2005–06 Crystal Palace F.C. season

During the 2005–06 English football season, Crystal Palace F.C. competed in the Football League Championship, following relegation from the FA Premier League the previous season.

Crystal Palace

2005–06 season
Chairman	Simon Jordan
Manager	Iain Dowie
Stadium	Selhurst Park
Championship	6th (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Semi-finals
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Andrew Johnson (15) All: Andrew Johnson (17)^[1]
Highest home attendance	23,843 (vs. Leeds United, 4 March 2006)
Lowest home attendance	17,291 (vs. Preston North End, 24 September 2005)
Average home league attendance	19,457^[2]
Home colours
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Season summary

Crystal Palace had been boosted by the decision by the Premiership's top English goalscorer of the previous season, Andrew Johnson, to remain with the Londoners to fire their bid for a return to the top flight. Although Johnson was less prolific this season, scoring only 15 goals, Palace reached the play-offs in sixth place – the position they had finished in the promotion season of 2004. Palace faced third-placed Watford in the semi-finals – they were comprehensively beaten 3–0 in the first leg, and were only able to draw the second leg 0–0, consigning Palace to another season in the Championship. Manager Iain Dowie was soon on his way out, leaving by mutual consent on 22 May. Dowie claimed he wanted to be closer to his family in the north;^[3] he would take up the vacancy at London rivals Charlton Athletic a mere eight days later.^[4] He was followed out of Selhurst Park by Johnson, who snubbed Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers to join Everton for £8.6 million.

In June, Palace appointed Hull City manager (and former Palace winger) Peter Taylor as Dowie's successor.^[5]

Kit

Italian company Diadora remained Palace's kit manufacturers, and introduced a new home kit for the season. Unlike the previous season's kit, which was mainly red, the new kit was predominantly blue, complemented by a single thick red stripe down the centre of the shirt. For the club's centenary the club wore a commemorative kit on 27 July, 27 September and 22 October: the kit recalled one worn by the club in the 1970s, which featured white shorts and socks and a white shirt with two stripes of sky blue and claret (the club's original colours) in the centre.

Churchill Insurance remained kit sponsors for the sixth consecutive season.

Final league table

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Championship

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
4	Preston North End	46	20	20	6	59	30	+29	80	Qualification for Championship play-offs
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

Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2011. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 9 May 2006

Players with no appearances not included in the list

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Championship		FA Cup		League Cup		Championship play-offs
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	HUN	Gábor Király	48	0	43+0	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
3	DF	ENG	Danny Granville	1	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	1	0+0	0
4	DF	ENG	Darren Ward	46	6	42+1	5	2+0	1	0+0	0	1+0	0
5	DF	ENG	Mark Hudson	22	0	8+7	0	3+0	0	4+0	0	0+0	0
6	DF	AUS	Tony Popovic	15	1	10+0	0	1+0	0	2+0	1	2+0	0
7	MF	JAM	Jobi McAnuff	47	8	35+6	7	2+0	1	2+0	0	2+0	0
8	FW	ENG	Andy Johnson	39	18	30+3	16	3+0	2	1+0	0	2+0	0
9	FW	SCO	Dougie Freedman	41	8	19+15	6	3+0	1	1+1	1	1+1	0
10	FW	IRL	Jon Macken	28	2	13+11	2	0+2	0	1+0	0	0+1	0
11	FW	IRL	Clinton Morrison	44	12	32+8	12	1+0	0	1+1	0	1+0	0
12	DF	ATG	Mikele Leigertwood	30	0	18+9	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
14	MF	ENG	Ben Watson	48	4	40+2	4	2+0	0	2+0	0	1+1	0
15	MF	FIN	Aki Riihilahti	20	2	9+6	2	1+2	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
16	FW	ENG	Tommy Black	6	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	2+2	0	0+0	0
17	MF	NIR	Michael Hughes	45	4	30+10	2	1+0	1	2+0	1	2+0	0
18	DF	ENG	Gary Borrowdale	35	0	26+4	0	2+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0
19	MF	ENG	Tom Soares	49	1	38+6	1	1+1	0	1+0	0	2+0	0
20	DF	ENG	Danny Butterfield	16	0	9+4	0	0+0	0	2+0	0	0+1	0
21	DF	BRB	Emmerson Boyce	49	1	42+0	1	3+0	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
22	MF	GER	Marco Reich	26	4	14+7	2	1+1	0	1+1	2	0+1	0
23	FW	ENG	Wayne Andrews	31	1	5+19	1	2+1	0	3+1	0	0+0	0
25	DF	ENG	Fitz Hall	44	1	39+0	1	1+0	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
28	GK	ARG	Julián Speroni	8	0	3+1	0	0+0	0	4+0	0	0+0	0
29	DF	ENG	Sam Togwell	3	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+2	0	0+0	0
37	DF	ENG	Arron Fray	2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
39	FW	ENG	Lewis Grabban	2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+2	0	0+0	0
Players left the club during the season:
22	MF	FIN	Joonas Kolkka	4	0	1+2	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
27	MF	AUS	Anthony Danze	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
31	FW	ENG	Tyrone Berry	3	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+2	0	0+0	0

Source:^[6]

Results

Crystal Palace's score comes first^[7]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Championship

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 August 2005	Luton Town	H	1–2	21,166	Johnson
9 August 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	24,745	McAnuff
13 August 2005	Norwich City	A	1–1	25,102	Johnson
20 August 2005	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–0	18,781	Ward
27 August 2005	Stoke City	H	2–0	17,637	Johnson (2)
10 September 2005	Hull City	H	2–0	18,630	Morrison, Johnson
13 September 2005	Reading	A	2–3	17,562	Johnson, Morrison
17 September 2005	Cardiff City	A	0–1	11,647
24 September 2005	Preston North End	H	1–1	17,291	Morrison
27 September 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–0	17,413	Morrison, Whelan (own goal)
3 October 2005	Queens Park Rangers	A	3–1	13,433	Reich (2), Soares
15 October 2005	Coventry City	A	4–1	24,438	Ward, Morrison, Watson, Macken
18 October 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	0–1	22,400
22 October 2005	Burnley	H	2–0	20,127	Morrison, Freedman
29 October 2005	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–2	6,766	Freedman, Morrison
5 November 2005	Sheffield United	H	2–3	20,344	Hughes, Freedman (pen)
20 November 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	3–2	7,067	Freedman (2), McAnuff
22 November 2005	Coventry City	H	2–0	17,343	Andrews, Boyce
26 November 2005	Luton Town	A	0–2	10,248
3 December 2005	Millwall	H	1–1	19,571	Watson
10 December 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–1	19,385	Johnson
17 December 2005	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	14,582
26 December 2005	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	27,392	Macken, Hughes
28 December 2005	Derby County	H	2–0	18,978	Morrison, Ward
31 December 2005	Watford	A	2–1	15,856	Ward, Johnson (pen)
2 January 2006	Leicester City	H	2–0	20,089	McAnuff, Johnson
14 January 2006	Hull City	A	2–1	18,886	Ward, Cort (own goal)
20 January 2006	Reading	H	1–1	19,888	Johnson (pen)
25 January 2006	Southampton	A	0–0	24,651
31 January 2006	Preston North End	A	0–2	13,867
4 February 2006	Cardiff City	H	1–0	17,962	Riihilahti
11 February 2006	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0	24,784
14 February 2006	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	17,550	Morrison, McAnuff
18 February 2006	Millwall	A	1–1	12,296	Watson
25 February 2006	Norwich City	H	4–1	19,066	Johnson, Watson, Morrison, Hall
4 March 2006	Leeds United	H	1–2	23,843	McAnuff
13 March 2006	Stoke City	A	3–1	10,121	Sidibe (own goal), McAnuff, Johnson
18 March 2006	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	22,076	Riihilahti, Morrison
21 March 2006	Leeds United	A	1–0	24,507	McAnuff
25 March 2006	Derby County	A	1–2	24,857	Morrison
31 March 2006	Watford	H	3–1	18,619	Freedman, Stewart (own goal), DeMerit (own goal)
7 April 2006	Leicester City	A	0–2	23,211
15 April 2006	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–2	18,358	Johnson (2)
17 April 2006	Burnley	A	0–0	11,449
22 April 2006	Southampton	H	2–1	20,995	Johnson, Morrison
30 April 2006	Sheffield United	A	0–1	27,120

Championship play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	6 May 2006	Watford	H	0–3	22,880
SF 2nd Leg	9 May 2006	Watford	A	0–0 (lost 0–3 on agg)	19,041

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	7 January 2006	Northampton Town	H	4–1	10,391	Hughes, McAnuff, Johnson (pen), Freedman (pen)
R4	28 January 2006	Preston North End	A	1–1	9,489	Johnson
R4R	7 February 2006	Preston North End	H	1–2	7,356	Ward

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	23 August 2005	Walsall	H	3–0	5,508	Popovic (pen), Granville, Hughes
R2	20 September 2005	Coventry City	H	1–0	5,341	Reich
R3	25 October 2005	Liverpool	H	2–1	19,673	Freedman, Reich
R4	30 November 2005	Middlesbrough	A	1–2	10,791	Queudrue (own goal)

First-team 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 1 GK   HUN Gábor Király 3 DF   ENG Danny Granville 4 DF   ENG Darren Ward 5 DF   ENG Mark Hudson 6 DF   AUS Tony Popovic (captain) 7 MF   JAM Jobi McAnuff^[notes 1] 8 FW   ENG Andy Johnson 9 FW   SCO Dougie Freedman 10 FW   IRL Jon Macken^[notes 2] 11 FW   IRL Clinton Morrison^[notes 3] 12 MF   ENG Mikele Leigertwood^[notes 4] 14 MF   ENG Ben Watson 15 MF   FIN Aki Riihilahti 16 MF   ENG Tommy Black

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   NIR Michael Hughes 18 DF   ENG Gary Borrowdale 19 MF   ENG Tom Soares 20 DF   ENG Danny Butterfield 21 DF   ENG Emmerson Boyce^[notes 5] 22 MF   GER Marco Reich 23 FW   ENG Wayne Andrews 25 DF   ENG Fitz Hall 28 GK   ARG Julián Speroni 29 DF   ENG Sam Togwell 32 MF   ENG Ryan Hall 36 DF   ENG Glenn Wilson 37 DF   ENG Arron Fray 39 FW   ENG Lewis Grabban

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 22 MF   FIN Joonas Kolkka (to ADO Den Haag) 27 MF   AUS Anthony Danze (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 FW   HUN Sándor Torghelle (on loan to Panathinaikos) 31 FW   ENG Tyrone Berry (to Rushden & Diamonds)

Transfers

In

•   Jobi McAnuff –   Cardiff City, £600,000, 31 May 2005^[8]
•   Darren Ward –   Millwall, £1,100,000,
•   Jonathan Macken –   Manchester City
•   Marco Reich –   Derby County

Out

•   Wayne Routledge –   Tottenham Hotspur
•   Darren Powell -   Southampton, free, 1 July 2005^[9]
•   Sándor Torghelle –   Panathinaikos, season loan

References

1. Goal scorers Football League ^{[dead link]}
2. Attendance Football League ^{[dead link]}
3. "Boss Dowie leaves post at Palace". BBC Sport. 22 May 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
4. "Palace take action against Dowie". BBC Sport. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
5. "Taylor named new Palace manager". BBC Sport. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
6. "Crystal Palace Squad Stats – 2005/2006". 11v11. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
7. . Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
8. "McAnuff completes Palace switch". BBC Sport. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
9. "Saints swoop for defender Powell". BBC Sport. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Notes

1. McAnuff was born in Enfield, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and made his international debut for Jamaica in May 2002.
2. Macken was born in Blackley, England, and represented them at U-20 level, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in August 2004.
3. Morrison was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in August 2001.
4. Leigertwood was born in Enfield, England, but also qualified to represent Antigua and Barbuda internationally and would make his international debut for Antigua and Barbuda in November 2008.
5. Boyce was born in Aylesbury, England, but also qualified to represent Barbados internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Barbados in March 2008.