2005–06 Sunderland A.F.C. season

During the 2005–06 season, Sunderland competed in the FA Premier League. A total of 38 matches were played in which they finished last in 20th, with 15 points.

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)
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Season Summary

Sunderland's season began with a streak of five consecutive losses. 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.

Their second victory of the season came in late January against West Bromwich Albion, who were just above them in the standings. Cup competitions were poor as well, as 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 poor 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. Not only was the new record set, but they also broke Stoke City's 21-year record for the lowest points under the three-point-win system. Sunderland marginally improved on their previous record for the fewest goals in a top-flight season The league's new low-point record was surpassed by Derby County two years later, who recorded 11 points in contrast to Sunderland's 15.

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; some limited exceptions apply. 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; some limited exceptions apply. 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; some limited exceptions apply. 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 v t e	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: ^{[citation needed]}
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