2005–06 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland
2005–06 season
Chairman Bob Murray
Manager Mick McCarthy (until 13 February)
Kevin Ball (caretaker) (from 7 March until 31 May)
Niall Quinn (from 25 July)
Stadium Stadium of Light
FA Premier League 20th (relegated)
FA Cup Fourth round
League Cup Third round
Top goalscorer League:
Liam Lawrence
Tommy Miller
Dean Whitehead
Anthony Le Tallec (3)
All: Anthony Le Tallec (5)
Highest home attendance 44,003 (vs. Arsenal, 1 May 2006)
Lowest home attendance 28,226 (vs. Fulham, 4 May 2006)

During the 2005–06 season, Sunderland competed in the FA Premier League.

Season Summary

Sunderland's season began with a streak of five consecutive losses, echoing the poor starts of the previous two seasons which had surprisingly ended in 3rd and 1st place finishes. A brief respite came with a three-match unbeaten run before the October international break, lifting the team out of the relegation zone. However, this momentum was short-lived; a defeat to Manchester United post-break plunged them back into the bottom three, a position they never recovered from. The period between the international break and Christmas was particularly bleak, with the team losing every match, signalling a likely relegation.

Their second victory of the season came in late January against West Bromwich Albion, who were just above them in the standings. Cup competitions offered no solace either; Sunderland struggled against League Two's Cheltenham Town in the League Cup's first round before a 3–0 defeat to Arsenal, and suffered a demoralizing exit in the FA Cup's fourth round to League One's Brentford.

The team's dismal performance led to the dismissal of Mick McCarthy, the manager of nearly three years, with Kevin Ball stepping in as caretaker manager. The season's modest goal became to avoid setting a new low for the fewest points in a Premier League season, a record Sunderland themselves held. Regrettably, not only did they fail to avoid this dishonour, but they also broke Stoke City's 21-year record for the lowest points under the three-point-win system. The few silver linings were that Sunderland marginally improved on their previous record for the fewest goals in a top-flight season and that their new low-point record was surpassed by Derby County two years later, who recorded even fewer points and goals.

Transfers

In

Date Pos Name From Fee
3 June 2005 FW Daryl Murphy Waterford United £100,000
10 June 2005 DF Nyron Nosworthy Gillingham Free
13 June 2005 FW Jon Stead Blackburn Rovers £1,800,000
14 June 2005 GK Kelvin Davis Ipswich Town £1,250,000
22 June 2005 MF Tommy Miller Ipswich Town Free
6 July 2005 MF Martin Woods Leeds United Free
2 August 2005 DF Alan Stubbs Everton Free
2 August 2005 FW Anthony Le Tallec Liverpool Season-long loan
9 August 2005 GK Joe Murphy West Bromwich Albion Free
10 August 2005 FW Andy Gray Sheffield United £1,100,000
24 August 2005 MF Christian Bassila Strasbourg Free
31 August 2005 DF Justin Hoyte Arsenal Season-long loan
25 January 2006 FW Kevin Smith Leeds United Free
31 January 2006 MF Rory Delap Southampton Free

Out

Date Pos Name To Fee
14 June 2005 DF Mark Lynch Hull City Free
1 July 2005 MF Jeff Whitley Cardiff City Free
1 July 2005 FW Marcus Stewart Bristol City Free
1 July 2005 FW Brian Deane Perth Glory Free
11 July 2005 MF Sean Thornton Doncaster Rovers £175,000
25 July 2005 GK Thomas Myhre Fredrikstad Free
25 July 2005 FW Michael Bridges Bristol City Free
12 August 2005 DF Neill Collins Hartlepool United Loan
31 August 2005 GK Mart Poom Arsenal Loan
8 September 2005 FW Chris Brown Hull City Loan
23 September 2005 MF Grant Leadbitter Rotherham United Loan
21 October 2005 GK Joe Murphy Walsall Loan
24 November 2005 MF Carl Robinson Norwich City Loan
24 November 2005 FW Daryl Murphy Sheffield Wednesday Loan
12 January 2006 DF Dan Smith Huddersfield Town Loan
17 January 2006 MF Carl Robinson Norwich City £50,000
20 January 2006 DF Alan Stubbs Everton Free
23 January 2006 GK Mart Poom Arsenal Free
17 February 2006 DF Neill Collins Sheffield United Loan
1 March 2006 MF Andy Welsh Leicester City Loan
16 March 2006 FW Andy Gray Burnley Loan

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of 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
1 GK ENG Kelvin Davis
2 DF ENG Stephen Wright
3 DF NIR George McCartney
4 MF IRL Rory Delap
5 DF IRL Gary Breen (captain)
6 DF SCO Steven Caldwell (vice-captain)
7 MF IRL Liam Lawrence
8 MF ENG Dean Whitehead
9 FW ENG Jon Stead
10 FW IRL Stephen Elliott
11 MF SCO Andy Welsh
12 DF ENG Nyron Nosworthy
13 GK ENG Ben Alnwick
14 MF ENG Tommy Miller
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF WAL Danny Collins
16 FW SCO Kevin Kyle
17 FW FRA Anthony Le Tallec (on loan from Liverpool)
18 FW SCO Andy Gray
19 MF SCO Martin Woods
20 FW ENG Chris Brown
23 MF ENG Grant Leadbitter
25 DF SCO Neill Collins
26 FW IRL Daryl Murphy
28 DF ENG Dan Smith
30 GK IRL Joe Murphy
31 MF FRA Christian Bassila
32 DF ENG Justin Hoyte (on loan from Arsenal)
33 MF ARG Julio Arca

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
4 MF WAL Carl Robinson (to Norwich City)
21 MF ENG Matt Piper (released)
22 DF ENG Alan Stubbs (to Everton)
No. Pos. Nation Player
24 GK EST Mart Poom (to Arsenal)
— MF IRL Colin Healy (to Livingston)

Reserve 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
21 FW SCO Kevin Smith
24 GK NIR Trevor Carson
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 DF ENG Ben Christensen
29 DF ENG Sean Taylor

Results

Sunderland's score comes first.

Win Draw Loss

League Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
2nd 20 September 2005 Cheltenham Town Stadium of Light 1–0 (after extra time) 11,969 Le Tallec
3rd 25 October 2005 Arsenal Stadium of Light 0–3 47,366

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
3rd 8 January 2006 Northwich Victoria Stadium of Light 3–0 19,323 N. Collins, Whitehead, Le Tallec
4th 28 January 2006 Brentford Griffin Park 1–2 11,698 Arca

Premier League

Main article: 2005–06 FA Premier League
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Aston Villa 38 10 12 16 42 55 −13 42
17 Portsmouth 38 10 8 20 37 62 −25 38
18 Birmingham City (R) 38 8 10 20 28 50 −22 34 Relegation to the Football League Championship
19 West Bromwich Albion (R) 38 7 9 22 31 58 −27 30
20 Sunderland (R) 38 3 6 29 26 69 −43 15
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results by matchday

Matchday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Result L L L L L D W D L L L L L L L L L D L L L W L L D L L L L L L D D L L L W L
Position 18 20 20 20 20 20 19 17 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Source:
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
13 August 2005 Charlton Athletic Stadium of Light 1–3 34,446 Gray
20 August 2005 Liverpool Anfield 0–1 44,913
23 August 2005 Manchester City Stadium of Light 1–2 33,357 Le Tallec
27 August 2005 Wigan Athletic JJB Stadium 0–1 17,223
10 September 2005 Chelsea Stamford Bridge 0–2 41,969
17 September 2005 West Bromwich Albion Stadium of Light 1–1 31,657 Breen
25 September 2005 Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 2–0 29,583 Miller, Arca
1 October 2005 West Ham United Stadium of Light 1–1 31,212 Miller
15 October 2005 Manchester United Stadium of Light 1–3 39,085 Elliott
23 October 2005 Newcastle United St James' Park 2–3 52,302 Lawrence, Elliott
29 October 2005 Portsmouth Stadium of Light 1–4 34,926 Whitehead (pen)
5 November 2005 Arsenal Highbury 1–3 38,210 Stubbs
19 November 2005 Aston Villa Stadium of Light 1–3 39,707 Whitehead (pen)
26 November 2005 Birmingham City Stadium of Light 0–1 32,442
30 November 2005 Liverpool Stadium of Light 0–2 32,697
3 December 2005 Tottenham Hotspur White Hart Lane 2–3 36,244 Whitehead, Le Tallec
10 December 2005 Charlton Athletic The Valley 0–2 26,065
26 December 2005 Bolton Wanderers Stadium of Light 0–0 32,232
31 December 2005 Everton Stadium of Light 0–1 30,567
2 January 2006 Fulham Craven Cottage 1–2 19,372 Lawrence
15 January 2006 Chelsea Stadium of Light 1–2 32,420 Lawrence
21 January 2006 West Bromwich Albion The Hawthorns 1–0 26,464 Watson (own goal)
31 January 2006 Middlesbrough Stadium of Light 0–3 31,675
4 February 2006 West Ham United Boleyn Ground 0–2 34,745
12 February 2006 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of Light 1–1 34,700 Murphy
15 February 2006 Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park 0–2 18,220
25 February 2006 Birmingham City St. Andrew's 0–1 29,257
3 March 2006 Manchester City City of Manchester Stadium 1–2 42,200 Kyle
11 March 2006 Wigan Athletic Stadium of Light 0–1 31,194
18 March 2006 Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium 0–2 23,568
25 March 2006 Blackburn Rovers Stadium of Light 0–1 29,593
1 April 2006 Everton Goodison Park 2–2 38,093 Stead, Delap
14 April 2006 Manchester United Old Trafford 0–0 72,519
17 April 2006 Newcastle United Stadium of Light 1–4 40,032 Hoyte
22 April 2006 Portsmouth Fratton Park 1–2 20,078 Miller
1 May 2006 Arsenal Stadium of Light 0–3 44,003
4 May 2006 Fulham Stadium of Light 2–1 28,226 Le Tallec, Brown
7 May 2006 Aston Villa Villa Park 1–2 33,820 D. Collins

Friendlies

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
16 July 2005 Vancouver Whitecaps Swangard Stadium (Burnaby, British Columbia) 0–3 6,857
20 July 2005 Seattle Sounders Qwest Field (Seattle, Washington) 1–0 8,502 Lawrence
23 July 2005 Portland Timbers PGE Park (Portland, Oregon) 0–0 15,376

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No. Pos Nat Player Total Premier League FA Cup League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Goalkeepers
1 GK ENG Kelvin Davis 35 0 33 0 2 0 0 0
13 GK ENG Ben Alnwick 7 0 5 0 0 0 2 0
Defenders
2 DF ENG Stephen Wright 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
3 DF NIR George McCartney 13 0 13 0 0 0 0 0
5 DF IRL Gary Breen 36 1 33+2 1 1 0 0 0
6 DF SCO Steven Caldwell 25 1 23 1 0 0 2 0
12 DF ENG Nyron Nosworthy 32 0 24+6 0 0 0 2 0
15 DF WAL Danny Collins 27 1 22+1 1 2 0 2 0
28 DF ENG Dan Smith 5 0 1+2 0 0 0 1+1 0
32 DF ENG Justin Hoyte 30 1 27 1 2 0 1 0
33 DF ARG Julio Arca 26 2 22+2 1 2 1 0 0
Midfielders
4 MF IRL Rory Delap 6 1 5+1 1 0 0 0 0
7 MF IRL Liam Lawrence 33 3 19+10 3 2 0 2 0
8 MF ENG Dean Whitehead 41 4 37 3 2 1 0+2 0
11 MF SCO Andy Welsh 16 0 11+2 0 0+1 0 1+1 0
14 MF ENG Tommy Miller 31 3 27+2 3 2 0 0 0
19 MF ENG Martin Woods 8 0 1+6 0 0 0 1 0
23 MF ENG Grant Leadbitter 12 0 8+4 0 0 0 0 0
31 MF FRA Christian Bassila 14 0 12+1 0 0 0 1 0
Forwards
9 FW ENG Jon Stead 34 1 21+9 1 2 0 2 0
10 FW IRL Stephen Elliott 16 2 11+4 2 0 0 0+1 0
16 FW SCO Kevin Kyle 14 1 9+4 1 1 0 0 0
17 FW FRA Anthony Le Tallec 31 5 12+15 3 1+1 1 2 1
18 FW SCO Andy Gray 22 1 13+8 1 0+1 0 0 0
20 FW ENG Chris Brown 13 1 10+3 1 0 0 0 0
26 FW IRL Daryl Murphy 20 1 5+13 1 0+1 0 0+1 0
Players transferred out during the season
4 MF WAL Carl Robinson 7 0 3+2 0 0 0 2 0
21 MF ENG Matt Piper 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
22 DF ENG Alan Stubbs 11 1 8+2 1 1 0 0 0