2005–06 Leeds United A.F.C. season

The 2005–06 season was Leeds United's second consecutive season in the Football League Championship.

Leeds United

2005–06 season
Chairman	Ken Bates
Manager	Kevin Blackwell
Stadium	Elland Road
Championship	5th (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Runners-up
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Rob Hulse (13) All: Rob Hulse (14)
Highest home attendance	27,843 vs Sheffield Wednesday (21 January 2006, Championship)
Lowest home attendance	14,970 vs Oldham Athletic (23 August 2005, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	22,355
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Season summary

With new players brought in over the summer, the club's goal during the 2005–06 season was promotion. Blackwell's shrewd tactics away from Elland Road and attacking style at home proved highly effective, and by the end of February, Leeds were third in the Championship. However, from that point onwards Leeds slumped, gaining just 4 points from a possible 18, and eventually had to settle for a play-off place. In the first round of the play-offs, against Preston North End, Leeds drew 1–1 at Elland Road, but won the return leg 2–0 to advance to the final, played on 21 May at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. However, in a dismal performance, Leeds crashed to a 3–0 defeat to Watford.^[1] While some fans predicted that Leeds would go one better and finally return to the Premier League the following year, others were concerned by the fact that, with the exception of the bottom four teams, Leeds's form going into the play-offs was the worst of any team in the Championship, their only two wins in the final months of the campaign being the play-off victory against Preston and a narrow 1–0 victory against relegated Crewe Alexandra.

Competitions

Championship

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Championship

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
3	Watford (O, P)	46	22	15	9	77	53	+24	81	Qualification for Championship play-offs
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

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

Results

Win

Draw

Loss

Championship match details

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
7 August 2005	Millwall	Home	2–1	Healy 28', 73' pen.	20,440	Laws	[2]
9 August 2005	Cardiff City	Away	1–2	Blake 22'	15,231	Tanner	[3]
13 August 2005	Luton Town	Away	0–0		10,102	Leake	[4]
20 August 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Home	2–0	Lewis 8, Hulse 60'	21,229	Beeby	[5]
27 August 2005	Norwich City	Away	1–0	Hulse 67'	25,015	Rennie	[6]
10 September 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	Home	3–3	Healy 65', 70', Douglas 90'	21,212	Pike	[7]
13 September 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	Away	0–1		29,986	Taylor	[8]
17 September 2005	Queens Park Rangers	Away	1–0	Hulse 41'	15,523	Walton	[9]
24 September 2005	Ipswich Town	Home	0–2		21,676	Halsey	[10]
28 September 2005	Derby County	Home	3–1	Hulse 32', 37', 44'	18,353	Salisbury	[11]
1 October 2005	Watford	Away	0–0		16,050	Curson	[12]
15 October 2005	Burnley	Away	2–1	Lewis 71', Hulse 75'	16,174	Dean	[13]
18 October 2005	Southampton	Home	2–1	Hulse 11', Blake 19'	18,881	Jones	[14]
21 October 2005	Sheffield United	Home	1–1	Richardson 53'	23,600	Wiley	[15]
29 October 2005	Reading	Away	1–1	Walton 1'	22,012	Olivier	[16]
1 November 2005	Crewe Alexandra	Away	0–1		7,220	Kettle	[17]
5 November 2005	Preston North End	Home	0–0		22,289	D'Urso	[18]
19 November 2005	Southampton	Away	4–3	Butler 71', Blake 77', Healy 84' pen., Miller 86'	30,173	Williamson	[19]
22 November 2005	Burnley	Home	2–0	Healy 55' pen., Blake 70'	21,318	Bates	[20]
26 November 2005	Millwall	Away	1–0	May 90' o.g.	8,134	Fletcher	[21]
3 December 2005	Leicester City	Home	2–1	Healy 41', Kilgallon 73'	21,402	Dean	[22]
10 December 2005	Cardiff City	Home	0–1		20,597	Salisbury	[23]
17 December 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Away	0–1		26,821	Foy	[24]
26 December 2005	Coventry City	Home	3–1	Douglas 34', Blake 61', Cresswell 80'	24,291	Webster	[25]
28 December 2005	Stoke City	Away	1–0	Lewis 69'	20,408	Halsey	[26]
31 December 2005	Hull City	Home	2–0	Douglas 45', 57'	26,387	Hall	[27]
2 January 2006	Plymouth Argyle	Away	3–0	Cresswell 53', Blake 60', Hulse 86' pen.	17,726	Taylor	[28]
14 January 2006	Brighton & Hove Albion	Away	1–2	Blake 38' pen.	7,415	D'Urso	[29]
21 January 2006	Sheffield Wednesday	Home	3–0	Butler 70', Cresswell 82', 90'	27,843	Gallagher	[30]
31 January 2006	Ipswich Town	Away	1–1	Healy 88' pen.	25,845	Crossley	[31]
4 February 2006	Queens Park Rangers	Home	2–0	Cresswell 39', Butler 84'	21,807	Walton	[32]
11 February 2006	Derby County	Away	0–0		27,000	Dowd	[33]
14 February 2006	Watford	Home	2–1	Blake 60' pen., 81'	22,007	Jones	[34]
18 February 2006	Leicester City	Away	1–1	Blake 12' pen.	25,497	Olivier	[35]
25 February 2006	Luton Town	Home	2–1	Douglas 49', Lewis 53'	23,644	Hill	[36]
4 March 2006	Crystal Palace	Away	2–1	Blake 33', Hulse 53'	23,843	Gallagher	[37]
11 March 2006	Norwich City	Home	2–2	Hulse 20', Lewis 90'	24,993	Foy	[38]
18 March 2006	Coventry City	Away	1–1	Healy 88' pen.	26,643	Oliver	[39]
21 March 2006	Crystal Palace	Home	0–1		24,507	Joslin	[40]
25 March 2006	Stoke City	Home	0–0		21,452	Stroud	[41]
1 April 2006	Hull City	Away	0–1		23,486	Ilderton	[42]
8 April 2006	Plymouth Argyle	Home	0–0		20,650	Thorpe	[43]
15 April 2006	Reading	Home	1–1	Hulse 47'	24,535	Halsey	[44]
18 April 2006	Sheffield United	Away	1–1	Healy 42'	29,329	Poll	[45]
22 April 2006	Crewe Alexandra	Home	1–0	Healy 74'	21,046	Miller	[46]
30 April 2006	Preston North End	Away	0–2		19,350	Rennie	[47]

Play-offs

Championship play-off match details

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
Semi-final first leg	5 May 2006	Preston North End	Home	1–1	Lewis 74'	35,239	Crossley	[48]
Semi-final second leg	8 May 2006	Preston North End	Away	2–0	Hulse 56', Richardson 61'	20,283	Thorpe	[49]
Final	21 May 2006	Watford	Neutral	0–3		64,736	Dean	[1]

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

FA Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
Third round	7 January 2006	Wigan Athletic	Away	1–1	Hulse 88'	10,980	Poll	[50]
Third round replay	17 January 2006	Wigan Athletic	Home	3–3 (2–4 p)	Healy 41', 64' pen., Kelly 116'	15,243	Poll	[51]

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

League Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Ref.
First round	23 August 2005	Oldham Athletic	Home	2–0	Ricketts 20, Richardson 24'	14,970	Wright	[52]
Second round	20 September 2005	Rotherham United	Away	2–0	Cresswell 19', 28'	5,445	Leake	[53]
Third round	25 October 2005	Blackburn Rovers	Away	0–3		15,631	Foy	[54]

Statistics

(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)^[55]

No.	Pos.	Name	League		Play-offs		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Neil Sullivan	42	0	3	0	2	0	3	0	50	0	1	0
2	DF	Gary Kelly	44	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	49	1	10	0
3	DF	Stephen Crainey	24	0	2	0	2	0	2	0	30	0	2	1
6	DF	Paul Butler	44	3	1	0	2	0	1	0	48	3	7	0
7	MF	Jermaine Wright	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
8	MF	Sean Gregan	28	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	34	0	14	0
9	FW	David Healy	24+18	12	1+1	0	1+1	2	2	0	28+20	13	6	1
10	FW	Rob Hulse	32+7	12	3	1	2	1	1+1	0	38+8	14	5	0
11	MF	Eddie Lewis	42+1	5	3	1	2	0	0+1	0	47+2	6	4	0
12	DF	Danny Pugh	1+11	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	4+11	0	0	0
13	GK	Ian Bennett	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
14	MF	Steve Stone	1+1	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	1+3	0	0	0
15	DF	Frazer Richardson	13+10	1	2	1	0	0	3	1	18+10	3	0	0
16	MF	Gylfi Einarsson	6+4	0	0	0	0+1	0	3	0	9+5	0	2	1
17	MF	Liam Miller	26+2	1	3	0	2	0	0	0	31+2	1	9	0
18	MF	Simon Walton	3+1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4+1	0	2	1
19	MF	Eirik Bakke	7+3	0	1+1	0	0	0	0	0	8+4	0	1	0
20	MF	Jonathan Douglas	32+8	5	2	0	2	0	2+1	0	38+9	5	7	0
21	DF	Shaun Derry	41	0	3	0	1	0	0+1	0	45+1	0	12	0
22	MF	Ian Thomas-Moore	2+18	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4+18	0	1	0
23	DF	Dan Harding	20	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	21	0	2	0
24	DF	Rui Marques	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
25	FW	Richard Cresswell	12+4	5	0+2	0	0+2	0	1	2	13+8	8	1	0
26	DF	Matthew Kilgallon	22+3	1	3	0	2	0	3	0	30+3	1	4	0
27	FW	Joel Griffiths	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0
28	FW	Robbie Blake	31+10	11	0+2	0	1+1	0	1+1	0	33+14	11	2	0
30	FW	Michael Ricketts	1+3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2+3	1	0	0
32	FW	Jermaine Beckford	0+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+5	0	0	0
34	FW	Danny Graham	1+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1+2	0	0	0

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Name	From†	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2005	MF	Eddie Lewis	(Preston North End)	Free transfer	[56]
1 July 2005	MF	Steve Stone	(Portsmouth)	Free transfer	[57]
18 July 2005	FW	Robbie Blake	Birmingham City	£800,000	[58]
29 July 2005	DF	Rui Marques	Marítimo	Free	[59]
24 August 2005	FW	Richard Cresswell	Preston North End	£1,150,000	[60]
17 January 2006	FW	Joel Griffiths	Neuchâtel Xamax	Free	[61]

† Brackets around club names denote the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Leeds.

Loans in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Date until	Ref.
19 August 2005	MF	Jonathan Douglas	Blackburn Rovers	End of season	[62]
4 November 2005	MF	Liam Miller	Manchester United	End of season	[63][64]
23 March 2006	FW	Danny Graham	Middlesbrough	22 April 2006	[65]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Name	To†	Fee	Ref.
25 June 2005	MF	Simon Johnson	Darlington	Free	[66]
1 July 2005	MF	Aaron Lennon	Tottenham Hotspur	£1,000,000
5 July 2005	MF	Martin Woods	Sunderland	Free	[67]
	FW	Julian Joachim	Boston United		[68]
5 August 2005	DF	Clarke Carlisle	Watford	£100,000	[69]
17 August 2005	MF	Seth Johnson	Derby County	Free	[70]
19 August 2005	MF	Matthew Spring	Watford	£150,000	[71]
26 January 2006	FW	Kevin Smith	Sunderland	Free transfer	[72]

† Brackets around club names denote the player joined that club after his Leeds contract expired.

Loans out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
31 August 2005	MF	Eirik Bakke	Aston Villa	18 January 2006	[73][74]
30 January 2006	FW	Michael Ricketts	Burnley	End of season	[75]