2004–05 in English football
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England. National team. England began their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. They played alongside UK neighbours Wales and Northern Ireland in the European Group 6. <nowiki>*</nowiki> England score given first Final standings. FA Premier League. Chelsea, in their first season under new manager José Mourinho, broke records as they won their first League title for 50 years, losing just one Premiership game all season and setting a top-flight record of 29 wins and 95 points, in addition to winning  the League Cup. Arsenal (unbeaten league champions a year earlier) extended their unbeaten run to 49 games before a controversial loss at Manchester United ended this remarkable achievement. Despite this, The Gunners were Chelsea's closest challengers and finished in second place, 12 points behind. United kept the two London teams under pressure with their own impressive league form since ending Arsenal's run, but slipped up and ultimately took third place. Everton, who had only just avoided relegation a year earlier, surprised all the observers by clinching the fourth Champions League place (even more remarkable considering they lost striker  Wayne Rooney to Manchester United at the end of August). Liverpool, in their first season under Rafa Benítez, suffered from indifferent domestic form and finished in fifth place, finishing much closer to the relegation zone in terms of points than the top. Despite this, however, Benítez showed off his impressive managerial skills with an unforeseen and staggering Champions League run that took them to the final in Istanbul against highly regarded and highly tipped Italian club Milan, forcing the game into extra time and penalties. Liverpool kept the advantage in the shootout, winning 3–2 and ending a 21-year wait  to win Europe's elite competition. This stunning achievement, considering Liverpool's poor domestic form that season, was enough for UEFA to allow Liverpool to become the fifth English team in next year's competition to take part, a first for European football. Bolton Wanderers finished sixth – their highest league finish in decades and just a lower goal difference keeping them behind Liverpool – to qualify for the UEFA Cup, having never played in Europe before. Middlesbrough joined them, finishing seventh. All three relegation places were decided on the final day of the season, for the first time in Premier League  history. Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Southampton (after 27 years) went down, but West Bromwich Albion managed to stay up despite being bottom before the games started and also having the worst record of any Premiership team to avoid relegation (six wins and 34 points). They were also the first-ever Premiership team to avoid relegation after being bottom on Christmas Day, and the first top-flight team to achieve this feat since Sheffield United in 1991. Leading goalscorer: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)- 25 The Football League. Football League Championship. After narrowly missing out on promotion the previous season, Sunderland clinched  a return to the top-flight as champions. Wigan Athletic joined them as runners-up, entering the top-tier for the first time in their history and giving manager Paul Jewell his second promotion to the Premier League in six years. West Ham United made amends for their loss in the play-off final the previous year by beating Preston North End. Unusually, none of the sides relegated to the Championship in 2003–04 did particularly well. While Leeds United were widely predicted for a second successive relegation and possible bankruptcy (both of which looked likely in the middle of the  season, but were staved off by another takeover), Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City were predicted to challenge for promotion. Instead, both sides started badly, and replaced their managers mid-season, never really looking like promotion contenders. At the bottom of the table, Rotherham United and Gillingham's luck finally ran out, and both were relegated after a short few years in which both clubs battled the odds on small budgets. What made bigger headlines was Nottingham Forest's relegation to League One, six years after they were in the Premiership, and which made them the first European Cup winners to  drop to the third division of their domestic league. Dario Gradi's Crewe Alexandra managed to survive relegation on the last day of the season in their 2–1 win over Coventry City, which was their first win without striker Dean Ashton, who was sold to Norwich City for £3 million. Leading goalscorer: Nathan Ellington (Wigan Athletic) – 24 Football League One. Luton Town performed the best out of any League side to clinch promotion. Hull City joined them, their second promotion in as many seasons. Sheffield Wednesday – who looked like spending another season fighting relegation in the first few months  – returned to the Championship under new manager Paul Sturrock, who put his sacking at Southampton behind him to lead Wednesday to their best season in nearly a decade. Going down to League Two were Stockport, who continued their decline which began with relegation from Division One in 2001–02, Peterborough United, feeling the strain of their financial situation, soon followed. Torquay United, whose first season out of the bottom division in 12 years, ended in disappointment and they were also relegated. The fourth relegated side would have been Milton Keynes Dons (formerly Wimbledon), but Wrexham went into administration and lost ten  points as a result (despite the club's argument that it would be harder for them to exit administration if they were relegated). Leading goalscorer: Stuart Elliott (Hull City) – 27, and Dean Windass (Bradford City) – 27 Football League Two. Just two years after winning the Conference, Yeovil Town followed in Doncaster Rovers' footsteps by winning the League Two title. Scunthorpe United – relegation candidates the season before – joined them, while Swansea City edged the last automatic promotion spot. The side that they edged out, Southend United, made amends by winning the play-offs, beating Lincoln City in the final. At the  bottom, Cambridge United and Kidderminster Harriers' finances hit them hard, and they fell out of the league, both on the back of signing several foreign players who proved ineffective. While Cambridge went into administration, this happened after they were already relegated, and made no difference overall, short of lifting Kidderminster above them. Leading goalscorer: Phil Jevons (Yeovil Town) – 27 Transfer deals. Summer transfer window. The summer transfer window runs from the end of the previous season until 31 August. January transfer window. The mid-season transfer window runs from 1 to 31 January 2005. For subsequent transfer deals see 2005–06  in English football.