2004–05 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

2004–05 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

Chairman	Dave Whelan
Manager	Paul Jewell
Stadium	JJB Stadium
Championship	2nd (promoted)
FA Cup	Third round proper
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Nathan Ellington (24) All: Nathan Ellington (24)[1]
Highest home attendance	20,745 (vs. Sunderland, 5 April)
Lowest home attendance	7,547 (vs. Crewe Alexandra, 19 October)
Average home league attendance	11,562[2]

During the 2004–05 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.

Season summary

After only 27 years as a Football League club, Wigan Athletic won promotion to English football's top flight for the first time in their history, securing promotion on the final day of the Championship league campaign as runners-up in their division. This was also their highest-ever finish in the Football League in their history. It was also only Wigan's second season in the second tier of the English league, having just missed out on the playoffs a year earlier.

Wigan's league success did not translate to the domestic cup competitions: they only played one match in each cup before being knocked out. This may have turned out to be beneficial to Wigan, as it allowed the club to focus on the league rather than a cup run.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS John Filan 2 DF  ENG Paul Mitchell 3 MF  SCO Stephen McMillan 4 DF  ENG Matt Jackson 5 DF  BRA Emerson Thome 6 DF  ENG Ian Breckin 7 FW  SCO David Graham 8 MF  SWE Andreas Johansson 9 FW  ENG Nathan Ellington 10 FW  SCO Lee McCulloch 11 MF  IRL Graham Kavanagh 13 GK  ENG Gary Walsh 14 MF  IRL Alan Mahon

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ENG David Wright 18 MF  ENG Jason Jarrett 19 DF  ENG Nicky Eaden 20 MF  SCO Gary Teale 21 MF  ENG Jimmy Bullard 22 FW  BRA Magno Vieira 23 GK  ENG James Salisbury 24 MF  IRL Gareth Whalley 25 MF  ENG Anthony Stephan 26 DF  ENG Leighton Baines 30 FW  GRN Jason Roberts 37 DF  ENG Kevin Lee

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ENG Paul Mitchell (on loan to MK Dons) 8 FW  WAL Neil Roberts (to Doncaster Rovers) 12 MF  WAL Michael Flynn (to Gillingham) 16 MF  ENG Tony Dinning (to Bristol City) 16 FW  ENG Brett Ormerod (on loan from Southampton)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  DEN Per Frandsen (Retired) 25 DF  ENG Chris Lynch (to Hyde) 27 FW  ENG David Moore (to Hyde) 28 MF  ENG Greg Traynor (to Hyde)

Transfers In

Date	Name	Club From	Fee	Reference
24 May 2004	Per Frandsen	Bolton Wanderers	Free	[3]
16 June 2004	David Graham	Torquay United	£215,000	[4]
28 June 2004	David Wright	Crewe Alexandra	Undisclosed	[5]
4 August 2004	Emerson Thome	Bolton Wanderers	Free	[6]
15 September 2004	Gareth Whalley	Cardiff City	Free	[7]
8 January 2005	Andreas Johansson	Djurgardens IF	Undisclosed	[8]
4 March 2005	Graham Kavanagh	Cardiff City	£400,000	[9]

Transfers Out

Date	Name	Club To	Fee	Reference
26 May 2004	Jason de Vos	Ipswich Town	Free	[10]
	Andy Liddell	Sheffield United	Free
	Peter Kennedy	Peterborough United
9 August 2004	Tony Dinning	Ipswich Town	Loan	[11]
6 December 2004	Tony Dinning	Bristol City	Free	[12]
	Michael Flynn	Gillingham	Free
	Neil Roberts	Doncaster Rovers
	Per Frandsen	None	Retirement

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[13]

• GK: #1, John Filan, 47
• RB: #19, Nicky Eaden, 34
• CB: #4, Matt Jackson, 36
• CB: #6, Ian Breckin, 43
• LB: #26, Leighton Baines, 42
• RM: #20, Gary Teale, 30
• CM: #14, Alan Mahon, 23
• CM: #21, Jimmy Bullard, 47
• LM: #10, Lee McCulloch, 43
• CF: #9, Nathan Ellington, 43
• CF: #30, Jason Roberts, 46

References

1. http://origin-www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/Goalscorers/0,,10429~200410429,00.html ^{[dead link‍]}
2. http://origin-www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/Attendance/0,,10429~200410429,00.html ^{[dead link‍]}
3. "Wigan swoop for Frandsen". 24 May 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
4. "Wigan win Graham chase". 16 June 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
5. "Wright moves to Wigan". 28 June 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
6. "Thome joins Wigan". BBC Sport. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
7. "Whalley signs for Wigan". BBC Sport. 15 September 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
8. Kempson, Russell (8 January 2005). "Wigan reinforced by Johansson move". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
9. "Wigan complete Kavanagh signing". 4 March 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
10. "Ipswich seal De Vos deal". 26 May 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
11. "Dinning in Ipswich switch". 9 August 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
12. "Dinning seals Bristol City switch". 6 December 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
13. http://origin-www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/Appearances/0,,10429~200410429,00.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}