2004–05 Gillingham F.C. season
# 2004–05 Gillingham F.C. season

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

## Season summary

John Gorman was appointed to help Hessenthaler as the side started the 2004–05 season poorly, but as the team continued to struggle at the wrong end of the table Hessenthaler resigned as manager in late November. Somewhat unusually he continued to be employed as a player. Gorman succeeded Hessenthaler in a caretaker capacity but left the club to take the manager's job at Wycombe Wanderers. Gillingham then appointed former Burnley boss Stan Ternent as manager, but despite a late run of positive results, he couldn't prevent the Gills' relegation to League One on the last day of the season. In a reversal of the previous season's fortunes, Crewe Alexandra, the team immediately above Gillingham in the table, survived by just one goal.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 20 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 40 | 65 | −25 | 51 | |
| 21 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 66 | 86 | −20 | 50 | |
| 22 | Gillingham (R) | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 45 | 66 | −21 | 50 | Relegation to Football League One |
| 23 | Nottingham Forest (R) | 46 | 9 | 17 | 20 | 42 | 66 | −24 | 44 | Relegation to Football League One |
| 24 | Rotherham United (R) | 46 | 5 | 14 | 27 | 35 | 69 | −34 | 29 | Relegation to Football League One |

## Results

Gillingham's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |

### Football League Championship

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 August 2004 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 23,130 | Smith |
| 10 August 2004 | Leeds United | H | 2–1 | 10,739 | Byfield, Roberts |
| 14 August 2004 | Preston North End | H | 2–1 | 7,073 | Byfield, Roberts |
| 21 August 2004 | Stoke City | A | 0–2 | 13,234 | |
| 27 August 2004 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–1 | 7,391 | |
| 30 August 2004 | Burnley | A | 2–1 | 11,574 | Roberts, Byfield |
| 11 September 2004 | Sunderland | H | 0–4 | 8,775 | |
| 15 September 2004 | Coventry City | A | 2–2 | 11,966 | Agyemang (2) |
| 18 September 2004 | Reading | A | 1–3 | 13,867 | Byfield |
| 25 September 2004 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–1 | 8,365 | |
| 28 September 2004 | Leicester City | H | 0–2 | 6,089 | |
| 2 October 2004 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–2 | 13,665 | Henderson |
| 17 October 2004 | Sheffield United | H | 1–3 | 6,964 | Bromby (own goal) |
| 19 October 2004 | Millwall | A | 1–2 | 10,722 | Nowland |
| 23 October 2004 | West Ham United | A | 1–3 | 25,247 | Byfield |
| 30 October 2004 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 9,112 | Jarvis |
| 2 November 2004 | Watford | H | 0–0 | 7,009 | |
| 6 November 2004 | Sheffield United | A | 0–0 | 16,598 | |
| 13 November 2004 | Derby County | H | 0–2 | 8,015 | |
| 20 November 2004 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–4 | 6,128 | Henderson |
| 27 November 2004 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–1 | 8,784 | Henderson (pen), Johnson |
| 4 December 2004 | Cardiff City | A | 1–3 | 10,623 | Johnson |
| 11 December 2004 | Wigan Athletic | A | 0–2 | 8,451 | |
| 18 December 2004 | Rotherham United | H | 3–1 | 8,576 | Hope, Jarvis, Vernazza (own goal) |
| 26 December 2004 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–2 | 6,420 | Crofts |
| 28 December 2004 | Coventry City | H | 3–1 | 8,734 | Byfield, Cox (2) |
| 1 January 2005 | Reading | H | 0–0 | 8,570 | |
| 3 January 2005 | Sunderland | A | 1–1 | 27,147 | Henderson |
| 15 January 2005 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 1–1 | 8,451 | Crofts |
| 22 January 2005 | Leicester City | A | 0–2 | 23,457 | |
| 5 February 2005 | Watford | A | 0–2 | 15,188 | |
| 12 February 2005 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 9,127 | |
| 19 February 2005 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–2 | 24,949 | Henderson, Flynn |
| 22 February 2005 | West Ham United | H | 0–1 | 9,510 | |
| 26 February 2005 | Wigan Athletic | H | 2–1 | 7,209 | Henderson (2) |
| 5 March 2005 | Rotherham United | A | 3–1 | 4,367 | Flynn, Sidibe, Henderson |
| 12 March 2005 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | 27,995 | Hope |
| 15 March 2005 | Stoke City | H | 2–1 | 7,766 | McEveley, Smith |
| 19 March 2005 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–0 | 9,311 | |
| 2 April 2005 | Preston North End | A | 1–1 | 15,054 | Smith |
| 5 April 2005 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–1 | 16,431 | Flynn |
| 9 April 2005 | Burnley | H | 1–0 | 9,447 | Henderson |
| 16 April 2005 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–1 | 10,315 | Southall |
| 23 April 2005 | Derby County | A | 0–2 | 27,481 | |
| 30 April 2005 | Wigan Athletic | H | 1–1 | 10,810 | Jarvis |
| 8 May 2005 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–2 | 24,800 | Melville (own goal), Sidibe |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 8 January 2005 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 14,252 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R1 | 24 August 2004 | Northampton Town | H | 1–2 | 3,108 | Sidibe |

## 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 |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Steve Banks |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Nyron Nosworthy |
| 3 | DF | ENG | John Hills |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Paul Smith |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Barry Ashby |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Ian Cox |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Nicky Southall |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Andy Hessenthaler |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Darius Henderson |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Mike Flynn |
| 12 | GK | FRA | Bertrand Bossu |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Jason Brown |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Leon Johnson |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Mark Saunders |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Richard Rose |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Andrew Crofts |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Chris Hope |
| 19 | FW | WAL | Iwan Roberts |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Darren Byfield |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Matt Jarvis |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Danny Spiller |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Matt Bodkin |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Jay McEveley (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Alan Pouton |
| 26 | MF | IRL | Jonathan Douglas (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) |
| 27 | FW | GHA | Jones Awuah |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Dean Beckwith |
| 29 | FW | MLI | Mamady Sidibe |

### 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 |
| - | - | - | - |
| 23 | GK | ENG | Danny Knowles (to Hastings United) |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Jon Wallis (to Hastings United) |
| 26 | MF | ENG | David Perpetuini (to Wycombe Wanderers) |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Adam Nowland (on loan from West Ham United) |
| 10 | FW | GHA | Patrick Agyemang (to Preston North End) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | MF | WAL | John Robinson (to Crawley Town) |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Dean Marney (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 30 | GK | SCO | Paul Gallacher (on loan from Norwich City) |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Ashley Carew (to Welling United) |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Tommy Johnson (to Sheffield United) |
