2005–06 Isthmian League

The 2005–06 season was the 91st in the history of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.

It was the last season in which the Isthmian League consisted of three tiers. At the end of the season Division Two was disbanded, and most of the Division Two clubs were distributed between lower-level leagues, while Division One was divided into Division One North and Division One South.

Premier Division

Isthmian League
Premier Division

Season	2005–06
Champions	Braintree Town
Promoted	Braintree Town Fisher Athletic
Relegated	Maldon Town Redbridge Windsor & Eton
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,302 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorer	26 goals – Richard Jolly (Heybridge Swifts) and Jermaine Beckford (Wealdstone)
Highest attendance	3,315 – AFC Wimbledon – Hampton & Richmond Borough, (18 February)
Total attendance	215,064
Average attendance	466 (+44.3% to previous season)
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 14 clubs from the previous season and eight new clubs.

• Two clubs relegated from the Conference South:
  • Margate
  • Redbridge
• Three clubs promoted from Division One:
  • AFC Wimbledon
  • Bromley
  • Walton & Hersham
• Three clubs promoted from Southern Football League Division One East:
  • Fisher Athletic
  • East Thurrock United
  • Maldon Town

Braintree Town won the division and were promoted to the Conference South along with play-off winners Fisher Athletic, who earned a second consecutive promotion. Maldon Town, Windsor & Eton and Redbridge were relegated, while Hendon were initially relegated too as the worst 19th-placed club among the seventh level leagues, but were reprieved after Canvey Island resigned from the Conference.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Braintree Town	42	28	10	4	74	32	+42	94	Promoted to the Conference South
2	Heybridge Swifts	42	28	3	11	70	46	+24	87	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Fisher Athletic	42	26	7	9	84	46	+38	85	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Conference South
4	AFC Wimbledon	42	22	11	9	67	36	+31	77	Qualified for the play-offs
5	Hampton & Richmond	42	24	3	15	73	54	+19	75
6	Staines Town	42	20	10	12	74	56	+18	70
7	Billericay Town	42	19	12	11	69	45	+24	69
8	Worthing	42	19	10	13	71	60	+11	67
9	Walton & Hersham	42	19	7	16	55	50	+5	64
10	Chelmsford City	42	18	10	14	57	62	−5	64
11	Bromley	42	16	14	12	57	49	+8	62
12	East Thurrock United	42	18	5	19	60	60	0	59
13	Folkestone Invicta	42	16	10	16	47	51	−4	58
14	Margate	42	11	17	14	49	55	−6	50
15	Leyton	42	13	9	20	58	61	−3	48
16	Harrow Borough	42	13	9	20	56	73	−17	48
17	Slough Town	42	13	8	21	63	75	−12	47
18	Wealdstone	42	13	5	24	68	82	−14	44	Transferred to the SFL Premier Division
19	Hendon	42	9	12	21	44	64	−20	39	Reprieved from relegation
20	Maldon Town	42	8	11	23	41	73	−32	35	Relegated to Division One North
21	Windsor & Eton	42	8	8	26	37	75	−38	32	Relegated to the SFL Division One South & West
22	Redbridge	42	3	5	34	28	97	−69	14	Relegated to Division One North

Source: ^{[1] [2][3]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top scorers

Player	Club	Goals[4]
Richard Jolly	Heybridge Swifts / Wealdstone	26
Jermaine Beckford	Wealdstone
Danny Hockton	Billericay Town / Margate	24
Ian Hodges	Slough Town	21
Steve Watts	Fisher Athletic
Alex Revell	Braintree Town
Stafford Browne	Worthing	17
Lawrence Yaku	Hampton & Richmond Borough
Nic McDonnell	Bromley

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Heybridge Swifts	1(2)
	5	Hampton & Richmond	1(4)
						3	Fisher Athletic	3
						5	Hampton & Richmond	0
	3	Fisher Athletic	2
	4	AFC Wimbledon	1

Stadia and locations

Billericay Town

Braintree Town

Chelmsford City

East Thurrock United

Folkestone Invicta

Heybridge Swifts

MT

Margate

Slough Town & Windsor & Eton

Staines Town

Walton & Hersham

Worthing

AFC Wimbledon

Bromley

Fisher Athletic

Hampton & Richmond Borough

Harrow Borough

Hendon

Leyton

Redbridge

Wealdstone

Locations of the Premier Division clubs

Wimbledon

Bromley

Fisher Athletic

Hampton & Richmond

Harrow Borough

Hendon

Leyton

Redbridge

Wealdstone

Greater London Premier Division football clubs

Club	Stadium
AFC Wimbledon	Kingsmeadow (groundshare with Kingstonian)
Billericay Town	New Lodge
Braintree Town	Cressing Road
Bromley	Hayes Lane
Chelmsford City	Melbourne Stadium
East Thurrock United	Rookery Hill
Fisher Athletic	Champion Hill (groundshare with Dulwich Hamlet)
Folkestone Invicta	Cheriton Road
Hampton & Richmond Borough	Beveree Stadium
Harrow Borough	Earlsmead Stadium
Hendon	Claremont Road
Heybridge Swifts	Scraley Road
Leyton	Leyton Stadium
Maldon Town	Wallace Binder Ground
Margate	Hartsdown Park
Redbridge	Oakside
Slough Town	Stag Meadow (groundshare with Windsor & Eton)
Staines Town	Wheatsheaf Park
Walton & Hersham	The Sports Ground
Wealdstone	Chestnut Avenue (groundshare with Northwood)
Windsor & Eton	Stag Meadow
Worthing	Woodside Road

1.^ Chelmsford City spent start of the season groundsharing with Billericay Town before returning to Chelmsford at January.

Division One

Isthmian League
Division One

Season	2005–06
Champions	Ramsgate
Promoted	Horsham Ramsgate Tonbridge Angels
Matches played	506
Goals scored	1,451 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	28 goals – Phil Ruggles (Molesey)
Highest attendance	1,734 – Dover Athletic – Ramsgate, (26 December)
Total attendance	117,472
Average attendance	232 (-36.3% to previous season)
← 2004–05 2006–07 (North) 2006–07 (South) →

The 2005–06 season was the last of two seasons in which the Isthmian League consisted of a single Division One.

Division One consisted of 23 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:

• Dover Athletic, relegated from the Premier Division
• Kingstonian, relegated from the Premier Division
• Lymington & New Milton, promoted as champions of the Wessex League
• Ramsgate, promoted as champions of the Kent League
• Tonbridge Angels, relegated from the Premier Division
• Walton Casuals, promoted as champions of the Combined Counties League

Ramsgate won the division and were promoted to the Premier Division along with runners-up Horsham, and play-off winners Tonbridge Angels who returned to the Premier Division at the first attempt. There was no relegation from the division this season, though Banstead Athletic resigned from the league at the end of the season.

At the end of the season Division One North and Division One South were created to replace Division One. Most of the clubs remaining in the division were transferred to the new Division One South.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Ramsgate	44	24	14	6	84	38	+46	86	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Horsham	44	25	11	8	94	55	+39	86
3	Tonbridge Angels	44	24	8	12	71	48	+23	80	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division
4	Metropolitan Police	44	24	7	13	72	46	+26	79	Qualified for the play-offs, then transferred to Division One South
5	Dover Athletic	44	21	14	9	69	46	+23	77
6	Tooting & Mitcham United	44	22	9	13	93	62	+31	75
7	Kingstonian	44	20	14	10	82	56	+26	74	Transferred to Division One South
8	Croydon Athletic	44	20	13	11	56	41	+15	73
9	Bashley	44	20	10	14	63	61	+2	70	Transferred to SFL Division One South & West
10	Leatherhead	44	18	14	12	64	50	+14	68	Transferred to Division One South
11	Cray Wanderers	44	20	8	16	80	74	+6	68
12	Hastings United	44	19	10	15	65	58	+7	67
13	Dulwich Hamlet	44	19	8	17	55	43	+12	65
14	Fleet Town	44	13	19	12	50	56	−6	58
15	Walton Casuals	44	16	10	18	68	75	−7	58
16	Lymington & New Milton	44	12	11	21	61	80	−19	47	Transferred to SFL Division One South & West
17	Molesey	44	12	10	22	56	79	−23	46	Transferred to Division One South
18	Whyteleafe	44	10	14	20	50	66	−16	44
19	Burgess Hill Town	44	10	10	24	57	83	−26	40
20	Banstead Athletic	44	8	13	23	43	71	−28	37	Resigned to the Combined Counties League
21	Ashford Town (Kent)	44	8	11	25	41	81	−40	35	Transferred to Division One South
22	Newport (Isle of Wight)	44	6	11	27	38	97	−59	29	Transferred to SFL Division One South & West
23	Corinthian-Casuals	44	6	9	29	39	85	−46	27	Transferred to Division One South

Source: ^[1][2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top scorers

Player	Club	Goals[4]
Phil Ruggles	Molesey	28
Richard Gillespie	Bashley	22
James Rose	Fleet Town / Kingstonian
Shaun Welford	Ramsgate	21
Kevin Cooper	Metropolitan Police / Fleet Town
Jamie Taylor	Horsham

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	4	Metropolitan Police	0
	5	Dover Athletic	1
						3	Tonbridge Angels	3
						5	Dover Athletic	2
	3	Tonbridge Angels	2
	6	Tooting & Mitcham United	0

Stadia and locations

Ashford Town

Bashley

Burgess Hill Town

Dover Athletic

Fleet Town

Hastings United

Horsham

Lymington & New Milton

Newport (IOW)

Ramsgate

Tonbridge Angels

Walton Casuals

Banstead Athletic

Corinthian-Casuals

Cray Wanderers

Croydon Athletic

Dulwich Hamlet

Kingstonian

Leatherhead

Metropolitan Police

Molesey

Tooting & Mitcham United

Whyteleafe

Locations of Division One clubs

Banstead

C-C

Cray Wanderers

Croydon
Athletic

Dulwich Hamlet

Kingstonian

Leatherhead

MP

Molesey

T&M

Whyteleafe

Greater London Division One clubs

Club	Stadium
Ashford Town (Kent)	The Homelands
Banstead Athletic	Merland Rise
Bashley	Bashley Road
Burgess Hill Town	Leylands Park
Corinthian-Casuals	King George's Field
Cray Wanderers	Hayes Lane (groundshare with Bromley)
Croydon Athletic	Keith Tuckey Stadium
Dover Athletic	Crabble Athletic Ground
Dulwich Hamlet	Champion Hill
Fleet Town	Calthorpe Park
Hastings United	The Pilot Field
Horsham	Queen Street
Kingstonian	Kingsmeadow (groundshare with AFC Wimbledon)
Leatherhead	Fetcham Grove
Lymington & New Milton	Fawcetts Fields
Metropolitan Police	Imber Court
Molesey	Walton Road Stadium
Newport (IOW)	St Georges Park
Ramsgate	Southwood Stadium
Tonbridge Angels	Longmead Stadium
Tooting & Mitcham United	Imperial Fields
Walton Casuals	Waterside Stadium
Whyteleafe	Church Road

Division Two

Isthmian League
Division Two

Season	2005–06
Champions	Ware
Promoted	Brook House Flackwell Heath Ware Witham Town
Matches played	240
Goals scored	735 (3.06 per match)
Top goalscorer	29 goals – John Frendo (Ware)
Highest attendance	416 – Ware – Hertford Town, (26 December)
Total attendance	16,276
Average attendance	68 (-5.6% to previous season)
← 2004–05

The 2005–06 season was the last Isthmian League Division Two season. Division Two consisted of 16 clubs, including 13 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs:

• Croydon, relegated from Division One
• Dorking, relegated from Division One
• Egham Town, relegated from Southern Football League Western Division

The four top clubs were promoted: Ware, Witham Town and Flackwell Heath moved to Division One North, while Brook House were transferred to the Southern League. Following this season, clubs remaining in the division were distributed between local ninth tier leagues. Clapton, who were one of the league founder members, were transferred to the Essex Senior League losing their place in the Isthmian League after 101 years.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Ware	30	19	4	7	77	36	+41	61	Promoted to Division One North
2	Witham Town	30	17	7	6	61	30	+31	58
3	Brook House	30	17	7	6	63	33	+30	58	Promoted to SFL Division One South & West
4	Flackwell Heath	30	15	7	8	54	49	+5	52	Promoted to Division One North
5	Egham Town	30	15	5	10	39	36	+3	50	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
6	Chertsey Town	30	14	7	9	47	37	+10	49
7	Edgware Town	30	13	5	12	46	41	+5	44	Transferred to the Spartan South Midlands League
8	Chalfont St Peter	30	13	2	15	50	53	−3	41
9	Dorking	30	11	8	11	48	51	−3	41	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
10	Croydon	30	11	7	12	43	43	0	40	Transferred to the Kent League
11	Wembley	30	11	6	13	44	43	+1	39	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
12	Kingsbury Town	30	9	10	11	32	37	−5	37	Transferred to the Spartan South Midlands League
13	Hertford Town	30	7	10	13	35	54	−19	31
14	Camberley Town	30	5	8	17	31	57	−26	23	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
15	Epsom & Ewell	30	5	6	19	32	64	−32	21
16	Clapton	30	4	9	17	33	71	−38	18[a]	Transferred to the Essex Senior League

Source: ^[1][2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Clapton deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in six matches.

Stadia and locations

Camberley Town

Chertsey Town

Dorking

Flackwell Heath

Hertford

Ware

Witham Town

Epsom & Ewell

Brook House

Chalfont St Peter

Clapton

Croydon

Edgware Town

Egham Town

Kingsbury Town

Wembley

Locations of Division Two clubs

Brook
House

Chalfont St Peter

Clapton

Croydon

Edgware Town

Kingsbury Town

Wembley

Greater London Division Two clubs

Camberley Town

Chertsey Town

Dorking

Egham Town

Epsom & Ewell

Division One Central Surrey teams

Club	Stadium
Brook House	Farm Park
Camberley Town	Kroomer Park
Chalfont St Peter	Mill Meadow
Chertsey Town	Alwyns Lane
Clapton	The Old Spotted Dog Ground
Croydon	Croydon Sports Arena
Dorking	Meadowbank Stadium
Edgware Town	White Lion
Egham Town	The Runnymede Stadium
Epsom & Ewell	Merland Rise (groundshare with Banstead Athletic)
Flackwell Heath	Wilks Park
Hertford Town	Hertingfordbury Park
Kingsbury Town	Avenue Park
Ware	Wodson Park
Wembley	Vale Farm
Witham Town	Spa Road

League Cup

2005–06 Isthmian League Cup

Tournament details
Country	England
Teams	61
Final positions
Champions	Fisher Athletic
Runners-up	Billericay Town
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

The Isthmian League Cup 2005–06 was the 32nd season of the Isthmian League Cup, the league cup competition of the Isthmian League. Sixty-one clubs took part. The competition commenced on 6 September 2005 and finished on 12 April 2006.^[5]

Calendar

Round	Dates	Matches	Clubs
First round	6 September	19	61 → 42
Second round	11 October	10	42 → 32
Third round	8 November	16	32 → 16
Fourth round	20 December	8	16 → 8
Quarterfinals	February	4	8 → 4
Semifinals	March	4	4 → 2
Final	12 April	1	2 → 1

Fixtures and results

Fixtures are listed in alphabetical order, not that which they were drawn in.

First round

In the First round, the thirty-eight lowest ranked clubs in the Isthmian League played each other for a place in the Second round.

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 1 Banstead Athletic (1) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Corinthian-Casuals (1) 57 2 Burgess Hill Town (1) 2–4 Brook House (2) 74 3 Camberley Town (2) 0–1 Edgware Town (2) 57 4 Chertsey Town (2) 1–2 Leatherhead (1) 124 5 Croydon (2) 1–3 Croydon Athletic (1) 63 6 Dover Athletic (1) 1–0 Ware (2) 301 7 Dulwich Hamlet (1) 3–1 Bashley (1) 107 8 Egham Town (2) 2–3 (a.e.t.) Fleet Town (1) 50 9 Epsom & Ewell (2) 0–3 Hastings United (1) 39 10 Flackwell Heath (2) 1–3 Witham Town (2) 40

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 11 Horsham (1) 6–1 Chalfont St. Peter (2) 102 12 Kingsbury Town (2) 3–1 Molesey (1) 37 13 Lymington & New Milton (1) 2–0 Kingstonian (1) 90 14 Metropolitan Police (1) 4–2 Hertford Town (2) 45 15 Ramsgate (1) 1–2 Newport IOW (1) 128 16 Tonbridge Angels (1) 3–1 Clapton (2) 170 17 Walton Casuals (1) 0–4 Tooting & Mitcham United (1) 113 18 Wembley (2) 5–2 Ashford Town (Kent) (1) 52 19 Whyteleafe (1) 1–3 Dorking (2) 57

Second round

The nineteen clubs to have made it through the First round were entered into the Second round draw with Cray Wanderers, making twenty teams.

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 20 Cray Wanderers (1) 6–0 Kingsbury Town (2) 34 21 Dorking (2) 0–3 Edgware Town (2) 48 22 Dover Athletic (1) 5–0 Wembley (2) 314 23 Dulwich Hamlet (1) 3–2 (a.e.t.) Banstead Athletic (1) 98 24 Fleet Town (1) 1–3 Hastings United (1) 69

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 25 Leatherhead (1) 4–1 Metropolitan Police (1) 117 26 Lymington & New Milton (1) 1–4 Horsham (1) 31 27 Newport IOW (1) 1–2 Brook House (2) 114 28 Tonbridge Angels (1) 0–1 Tooting & Mitcham United (1) 224 29 Witham Town (2) 0–2 Croydon Athletic (1) 40

Third round

The ten clubs to have made it through the Second round were entered into the Third round draw with the twenty-two Premier Division clubs, making thirty-two teams.

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 30 Billericay Town (P) 2–1 Maldon Town (P) 201 31 Brook House (2) 1–2 (a.e.t.) Hendon (P) 84 32 Chelmsford City (P) 3–1 Horsham (1) 197 33 Dover Athletic (1) 2–0 Leyton (P) 324 34 East Thurrock United (P) 0–3 Heybridge Swifts (P) 66 35 Fisher Athletic (P) 4–2 Folkestone Invicta (P) 82 36 Hampton & Richmond Borough (P) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Dulwich Hamlet (1) 104 37 Harrow Borough (P) 1–0 Windsor & Eton (P) 117 38 Hastings United (1) 2–3 Braintree Town (P) 172

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 39 Leatherhead (1) 5–3 (a.e.t.) Cray Wanderers (1) 121 40 Margate (P) 2–3 (a.e.t.) Bromley (P) 345 41 Slough Town (P) 3–2 Redbridge (P) 139 42 Staines Town (P) 0–2 AFC Wimbledon (P) 622 43 Tooting & Mitcham United (1) 3–0 Edgware Town (2) 115 44 Wealdstone (P) 1–0 Croydon Athletic (1) 98 45 Worthing (P) 2–2 Walton & Hersham (P) 222 Worthing won 5–4 on penalties

Fourth round

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 46 AFC Wimbledon (P) 0–1 Hendon (P) 835 47 Billericay Town (P) 3–1 Tooting & Mitcham United (1) 168 48 Braintree Town (P) 1–2 Wealdstone (P) 109 49 Dover Athletic (1) 0–2 (a.e.t.) Bromley (P) 475

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 50 Fisher Athletic (P) 2–1 Hampton & Richmond Borough (P) 113 51 Harrow Borough (P) 1–2 Worthing (P) 114 52 Heybridge Swifts (P) 2–0 Chelmsford City (P) 241 53 Leatherhead (1) 0–2 Slough Town (P) 151

Quarterfinals

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 54 Bromley (P) 3–2 Wealdstone (P) 182 55 Hendon (P) 0–1 Fisher Athletic (P) 50

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 56 Slough Town (P) 3–0 Heybridge Swifts (P) 157 57 Worthing (P) 1–3 (a.e.t.) Billericay Town (P) 157

Semifinals

The Semifinals fixtures were played over two legs.

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 58 Fisher Athletic (P) 5–2 Slough Town (P) 108 59 Bromley (P) 2–2 Billericay Town (P) 315

Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 60 Slough Town (P) 3–1 Fisher Athletic (P) 118 61 Billericay Town (P) 2–1 Bromley (P) 362

Final

Billericay Town (P) v Fisher Athletic (P)

12 April 2006	Billericay Town (P)	0–4	Fisher Athletic (P)	New Recreation Ground, Grays
			Barr 13', 57' Davis 30' Deen 69'	Attendance: 611

See also

• Isthmian League
• 2005–06 Northern Premier League
• 2005–06 Southern Football League