By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
With the final month looming of the 2015/2016 Premier League
season, I’ve started a new series called ‘Tales of Survival’ and ‘Tales
of the Drop’. I will be looking back to previous Premier League
campaigns with 12 stories of survival and 12 stories that ended in the pain of
relegation.
After starting the series with a look at the catastrophic
collapse for Norwich City in season 1994/1995, this tale looks at one of the leagues
greatest ever escapes. On Christmas Day 2004, West Bromwich Albion were bottom
of the table. No side before them had escaped relegation from this perilous
situation. However, the Baggies made history and survived on the last day of an
extraordinary tussle for survival in 2004/2005.
Megson departs
Season 2004/2005 was to be West Bromwich Albion’s second
campaign in the Premier League. They had been relegated on their debut bow in
the top-flight but hoped to be stronger this time around under the guidance of
Gary Megson.
Only £5m was spent in the summer transfer window, although
they did manage to persuade former Nigerian international Kanu to join the
ranks after his contract had expired at Arsenal. Just before the window shut,
Rob Earnshaw came into the club in a £3m deal from Cardiff City as they looked
to bolster their striking options.
Three draws at the start of the season suggested that this
was always going to be a tight battle against the drop but the Baggies didn’t
win a game until early October when high-flying Bolton Wanderers were downed
2-1. Summer arrivals Kanu and Zoltan Gera got the goals in the victory that
ensured West Brom were the first newly promoted club to win in the campaign.
By now though, rumblings were rife that Megson’s job was
insecure. Relations had strained between the boss and owner Jeremy Peace. In
mid-October, he announced that he would not sign a new deal if offered one and
would leave at the end of the 2004/2005 season. Three days after a 3-0 defeat
away to relegation rivals Crystal Palace, he left the Hawthorns.
After Frank Burrows steered the club through a couple of
games in caretaker charge, Bryan Robson was appointed as Megson’s permanent
successor, taking the post on 9 November 2004.
Giving gifts
Robson’s first game in charge was against one of his former
clubs in Middlesbrough. Earnshaw scored his first home Premier League goal but
Kanu’s unbelievable miss in the closing stages meant Middlesbrough went away
from the Midlands with all three points.
A respectable 1-1 draw away to champions Arsenal, with
Earnshaw on target again was a great result but then, the club became
ridiculously guilty of giving, rather than receiving over the festive period.
Five successive defeats in a row, beginning with a 3-0 home
defeat to Manchester United saw the club plummet to the bottom of the table. A
demoralising 4-0 loss to local rivals Birmingham City was followed by a
shambolic display at home to a Liverpool side on Boxing Day that had won only
once on the road all season.
John Arne Riise scored twice, Florent Sinama-Pongolle
achieved a rare Premier League goal and further strikes from Steven Gerrard and
Luis Garcia ensured Liverpool left with a 5-0 victory and kept the hosts
marooned bottom of the league.
Although Richard Dunne’s late own goal earned a point at
Manchester City to finish 2004, Bryan Robson was yet to win a game at the helm
as West Brom manager. They were bottom of the table going into 2005 and having
held that dreaded spot on Christmas Day, WBA’s Premier League future looked
very bleak.
DECEMBER 29TH
2004 TABLE
|
POS
|
TABLE
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
15
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
20
|
3
|
10
|
7
|
19
|
32
|
-13
|
19
|
|
16
|
Fulham
|
20
|
5
|
3
|
12
|
22
|
35
|
-13
|
18
|
|
17
|
Crystal Palace
|
20
|
3
|
6
|
11
|
20
|
31
|
-11
|
15
|
|
18
|
Norwich City
|
20
|
2
|
9
|
9
|
17
|
36
|
-19
|
15
|
|
19
|
Southampton
|
20
|
2
|
8
|
10
|
18
|
32
|
-14
|
14
|
|
20
|
WEST BROMWICH ALBION
|
20
|
1
|
8
|
11
|
16
|
42
|
-26
|
11
|
Market moves
Sensing they were in deep trouble, Robson made some moves in
the market when the January transfer window opened.
He brought in the experience of Kevin Campbell from Everton.
His goals had saved the Toffees from relegation in 1999 and he certainly knew
how to find the back of the net from his Arsenal days.
The promise of Richard Chaplow was also added from Burnley
and Kieran Richardson arrived on-loan from Manchester United. All three would
play a part in this great escape.
After 13 games without a win, Robson’s side recorded a 2-0
home win against Manchester City, with Campbell scoring on his home debut and
Ronnie Wallwork getting a vital second in the closing stages.
Wins followed over Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic in
March. At the Valley, Earnshaw scored a tremendous hat-trick to become the
first player to score trebles in all four English divisions, the FA Cup, the
League Cup and at international level. The 4-1 away victory at Charlton was
West Brom’s sole away win of the season but this was the day when their fans
really started to believe they could pull off the impossible.
Another win came at the start of April. Gera’s second half
header steered the Baggies to a 1-0 win over Everton and took them off the foot
of the table with Norwich replacing them as the basement club. If West Brom
were going to go down, they were going to ensure it would be a fight to the
bitter end.
Survival Sunday
Defeats away to Middlesbrough and at home against Arsenal
put Albion on the brink again. Form continued to fluctuate between the Baggies,
Crystal Palace, Norwich and Southampton. The Canaries put together a run of
four wins and a draw in six games to lift them from 20th to 17th
going into the final round of games.
Danny Higginbotham’s stoppage time equaliser for Southampton
ensured the points were shared at Selhurst Park and Earnshaw’s 11th
Premier League goal of the season from the penalty spot got Robson a precious
point against Manchester United. For the first time in Premier League history,
no side had been relegated before the final day of the season. ‘Survival Sunday’
was on.
Only Norwich had fate in their hands but that ultimately
didn’t matter. They were walloped 6-0 at Fulham and that made relegation a certainty
for the Canaries. Defeat at home to Manchester United meant it wouldn’t be a
happy ending for Southampton and Harry Redknapp. They went down as the bottom
side in the table. It was going to be between West Brom and Crystal Palace for
survival.
 |
| Geoff Horsfield scored a crucial goal on the final day of the season |
Albion had a winnable game at home to Portsmouth and after a
nervy first half; they got the win they needed to have any chance of staying
up. Seconds after arriving as a substitute, Geoff Horsfield (pictured) scored the opening
goal before Richardson ensured a 2-0 victory over Pompey. They now needed a
favour from Charlton at the Valley against Crystal Palace.
It didn’t look good in the 73rd minute when Andy
Johnson’s 11th spot-kick of the season put the Eagles 2-1 up and on
the brink of safety. However with eight minutes left, Jonathan Fortune scored a
dramatic equaliser to make the score 2-2 and push Palace back into the drop
zone. Despite their best efforts, the visitors’ couldn’t find the crucial
winner they required.
FINAL 2004/2005 TABLE
– THE BOTTOM SIX
|
POS
|
TABLE
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
15
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
38
|
9
|
15
|
14
|
32
|
43
|
-11
|
42
|
|
16
|
Portsmouth
|
38
|
10
|
9
|
19
|
43
|
59
|
-16
|
39
|
|
17
|
WEST BROMWICH ALBION
|
38
|
6
|
16
|
16
|
36
|
61
|
-25
|
34
|
|
18
|
Crystal Palace
|
38
|
7
|
12
|
19
|
41
|
62
|
-21
|
33
|
|
19
|
Norwich City
|
38
|
7
|
12
|
19
|
42
|
77
|
-35
|
33
|
|
20
|
Southampton
|
38
|
6
|
14
|
18
|
45
|
66
|
-21
|
32
|
When the full-time whistle went in London, the party could
begin at the Hawthorns with memorable scenes as fans invaded the pitch to greet
and carry their heroes off the field. Robson had achieved a remarkable feat. No
team in history before had been bottom on Christmas Day and survived.
Relegation would follow the following season and again in
2009 under Tony Mowbray. It was only when Roy Hodgson succeeded Roberto di
Matteo in February 2011 that their reputation as a yo-yo club ended. West Brom
have been ever-present in the Premier League since.
Whatever West Bromwich Albion achieve in their Premier
League future, it will have to go some to beat this remarkable tale of survival
achieved in 2004/2005.
NEXT: Tales of Survival – Leicester City in 2014/2015
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