Wikipedia

2005–06 in English football

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kingjamie (talk | contribs) at 18:59, 10 October 2006 (→End of season retirements). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The 2005-2006 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether Wembley would be ready. The doubts were confirmed on 21 February 2006, when The FA announced that the final would indeed be held at Millennium Stadium. On 31 March 2006 The FA confirmed that the new Wembley would not be opened until 2007.

Two clubs opened new stadiums this season:

F.C. United of Manchester, formed by disgruntled Manchester United fans played their first competitive season, competing in the North West Counties Football League Division Two (level 10 of the English football league system), from which they gained promotion at the first time of asking.BBC.

Wigan Athletic, who earned promotion to the Premiership by finishing second in the Football League Championship, played their first ever season in the top division of English football and stayed up, staying clear from the threat of relegation all season.

Events

National team

England qualified for the Football World Cup 2006, after finishing top of European Qualifying Group 6.

Date Venue Opponents Score1 Competition England scorers Match Report
August 17, 2005 Parken Stadion, Copenhagen (A) Template:DENf 1-4  F Wayne Rooney BBC
September 3, 2005 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (A) Template:WALf 1-0 WCQ Joe Cole BBC
September 7, 2005 Windsor Park, Belfast (A) Template:NIRf 0-1 WCQ   BBC
October 8, 2005 Old Trafford, Manchester (H) Template:AUTf 1-0 WCQ Frank Lampard (pen) BBC
October 12, 2005 Old Trafford, Manchester (H) Template:POLf 2-1 WCQ Michael Owen, Frank Lampard BBC
November 12, 2005 Stade de Genève, Geneva (N) Template:ARGf 3-2 F Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen (2) BBC
March 1, 2006 Anfield, Liverpool (H) Template:URUf 2-1 F Peter Crouch, Joe Cole BBC
May 25, 2006 Madejski Stadium, Reading (H) Template:BLRf 1-2 F ('B' team) Jermaine Jenas BBC
May 30, 2006 Old Trafford, Manchester (H) Template:HUNf 3-1 F Steven Gerrard,
John Terry,
Peter Crouch 		BBC
June 3, 2006 Old Trafford, Manchester (H) Template:JAMf 6-0 F Frank Lampard,
Jermaine Taylor (o.g.),
Michael Owen,
Peter Crouch (3) 		BBC
June 10, 2006 FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt, Frankfurt (N) Template:PARf 1-0 WCF Carlos Gamarra (o.g.) BBC
June 15, 2006 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg (N) Template:TRIf 2-0 WCF Peter Crouch,
Steven Gerrard 		BBC
June 20, 2006 FIFA WM Stadion Köln, Cologne (N) Template:SWEf 2-2 WCF Joe Cole,
Steven Gerrard 		BBC
June 25, 2006 Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart (N) Template:ECUf 1-0 WCF David Beckham BBC
July 1, 2006 Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen (N) Template:PORf 0-0 (FT), 0-0 (aet), 1-3 (P) WCF BBC
  1. England score given first
Key
  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
  • N = Neutral site match
  • F = Friendly
  • WCQ = FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying, European Zone Group 6
  • WCF = FIFA World Cup 2006 Finals

Honours

Competition Winner Details Match Report
UEFA Super Cup Liverpool Beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 UEFA
FA Premier League Chelsea FA Premier League 2005-06 BBC
FA Cup Liverpool FA Cup 2005-06 BBC
Carling Cup Manchester United Beat Wigan 4-0 BBC
Football League Championship Reading Finished on record 106 points BBC
Football League One Southend United Consecutive Promotions BBC
Football League Two Carlisle United Consecutive Promotions BBC
FA Community Shield Chelsea Beat Arsenal 2-1 BBC

European qualification

Competition Qualifiers Reason for Qualification
UEFA Champions League Chelsea 1st in FA Premier League
Manchester United 2nd in FA Premier League
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round Liverpool 3rd in FA Premier League
Arsenal 4th in FA Premier League
UEFA Cup Tottenham Hotspur 5th in FA Premier League
West Ham United In lieu of FA Cup winners
(qualification awarded as FA Cup runners-up because FA Cup winners Liverpool had already qualified for the Champions League)
Blackburn Rovers In lieu of League Cup winners
(qualification awarded as next-highest (6th) Premier League finishers to have not qualified for Europe because League Cup winners Manchester United had already qualified for the Champions League)
UEFA Intertoto Cup Third Round Newcastle United Highest Premier League finishers (7th) to have entered and not qualified for any other European competition

League tables

FA Premier League

Main article: FA Premier League 2005-06

Chelsea won the Premiership title by an 8-point margin after fighting off a late challenge by runners-up Manchester United. The other four European places went to Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers.

Middlesbrough dipped seven places to 14th place in the final table, but did reach the UEFA Cup final - the first European final in their history. Also dipping seven places were Manchester City, who finished 15th, while Aston Villa slipped six places to 16th.

Sunderland were relegated with a Premiership record low of 3 wins and 15 points, while West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City both hit the 30-point mark but were unable to avoid relegation. Portsmouth were the other team who spent the season battling relegation but they stayed up.

P W D L F A GD Pts
C 1 Chelsea 38 29 4 5 72 22 +50 91
  2 Manchester United 38 25 8 5 72 34 +38 83
  3 Liverpool 38 25 7 6 57 25 +32 82
  4 Arsenal 38 20 7 11 68 31 +37 67
  5 Tottenham Hotspur 38 18 11 9 53 38 +15 65
  6 Blackburn Rovers 38 19 6 13 51 42 +9 63
  7 Newcastle United 38 17 7 14 47 42 +5 58
  8 Bolton Wanderers 38 15 11 12 49 41 +8 56
  9 West Ham United 38 16 7 15 52 55 -3 55
  10 Wigan Athletic 38 15 6 17 45 52 -7 51
  11 Everton 38 14 8 16 34 49 -15 50
  12 Fulham 38 14 6 17 48 58 -10 48
  13 Charlton Athletic 38 13 8 17 41 55 -14 47
  14 Middlesbrough 38 12 9 17 48 58 -10 45
  15 Manchester City 38 13 4 21 43 48 -5 43
  16 Aston Villa 38 10 12 16 42 55 -13 42
  17 Portsmouth 38 10 8 20 37 62 -25 38
R 18 Birmingham City 38 8 10 20 28 50 -22 34
R 19 West Bromwich Albion 38 7 9 22 31 58 -27 30
R 20 Sunderland 38 3 6 29 26 69 -43 15

The Football League

Football League Championship

Reading entered the top flight for the first time in their history, breaking Sunderland's points record in the process. (Co-incidentally, Sunderland were relegated from the Premiership while breaking the record for lowest number of points under the current scoring system). Sheffield United joined them, returning to the Premiership after twelve years. Surprise package Watford, initially tipped for relegation, entered the play-offs and beat Leeds United, who were unable to shake off an awful run of form (even worse than any of the three relegated sides) that had saw them crash out of automatic promotion contention.

Crystal Palace fared the best out of the Premiership teams relegated the previous season, by getting to the play-offs but losing in the semi finals. Norwich never managed better than mid-table, while Southampton endured an awful season that saw Sir Clive Woodward take up a much-criticised role as director of football, manager Harry Redknapp return to local rivals Portsmouth and the side looking in danger of relegation for much of the season, only managing a mid-table finish with a late surge in form, thanks to the appointment of George Burley. Chairman Rupert Lowe ultimately paid the price by being forced to resign after the end of the season.

The relegation battle was principally fought by four sides, Crewe, Brighton, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday ultimately won the battle, and the remaining three were relegated. While Crewe and Brighton hadn't spent long in the division and were considered to be punching above their weight, Millwall underwent a disastrous season, getting through five managers and four chairmen before relegation.

P W D L F A GD Pts
C 1 Reading 46 31 13 2 99 32 +67 106
P 2 Sheffield United 46 26 12 8 76 46 +30 90
P 3 Watford 46 22 15 9 77 53 +24 81
  4 Preston North End 46 20 20 6 59 30 +29 80
  5 Leeds United 46 21 15 10 57 38 +19 78
  6 Crystal Palace 46 21 12 13 67 48 +19 75
  7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 16 19 11 50 42 +8 67
  8 Coventry City 46 16 15 15 62 65 -3 63
  9 Norwich City 46 18 8 20 56 65 -9 62
  10 Luton Town 46 17 10 19 66 67 -1 61
  11 Cardiff City 46 16 12 18 58 59 -1 60
  12 Southampton 46 13 19 14 49 50 -1 58
  13 Stoke City 46 17 7 22 54 63 -9 58
  14 Plymouth Argyle 46 13 17 16 39 46 -7 56
  15 Ipswich Town 46 14 14 18 53 66 -13 56
  16 Leicester City 46 13 15 18 51 59 -8 54
  17 Burnley 46 14 12 20 46 54 -8 54
  18 Sheffield Wednesday 46 13 13 20 39 52 -13 52
  19 Hull City 46 12 16 18 49 55 -6 51
  20 Derby County 46 10 20 16 53 67 -14 50
  21 Queens Park Rangers 46 12 14 20 50 65 -15 50
R 22 Crewe Alexandra 46 9 15 22 57 86 -29 42
R 23 Millwall 46 8 16 22 35 62 -27 40
R 24 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 7 17 22 39 71 -32 38

Football League One

Southend surprised many by winning a second successive promotion, returning to the Championship after nearly a decade (when it was called Division One). Colchester also made the Championship for the first time in their history, but their promotion was tempered by the loss of manager Phil Parkinson to Hull City. A highly competitive play-off race ultimately saw Barnsley emerge as winners, beating Swansea to return to the Championship after three seasons of struggle in Division Two/League One.

At the bottom, Walsall endured their second relegation in three seasons, Swindon became the first former Premiership side to slip to the bottom division (MK Dons were relegated a few weeks later, and it's debatable whether they can be considered a "former Premiership" team), Hartlepool crashed out of the division the season after they nearly earned promotion to the Championship, while MK Dons suffered the relegation they only avoided the previous season when Wrexham were docked points for entering administration.

P W D L F A GD Pts
P 1 Southend United 46 23 13 10 72 43 +29 82
P 2 Colchester United 46 22 13 11 58 40 +18 79
  3 Brentford 46 20 16 10 72 52 +20 76
  4 Huddersfield Town 46 19 16 11 72 59 +13 73
P 5 Barnsley 46 18 18 10 62 44 +18 72
  6 Swansea City 46 18 17 11 78 55 +23 71
  7 Nottingham Forest 46 19 12 15 67 52 +15 69
  8 Doncaster Rovers 46 20 9 17 55 51 +4 69
  9 Bristol City 46 18 11 17 66 62 +4 65
  10 Oldham Athletic 46 18 11 17 58 60 -2 65
  11 Bradford City 46 14 19 13 51 49 +2 60
  12 Scunthorpe United 46 15 15 16 68 73 -5 60
  13 Port Vale 46 16 12 18 49 54 -5 60
  14 Gillingham 46 16 12 18 50 64 -14 60
  15 Yeovil Town 46 15 11 20 54 62 -8 56
  16 Chesterfield 46 14 14 18 63 73 -10 56
  17 Bournemouth 46 12 19 15 49 53 -4 55
  18 Tranmere Rovers 46 13 15 18 50 52 -2 54
  19 Blackpool 46 12 17 17 56 64 -8 53
  20 Rotherham United 46 12 16 18 52 62 -10 52
R 21 Hartlepool United 46 11 17 18 44 59 -15 50
R 22 Milton Keynes Dons 46 12 14 20 45 66 -21 50
R 23 Swindon Town 46 11 15 20 46 65 -19 48
R 24 Walsall 46 11 14 21 47 70 -23 47

Football League Two

Carlisle were another side who earned a second successive promotion, only two years after a relegation from the League that some predicted would see the end of the club. Northampton joined them, making up for two seasons of play-off disappointment, and Leyton Orient ended a decade in the bottom division by earning promotion on nearly the last minute of the season. The side that they beat out, Grimsby, ultimately lost to Cheltenham in the play-off final.

Rushden and Diamonds failed to improve on the previous season, and paid the price with relegation to the Conference. Oxford United joined them, despite the return of manager Jim Smith, and became the first former winners of a major trophy to be relegated to the Conference.

P W D L F A GD Pts
P 1 Carlisle United 46 25 11 10 84 42 +42 86
P 2 Northampton Town 46 22 17 7 63 37 +26 83
P 3 Leyton Orient 46 22 15 9 67 51 +16 81
  4 Grimsby Town 46 22 12 12 64 44 +20 78
P 5 Cheltenham Town 46 19 15 12 65 53 +12 72
  6 Wycombe Wanderers 46 18 17 11 72 56 +16 71
  7 Lincoln City 46 15 21 10 65 53 +12 66
  8 Darlington 46 16 15 15 58 52 +6 63
  9 Peterborough United 46 17 11 18 57 49 +8 62
  10 Shrewsbury Town 46 16 13 17 55 55 +0 61
  11 Boston United 46 15 16 15 50 60 -10 61
  12 Bristol Rovers 46 17 9 20 59 67 -8 60
  13 Wrexham 46 15 14 17 61 54 +7 59
  14 Rochdale 46 14 14 18 66 69 -3 56
  15 Chester City 46 14 12 20 53 59 -6 54
  16 Mansfield Town 46 13 15 18 59 66 -7 54
  17 Macclesfield Town 46 12 18 16 60 71 -11 54
  18 Barnet 46 12 18 16 44 57 -13 54
  19 Bury* 46 12 17 17 45 57 -12 52
  20 Torquay United 46 13 13 20 53 66 -13 52
  21 Notts County 46 12 16 18 48 63 -15 52
  22 Stockport County 46 11 19 16 57 78 -21 52
R 23 Oxford United 46 11 16 19 43 56 -14 49
R 24 Rushden & Diamonds 46 11 12 23 44 76 -32 45

* Deducted 1 point for fielding an ineligible player

Transfer deals

Summer transfer window

The summer transfer window ran from the end of the previous season until 31 August.

16 May 2005
17 May 2005
20 May 2005
26 May 2005
30 May 2005
1 June 2005
3 June 2005
5 June 2005
7 June 2005
10 June 2005
13 June 2005
14 June 2005
15 June 2005
16 June 2005
21 June 2005
22 June 2005
27 June 2005
28 June 2005
29 June 2005
4 July 2004
4 July 2004
5 July 2005
7 July 2005
14 July 2005
15 July 2005
16 July 2005
18 July 2005
20 July 2005
22 July 2005
26 July 2005
27 July 2005
3 August 2005
4 August 2005
5 August 2005
6 August 2005
8 August 2005
11 August 2005
15 August 2005
16 August 2005
17 August 2005
19 August 2005
22 August 2005
23 August 2005
25 August 2005
26 August 2005
27 August 2005
28 August 2005
30 August 2005
31 August 2005

January transfer window

The mid-season transfer window ran from 1 to 31 January 2006.

1 January 2006
3 January 2006
4 January 2006
5 January 2006
6 January 2006
9 January 2006
10 January 2006
12 January 2006
13 January 2006
17 January 2006
19 January 2006
20 January 2006
23 January 2006
24 January 2006
25 January 2006
26 January 2006
27 January 2006
30 January 2006
31 January 2006

End of season retirements

Deaths

  • Noel Cantwell, 72, was a Republic of Ireland international at left-back during the 1950s and 1960s. He also captained Manchester United to F.A Cup glory in 1963.
  • Johnny Haynes, 71, former England and Fulham midfielder, who became the first English footballer to be paid £100 a week, died after suffering a brain haemorrhage at the wheel of his car which resulted in a head-on collision with another vehicle.
  • George Swindin, 90, was a former goalkeeper of Arsenal in the immediate postwar years. He helped them win two league titles and one F.A Cup. After hanging up his gloves, he served Arsenal as manager but was less successful.
  • George Best, 59, Nothern Irish born striker who enjoyed the early and most successful years of his career Manchester United, died as a result of multiple organ failure three years after he underwent a liver transplant, the result of more than 30 years of heavy drinking. Personal problems meant that he played his last game for United at the age of 27, but he continued at various smaller clubs - including a brief spell with the Los Angeles Aztecs in America - until the age of 37.
  • Ted Ditchburn, former England and Tottenham goalkeeper.
  • Mark Philo, 21, Wycombe winger, was killed in a car crash.
  • Ron Greenwood, 84, former West Ham and England manager. He managed West Ham to F.A Cup glory in 1964 and Cup Winners Cup success a year later, as well as providing the 1966 England World Cup winning team with three key players. Greenwood later managed the England team, achieving qualification for Euro 80 and the 1982 World Cup before retiring from football.
  • Peter Osgood, 59, former England, Chelsea and Southampton player, died of a heart attack while attending a family funeral. He was a key player in Chelsea's 1970 F.A Cup and 1971 Cup Winners Cup triumphs, and won another F.A Cup medal in 1976 with his next club Southampton.
  • John Lyall, 66, former West Ham United and Ipswich Town manager, died of a heart attack. He completed his first season in management at West Ham with F.A Cup glory in 1975, winning the trophy again in 1980 and taking West Ham to their highest ever league position - third - in 1986. He was sacked when West Ham were relegated in 1989, but make a comeback the following year with Ipswich Town. Lyall took Ipswich into the inaugural Premier League as Second Division champions in 1992, and remained in charge for another two-and-half years before he was sacked in December 1994. Lyall never returned to management after his dismissal from Ipswich.
  • Brian Labone, 66, former Everton captain who played in Harry Catterick's successful 1960s side, died of a heart attack. He helped them win the F.A Cup in 1964 and 1966 as well as the league title in 1963 and 1970. Labone was also capped 26 times by England between 1962 and 1970, but did not make the squad for England's victorious 1966 World Cup campaign.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2005–06_in_English_football&oldid=80664587"