The 2005–06 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the Premier League. It began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April. On the same day, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City were relegated, joining Sunderland in the Championship for the following season. Chelsea matched the record number of wins they set the previous season, with 29 wins, albeit with more defeats.
Season summary Several clubs reported disappointing attendances and/or trouble selling out their grounds for the opening weeks' matches. Many have argued that this was due mainly to the comparatively early season start and the Ashes Test cricket series which caught the nation's imagination and which England went on to win. Other possible reasons are continued escalation of ticket prices and the increasing number of games shown on television (which has had the knock on effect of greater variation in kick-off times). The overall decline in attendances for the season was only around 2%, but that figure is reduced by the fact that bigger clubs were promoted into the Premiership than were relegated and several clubs have suffered larger falls.
For the second time in two seasons, José Mourinho's Chelsea triumphed in the Premier League, with a home win over closest rivals Manchester United confirming them as champions after a record setting albeit tense season.
Chelsea's early season form with 14 wins out of 16 gave the champions an unequivocal head start. With Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool falling way short of their expectations before Christmas, Chelsea had effectively become champions-elect by early 2006. However, a sudden collapse in form by mid-March caused their seemingly unassailable lead of 16 points to be cut to just 7 in two months due to the impressive late run of form of Manchester United, who went on a nine-match winning streak scoring over 20 goals. However, a shock home draw with bottom of the table Sunderland at Old Trafford killed United's title hopes. The momentum was back with Chelsea who didn't need a second bite at the apple with wins over Bolton, Everton and finally Manchester United giving the west Londoners their second successive championship under Mourinho.
The top two clubs at the end of the season earned the right to participate in the UEFA Champions League group stages, while the third- and fourth-placed clubs get places in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round (where they progress to the Champions League group stages if they win or the UEFA Cup if they lose). However, if an English team wins the Champions League, but finishes outside the top four, then they get the final Champions League spot instead of the fourth-placed club, who have to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup. This could have been the case with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, but Arsenal pipped Spurs to fourth place in the final matchday of the season before losing 2–1 to FC Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Champions League.
The fifth-placed club always earns a spot in the UEFA Cup. The winners of the FA Cup also earn a place in the UEFA Cup. If they have already qualified for European competition by their league position or winning the League Cup, then the FA Cup runners-up get their place. If the runners-up, too, have already qualified, then the highest league finisher who have not already qualified for Europe (normally sixth place) are given the place. This season, the FA Cup final featured Liverpool and West Ham. Since Liverpool finished third they were assured of a spot in the Champions League qualifying round, which in turn meant that West Ham received the cup winner's UEFA Cup place.
The League Cup winners also qualify for the UEFA Cup. If they have already qualified for European competition through other means then their place is, unlike the FA Cup, not awarded to the runner-up, but instead the highest league finisher who has not qualified for Europe. League Cup winners Manchester United finished second, placing them directly into the Champions League group stage. This meant that the sixth-placed club, Blackburn Rovers, qualified for the UEFA Cup. The team directly after the UEFA Cup places, goes into the UEFA Intertoto Cup which means in turn, if the team – Newcastle United this season – wins a 2-legged match means they earn a place in the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
2005-06 also saw the final action of two of the most successful players in English football, Alan Shearer (last played for Newcastle United) and Dennis Bergkamp (last played for Arsenal).
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and West Ham United. Sunderland and West Ham United returned to the top flight after absences of two years, while Wigan Athletic played in the top flight for the first time in history. They replaced Crystal Palace, Norwich City (both teams relegated to the Championship after a season's presence) and Southampton (ending their top flight spell of twenty-seven years).
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium 38,419Aston VillaBirmingham Villa Park 42,553Birmingham CityBirmingham St Andrew's 30,079Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Bolton WanderersBoltonReebok Stadium 28,723Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley 27,111ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,360EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,569FulhamLondon Craven Cottage 24,600LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 45,276Manchester CityManchester City of Manchester Stadium 48,000Manchester UnitedManchester Old Trafford 68,217MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium 35,049Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387PortsmouthPortsmouthFratton Park 20,220SunderlandSunderlandStadium of Light 49,000Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,240West Bromwich AlbionWest BromwichThe Hawthorns 26,484West Ham UnitedLondon Boleyn Ground 35,146Wigan AthleticWiganJJB Stadium 25,138
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal Arsène Wenger Thierry HenryNikeO2Aston Villa David O'Leary Olof MellbergHummelDWS InvestmentsBirmingham City Steve Bruce Kenny CunninghamLonsdaleFlybeBlackburn Rovers Mark Hughes Ryan NelsenLonsdaleLonsdaleBolton Wanderers Sam Allardyce Kevin NolanReebokReebokCharlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Matt HollandJomaLlaneraChelsea José Mourinho John TerryUmbroSamsung MobileEverton David Moyes David WeirUmbroChangFulham Chris Coleman Luís Boa MortePumaPipexLiverpool Rafael Benítez Steven GerrardReebokCarlsbergManchester City Stuart Pearce Sylvain DistinReebokThomas CookManchester United Sir Alex Ferguson Gary NevilleNikeVodafoneMiddlesbrough Steve McClaren Gareth SouthgateErreà 888.comNewcastle United Glenn Roeder Alan ShearerAdidasNorthern RockPortsmouth Harry Redknapp Dejan StefanovićJakoOKI Printing SolutionSunderland Kevin Ball (caretaker) Gary BreenLonsdaleReg VardyTottenham Hotspur Martin Jol Ledley KingKappaThomson HolidaysWest Bromwich Albion Bryan Robson Kevin CampbellDiadoraT-MobileWest Ham United Alan Pardew Nigel Reo-CokerReebokJobServeWigan Athletic Paul Jewell Arjan de ZeeuwJJBJJB
Charlton Athletic's shirt sponsor was All:Sports until December 2005 after the company was placed into administration in September 2005.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointmentPortsmouth Alain PerrinSacked24 November 200517th Harry Redknapp2 December 2005Newcastle United Graeme Souness2 February 200615th Glenn Roeder (caretaker)2 February 2006Sunderland Mick McCarthy6 March 200620th Kevin Ball (caretaker)7 March 2006
League table
Results
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Thierry HenryArsenal272 Ruud van NistelrooyManchester United213 Darren BentCharlton Athletic184 Robbie KeaneTottenham Hotspur16 Frank LampardChelsea Wayne RooneyManchester United7 Marlon HarewoodWest Ham United148 Craig BellamyBlackburn Rovers13 YakubuMiddlesbrough10 Henri CamaraWigan Athletic12 Didier DrogbaChelsea
Awards
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthReferenceManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Stuart PearceManchester City Darren BentCharlton AthleticSeptember Paul JewellWigan Athletic Danny MurphyCharlton AthleticOctober Paul JewellWigan Athletic Frank LampardChelseaNovember Rafael BenítezLiverpool Robin van PersieArsenalDecember Rafael BenítezLiverpool Wayne RooneyManchester UnitedJanuary David MoyesEverton Anton FerdinandWest Ham UnitedFebruary Alan PardewWest Ham United Kevin NolanBolton WanderersMarch Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Wayne RooneyManchester UnitedApril Harry RedknappPortsmouth Steven GerrardLiverpool
Annual awards Award Winner ClubPFA Players' Player of the Year Steven GerrardLiverpoolPFA Young Player of the Year Wayne RooneyManchester UnitedPFA Fans' Player of the Year Wayne RooneyManchester UnitedFWA Footballer of the Year Thierry HenryArsenalPremier League Player of the Season Thierry HenryArsenalPremier League Manager of the Season José MourinhoChelsea PFA Team of the Year
PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Shay Given(Newcastle United) Defenders Pascal Chimbonda(Wigan Athletic) John Terry(Chelsea) Jamie Carragher(Liverpool) William Gallas(Chelsea) Midfielders Cristiano Ronaldo(Manchester United) Steven Gerrard(Liverpool) Frank Lampard(Chelsea) Joe Cole(Chelsea) Forwards Thierry Henry(Arsenal) Wayne Rooney(Manchester United)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Matches Total attendance Average 1 Manchester United 19 1,306,528 68,765 2 Newcastle United 19 988,609 52,032 3 Liverpool FC 19 840,491 44,236 4 Manchester City 19 814,269 42,856 5 Chelsea FC 19 796,131 41,902 6 Arsenal FC 19 725,499 38,184 7 Everton FC 19 700,347 36,860 8 Tottenham Hotspur 19 685,399 36,074 9 Aston Villa 19 648,124 34,112 10 Sunderland AFC 19 644,180 33,904 11 West Ham United 19 641,109 33,743 12 Middlesbrough FC 19 540,799 28,463 13 Birmingham City 19 520,448 27,392 14 Charlton Athletic 19 497,721 26,196 15 Bolton Wanderers 19 483,636 25,455 16 West Bromwich Albion 19 482,667 25,404 17 Blackburn Rovers 19 399,288 21,015 18 Fulham FC 19 392,430 20,654 19 Wigan Athletic 19 391,587 20,610 20 Portsmouth FC 19 376,951 19,840
See also 2005–06 in English football
References
External links 2005–06 FA Premier League Season at RSSSF 2005/2006 League table from sportpress