2005–06 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Twenty teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points were earned using the standard bonus point system. The five pool winners and the best three runners-up advanced to the knockout stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 21 May 2006.


2005–06 European Challenge Trophy
The 2005–06 European Challenge Trophy was inaugural edition of the International Challenge Trophy. It was contested by  just four teams - England C, Netherlands Amateurs U-23, Belgium U-21 and Italy Lega Pro U-21. Each team played each other once. England C won the competition after winning all three of their games.


2005–06 Everton F.C. season
During the 2005–06 season, Everton competed in the Premier League.


2005–06 Everton F.C. season, Season summary
Despite finishing in the coveted fourth place last season, Everton suffered a downturn this season. Early exits from both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup took their toll on player morale, and at the end of October the Toffees stood in the relegation zone. The club eventually rallied to secure a safe eleventh place in the final table – not high enough for any further European adventures the next season, and somewhat embarrassing for a side which had achieved so much last season.


2005–06 Everton F.C. season, Season summary
The end of the season saw the retirement of Scottish striker Duncan Ferguson, the highest scoring Scotsman ever in the Premier League's history.


2005–06 Everton F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 Everton F.C. season, Squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season
FCK won the Danish Superliga trophy in the season 2005-06. The championship was secured on May 7 after a 0–1 defeat at Fionia Park against Odense BK, but with simultaneously, AC Horsens winning 4–1 over Brøndby IF.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season
They won on April 6 the Royal League again, after an exciting final against Lillestrøm S.K., where Razak Pimpong scored the decisive goal in the final seconds.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season
FCK were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Hamburger SV on September 29 after a very controversial refereeing performance by British Matthew Messias, giving eight yellow cards, two of those leading to a sending off, and a third direct red card, all in the last ten minutes, and giving HSV a 92nd-minute penalty kick.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions
This season F.C. Copenhagen played in the Danish Superliga, Danish Cup, UEFA Cup and Royal League.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
In the Superliga they were at the winter break placed first, with only one defeat and four draws after 20 matches. Their biggest win was a 5–1 win against Esbjerg fB at Parken on September 25, where Elrio van Heerden and Marcus Allbäck scored both twice, while the fifth goal was scored by Peter Møller.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
At October 26 FCK visited Haderslev Fodboldstadion, where SønderjyskE was the home team. After SønderjyskE opened the match with a Henrik Hansen-goal, Álvaro Santos made it 1–1 with a beautiful scissors kick, which later was awarded as goal of the year. Elrio van Heerden scored to 2–1, Peter Møller to 3–1 and Álvaro made his second goal in the extra time.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
The only autumn defeat was against Esbjerg fB on November 5, 2005, where they lost 3–1 at Esbjerg Idrætspark.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
On March 12, 2006 they got their second defeat. This time was it the arch rivals Brøndby IF who beat FCK. That match ended 3-0 at Brøndby Stadium.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
The championship was secured on May 7 after a 0–1 defeat at Fionia Park against Odense BK, but with simultaneously, AC Horsens winning 4–1 over Brøndby IF.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Superliga
In the last match on May 14, FCK lost again, this time to Silkeborg IF home at Parken, 2–3 in a very even match. Michael Silberbauer and Brede Hangeland were the goalscorers for F.C. Copenhagen.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Cup
In the Cup, FCK started in 5th round, where they met the 2nd Division East team Slagelse BI. After 2–2 at full-time and extra time, the match was decided on penalties. Here, FCK won 4–3, and went through to the quarter finals.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Danish Cup
In the quarter finals, the opponents were the arch rivals Brøndby IF at Brøndby Stadium, where Brøndby won 1-0 after extra time and two red cards to FCK in the second half.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, UEFA Cup
In the UEFA Cup they started in the 2nd Qualifying Round where they beat Carmarthen Town from Wales with 4–0 agg.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, UEFA Cup
In the 1st round they played against German Hamburger SV. The first leg was played in the AOL Arena in Hamburg and ended 1–1. Hamburger SV won the second leg in Parken 1–0 to eliminate F.C. Copenhagen and got through to the group stage.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Royal League
In the group stage F.C. Copenhagen were in group 2 with the archrivals Brøndby IF, Swedish Kalmar FF and Norwegian Lillestrøm S.K. in the group 2. FCK won only one match, but with four draws, FCK qualified for the quarter finals, where they met Hammarby IF.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Royal League
The game would be special for FCK captain Tobias Linderoth, as Hammarby's coach, Anders Linderoth, is his father. In the same matches, both teams were playing in Kappa shirts, and for the draw, the two captains, Tobias Linderoth (Swede, FCK) and Mikkel Jensen (Dane, Hammarby), were dressed in almost identical cardigans. The only difference was the team names.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Royal League
After a 2–0 victory home at Parken, FCK could spot the semi finals in the horizont, but with two Hammarby goals in the last 5 minutes. Then a penalty shootout should decide their Royal League future, but with 3 FCK goals, and 3 Jesper Christiansen saves, they won the shootout 3–0.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Royal League
In the semi finals, FCK drew the other remaining Danish team, FC Midtjylland. Home FCK won 3-1 and away, at SAS Arena, they beat FCM 4–0.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Competitions, Royal League
F.C. Copenhagen won in the 2005-06 Royal League season, after an exciting final against Lillestrøm S.K., played at Parken. FCK won 1–0 after an 89th minute Razak Pimpong-goal. Pimpong had substituted Ijeh in the 69th minute, and he got his second yellow card in his enthusiasm after the goal, where he took off his shirt.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Squads
The following squads, are lists with all the players, who have played in F.C. Copenhagen in the 2005–06 season.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Squads, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 F.C. Copenhagen season, Squads, Second team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 F.C. Crotone season
The 2005–06 season was the 96th season in the existence of F.C. Crotone and the club's second consecutive season in the second division of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Crotone participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia.


2005–06 FA Cup
The 2005–06 FA Cup was the 125th staging of the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup.


2005–06 FA Cup
The competition began on 20 August 2005, with the lowest-ranked of the 674 entrants competing in the Extra Preliminary round. For the top 44 clubs, the FA Cup began in the Third Round in January.


2005–06 FA Cup
For information on the matches played from the Extra Preliminary Round to the Fourth Round Qualifying, see 2005–06 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds.


2005–06 FA Cup
Ties are all single-legged and take place at the stadium of the club drawn first. If scores are level at the end of a match, it is replayed at the away club's stadium, usually 10 days later. If the scores are still level, extra-time and penalties (if necessary) are used to determine a winner. However, from the semi-finals onwards, the ties take place at a neutral stadium, and there are no replays. That is to say, extra-time and penalties are played if necessary to determine a winner in a single match.


2005–06 FA Cup
At the special request of England national team manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, the quarter-finals (i.e., 6th Round Proper) were held on weeknights (they would normally take place at weekends). This action was made to ensure that the season finishes as early as possible, allowing players a full month's rest before the 2006 World Cup finals.


2005–06 FA Cup
The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues and, like the final, would not be replayed in the event of a draw.


2005–06 FA Cup
The Football Association had hoped to stage the final at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium, London on 13 May 2006, but due to the uncertainty of the new stadium being completed in time, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final, which was contested between Liverpool and West Ham United.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results
The results listed below start at the first round proper, where the 32 non-league clubs to have made it through the preliminary rounds meet the 24 clubs from League Two and the 24 clubs from League One.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, First round proper
All ties took place on the weekend of Saturday 5 November 2005. Replays, played in the week of 14 November 2005, are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Second round proper
The 40 clubs to have made it through the First Round, play off to reduce the number of remaining clubs to 20.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Second round proper
All ties took place between Friday 2 and Sunday 4 December 2005. Replays took place on 13 December. Ties are shown in order of the draw.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Third round proper
The 20 clubs to have made it through Round Two meet the 24 clubs from the Football League Championship and the 20 Premier League clubs, including holders Arsenal.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Third round proper
All ties took place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 January 2006. Replays took place on 17 and 18 January, and are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Third round proper
One of the most significant games of the round, if not the entire competition, was the goalless draw between Premier League giants Manchester United and Conference National underdogs Burton Albion in the first match at the Pirelli Stadium. However, United were in no mood for humiliation in the replay at Old Trafford, crushing Burton Albion 5-0.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Fourth round proper
The 32 clubs to have made it through Round Three.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Fourth round proper
All ties took place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January 2006. Replays took place on 7 and 8 February, and are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Fifth round proper
All ties took place on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February 2006. Replays are shown in italics, and took place on 14 and 15 March. Ties are shown in order of the draw.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Fifth round proper
Liverpool's 1-0 win over Manchester United ended their arch rivals' hopes of an FA Cup/League Cup double, as well as ending Liverpool's 85-year wait for a win over Manchester United in an FA Cup tie.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Sixth round proper
The most significant game of the round was undoubtedly Liverpool's 7-0 win at Birmingham City, one of the biggest ever scorelines in an FA Cup quarter-final tie.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Sixth round proper
This was also a rare occurrence of all eight quarter-finalists being members of the top flight.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Semi-finals
Chelsea's hopes of the league title and FA Cup double were ended as they lost 2–1 to Liverpool, while Middlesbrough's defeat to West Ham United ended their hopes of an FA Cup/UEFA Cup double.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Semi-finals
West Ham's victory meant that they would be contesting their first FA Cup final for 26 years, with this victory coming just five days after the death of John Lyall, manager of the West Ham side that had won the cup that year.


2005–06 FA Cup, Results, Final
In the final, an injury-time equaliser by Liverpool's Steven Gerrard forced a 3–3 draw, and his side went on to win the penalty shoot-out and secure the seventh FA Cup triumph of their history. West Ham's Alan Pardew was the first Englishman to manage an FA Cup finalist side since Aston Villa's John Gregory six years earlier.


2005–06 FA Cup, Player of the Round
From the First Round (Qualifying) onward, a panel including Sky Sports' Jeff Stelling and FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick nominated players for the award. The winners were voted by visitors of thefa.com.


2005–06 FA Cup, Player of the Round
The player with the most votes each round won £1000 worth of football equipment for a local school or club, as well as an engraved silver salver.


2005–06 FA Cup, Media coverage
In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters for the fifth consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the eighteenth consecutive season.


2005–06 FA Cup qualifying rounds
The 2005–06 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds opened the 125th season of competition in England for 'The Football Association Challenge Cup' (FA Cup), the world's oldest association football single knockout competition. A total of 674 clubs were accepted for the competition, up 13 from the previous season’s 661.


2005–06 FA Cup qualifying rounds
The large number of clubs entering the tournament from lower down (Levels 5 through 10) in the English football pyramid meant that the competition started with six rounds of preliminary (2) and qualifying (4) knockouts for these non-League teams. The 32 winning teams from Fourth Round Qualifying progressed to the First Round Proper, where League teams tiered at Levels 3 and 4 entered the competition.


2005–06 FA Cup qualifying rounds, 2005–06 FA Cup
See 2005-06 FA Cup for details of the rounds from the First Round Proper onwards.


2005–06 FA Premier Academy League
The 2005–06 Premier Academy League Under–18 season was the ninth edition since the establishment of The Premier Academy League, and the 2nd under the current make-up. The first match of the season was played in August 2005, and the season ended in May 2006.


2005–06 FA Premier League
The 2005–06 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April. On the same day, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City were relegated, joining Sunderland in the Championship for the following season. Chelsea drew the record they set  the previous season, with 29 wins in home and away campaigns.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
Several clubs reported disappointing attendances and/or trouble selling out their grounds for the opening weeks' matches. Many have argued that this was due mainly to the comparatively early season start, and the Ashes Test cricket series which caught the nation's imagination and which England went on to win. Other possible reasons are continued escalation of ticket prices and the increasing number of games shown on television (which has had the knock on effect of greater variation in kick-off times). The overall decline in attendances for the season was only around 2%, but that figure is reduced by the fact that bigger clubs were promoted into the Premiership than were relegated and several clubs have suffered larger falls.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
For the second time in two seasons, José Mourinho's Chelsea triumphed in the Premier League, with a home win over closest rivals Manchester United confirming them as champions after a record setting albeit tense season.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
Chelsea's early season form with 14 wins out of 16 gave the champions an unequivocal head start. With Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool falling way short of their expectations before Christmas, Chelsea had effectively become champions-elect by early 2006. However, a sudden collapse in form by mid-March caused their seemingly unassailable lead of 16 points to be cut to just 7 in two months due to the impressive late run of form of Manchester United, who went on a nine-match winning streak scoring over 20 goals.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
However, a shock home draw with bottom of the table Sunderland at Old Trafford killed United's title hopes. The momentum was back with Chelsea who didn't need a second bite at the apple with wins over Bolton, Everton and finally Manchester United giving the west Londoners their second successive championship under Mourinho.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
The top two clubs at the end of the season earned the right to participate in the UEFA Champions League group stages, while the third- and fourth-placed clubs get places in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round (where they progress to the Champions League group stages if they win or the UEFA Cup if they lose). However, if an English team wins the Champions League, but finishes outside the top four, then they get the final Champions League spot instead of the fourth-placed club, who have to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup. This could have been the case with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, but Arsenal pipped Spurs to fourth place in the final matchday of the season before losing 2–1 to FC Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Champions League.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
The fifth-placed club always earns a spot in the UEFA Cup. The winners of the FA Cup also earn a place in the UEFA Cup. If they have already qualified for European competition by their league position or winning the League Cup, then the FA Cup runners-up get their place. If the runners-up, too, have already qualified, then the highest league finisher who have not already qualified for Europe (normally sixth place) are given the place. This season, the FA Cup final featured Liverpool and West Ham. Since Liverpool finished third they were assured of a spot in the Champions League qualifying round, which in turn meant that West Ham received the cup winner's UEFA Cup place.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
The League Cup winners also qualify for the UEFA Cup. If they have already qualified for European competition through other means then their place is, unlike the FA Cup, not awarded to the runner-up, but instead the highest league finisher who has not qualified for Europe. League Cup winners Manchester United finished second, placing them directly into the Champions League group stage. This meant that the sixth-placed club, Blackburn Rovers, qualified for the UEFA Cup. The team directly after the UEFA Cup places, goes into the UEFA Intertoto Cup which means in turn, if the team – Newcastle United this season – wins a 2-legged match means they earn a place in the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Season summary
2005-06 also saw the final action of 2 most successful players in English football, Alan Shearer (last played for Newcastle United) and Dennis Bergkamp (last played for Arsenal). Both have been retired from football after long and successful career spanning for more years.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Teams
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and West Ham United. Sunderland and West Ham United returned to the top flight after an absence of two years while Wigan Athletic played in the top flight for the first time in history. They replaced Crystal Palace, Norwich City (both teams relegated after a season's presence) and Southampton (ending their top flight spell of twenty-seven years).


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, PFA Players' Player of the Year
The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2006 was won by Steven Gerrard.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, PFA Players' Player of the Year
The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows:


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, PFA Young Player of the Year
The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Wayne Rooney.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, PFA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Shay Given (Newcastle United)Defence: Pascal Chimbonda (Wigan Athletic), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), John Terry, William Gallas (both Chelsea)Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Joe Cole (Chelsea)Attack: Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, PFA Fans' Player of the Year
Wayne Rooney, was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year for 2006.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, FWA Footballer of the Year
The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2006 was won by Thierry Henry for a record third time. No other player has won the accolade on as many occasions as the Arsenal player in the award's long history.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, Premier League Player of the Season
Arsenal's Thierry Henry won the Premier League Player of the Season award for the second time.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, Premier League Manager of the Season
José Mourinho was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Season award after he led Chelsea to their second premier league title in two years, their third league title in their history. This title was also his second time of winning the award in as many seasons.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, Premier League Golden Boot
Thierry Henry was named the winner of the Premier League Golden Boot award. The Arsenal striker scored 27 goals in the league and was presented with the award at Arsenal's last game at Highbury.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, Premier League Golden Glove
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the first time. He achieved clean sheets in 20 Premier League games.


2005–06 FA Premier League, Annual awards, Premier League Fair Play League
The Premier League Fair Play League was won by Charlton Athletic, ahead of fellow London team Arsenal. The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers.


2005–06 FA Premier Reserve League
The 2005-06 Premier Reserve League season was the seventh since its establishment, and the last to feature more than 20 teams. The Northern League was won by Manchester United Reserves, while the Southern League was won by Tottenham Hotspur Reserves.


2005–06 FA Premier Reserve League, League table, Reserve League South
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


2005–06 FA Premier Reserve League, North/South Play-off Shield
The North/South play-off was won by Manchester United Reserves, who beat Tottenham Hotspur Reserves 2–0 at Old Trafford on 4 May 2006.


2005–06 FA Trophy
The 2005–06 FA Trophy was the thirty-sixth season of the FA Trophy.


2005–06 FA Trophy
Grays Athletic defended their trophy, only the fourth time this has been achieved in the competition's history.


2005–06 FA Trophy, Final
Assistant referees: Gavin Ward (Kent) Trevor Massey (Manchester)Fourth official: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League
The 2005–06 FA Women's Premier League season was the 15th season of the FA Women's Premier League.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League, National Division
The season started on 14 August 2005 and ended on 14 May 2006. Arsenal were the defending champions, while Sunderland and Chelsea entered as the promoted teams from the 2004–05 Northern and Southern Divisions. Bristol Rovers changed their name to Bristol Academy to reflect the added investment and commitment of the Bristol Academy of Sport. Arsenal won their third consecutive league title, and eight overall. The National Division was expanded from 10 to 12 clubs ahead of the 2006–07 season.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League, Northern Division
The season started on 14 August 2005 and ended on 14 May 2006. Oldham Curzon changed their name to Curzon Ashton.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League, Southern Division
The season started on 14 August 2005 and ended on 7 May 2006. Reading Royals were affiliated with Reading until May 2006. Cardiff City qualified for the European Cup by winning the Welsh Women's Cup.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup
The 2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup was the 15th edition of the FA Women's Premier League's league cup competition, which began in 1991. It was sponsored by Nationwide and was officially known as the FA Nationwide Women's Premier League Cup. The competition was contested by all 34 teams of the three divisions of the FA Women's Premier League (National Division, Northern Division and Southern Division). Charlton Athletic won their second title after a 2–1 win over Arsenal in the final.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup, Results
All results listed are published by The Football Association (FA). The division each team play in is indicated in brackets after their name: (NA)=National Division; (NO)=Northern Division; (S)=Southern Division.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup, Results, First round
The matches were played on 11 September 2005, the only exception being Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers, which took place on 2 October 2005.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup, Results, Second round
The matches were played on 9 October 2005, the only exception being Manchester City v Arsenal, which took place on 23 October 2005.


2005–06 FA Women's Premier League Cup, Results, Quarter-finals
The matches were played on 6 November 2005, the only exception being Sunderland v Everton, which took place on 13 November 2005.


2005–06 FAW Premier Cup
The 2005-06 FAW Premier Cup was the ninth season of the tournament since its founding in 1997.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season
During the 2005–06 Slovak football season, Artmedia Bratislava competed in the Superliga.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
Artmedia reached the group stages of the UEFA Champions League after wins over Kairat Almaty, Celtic and Partizan Belgrade. They beat Almaty 4–3 on aggregate in the first qualifying round despite a 2–0 defeat in the first leg. However it was on 27 July 2005 that they made their mark on the tournament, producing one of the shock results of Champions League history as they beat 2003 UEFA Cup finalists and 1967 European Cup winners Celtic 5–0 in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
The stunned Celtic side could not quite recover, only managing to win the return leg 4–0, and Artmedia held on to progress in the tournament. On 23 August 2005 they clinched a place in the group stages after overcoming Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 aggregate scoreline, thus becoming the second Slovak club after 1. FC Košice in 1997–98 to reach the coveted Champions League group stages. Their success was even more remarkable considering Artmedia's entire annual budget was just over £1 million.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
Artmedia also made history by becoming one of the first two clubs ever to advance from the first qualifying round into the Champions League group stage. The other club to do so was 2004–05 winners Liverpool, who were given a special entry into the first qualifying round of the 2005–06 tournament and managed to progress to the group stage.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
Artmedia played their Champions League fixtures at the Tehelné pole ground of crosstown rivals Slovan Bratislava because their own ground did not meet UEFA standards for Champions League play.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
On 28 September 2005, Artmedia made history once again by becoming the first Slovak side to collect a point in the Champions League group stage. In another famous upset, they came back from a 2–0 first-half deficit to defeat 2004 Champions League winners Porto 3–2 at Porto's home ground.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
Eventually, they finished third in the group, parachuting them into the UEFA Cup, but not before missing a late chance to score a goal in the return fixture against Porto that would have sent them to the round of 16 at Rangers' expense.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
In December 2005, goalkeeper Juraj Čobej underwent brain surgery to remove a malign tumor. He made a full recovery.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
Artmedia lost the home leg of their UEFA Cup round of 32 tie with Levski Sofia 1–0 and were knocked out of the tournament after an away defeat of 2–0.


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, Season summary
After the successful season, coach Vladimír Weiss left for FC Saturn Ramenskoe. Several players left the club, including Ján Ďurica (to FC Saturn Ramenskoe), Balázs Borbély (to Kaiserslautern) and Blažej Vaščák (to Treviso).


2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Barcelona season
The 2005–06 season was Futbol Club Barcelona's 107th season in existence and 77th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football, La Liga. It was manager Frank Rijkaard's third season in charge of the club, a season in which he managed to successfully retain the La Liga title, as well as winning the UEFA Champions League and Spanish Super Cup. The squad was largely unchanged from the previous season, with only two players – Santiago Ezquerro and Mark van Bommel – joining the club. Gerard left on a free transfer during the summer.


2005–06 FC Barcelona season
Samuel Eto'o was once again the top scorer for the team, improving on his tally of 29 goals from the 2004–05 season by five goals, including one in the Champions League final. Ronaldinho and Eto'o were selected in the 2005–06 FIFPro XI at the end of the season.


2005–06 FC Barcelona season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Barcelona season, Friendlies
05 -08-2005 Ramón de Carranza Trophy (semifinal). SEVILLA-BARCELONA 1-1 (1-3) PENALTY.


2005–06 FC Basel season
The 2005–06 season was Fussball Club Basel 1893's 113th in existence and the club's 12th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Werner Edelmann was confirmed as the club's chairman for the fourth successive season at the AGM. FCB played their home matches in the St. Jakob-Park, in the Basel quarter St. Alban in the south-east of the city.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Overview
Christian Gross was head coach for the seventh successive season. A number of players left the squad. Marco Zwyssig retired from active football. Sébastien Barberis was released on a free transfer, after eight years with the club and he moved on to FC Bulle. Philipp Degen transferred to Borussia Dortmund and Benjamin Huggel transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt. Goalkeeper Thomas Mandl returned to Austria and signed for Admira Wacker Mödling and defender Kléber returned to Brazil, signing for Santos. The two Argentinian strikers Christian Giménez and Julio Hernán Rossi also left the club, Giménez in August and Rossi during the winter break. Giménez parting was some what peculiar, he forced his immediate departure to the French team Olympique de Marseille by refusing to play against Werder Bremen.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Overview
Basel made a few signings before the start of the 2005–06 season. For example, forward Eduardo, who was signed permanently from Toulouse, following his successful loan spell. The young forward Felipe Caicedo was signed in from Rocafuerte Fútbol Club. Midfielders Baykal Kulaksızoğlu was signed in from FC Thun and Papa Malick Ba from CS Sfaxien, goalkeeper Louis Crayton was signed in from Concordia Basel and a number of youngsters advanced from the U-21 team including Ivan Rakitić and Zdravko Kuzmanović.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Overview
The FC Basel aims for the 2005–06 season were to retain the league title, win the cup and as well as to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Overview
FC Basel started the season with various warm-up matches. These included teams from the Swiss lower league as well as teams from France, Croatia and the Ukraine. They played six pre-season friendlies including the Uhrencup in Grenchen, winning four matches, but losing in the Uhrencup 0–2 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern and drawing the second match in this competition 2–2 against Trabzonspor. The six mid-season friendlies all ended with a victory.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Overview
During the winter break, the team had their traditional winter break soccer camp in La Manga, Spain. The defenders Daniel Majstorović and Kōji Nakata were brought in to replace Lyon-bound Patrick Müller and Murat Yakın who was to retire at the end of the season. The team played two games in their soccer camp, drawing 2–2 against German team Hamburger SV and beat local team Ciudad de Murcia 2–1. The other three winter break matches were played in Switzerland. Basel beat Locarno and beat Wohlen, bur lost against Rapid București. Of their 17 friendlies in this season, Basel won 13 matches, drew two and lost two.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic league
There were ten teams competing in the top tier 2005–06 Swiss Super League. The teams played a double round-robin in the first half of the season and then another double round-robin in the second half. There were three points for a victory and one each for a draw. The champions would enter the second qualifying round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. The championship runners-up and the third placed team would enter the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. The bottom placed team would be relegated, the second last team would play a play-off against relegation.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic league
Basel's priority aim for the season was to win the league championship for the third time in a row. Despite the 3-0 defeat by FC Thun in the second round, Basel started the season well and led the championship right until the last day of the league campaign. On 26 February 2006, FC Basel broke their own club record of 52 unbeaten league games at St. Jakob Park, later extending it to 59.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic league
The unbeaten home run ended on the final day of the season with a last-minute goal from Zürich's Iulian Filipescu giving Zürich their first national championship since 1980–81. A 60th straight home league match undefeated, would have made Basel champions for third time in a row. The final score was 1-2 in favour of Zürich. The title was lost on goal difference.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic league
The last minute loss of the Championship and the subsequent riots, the so-called Basel Hooligan Incident, meant that the club would suffer the consequences. As well as a huge fine, the first two home games of their 2006–07 season were held completely without fans, behind closer doors. The following three matches were held with just a part of the stadium capacity, without the fans from the "Muttenzer Kurve" (the eastern fan block).


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic cup
Basel's clear aim for the Swiss Cup was to win it. In the first round of the 2005–06 Cup Basel were drawn away against lower league team Solothurn. Basel won this 4–1, with goals from David Degen, and Eduardo and twice Mladen Petrić. In round two they were drawn away against local lower league team Old Boys. Basel won this 6–1 and here Mile Sterjovski scored four goals and Zdravko Kuzmanović scored the other two.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Domestic cup
However, despite an early goal from Julio Hernán Rossi and two further goals from Matías Delgado, Basel were defeated in the third round home tie against FC Zürich 3–4. Basel's domestic cup aim was clearly missed. Second tier Sion won the trophy at the end of the season, beating Young Boys in the final after a penalty shoot-out.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, Champions League qualifying round
As Swiss champions, Basel entered the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and their aim was to reach the group stage. However, they were drawn against German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen and they lost 4-2 on aggregate. Three goals in eight second-half minutes in the return leg swung the tie decisively in the German side's favour.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, Champions League qualifying round
Goals in either half from David Degen and substitute Julio Hernán Rossi ensured Christian Gross's side the advantage before the return leg at the Weserstadion on 24 August. However, the German team still had every confidence of overturning the deficit, thanks to Miroslav Klose's strike on 72 minutes. Thomas Schaaf's men were behind after 27 minutes after some lax defending. Goalkeeper Andreas Reinke was stranded after Scott Chipperfield's shot had been blocked and Degen made no mistake when well placed.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, Champions League qualifying round
The wayward defending continued into the second half, allowing Argentinian striker Rossi to double the home team's advantage on 52 minutes by drilling through Reinke's legs to the obvious delight of a sell-out 29,000 crowd at St. Jakob Park. Yet the home fans were given pause for thought when Germany forward Klose pulled one back in the closing stages.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, Champions League qualifying round
Three goals in eight second-half minutes swing the tie decisively in the German side's favour. Until the opening goal Basel had protected Pascal Zuberbühler's goal with some ease, but a fortuitous deflection unhinged their defence after 63 minutes. A clearance from the Basel defence hit Patrick Owomoyela on the chest and the ball bounced into the penalty area, Bremen striker Ivan Klasnić was quickest to react and he tapped the ball into the empty net from close range. Basel found themselves further in arrears moments later when Johan Micoud was fouled in the penalty area by Reto Zanni.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, Champions League qualifying round
Tim Borowski made no mistake, slotting the ball into the bottom left-hand corner. The home side then guaranteed their spot into the draw for the next round, with Klasnić's second goal after 72 minutes. The striker latched on to Daniel Jensen's pass to send a left-footed strike in off the post beyond Zuberbühler from 15 metres.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Subsequently Basel dropped into the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, where they met Bosnian club NK Široki Brijeg in the first round.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
In the first leg of the first round Basel played at home in the St. Jakob-Park and Matías Delgado scored a hat-trick as Basel won 5–0. The return match in Široki Brijeg was also won. Basel sealed a 6–0 aggregate win to qualify for the Group stage.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Here Basel were then drawn into Group E, alongside Strasbourg, Roma, Red Star Belgrade and Tromsø.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Basel lost their first home match against Strasbourg 0–2 after defender Patrick Müller was sent off for pulling down Amara Diané in the 33rd minute. Diané himself had put the guests one up in the 15th minute and fellow Ivorian Arthur Boka scored a second ten minutes later.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
An away win against Red Star Belgrade in the second match day. Rossi ran on to a pin-point pass from Matías Delgado with just two minutes remaining as Basel vanquished memories of their 0-2 defeat by RC Strasbourg on Matchday 1. It completed a well-earned turnaround after Milan Purović had given the home side the lead midway through the first half. Basel soon drew level when Delgado converted a penalty on the half-hour mark, paving the way for a thrilling win.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
The Basel side rallied from being 1-3 down after 29 minutes to secure an unlikely 4-3 win to move second, while eliminating Tromsø. Tromsø had gone ahead as early as the second minute when Lars Iver Strand headed in Ole Andreas Nilsen's cross. Basel attempted to respond and came close a minute later, only for Eduardo to header over the bar, while 60 seconds later Matías Delgado also shot wide. Petrić did equalise as he fired in a left-footed shot after Smiljanić had headed Patrick Müller's free-kick into his path.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
However, Tromsø regained their lead three minutes later when Ole Martin Årst collected Joachim Walltin's pass before hitting an angled shot into the net from 12 metres. After 29 minutes the visitors opened up a 3-1 lead and this time Årst was the provider, playing the ball from the right for Strand to score his second of the evening. Basel piled on the pressure in the second half but were almost caught out when Patrice Bernier's header forced a save from Pascal Zuberbühler.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Delgado reduced arrears when he converted a cross from Petrić just after the hour and it was all-square six minutes later when Scott Chipperfield headed in a Julio Hernán Rossi cross. With 16 minutes remaining, Basel took the lead for the first time as David Degen collected an Eduardo pass and scored from close range. Basel secured the most unlikely of wins to move into second place in the standings.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
An away defeat against Roma followed. Roma pressed from the very first moment and it was inevitable that Rodrigo Taddei put the home team one up after just 12 minutes. But Basel reacted and fought back. Ivan Ergić saw his header rebound from the cross bar after 25 minutes and Delgado's shot rebounded from the post just two minutes later, but the equaliser did not fall. In fact Francesco Totti put the home team two up just seconds before the half time whistle and shortly after the start of the second period Shabani Nonda added a third goal.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
With this three goal lead, AS Roma just tried to control the game and played just in midfield. Towards the end of the game Basel turned up their efforts and after 78 minutes Mladen Petrić pulled a goal back. But it wasn't enough to turn the game and Basel lost 1-3. Because, at the same time, Strasbourg scored the 2-2 equaliser in the fourth minute of over time against Red Star Belgrade, with some luck Basel qualified for the knock-out stages.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
In the round of 32 Basel were drawn against AS Monaco and the first leg of this tie was played in St. Jakob-Park. Having dropped to ninth spot in the domestic league, Monaco were eager to impress on the continental stage, but always appeared vulnerable against a solid Basel outfit. The Swiss side took control of the match from the off, and went close to breaking the deadlock in the 19th minute as Lucas Bernardi cleared Eduardo's goalbound header from Mladen Petrić's long free-kick. Six minutes later Petrić dispossessed Monaco's Maicon and fizzed a fierce shot narrowly wide.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Monaco playmaker Camel Meriem tested Pascal Zuberbühler in the 31st minute, and teenager Serge Gakpé was close to scoring on his European debut as the visitors pressed. Petrić, Matías Delgado and Mile Sterjovski all threatened Guillaume Warmuz's goal early in the second half, while the Monaco keeper also frustrated Bruno Berner and Petrić again before he was finally beaten by David Degen, the midfielder finishing coolly following Eduardo's pass in the 78th minute.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
After being eliminated from the Champions League in the third qualifying round back in August, Monaco president Michal Pastor had made UEFA Cup success the club's main priority, saying: "We must win it. It's a question of honour." AS Monaco FC's pledge to win the UEFA Cup this season was broken as FC Basel 1893's Swedish defender Daniel Majstorović secured a priceless equaliser at the Stade Louis II. The home side had been handed a 21st-minute lead when on-loan striker Christian Vieri converted from the penalty spot after Jaroslav Plašil was brought down by Matías Delgado.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
However, Basel took what proved to be the decisive advantage eleven minutes into the second period as Mladen Petrić's cross from the left was headed by Majstorović past Flavio Roma to leave Monaco needing at least two goals for victory. While substitute Olivier Kapo had a couple of good efforts late on, but Basel's nerve held and another goal was not scored. Basel won 2-1 on aggregate.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Then, in the round of 16 Basel were drawn against Strasbourgh and were able to revenge themselves for the defeat in the Group stage. Matías Delgado scored one and set up the other as the Swiss side took the initiative, right from the start. Just eight minutes had elapsed when Argentinian midfielder Delgado picked himself up after an Edgar Loué foul and curled a superb free-kick around the wall to break the deadlock. The French team fought back in the second half, before Zdravko Kuzmanovic scored following another Delgado free kick to secure a healthy two-goal lead to take to Stade de la Meinau a week later.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
In the Stade de la Meinau in front of just 8,000 spectators, Brazilian striker Eduardo gave the visitors a third-minute advantage, tapping in Mladen Petrić's unselfish square ball. However, Rudy Carlier soon levelled for the home team. That lifted Strasbourg and Alexander Farnerud saw three efforts denied, before Eduardo destroyed their hopes with an emphatic volley from David Degen's left-wing cross. There were still only 26 minutes on the clock and although the game calmed down before half-time, Basel began the second period with renewed verve as Boris Smiljanić and Mile Sterjovski forced impressive saves from Nicolas Puydebois. Cédric Kanté eventually made it 2-2 at the other end with 12 minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late as the Swiss side progressed to the quarter-finals.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Basel were drawn against Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals and played the first leg at home at St. Jakob-Park. Two goals just before half-time inflicted a serious blow to the English Premiership side as Basel made the best of difficult conditions. On 43 minutes Matías Delgado collected his seventh goal of the competition when his hopeful long-range effort took a wicked bounce off the greasy surface and arced over the unfortunate Mark Schwarzer. The Australian international was beaten again before the interval as David Degen earned Basel a valuable first-leg two goal cushion.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
It was a deserved strike for Degen, whose tireless running proved a constant threat to the visitors' shaky defence. After Eduardo glanced a header wide on ten minutes, he was given a clearer opening when he met Degen's pullback, before testing Schwarzer with a shot on the turn. Middlesbrough, meanwhile, were limited to half-chances as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink drove a free-kick off target midway through the half, while a swerving attempt from Gaizka Mendieta forced Pascal Zuberbühler to tip over.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
With opportunities at a premium for Middlesbrough, Basel were rewarded for their endeavour through Delgado's opener, before Degen outpaced a sluggish back line to latch on to Eduardo's through-ball and drill a low shot beyond Schwarzer. The timing was terrible for Steve McClaren's men, but they responded well after the break. Hasselbaink drew a diving stop from Zuberbühler three minutes into the second period and Chris Riggott went even closer as he met a corner with a towering header. It cannoned off the crossbar, however, and Delgado repeated the feat at the other end with a free-kick as the game opened up. Riggott was on more familiar defensive duty on 70 minutes, his goalline block denying substitute Scott Chipperfield.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Travelling to the Riverside Stadium for the return match, Basel took an early lead. Christian Gross' Basel always looked in control, having earned a 2-0 victory on home soil during the previous week, and their grip on the tie was further strengthened by Eduardo's close-range finish midway through the first half. Mark Viduka struck twice either side of half-time to breathe fresh life into the Middlesbrough's challenge, however, and when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink found the net with a thunderous strike moments after the dismissal of Basel's Swedish defender Daniel Majstorovic, the momentum was with the home side.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
With time almost up, Massimo Maccarone slid in the winning goal from a tight angle to crown a remarkable comeback and earn a last-four tie against FC Steaua Bucuresti. The home team came close to halving their deficit in the opening seconds as Pascal Zuberbühler failed to collect George Boateng's high ball under pressure from Yakubu Ayegbeni, but the Nigerian international's angled shot towards the unguarded goal rolled into the side-netting.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Basel then served notice of their attacking intent as Mile Sterjovski was left unmarked from a free-kick to flick an effort wide, but Middlesbrough failed to heed the warning and another set-piece proved their undoing in the 23rd minute, Boris Smiljanić nodding Mladen Petrić's free-kick across goal for Eduardo to tap in at the far post. That left the home side needing to score four times to stay in the competition, and they replied rapidly as Yakubu's physical presence unsettled the Basel defence and Viduka collected the loose ball before drilling a shot past Zuberbühler. The Basel goalkeeper preserved his side's two-goal aggregate advantage as the interval approached, however, stretching to palm Yakubu's effort around the post after a slick passing move had sliced open the visitors.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Urged on by tremendous home support Middlesbrough began the second period in frenetic fashion, with half-time substitute Hasselbaink and Viduka both forcing Zuberbühler into action. However, the Basel goalkeeper was powerless three minutes before the hour, Viduka collecting Yakubu's defence-splitting pass and rounding the goalkeeper to roll in before Majstorovic was sent off for a second bookable offence.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Hasselbaink raised home hopes almost immediately with a thunderous shot from the edge of the area and just as it seemed Basel would hold out, Zuberbühler parried Fábio Rochemback's effort and Maccarone slid in the rebound from an acute angle to spark wild celebrations. Middlesbrough had fought back to win the match 4–1 and the tie 4–3.


2005–06 FC Basel season, The Campaign, Europe, UEFA Cup
Middlesbrough beat Steaua București 4–3 in the semi-final and advanced to the final, but here they were beaten 4–0 by Sevilla. In spite of being knocked out in the quarter-finals, the cup run was considered a success for Basel. Matías Emilio Delgado ended the 2005–06 UEFA Cup season as the contest's top goal scorer.


2005–06 FC Basel season, Players, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Bayern Munich season
FC Bayern Munich won the domestic double, beating Werder Bremen by five points in Bundesliga, and defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 1–0 in the DFB-Pokal final, thanks to a goal from Claudio Pizarro. The season was in spite of that tainted due to a big defeat to Milan in the UEFA Champions League, losing out 5–2 on aggregate in the Last 16. At the end of the season, Bayern signed German football's wonderkid Lukas Podolski from Köln. This was the club's first season at the Allianz Arena.


2005–06 FC Bayern Munich season, Reserve team
Bayern's reserve team were managed by Hermann Gerland and finished 12th in the Regionalliga Süd.


2005–06 FC Bayern Munich season, Reserve team, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Bihor Oradea season
The 2005–06 season was Bihor Oradea's 47th season in the Romanian football league system, and their 27th season in the Divizia B. At the end of the season the team finished on 2nd place and qualified for the Divizia A promotion play-off that was held on Lia Manoliu Stadium from Bucharest. FC Bihor played against the 2nd places from the other series, Forex Brașov and Unirea Urziceni, but failed to promoted.


2005–06 FC Bihor Oradea season
FC Bihor's 47th seasons was another agitated one, with a lot of changes in the managerial and technical staff, also for promotion was a tough fight against another team from Bihor County, Liberty Salonta, which finished 1st. FC Bihor lost the play-off and Liberty sold its first division place to UTA Arad, so from 2 potential teams in the first league, the county remained with none.


2005–06 FC Bihor Oradea season, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Bihor Oradea season, Competitions, Promotion Play-off
In the following season, the Liga I was expanded from 16 teams to 18 teams, therefore the Romanian Football Federation decided that a promotion playoff group would be played at the end of the season, between the second placed teams from each series of the Liga II, in order to establish the fourth promoted team (in exchange to the two teams relegated from the Liga I). The winner of this group, Unirea Urziceni, promoted to the Liga I, along with the three winners of the series.


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season
The 2005-06 season was FC Dinamo București's 57th season in Liga I. The season started well, with the highlight in recent times for the club. In UEFA Cup, Dinamo thrashed Premier League team Everton 5–1. Dinamo went on to win the tie 5–2. The crisis started in the second part of the season. Manager Ioan Andone was fired by the new Executive President of the club Ioan Becali. Esteban Vigo was brought in, but because of the scandals inside the club Ioan Becali was kicked out and Vigo left the club as well.


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season
Dinamo counted on Ion Marin for the first games of the spring that started with a 3–0 loss to Oţelul Galaţi. Florin Marin came and was kept manager for the rest of the season before Mircea Rednic took the job. Dinamo finished the season with a 0–0 draw against Poli Timișoara and finished 3rd to earn a very important UEFA Cup spot at the end of a horrible season.


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season
Also in the 2005–06 season, in the UEFA Cup group phase, Dinamo managed to beat CSKA Moscow (Cup Holders) 1-0 but they missed the European Spring due to a couple of close games lost in the last few seconds. Playing against Olympique de Marseille on Stade Vélodrome and trailing by 2–1 in the last moments of the game Octavian Chihaia launched a ball over Barthez and scored for 2–2 but the referee whistled the end of the game while the ball was in the air and before it entered the goal. Some claim that might have been a unique moment in the history of the European Cup Football.


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Squad
Goalkeepers: Vladimir Gaev (13/0), Adnan Guso (4/0), Cristian Munteanu (14/0), Florin Matache (1/0).


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Squad
Defenders: Ionuţ Bălan (9/0), Cosmin Bărcăuan (8/0), Tiberiu Curt (7/2), Mariko Daouda (5/0), Daniel Florea (9/0), George Galamaz (18/0), Lucian Goian (4/0), Dorin Mihuţ (11/0), Cosmin Moţi (27/1), Cristian Pulhac (20/0), Ştefan Radu (8/0), Dorin Semeghin (1/0), Gabriel Tamaș (14/1).


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Squad
Midfielders: Dan Alexa (13/1), Adrian Cristea (15/0), Ştefan Grigorie (28/10), Andrei Mărgăritescu (20/0), Cătălin Munteanu (10/0), Vlad Munteanu (17/2), Florentin Petre (26/2), Mihăiţă Pleşan (12/2), Adrian Ropotan (5/0), Ianis Zicu (27/9).


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Squad
Forwards: Alexandru Bălţoi (12/4), Florin Bratu (23/6), Octavian Chihaia (3/0), Ionel Dănciulescu (14/2), Liviu Ganea (1/0), Claudiu Niculescu (20/12).


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Transfers
New players: Summer break – Adnan Guso (Universitatea Craiova), Cristian Munteanu (FC Naţional), Cosmin Moţi, Mariko Daouda, Mihăiţă Pleşan, Ilie Iordache, Claudiu Drăgan (all from Universitatea Craiova), Florin Bratu (FC Nantes), Octavian Chihaia (FC Naţional)


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Transfers
Winter break – Cristian Munteanu (AEK Larnaca), Tiberiu Curt (Steaua București), Cosmin Bărcăuan, Daniel Florea (both Shakhtar Donetsk), Dorin Mihuţ (FC Bihor), Dan Alexa (Beijing Hyundai), Cătălin Munteanu (free player), Ionel Dănciulescu (Shandong Luneng)


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Transfers
Left team: Summer break – Bogdan Stelea (Akratitos), Cristian Munteanu (AEK Larnaca), Angelo Alistar (Hapoel Petach-Tikva), Ovidiu Burcã (FC Naţional), Alin Ilin (Jiul Petroşani), Claudiu Drãgan (Jiul Petroşani), Tibor Moldovan (Farul Constanţa), Ionut Badea (FC Vaslui), Adrian Mihalcea (Chunnam Dragons), Alexandru Pãcurar (Gloria Bistriţa).


2005–06 FC Dinamo București season, Transfers
Winter break – Adnan Guso (FC Argeş), Lucian Goian (Ceahlăul), Mariko Daouda (FC Argeş), Gabriel Tamaş (Spartak Moskva), Adrian Iordache (Shinnik Yaroslavl), Mihăiţă Pleşan (Poli Timișoara), Alexandru Bãlţoi (Oţelul Galaţi), Octavian Chihaia (FC Naţional).


2005–06 FC Girondins de Bordeaux season
The 2005–06 season is the 125th season in the existence of FC Girondins de Bordeaux and the club's 44th consecutive season in the top-flight of French football. In addition to the domestic league, Bordeaux participated in this season's editions of the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season
The 2005–06 season was FC Kremin Kremenchuk's 3rd overall and 1st consecutive season in the Second League.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season, Team kit
The team kits are produced by Puma AG and the shirt sponsor is KremenchukMiaso . The home and away kit was retained from previous seasons.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season, Statistics, Top scorers
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season, Statistics, Disciplinary record
Last updated: 20 October 2009Source: Competitive matchesOnly competitive matches = Number of bookings;  = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card;  = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season, Ukrainian Second League
Kremin's third overall and first consecutive season in Druha Liha began on 6 August 2005 and ended on 24 June 2006.


2005–06 FC Kremin Kremenchuk season, Ukrainian Cup, Disciplinary record
Last updated: 9 October 2009Source: Competitive matchesOnly competitive matches = Number of bookings;  = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card;  = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.


2005–06 FC Oțelul Galați season, Players, Transfers, Out
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; n/a = Not applicable.


2005–06 FC Porto season
The 2005–06 season was Futebol Clube do Porto's 95th competitive season, 72nd consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football, and 112th year in existence as a football club. Despite finishing bottom of their group in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Dutch coach Co Adriaanse led the Dragões to league and cup double.


2005–06 FC Schalke 04 season
During the 2005–06 German football season, FC Schalke 04 competed in the Bundesliga.


2005–06 FC Schalke 04 season, Season summary
The 2005-06 season was one of ups and downs for Schalke. The club only dropped two points more compared to the previous season, but this was only good enough to see Schalke finish in 4th. Schalke also exited the Champions League at the group stage, though there was little shame in elimination given that they were placed in the same group as last season's runners-up AC Milan and semi-finalists PSV Eindhoven. Schalke compensated with a great run to the UEFA Cup semi-final, with eventual champions Sevilla needing extra time to overcome the Germans. Less flattering was Schalke's domestic cup form, with the club thrashed by eventual finalists Frankfurt 6-0 in the second round. This humiliation, along with the mediocre league form, saw coach Ralf Rangnick sacked in December, with Mirko Slomka appointed as his replacement in early January.


2005–06 FC Schalke 04 season, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Schalke 04 season, First-team squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Steaua București season
The 2005–06 season was the 58th season in the existence of FC Steaua București and the club's 58th consecutive season in the top flight of Romanian football. In addition to the domestic league, Steaua București participated in this season's edition of the Cupa României, the Supercupa României, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.


2005–06 FC Steaua București season, Players, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Thun season
During the 2005–06 Swiss football season, FC Thun competed in the Swiss Super League.


2005–06 FC Thun season, Season summary
Thun defeated Dynamo Kyiv and Malmö to reach the Champions League group stage for the first (and, as of 2012, only) time in their history, where they were drawn in Group B with English giants Arsenal, four-time winners Ajax of the Netherlands and Czech champions Sparta Prague. Thun finished third and were knocked out of the Champions League, although there was consolation as they were demoted to the third round UEFA Cup, their first appearance in Europe's secondary cup competition. The European adventure couldn't last though, as they were knocked out by German giants Hamburg.


2005–06 FC Thun season, Players, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Thun season, Players, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FC Vaslui season
The 2005–06 season is FC Vaslui's 4th season of its existence, and its first, in Divizia A. FC Vaslui has promoted last season, after finished 1st in Liga II. In the summer, a lot of experienced players were signed, but after 15 matches, FC Vaslui was in the 16th place, having no victory, with only 6 points (all draws). In the winter, FC Vaslui bought Huţan, Sfârlea, Bukvić and Mihalcea. The team impressed in the second half of the season, finishing on 7th place. FC Vaslui assured its presence in the next season in Liga I, on 29th matchday.


2005–06 FC Vaslui season
In the last game of the season, Steaua came to Vaslui, who needed a victory to assure its 23rd title. Unsurprisingly, Steaua won the match, but the win was very contested by Rapid Bucuresti's officials, but also by the team owner, Adrian Porumboiu. On the very next day, he announced his retirement from FC Vaslui, and the team also remained with only 8 players for the new season.


2005–06 FFHG Division 1 season
The 2005-06 FFHG Division 1 season was contested by 16 teams, and saw Étoile Noire de Strasbourg win the championship. They were promoted to the Ligue Magnus as result. The Lions de Lyon and the Castors d'Asnières were relegated to FFHG Division 2.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup
The 2005–06 FIBA EuroCup was the 3rd season of the FIBA EuroCup, the third-strongest pan-European club basketball competition. A total number of 32 teams from 20 countries participated in competition. The season finished with the EuroCup Final Four, which was held in Kyiv, Ukraine. Joventut Badalona won the cup after defeating BC Khimki 88–63 in the final.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup, Format
A number of 32 teams were split into 8 groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group advanced to the next stage, where they were split into new four groups of four. The top two teams in each group in the second group stage advanced to the Quarter-Final, which was played in a Best-of-three playoff system. The winner of each series advanced to the 2006 EuroCup Final Four, which was held in Kyiv.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup Challenge
The 2005–06 FIBA EuroCup Challenge was the 4th edition of Europe's fourth-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs. 24 teams participated in the season's competition. The Russian team Ural Great Perm won the title, after beating the Ukrainian team Khimik in the double-legged final.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, Top 16
The top 16 were two-legged ties determined on aggregate score. The first legs was played on December 8. All return legs were played on December 15.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals were two-legged ties determined on aggregate score. The first legs was played on January 19. All return legs were played on January 26.


2005–06 FIBA EuroCup Challenge, Semifinals
The semifinals were two-legged ties determined on aggregate score. The first legs was played on February 23. All return legs were played on March 2.


2005–06 FINA Swimming World Cup
The 2005–2006 FINA Swimming World Cup was series of eight international short course swimming meets organized by FINA which took place from November 2005 through February 2006. The overall winners for the series were Ryk Neethling of South Africa (male) and Therese Alshammar of Sweden (female).


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
The 40th World Cup season began in October 2005 and concluded at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden, in March 2006. The schedule included a nearly month-long break in February for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Benjamin Raich of Austria won his first overall title after finishing third in 2004 and second in 2005. He added his second consecutive giant slalom discipline globe, and Michael Walchhofer also repeated as downhill champion. Aksel Lund Svindal and Giorgio Rocca were each first-time winners in super G and slalom respectively. Svindal edged Hermann Maier by only 2 points, denying the "Herminator" a sixth super G crown.


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
On the women's side, Janica Kostelić of Croatia won her third overall and slalom World Cup titles. She won 9 races to become only the third skier ever to win races in all 5 disciplines in a single season (joining Marc Girardelli and Petra Kronberger). Kostelić amassed 1970 World Cup points, a new women's record and second only to Hermann Maier's 2000 points in 2000.


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Although Anja Pärson failed to win her third straight overall crown, she won 8 races while capturing her third giant slalom globe, and her 1662 points would have been enough to win the overall in any of the previous 6 seasons. In her final season on the World Cup tour, Michaela Dorfmeister secured her second downhill and super G titles.


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Super-G
In Men's Super G World Cup 2005/06 all results count.


2005–06 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Giant slalom
In Men's Giant Slalom World Cup 2005/06 all results count.


2005–06 FIS Cross-Country World Cup
The 2005–06 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was the 25th official World Cup season in cross-country skiing for men and ladies. The season began in Düsseldorf on 22 October 2005 and was concluded in Sapporo on 19 March 2006.


2005–06 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, Points distribution
The World Cup points in the 2005–06 season were awarded according to the following table:


2005–06 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup
The 2005/06 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup was the twenty seventh World Cup season in freestyle skiing organised by International Ski Federation. The season started on 3 September 2005 and ended on 19 March 2006. This season included four disciplines: aerials, moguls, ski cross and halfpipe.


2005–06 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup
There were no dual mogul events on world cup calendar this season.


2005–06 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
The 2006/07 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup was the 23rd world cup season, a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing organized by FIS. It started on 25 Nov 2005 in Kuusamo, Finland and ended on 19 March 2006 in Sapporo, Japan.


2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup
The 2005/06 FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup was the 15th in a row (13th official) Continental Cup winter season and the 4th summer season in ski jumping for men. This was also the 2nd winter season for ladies.


2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup
Other competitive circuits this season included the World Cup and Grand Prix.


2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup, Europa Cup vs. Continental Cup
This was originally last Europa Cup season and is also recognized as the first Continental Cup season by International Ski Federation although under this name began its first official season in 1993/94.


2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
The 2005/06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup was the 27th World Cup season. It begun in Kuusamo, Finland on 26 November 2005 and finished in Planica, Slovenia on 19 March 2006. The individual World Cup was won by Jakub Janda, Czech Republic.


2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Lower competitive circuits this season included the Continental Cup and Grand Prix.


2005–06 FK Baku season
The FK Baku 2005-06 season was Baku's eighth Azerbaijan Premier League season.


2005–06 FK Baku season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FK Baku season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FK Baku season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FK Baku season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FK Baku season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 FK Partizan season
The 2005–06 season was the 60th season in FK Partizan's existence. This article shows player statistics and all matches (official and friendly) that the club played during the 2005–06 season.


2005–06 FK Partizan season, Players, Squad information
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 Falkirk F.C. season
The 2005–06 season saw Falkirk compete in the Scottish Premier League where they finished in 10th position with 33 points.


2005–06 Fencing World Cup
The 35th FIE Fencing World Cup began on October 2005 and concluded on September 2006 at the 2006 World Fencing Championships in Turino, Italy.


2005–06 Feyenoord season
During the 2005–06 Dutch football season, Feyenoord competed in the Eredivisie.


2005–06 Feyenoord season, Season summary
Feyenoord were once again the Eredivisie's top scorers and they improved on last's seasons results to finish 3rd, but the team was still some way off challenging for the title. The club also suffered elimination at the first hurdle in both the domestic and UEFA cups. The club's last chance for glory was to win the Eredivise's UEFA play-offs to qualify for the Champions League, but they were knocked out at the first stage again after an embarrassing 7-2 aggregate loss to an Ajax side who had finished 11 points behind the Rotterdam club.


2005–06 Feyenoord season, Kits
Feyenoord's kits were manufactured by Italian company Kappa and sponsored by Belgian financial company Fortis.


2005–06 Feyenoord season, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 Feyenoord season, First-team squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The 2005–06 First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina season was the sixth since its establishment.


2005–06 First League of the Republika Srpska
The First League of the Republika Srpska 2005–06 was the 11th since its establishment.


2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro
The 2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro is the 4th season of the First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro, the highest professional basketball league in Serbia and Montenegro. It is also 62nd national championship played by Serbian clubs inclusive of nation's previous incarnations as Yugoslavia.


2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro
The first half of the season consists of 11 teams and 110-game regular season (20 games for each of the 11 teams) and in second half of the season 30-game in Super league and 8 in play off.


2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro, Regular season
The League of the season was played with 11 teams and play a dual circuit system, each with each one game at home and away. The six best teams at the end of the regular season were placed in the Super League. The regular season began on 13 October 2005 and it will end on 19 March 2006.


2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro, Super League
The Super League of the season was played with 6 teams and play a dual circuit system, each with each one game at home and away. The four best teams at the end of the regular Super League placed in the Play Off. The regular season began on 5 April 2006 and it will end on 10 May 2006.


2005–06 First Women's Basketball League of Serbia and Montenegro, Play Off
Play Off is played according to the cup system. Champion is received after the final was played. In the semifinals was played on 2 wins, in the Final at 3 wins. Play Off is played from 15 May 2006. to 2 June 2006.


2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team
The 2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2005–06 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.


2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team
The Gators started the season looking to end their recent steak of losing in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They finished the season with a 24–6 record entering the SEC Championship. They won all three games and received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, eventually playing in the final against UCLA. On April 3, 2006 Florida beat UCLA 73–57 to win their first ever NCAA Championship.


2005–06 Florida Panthers season
The 2005–06 Florida Panthers season was their 13th season in the National Hockey League.


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Regular season
The Panthers were shut out a league-high 8 times and had the fewest power-play opportunities of all 30 teams, with 411.


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Regular season, Final standings
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Regular season, Final standings
Z –  Clinched Conference; Y –  Clinched Division; X –  Clinched Playoff spot


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Playoffs
The Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. They last made the playoffs in 2000.


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Roster
As of February 1 of 2006 No. Player33	Jamie Allison4	Jay Bouwmeester33	Eric Cairns44	Gregory Campbell23	Martin Gelinas51	Rob Globke77	Chris Gratton14	Niklas Hagman22-55	Sean Hill16	Nathan Horton22	Kristian Huselius40	Greg Jacina55	Ric Jackman12	Olli Jokinen (C)7	Alexander Karpovtsev13	Juraj Kolnik2	Lukas Krajicek20	Joel Kwiatkowski1	Roberto Luongo29	Jamie McLennan5	Branislav Mezei7	Steve Montador25	Joe Nieuwendyk85	Rostislav Olesz43	Serge Payer10	Gary Roberts21	Alexei Semenov11	Jon Sim57	Anthony Stewart15	Jozef Stumpel37	Petr Taticek26	Mike Van Ryn9	Stephen Weiss42	Mikhail Yakubov


2005–06 Florida Panthers season, Draft picks
Florida's draft picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario.


2005–06 Football Conference
The 2005–06 season was the 27th season of the Football Conference.


2005–06 Football Conference, Overview
This season saw the return of Accrington Stanley (albeit as a reformed club) and Hereford United to the Football League. Accrington replaced Oxford United, who had replaced them when they resigned from the League in 1962.


2005–06 Football Conference, Overview
Northwich Victoria, Stafford Rangers and Weymouth returned to the Conference National, the latter for the first time since 1989, whilst St Albans City won promotion to the fifth tier for the first time.


2005–06 Football Conference, Overview
As with the previous season, Grays Athletic were the winners of the FA Trophy.


2005–06 Football Conference, Conference National
A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, two relegated from the Football League Two, two promoted from the Conference North and one promoted from the Conference South.


2005–06 Football Conference, Conference North
A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 17 sides from last season, one promoted from Southern Football League, two promoted from the Northern Premier League and two relegated from the Conference National.


2005–06 Football Conference, Conference South
A total of 22 teams contested the division, including 18 sides from last season, two promoted from the Isthmian League, one promoted from the Southern Football League and one relegated from Conference National.


2005–06 Football League
The 2005–06 Football League (known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th completed season of The Football League.


2005–06 Football League
This season saw Reading promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history, after winning the Championship with 106 points – a record for a 46-match season with three points for a win. Southend United were the champions of League One, while Carlisle United, having played in the Conference in 2004–05, completed a double promotion by winning League Two.


2005–06 Football League, Final league tables and results
The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at  website, with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website.


2005–06 Football League Championship
The 2005–06 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the league under its current title and fourteenth season under its current league division format.


2005–06 Football League Championship
Reading dominated the Championship, setting a new league record of 33 league games unbeaten between the opening day defeat by Plymouth Argyle and the loss at Luton Town in February; these were the only league defeats the team would suffer that season. On 25 March 2006 they clinched promotion to the top flight for the first time in their 135-year history thanks to a 1–1 draw away to Leicester City. Coppell's team secured the league title in the following week, with a 5–0 drubbing of Derby County, and they would go on to set a new English league record for the number of points won in a season, with 106.


2005–06 Football League Cup
The 2005–06 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 46th staging of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling.


2005–06 Football League Cup
The competition began on 22 August 2005, and ended with the final on 26 February 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while reconstruction work was still ongoing at Wembley Stadium.


2005–06 Football League Cup
The tournament was won by Manchester United, who beat surprise finalists, Wigan 4–0 in the final, thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney and one each from Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha. Wigan had only been promoted to the Premier League at the beginning of the season.


2005–06 Football League Cup, First round
The 72 Football League clubs compete from the First Round. Each section is divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2004–05 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2005, Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Southampton, were the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League, Barnet and Carlisle United, were bottom seeds.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Second round
The 36 winners from the First Round joined the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition in Round Two. The draw was made on 27 August. The matches occurred on 20 and 21 September.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Third round
The 24 winners from the Second Round joined the eight Premier League clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. The draw was made on 24 September. Matches were played on 25 and 26 October.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Fourth round
The draw for the Fourth Round was made on 29 October 2005 and matches were played on 29 and 30 November. Doncaster caused the shock of the round, beating Aston Villa 3-0.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter finals was made on 3 December 2005 and matches were played on 20 and 21 December. The only non-Premier League club, Doncaster Rovers gave Arsenal a scare by drawing 2–2 after extra-time but Arsenal made it through 3–1 on penalties


2005–06 Football League Cup, Semi-finals
The semi-final draw was made on 21 December, 2005 after the conclusion of the quarter finals. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 9 January and 23 January 2006.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Semi-finals, Second leg
Score level at 2-2 on aggregate. Wigan win on away goals rule.


2005–06 Football League Cup, Final
The 2006 Carling Cup Final was played on 26 February 2006 and was contested between Premier League teams Wigan Athletic and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The favourites Manchester United won the game comfortably 4–0 in normal time.


2005–06 Football League Trophy
The 2005–06 Football League Trophy, known as the LDV Vans Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd season in the history of the competition. A straight knockout competition for English football clubs in the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system.


2005–06 Football League Trophy
In all, 60 clubs entered the competition. It was split into two sections, Northern and Southern, with the winners of each section contesting the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The competition began on 18 October 2005 and concluded on 2 April 2006.


2005–06 Football League Trophy
The 2006 final was branded simply as the Football League Trophy after the new owners of LDV withdrew sponsorship of the competition in March 2006 due to the company entering administration, also meaning no prize money was awarded to the winners.


2005–06 Football League Trophy
The winners were Swansea City, who defeated Carlisle United 2–1.


2005–06 Football League Trophy, First round
The First Round ties took place on 18 and 19 October 2005. Four clubs received a bye into the Second Round. Bradford City and Port Vale in the Northern section, and Colchester United and Walsall in the Southern section.


2005–06 Football League Trophy, Second round
The Second Round ties took place on 22 and 23 November 2005. The Woking vs. Cheltenham Town match was abandoned with the scores at 2–1 to Cheltenham due to heavy fog after 50 minutes. The game was eventually played on 28 November 2005, with Cheltenham triumphing 5–1 in extra time. The Halifax vs. Scunthorpe United game was additionally postponed until 13 December 2005 due to bad weather conditions.


2005–06 Football League Trophy, Quarter finals
The Quarter final ties took place on 13 and 20 December 2005.


2005–06 Football League Trophy, Semi finals
The Semi final ties took place on 24 January 2006.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament
The 54th edition of the annual Four Hills Tournament was held in the traditional venues: Oberstorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany, and Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in Austria. For the first and only time, the two ski jumpers at the top of the table shared exactly the same number of points after all four events. The competitors in question, Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda, were both declared tournament winners. For Ahonen, it was the fourth tournament victory, equalizing the record of Jens Weißflog. He would surpass Weißflog and become the lone record holder two years later.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Format
At each of the four events, a qualification round would be held. The 50 best jumpers would qualify for the competition. The fifteen athletes leading the World Cup at the time would qualify automatically. In case of an omitted qualification or a result that would normally result in elimination, they would instead qualify as 50th.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Format
Unlike the procedure at normal World Cup events, the 50 qualified athletes would be paired up for the first round of the final event, with the winner qualifying for the second round. The rounds start with the duel between #26 and #25 from the qualification round, followed by #27 vs #24, up to #50 vs #1. The five best duel losers, so-called 'Lucky Losers' also qualify for the second round.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Format
For the tournament ranking, the total points earned from each jump are added together. The World Cup points collected during the four events are disregarded in this ranking.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, World Cup Standings
The events during the Four Hills tournament count as part of the World Cup season. The standings at the time of the tournament, after seven out of twenty-two events, were as follows:


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Participating nations and athletes
The number of athletes a nation was allowed to nominate was dependent on previous results. In addition, a "national group" from the host nation is added to each event.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Participating nations and athletes
The defending champion was Janne Ahonen. Four other competitors had also previously won the Four Hills tournament: Primož Peterka in 1996-97, Andreas Widhölzl in 1999-00, Adam Małysz in 2000-01 and Sigurd Pettersen in 2003-04.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Results, Bischofshofen
After three out of four events, World Cup leader Jakub Janda was two points ahead of defending champion Janne Ahonen. With Janda skipping the qualification tournament, and Ahonen winning it, there was a direct duel between the two jumpers at the first round of the final tournament. Janda jumped first, and reached 141.0m, surpassing the leading Ljøkelsøy by four meters. Ahonen then reached the same distance, but lost the duel due to worse Judges Marks by one point. As the best duel loser, he still qualified for the second and final round in second place.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Results, Bischofshofen
Ahonen reached 141.5 meters in his second attempt, earning 146.7 points. With Janda then reaching 'only' 139.0 meters in the tournament's final jump (still the second-furthest jump of the second round), earning 143.7 points, Ahonen surpassed him in the Bischofshofen ranking and equalized in the tournament ranking - both having scored exactly 1081.5 points over the four events.


2005–06 Four Hills Tournament, Final Ranking
Lars Bystøl, who won the Innsbruck event, placed only 20th or above in the other three competitions and placed 16th in the final ranking.


2005–06 Frauen-Bundesliga
The Frauen-Bundesliga 2005–06 was the 16th season of the Frauen-Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 14 August 2005 and ended on 5 June 2006.


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season
The 2005–06 season was Fulham's fifth consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League.


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season, Season summary
Fulham were again managed by Chris Coleman and they managed to achieve a 12th-place finish in the Premier League, one place higher than the previous season. Their best results of the season were home wins against Chelsea (1–0) and Liverpool (2–0).


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season, Season summary
In the League Cup, they reached the third round by winning an exciting game against Lincoln City 5–4 after extra time, but they then succumbed to West Bromwich Albion. In the FA Cup, they fell at the first hurdle with a humiliating 2–1 home defeat to Leyton Orient.


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season, Players, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season, Players, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 Fulham F.C. season, Players, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 GNF 2
The 2005–06 season of the GNF 2 second division of Moroccan football.


2005–06 Galatasaray S.K. season
The 2005–06 season was Galatasaray's 102nd in existence and the 48th consecutive season in the Süper Lig. This article shows statistics of the club's players in the season, and also lists all matches that the club have played in the season. The season also saw a first in Turkish football; for the first time in history the team that entered the last week first, Fenerbahçe, failed to win the title. Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray went into the last week deadlocked at 80 points and Fenerbahçe had a better head-to-head record. Fenerbahçe needed only a win to defend their title and win their third successive championship. However, a 1-1 draw to Denizlispor combined with a 3-0 Galatasaray win against Kayserispor gave Galatasaray their 16th league title.


2005–06 Gamma Ethniki
The 2005–06 Gamma Ethniki was the 23rd season since the official establishment of the third tier of Greek football in 1983. Asteras Tripolis and Agrotikos Asteras were crowned champions in South and North Group respectively, thus winning promotion to Beta Ethniki. Ethnikos Piraeus, Messiniakos, PAS Giannina and Panthrakikos also won promotion due to expansion of Beta Ethniki from 16 to 18 teams.


2005–06 Gamma Ethniki
Keratsini, Ionia 2000 Chania, Achaiki, Kozani and Ptolemaida were relegated to Delta Ethniki.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team
The 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team represented George Mason University in the 2005–2006 NCAA Basketball season. The team achieved several milestones, including a team-record 23 regular season wins, and earned at at-large bid to that year's NCAA Tournament.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team
In the NCAA Tournament, the Patriots reached the Final Four, becoming the first team from the Colonial Athletic Association to accomplish that feat. The number 11 seed in the East region, they advanced to the Final Four by knocking off UConn, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, 86–84 in overtime in the Elite Eight. George Mason, which had never won an NCAA tournament game up until this tournament, thus tied the 1986 LSU Tigers as the lowest seed to ever reach the Final Four. The Patriots then lost to eventual national champions, Florida.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
The Patriots enjoyed their best season in 2005–2006 when they won a school-record 23 games in the regular season, and for one week were even ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 for the first time in school history.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
Head coach Jim Larranaga, who began his stint at George Mason in 1997, also became the CAA's all-time leader in coaching victories and was named the winner of the 2006 Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award on March 31, 2006, and the Virginia Coach of the Year on June 26, 2006, the same day he was nominated for an ESPY award. Although the team lost to Hofstra during the CAA tournament, George Mason were still able to grab an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. This marks the first time in which the Patriots earned an at-large bid and the first time in 20 years in which the CAA sent two teams to the tournament (the other being conference tournament winner UNC Wilmington).


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
The at-large selection of teams from mid-major conferences (which included George Mason) to the tournament was criticized by media personalities, most notably Billy Packer. In the case of George Mason, this was possibly because of the absence of Tony Skinn, who was suspended for one game by the Patriots for punching Hofstra guard Loren Stokes in the groin during the CAA tournament semifinal loss. Moreover, many believed that Hofstra, who didn't get invited to the tournament despite of the fact that they beat the Patriots twice in a span of ten days, deserved to get in instead of them. Nevertheless, the Patriots entered the tournament as an 11th seed and defeated the 6th seeded Michigan State Spartans, who had played in the previous year's Final Four.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
In their second round matchup against the defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels, the Patriots were once again underdogs. After falling in a 16–2 hole early in the game, the team was able to bounce back and win the game, 65–60. Their next game was against another mid-major, the Wichita State Shockers. George Mason jumped out to a big early lead, and the Shockers were not able to overcome. The Patriots won, 63–55.


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
Their Elite Eight matchup found themselves facing the Connecticut Huskies, a team that was tabbed as the favorite to win the national championship the entire season. The Patriots were able to defeat the top-seeded Huskies, 86–84 in overtime, in what is recognized as one of the most memorable games in tournament history. Their tournament run would end in Indianapolis, in a Final Four matchup with the Florida Gators, the eventual national champion in both 2006 and 2007 (with the same starting lineup both years).


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
The Patriots were the first team out of the CAA to reach the Final Four and also became the second team to reach it as a double-digit (11th) seed (the other being the LSU Tigers in 1986, also an 11th seed).


2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team, Recap
George Mason's Cinderella story ended in Indianapolis, when the eventual National Champion Florida Gators defeated them 73–58 on April 1, 2006. Despite their loss, many sports analysts considered their performance in the 2006 tourney to be the best run by a mid-major in tournament history. In the final rankings of 2005–2006 season, the USA Today/ESPN poll ranked the Patriots eighth in the nation—their highest rank to date.