# 2004–05 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 2004–05 season in English football was Aston Villa F.C.'s 13th consecutive season in the FA Premier League, and their second season under the management of David O'Leary.
Villa went into the season with high hopes after finishing sixth during the 2003–04 FA Premier League season, despite an inconsistent start Villa soon begun to string wins together and threaten the top six but in the run up to Christmas Villas form dropped alarmingly and they fell away quickly, occasional wins put any relegation worry's astray as they underachieved and eventually secured a tenth-place finish.
There were debuts for Steven Davis (91), Martin Laursen (84), Carlton Cole (27), Mathieu Berson (11), and Eric Djemba-Djemba (11).

## Kit

| Kit Supplier | Sponsor |
| Hummel | DWS Investments |

## Transfers
### Transferred in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Fee |
| 21 May 2004 | CB | Martin Laursen | Milan | £3,000,000 |
| 6 August 2004 | CM | Mathieu Berson | Nantes | £1,600,000 |
| 31 January 2005 | DM | Eric Djemba-Djemba | Manchester United | £1,350,000 |
| | | | | £5,950,000 |

### Loaned in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Loan End |
| 11 July 2004 | CF | Václav Drobný | Strasbourg | 31 May 2005 |

### Transferred out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2004 | CF | Dion Dublin | Leicester City | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2004 | AM | Hassan Kachloul | - | Released |
| 9 July 2004 | CF | Peter Crouch | Southampton | £2,000,000 |
| 20 July 2004 | LB | Rob Edwards | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £150,000 |
| 27 August 2004 | CF | Marcus Allbäck | Hansa Rostock | Free transfer |
| 16 September 2004 | CB | Ronny Johnsen | Newcastle United | Free transfer |
| | | | | £2,150,000 |

### Loaned out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Loan End |
| 3 August 2004 | CF | Stefan Moore | Millwall | 3 October 2004 |
| 10 August 2004 | GK | Wayne Henderson | Notts County | 15 October 2004 |
| 9 November 2004 | CB | Gary Cahill | Burnley | 9 November 2004 |
| 2 December 2004 | GK | Wayne Henderson | Notts County | 26 January 2005 |
| 9 December 2004 | CM | Stephen Cooke | Wycombe Wanderers | 9 January 2005 |
| 14 February 2005 | RM | Peter Whittingham | Burnley | 16 March 2005 |
| 11 March 2005 | CF | Stefan Moore | Leicester City | 31 May 2005 |

### Overall transfer activity
## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Manchester City | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 52 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 47 | 41 | +6 | 52 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 47 |
| 11 | Charlton Athletic | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 46 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 45 |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of 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 | DEN | Thomas Sørensen |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Mark Delaney |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Jlloyd Samuel |
| 4 | DF | SWE | Olof Mellberg (captain) |
| 5 | DF | DEN | Martin Laursen |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Gareth Barry |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Lee Hendrie |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Gavin McCann |
| 9 | FW | COL | Juan Pablo Ángel |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Darius Vassell |
| 11 | MF | PER | Nolberto Solano |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 12 | MF | GER | Thomas Hitzlsperger |
| 13 | GK | NED | Stefan Postma |
| 14 | MF | CMR | Eric Djemba-Djemba |
| 15 | DF | ECU | Ulises de la Cruz |
| 16 | MF | FRA | Mathieu Berson |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Peter Whittingham |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Carlton Cole (on loan from Chelsea) |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Liam Ridgewell |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Luke Moore |
| 24 | MF | NIR | Steven Davis |
| 26 | FW | ENG | Stefan Moore |

#### Left club during 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 |
| 14 | FW | SWE | Marcus Allbäck (to Hansa Rostock) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | NOR | Ronny Johnsen (to Newcastle United) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | DF | CZE | Václav Drobný (on loan from Strasbourg) |
| 25 | GK | IRL | Wayne Henderson |
| 30 | FW | ENG | Gabriel Agbonlahor |
| — | DF | ENG | Stuart Bridges |
| — | DF | ENG | Gary Cahill |
| — | DF | ENG | James O'Connor |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | IRL | Kevin Mulcahy |
| — | MF | ENG | Stephen Cooke |
| — | MF | ENG | Kyle Nix |
| — | MF | IRL | Stephen Foley-Sheridan |
| — | FW | NIR | Jamie Ward |
| — | FW | FIN | Mika Ääritalo |

### Youth squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | IRL | Stephen Henderson |
| — | GK | AUT | Bobby Olejnik |
| — | GK | FIN | Jon Masalin |
| — | DF | ENG | Ashley Edkins |
| — | DF | ENG | Paul Green |
| — | DF | ENG | Michael Tuohy |
| — | DF | IRL | Stephen O'Halloran |
| — | DF | DEN | Magnus Troest |
| — | MF | ENG | Morgan Evans |
| — | MF | ENG | Phil Green |
| — | MF | ENG | Jonathan Hogg |
| — | MF | ENG | Isaiah Osbourne |
| — | MF | IRL | John Paul Kelly (on trial) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BEL | Christian Tshimanga Kabeya |
| — | FW | ENG | Sam Baldock (on trial from Milton Keynes Dons) |
| — | FW | ENG | Scott Bridges |
| — | FW | ENG | Shane Paul |
| — | FW | ENG | Sam Williams |
| — | FW | NIR | Adam McGurk |
| — | FW | CIV | Amadou Kouman |
| — | DF | | Seyi Morgan |
| — | DF | | Matt Saunders |
| — | MF | | Rowan Caney |
| — | | | Ashley Carew |
| — | | | Andrew Malpass |

### Other players

    The following players did not play for any Aston Villa team this 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 |
| — | GK | IRL | David Bevan |
| — | GK | IRL | Lee Boyle |
| — | DF | ENG | Jordan Collins |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Grant (on loan to York City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | AUS | Shane Lowry |
| — | MF | ENG | Nathan Jackson |
| — | MF | ENG | Dan McDonald |
| — | MF | AUS | Chris Herd |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of end of season
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premiership | Premiership | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | DEN | Thomas Sørensen | 39 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | NED | Stefan Postma | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | WAL | Mark Delaney | 32 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | TRI | Jlloyd Samuel | 38 | 0 | 34+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SWE | Olof Mellberg | 33 | 3 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | DEN | Martin Laursen | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ECU | Ulises de la Cruz | 35 | 0 | 30+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Liam Ridgewell | 17 | 0 | 12+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | ENG | Gareth Barry | 36 | 8 | 33+1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Lee Hendrie | 32 | 5 | 25+4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Gavin McCann | 23 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | PER | Nolberto Solano | 39 | 9 | 32+4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | GER | Thomas Hitzlsperger | 30 | 2 | 17+11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | CMR | Eric Djemba-Djemba | 6 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | FRA | Mathieu Berson | 13 | 0 | 7+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Peter Whittingham | 15 | 1 | 5+8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | NIR | Steven Davis | 29 | 1 | 19+9 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | COL | Juan Pablo Ángel | 38 | 9 | 30+5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Darius Vassell | 22 | 3 | 17+4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Carlton Cole | 30 | 3 | 18+9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Luke Moore | 27 | 1 | 5+20 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | ENG | Stefan Moore | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 31 June 2005 Source: Competitions

### Starting 11

| No. | Pos. | Name | MS |
| 1 | GK | Thomas Sorensen | 39 |
| 2 | RB | Mark Delaney | 32 |
| 4 | CB | Olof Mellberg | 33 |
| 3 | CB | Jlloyd Samuel | 37 |
| 15 | LB | Ulises de la Cruz | 31 |
| 11 | RM | Nolberto Solano | 35 |
| 7 | CM | Lee Hendrie | 28 |
| 8 | CM | Gavin McCann | 23 |
| 6 | LM | Gareth Barry | 35 |
| 9 | CF | Juan Pablo Angel | 33 |
| 18 | CF | Carlton Cole | 20 |

## Pre-season

| Date | Opponents | Home/ Away | Result F – A | Competition |
| 21 July 2005 | Kungshamns IF | A | 6 – 0 | Friendly |
| 22 July 2004 | Kungsbacka BI | A | 7 – 2 | Friendly |
| 24 July 2004 | Jonkopings Sodra | A | 3 – 0 | Friendly |
| 27 July 2004 | Orgryte | A | 0 – 0 | Friendly |
| 30 July 2004 | Walsall | A | 1 – 2 | Friendly |
| 31 July 2004 | Tamworth | A | 3 – 0 | Friendly |
| 3 August 2004 | Derby | A | 1 – 2 | Friendly |
| 7 August 2004 | AZ Alkmaar | A | 1 – 0 | Friendly |