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)

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

Season Summary

Despite most fans believing Sunderland's top-flight return couldn't possibly go worse than the way they left it in 2003, somehow it did. A run of five consecutive losses at the start of the season was cause for concern, if not immediate alarm, seeing how the previous two seasons had similarly poor starts and ended in finishes of 3rd and 1st respectively. A three-match unbeaten run just before the international break in October saw Sunderland move out of the relegation zone and seemingly in the right direction; unfortunately, a loss to Manchester United after the season resumed dropped them right back into the bottom three, and Sunderland never left it after that point.

With the club losing every single match in-between the international break and Christmas Day, it became increasingly apparent that Sunderland were unlikely to avoid an immediate relegation. Their second win of the season didn't come until late January, and even that was against second-bottom West Bromwich Albion. Even the cups offered little respite, with the club struggling past League Two side Cheltenham Town in their first League Cup round before losing 3–0 to Arsenal in the next round, and experiencing a humiliating FA Cup exit to League One side Brentford in the fourth round.

More dismal form saw Mick McCarthy sacked after almost exactly three years as manager, and Kevin Ball was left in charge as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, with it being clear that the most that could be hoped for was that Sunderland would at least avoid doing worse than their own record for the lowest points total in a Premier League season. Ultimately, not only did Sunderland not succeed in avoiding that dishonour, but they broke Stoke City's 21-year-old record for the fewest points under the 3 points for a win system. The only mercies that Sunderland had were that they at least avoided equalling their own record from three years prior for fewest goals scored in a top-flight season (having scored five more goals this season), and that they would only hold their new record for two years, with Derby County going on to record fewer points and fewer goals than both of Sunderland's records.

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
3 June 2005	FW	Daryl Murphy	Waterford United	£100,000[1]
10 June 2005	DF	Nyron Nosworthy	Gillingham	Free[2]
13 June 2005	FW	Jon Stead	Blackburn Rovers	£1,800,000[3]
14 June 2005	GK	Kelvin Davis	Ipswich Town	£1,250,000[4]
22 June 2005	MF	Tommy Miller	Ipswich Town	Free[5]
6 July 2005	MF	Martin Woods	Leeds United	Free[6]
2 August 2005	DF	Alan Stubbs	Everton	Free[7]
2 August 2005	FW	Anthony Le Tallec	Liverpool	Season-long loan[8]
9 August 2005	GK	Joe Murphy	West Bromwich Albion	Free[9]
10 August 2005	FW	Andy Gray	Sheffield United	£1,100,000[10]
24 August 2005	MF	Christian Bassila	Strasbourg	Free[11]
31 August 2005	DF	Justin Hoyte	Arsenal	Season-long loan[12]
25 January 2006	FW	Kevin Smith	Leeds United	Free[13]
31 January 2006	MF	Rory Delap	Southampton	Free[14]

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
14 June 2005	DF	Mark Lynch	Hull City	Free[15]
1 July 2005	MF	Jeff Whitley	Cardiff City	Free[16]
1 July 2005	FW	Marcus Stewart	Bristol City	Free[17]
1 July 2005	FW	Brian Deane	Perth Glory	Free
11 July 2005	MF	Sean Thornton	Doncaster Rovers	£175,000[18]
25 July 2005	GK	Thomas Myhre	Fredrikstad	Free
25 July 2005	FW	Michael Bridges	Bristol City	Free[19]
12 August 2005	DF	Neill Collins	Hartlepool United	Loan[20]
31 August 2005	GK	Mart Poom	Arsenal	Loan
8 September 2005	FW	Chris Brown	Hull City	Loan[21]
23 September 2005	MF	Grant Leadbitter	Rotherham United	Loan[22]
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[23]

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[notes 1]
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[notes 2]
12	DF	ENG	Nyron Nosworthy[notes 3]
13	GK	ENG	Ben Alnwick
14	MF	ENG	Tommy Miller


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	DF	WAL	Danny Collins[notes 4]
16	FW	SCO	Kevin Kyle
17	FW	FRA	Anthony Le Tallec (on loan from Liverpool)
18	FW	SCO	Andy Gray[notes 5]
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[notes 6] (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

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

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	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

References

"Sunderland sign Irish star Murphy". 3 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland seal Nosworthy signing". 13 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland snap up striker Stead". 13 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Davis completes Sunderland move". 14 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Miller secures Sunderland switch". 22 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland sign Leeds youngster". 5 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland sign defender Stubbs". 2 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland sign Le Tallec on loan". 2 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Murphy reveals Sunderland switch". 9 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Gray completes move to Sunderland". 10 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Bassila agrees to Sunderland move". 24 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland capture Hoyte on loan". 31 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland sign Smith from Leeds". 26 January 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Sunderland seal signing of Delap". 31 January 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Defender Lynch seals move to Hull". 14 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Whitley completes Cardiff switch". 1 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Stewart agrees Bristol City move". 6 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Thornton completes Doncaster move". 12 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"City put seal on Bridges signing". 23 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Collins joins Hartlepool on loan". 12 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Striker makes loan move to Hull". 8 September 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"Millers sign Leadbitter on loan". 23 September 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
"FootballSquads - Sunderland - 2005/06". www.footballsquads.co.uk.

Notes

Delap was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1998.
Welsh was born in Manchester, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and has represented Scotland at U-19 level.
Nosworthy was born in Brixton, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and Guyana internationally through his mother, and would make his international debut for Jamaica in May 2012.
Collins was born in Chester, England, and represented them at C level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in February 2005.
Gray was born in Harrogate, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in April 2003.
Hoyte was born in Waltham Forest, England, and represented them at U-16, U-19, U-20, and U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Trinidad and Tobago internationally and made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in March 2013.

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[1] "Sunderland sign Irish star Murphy". 3 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[2] "Sunderland seal Nosworthy signing". 13 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[3] "Sunderland snap up striker Stead". 13 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[4] "Davis completes Sunderland move". 14 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[5] "Miller secures Sunderland switch". 22 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[6] "Sunderland sign Leeds youngster". 5 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[7] "Sunderland sign defender Stubbs". 2 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[8] "Sunderland sign Le Tallec on loan". 2 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[9] "Murphy reveals Sunderland switch". 9 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[10] "Gray completes move to Sunderland". 10 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[11] "Bassila agrees to Sunderland move". 24 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[12] "Sunderland capture Hoyte on loan". 31 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[13] "Sunderland sign Smith from Leeds". 26 January 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[14] "Sunderland seal signing of Delap". 31 January 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[15] "Defender Lynch seals move to Hull". 14 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[16] "Whitley completes Cardiff switch". 1 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[17] "Stewart agrees Bristol City move". 6 June 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[18] "Thornton completes Doncaster move". 12 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[19] "City put seal on Bridges signing". 23 July 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[20] "Collins joins Hartlepool on loan". 12 August 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[21] "Striker makes loan move to Hull". 8 September 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[22] "Millers sign Leadbitter on loan". 23 September 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[23] "FootballSquads - Sunderland - 2005/06". www.footballsquads.co.uk.

[24] Delap was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1998.

[25] Welsh was born in Manchester, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and has represented Scotland at U-19 level.

[26] Nosworthy was born in Brixton, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and Guyana internationally through his mother, and would make his international debut for Jamaica in May 2012.

[27] Collins was born in Chester, England, and represented them at C level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in February 2005.

[28] Gray was born in Harrogate, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in April 2003.

[29] Hoyte was born in Waltham Forest, England, and represented them at U-16, U-19, U-20, and U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Trinidad and Tobago internationally and made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in March 2013.