2005–06 Watford F.C. season

During the 2005–06 English football season, Watford competed in the Football League Championship.

Watford F.C.

2005–06 season
Chairman	Graham Simpson
Manager	Aidy Boothroyd
Stadium	Vicarage Road
Championship	3rd (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Winners
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Marlon King (21) All: Marlon King (22)
Highest home attendance	19,842 vs Coventry City (11 Feb 2006, Championship)
Lowest home attendance	7,011 vs Notts County (23 Aug 2005, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	15,415
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Season summary

Against the odds, Watford managed to gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs, defeating Leeds United 3–0 in the play-off final to return to the top flight after an absence of six years.^[1] Crucial to Watford's promotion was striker Marlon King, who was the Championship's top scorer. Striker Darius Henderson and young winger Ashley Young also chipped in with 15 and 14 league goals respectively; between them, the three scored 51 of the club's 77 goals scored in the league.

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
1	Reading (C, P)	46	31	13	2	99	32	+67	106	Promotion to the FA Premier League
2	Sheffield United (P)	46	26	12	8	76	46	+30	90
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

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

Results

Watford's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Championship

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 August 2005	Preston North End	H	1–2	12,597	Henderson
9 August 2005	Plymouth Argyle	A	3–3	13,813	King, Young (2)
12 August 2005	Cardiff City	A	3–1	10,102	King (2), Henderson
20 August 2005	Burnley	H	3–1	16,802	King, Mahon, Spring
27 August 2005	Reading	H	0–0	12,152
29 August 2005	Derby County	A	2–1	23,664	Spring, Carlisle
10 September 2005	Stoke City	A	3–0	14,565	Devlin, Young, King (pen)
13 September 2005	Norwich City	H	2–1	13,502	King, Young
17 September 2005	Sheffield United	H	2–3	15,399	Henderson (2)
24 September 2005	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	6,258
28 September 2005	Coventry City	A	1–3	16,978	Young
1 October 2005	Leeds United	H	0–0	16,050
15 October 2005	Leicester City	H	1–2	16,224	Young
18 October 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–1	21,187	Young
22 October 2005	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	24,069	Young
29 October 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–1	14,561	DeMerit, King, Devlin
1 November 2005	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–1	16,476	Spring, McNamee, Young
5 November 2005	Hull City	A	2–1	18,444	Mahon, Spring
19 November 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–1	16,988	Carlisle, King
22 November 2005	Leicester City	A	2–2	18,856	King, Mackay
26 November 2005	Preston North End	A	1–1	14,638	Spring
3 December 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–1	14,455	King
10 December 2005	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–1	12,884	King
17 December 2005	Burnley	A	1–4	13,815	King
26 December 2005	Southampton	H	3–0	16,972	Henderson, Carlisle, Hajto (own goal)
28 December 2005	Millwall	A	0–0	8,450
31 December 2005	Crystal Palace	H	1–2	15,856	Henderson
2 January 2006	Luton Town	A	2–1	10,248	Henderson, Mackay
14 January 2006	Stoke City	H	1–0	12,247	Eagles
21 January 2006	Norwich City	A	3–2	25,384	Henderson (2), Spring
28 January 2006	Crewe Alexandra	H	4–1	11,722	Spring (2), King, Young
6 February 2006	Sheffield United	A	4–1	20,791	Eagles, King (2), Bouazza
11 February 2006	Coventry City	H	4–0	19,842	Young, King, Henderson, DeMerit
14 February 2006	Leeds United	A	1–2	22,007	Young
18 February 2006	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	1–0	6,658	Eagles
25 February 2006	Cardiff City	H	2–1	17,419	Mackay, King
4 March 2006	Derby County	H	2–2	16,769	King, Bangura
11 March 2006	Reading	A	0–0	23,724
20 March 2006	Southampton	A	3–1	19,202	Mahon, Henderson (2)
25 March 2006	Millwall	H	0–2	16,654
31 March 2006	Crystal Palace	A	1–3	18,619	King
9 April 2006	Luton Town	H	1–1	15,922	King
14 April 2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1	22,584	King
17 April 2006	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	16,721	Henderson (2)
22 April 2006	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	16,152	Young, Santos (own goal)
30 April 2006	Hull City	H	0–0	19,041

Championship play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	6 May 2006	Crystal Palace	A	3–0	22,880	King, Young, Spring
SF 2nd Leg	9 May 2006	Crystal Palace	H	0–0 (won 3–0 on agg)	19,041
F	21 May 2006	Leeds United	N	3–0	64,736	DeMerit, Sullivan (own goal), Henderson (pen)

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	7 January 2006	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–3	13,239

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	23 August 2005	Notts County	H	3–1	7,011	Young, Bouazza (pen), Blizzard
R2	20 September 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–1	9,296	Carlisle (2)
R3	25 October 2005	Wigan Athletic	A	0–3	4,531

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[3][4]

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 Alec Chamberlain 2 DF  ENG James Chambers 3 DF  ENG Jordan Stewart 4 DF  SCO Malky Mackay 5 DF  ENG Clarke Carlisle 6 DF  USA Jay DeMerit 7 MF  ENG Chris Eagles (on loan from Manchester United) 8 MF  ENG Gavin Mahon (captain) 9 FW  JAM Marlon King[notes 1] 12 DF  ENG Lloyd Doyley[notes 2] 14 MF  ENG Dominic Blizzard 15 MF  ENG Ashley Young 18 FW  FRA Hameur Bouazza[notes 3] 19 MF  ENG Anthony McNamee 20 MF  SLE Al Bangura

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  FRA Toumani Diagouraga 22 DF  ENG Junior Osborne 23 DF  ENG Adrian Mariappa[notes 4] 25 MF  ENG Matthew Spring 26 GK  ENG Ben Foster (on loan from Manchester United) 27 MF  JAM Joel Grant[notes 5] 28 FW  JAM Francino Francis 29 FW  ENG Darius Henderson 30 MF  FRA Marvin Homand 31 MF  ENG Alex Campana 32 FW  ENG Les Ferdinand 34 DF  ENG Ben Gill 35 DF  ENG Joe O'Cearuill[notes 6] 36 FW  ENG Theo Robinson[notes 7]

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 7 MF  ENG Martin Devaney (to Barnsley) 7 MF  WAL Carl Fletcher[notes 8] (on loan from West Ham United) 10 MF  SCO Paul Devlin[notes 9] (to Walsall) 11 DF  ESP Sietes (released) 16 GK  ENG Richard Lee (on loan to Blackburn Rovers) 17 MF  ENG Jamie Hand (to Fisher Athletic)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  AUS Adam Griffiths (to Bournemouth) 25 FW  BRA José Júnior (to Odense) 33 FW  JAM Trevor Benjamin[notes 10] (on loan from Peterborough United) 36 FW  ENG Gabriel Agbonlahor (on loan from Aston Villa) 50 GK  BEL Yves Ma-Kalambay[notes 11] (on loan from Chelsea) — MF  ENG Ryan Gilligan (to Swindon Town)

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Alec Chamberlain	2+1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	5+1	0	0	0
2	DF	James Chambers	26+12	0	0	0	2+1	0	3	0	31+13	0	7	0
3	DF	Jordan Stewart	29+6	0	1	0	2	0	3	0	35+6	0	4	0
4	DF	Malky Mackay	35+3	3	1	0	1	0	3	0	40+3	3	4	1
5	DF	Clarke Carlisle	30+2	3	1	0	2	2	0	0	33+2	5	5	1
6	DF	Jay DeMerit	27+5	2	0	0	2	0	3	1	32+5	3	4	0
7	MF	Chris Eagles	16+1	3	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	17+2	3	1	0
7	MF	Carl Fletcher	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
8	MF	Gavin Mahon	35+3	3	1	0	1	0	3	0	40+3	3	5	0
9	FW	Marlon King	40+1	21	1	0	0	0	3	1	44+1	22	2	1
10	MF	Paul Devlin	21+2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	21+2	2	2	0
12	DF	Lloyd Doyley	40+4	0	1	0	2	0	3	0	46+4	0	3	0
14	MF	Dominic Blizzard	9+1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	10+1	1	0	0
15	MF	Ashley Young	38+1	13	0	0	1	1	3	1	42+1	15	3	1
18	FW	Hameur Bouazza	3+11	1	0	0	2	1	0+1	0	5+12	2	0	0
19	DF	Anthony McNamee	26+12	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	30+12	1	1	0
20	MF	Al Bangura	11+24	1	0	0	3	0	1+2	0	15+26	1	6	0
21	MF	Toumani Diagouraga	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
22	DF	Junior Osborne	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	1+1	0	1	0
23	DF	Adrian Mariappa	1+2	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0	2+3	0	0	0
25	MF	Matthew Spring	36+3	8	0	0	2	0	3	1	41+3	9	8	0
26	GK	Ben Foster	44	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	48	0	3	1
27	FW	Joel Grant	2+5	0	0	0	1+2	0	0	0	3+7	0	1	0
28	FW	Francino Francis	0+1	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0	1+2	0	0	0
29	FW	Darius Henderson	27+3	14	1	0	1	0	2+1	1	31+4	15	6	1
31	MF	Alex Campana	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
33	FW	Trevor Benjamin	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
34	MF	Ben Gill	0	0	0+1	0	0+2	0	0	0	0+3	0	0	0
36	FW	Gabriel Agbonlahor	1+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0
37	FW	Theo Robinson	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0