 December 2004 Port Vale H 2 - 1 Schofield [4], Abbott [8] 12,243 12th
28 December 2004 AFC Bournemouth A 2 - 2 McAliskey [38], Mirfin [60] 8,448 12th
1 January 2005 Hull City A 1 - 2 Brandon [40] 22,291 13th
3 January 2005 Bristol City H 2 - 2 Orr [18 (og)], Abbott [58] 11,151 13th
8 January 2005 Torquay United H 1 - 1 E Sodje [24] 9,194 13th
15 January 2005 Barnsley A 2 - 4 Abbott [55 (pen)], Booth [70] 11,725 14th
22 January 2005 AFC Bournemouth H 3 - 2 Abbott [8 (pen)], Beckett [35, 45] 9,754 13th
29 January 2005 Walsall A 3 - 4 Booth [7], Beckett [11, 33] 5,727 14th
5 February 2005 Luton Town H 1 - 1 Beckett [90] 12,611 14th
12 February 2005 Milton Keynes Dons A 1 - 2 Booth [30] 4,793 15th
19 February 2005 Blackpool H 1 - 0 Beckett [2] 10,614 14th
22 February 2005 Tranmere Rovers A 0 - 3 7,613 14th
26 February 2005 Oldham Athletic H 2 - 1 Abbott [4, 29] 11,161 13th
5 March 2005 Bradford City A 0 - 2 15,417 14th
12 March 2005 Chesterfield A 1 - 2 Mirfin [79] 4,827 15th
19 March 2005 Stockport County H 5 - 3 Booth [4], Abbott [51], Mirfin [82], Ahmed [83], Dolan [90 (og)] 11,180 14th
25 March 2005 Hartlepool United A 1 - 0 Booth [42] 6,205 13th
29 March 2005 Sheffield Wednesday H 1 - 0 Worthington [7] 17,292 13th
2 April 2005 Peterborough United A 2 - 1 Brandon [21], Schofield [84] 3,976 12th
9 April 2005 Doncaster Rovers H 3 - 1 Abbott [1], Booth [43], Brandon [56] 12,792 8th
16 April 2005 Colchester United H 2 - 2 Abbott [20], Schofield [62] 10,831 9th
23 April 2005 Brentford A 1 - 0 Abbott [26] 7,703 10th
30 April 2005 Swindon Town H 4 - 0 Abbott [62, 80], Booth [79], Edwards [85] 13,559 9th
7 May 2005 Wrexham A 1 - 0 Mirfin [43] 7,151 9th

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
13 November 2004 Round 1 Stockport County A 1 - 3 Abbott [90] 3,479

League Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
24 August 2004 Round 1 Leeds United A 0 - 1 30,115

Football League Trophy

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
28 September 2004 Round 1 North Morecambe H 3 - 0 Mirfin [47], Mendes [84 (pen)], Fowler [90] 3,831
2 November 2004 Round 2 North Blackpool A 3 - 6 (aet, 90 mins: 2 - 2) McAliskey [47], Schofield [53], Ahmed [105] 3,533

Appearances and goals

Squad No.NameNationPositionLeague AppsLeague GoalsFA Cup AppsFA Cup GoalsLeague Cup AppsLeague Cup GoalsFLT AppsFLT GoalsTotal AppsTotal Goals
1Ian Gray EnglandGK120001000130
2Andy Holdsworth EnglandDF38 (2)010101041 (2)0
3Anthony Lloyd EnglandDF10 (1)010002013 (1)0
4Lee Fowler WalesMF8 (12)00 (1)0002110 (13)1
5Steve Yates EnglandDF15 (2)010001017 (2)0
6Nathan Clarke EnglandDF370101010400
7Chris Brandon EnglandMF42 (2)610100044 (2)6
8Tony Carss EnglandMF23 (4)100101025 (4)1
9Pawel Abbott PolandFW36 (8)2611100 (1)038 (9)25
10Junior Mendes MontserratFW13 (12)5100 (1)01115 (13)6
11Danny Schofield EnglandMF21 (12)510002124 (12)6
12Luke Beckett EnglandFW7600000076
12Delroy Facey GrenadaFW4000000040
14Rob Edwards EnglandDF21 (3)200100022 (3)2
16Efe Sodje EnglandDF24 (4)100101026 (4)1
17David Mirfin EnglandDF38 (3)410101141 (3)5
18Jon Worthington EnglandMF393101010423
19Akpo Sodje NigeriaFW1 (6)000001 (1)02 (7)0
20John McAliskey Republic of IrelandFW7 (11)2000 (1)01 (1)18 (13)3
21Danny Adams EnglandDF5000000050
22Phil Senior EnglandGK5 (1)00000207 (1)0
23Andy Booth EnglandFW25 (4)1000101027 (4)10
24John McCombe EnglandDF4 (1)00000206 (1)0
25Adnan Ahmed PakistanMF16 (2)100000 (2)118 (4)2
26Paul Rachubka EnglandGK290100000300
27Nat Brown EnglandDF7 (10)00000108 (10)0
29Michael Collins Republic of IrelandMF7 (1)00000007 (1)0
36Tom Clarke EnglandDF120000000120
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