2005–06 Sunderland A.F.C. season

In The 2005/2006 Season Sunderland competed in The F.A. Premier League, The Football League Cup and The F.A. Cup. They finished 20th in The F.A. Premier League and were, therefore, relegated. Dean Whitehead, Liam Lawrence, Tommy Miller and Anthony Le Tallec were the joint topscorers in The F.A. Premier League with 3 goals each. They were knocked out of The Football League Cup in the Third Round. Anthony Le Tallec was the topscorer in The Football League Cup with 1 goal. They were knocked out of The F.A. Cup in the Fourth Round. Dean Whitehead, Anthony Le Tallec, Julio Arca and Neill Collins were the joint topscorers in The F.A. Cup with 1 goal each.

Background

In The 1994/1995 Season Sunderland were in the second tier of English football, then called Division 1. Towards the end of the season, Sunderland were battling against relegation. Peter Reid was brought in as manager, and was able to avoid relegation. In The 1995/1996 Season, under Peter's management, Sunderland won Division 1. In The 1996/1997 eason they finished 18th in The F.A. Premier League and were relegated back down to Division 1. In The 1997/1998 Season they finished 3rd in Division 1. They reached The Promotion Play-Off Final, where they were beaten 7-6 on penalties after a 4-4 draw with Charlton Athletic at Wembley Stadium. In The 1998/1999 Season they won Division 1 with a then record 105 points and were promoted back to The F.A. Premier League. In The 1999/2000 Season they finished 7th in The F.A. Premier League, missing out on European qualification by 1 place. In The 2000/2001 Season they finished 7th again, missing out on European qualification again. The 2001/2002 Season was expected to be a chase for Europe, but was instead a battle against relegation. Sunderland eventually finished 17th. In The 2002/2003 Season Sunderland finished bottom of The F.A. Premier League with a record low 19 points. Peter was sacked as manager midway through the season, and was replaced by Howard Wilkinson, who was also sacked during the season. Towards the end of the season, Mick McCarthy was appointed manager. In The 2003/2004 Season, with Mick as manager, Sunderland finished 3rd in Division 1, and were beaten 5-4 on penalties by Crystal Palace after a 4-4 draw in The Promotion Play-Off Semi-Final. In The 2004/2005 Season, Division 1 was renamed The Football League Championship. Sunderland won the title, and were therefore automatically promoted to The F.A. Premier League.

Summary

Sunderland returned to The F.A. Premier League as winners of the Championship after a two-season absence. Before the season began fans were under no illusion that it would be tough. The £40 million of debt that they had been relegated with two years before had still not been cleared, and as a result there was only a £5 million budget for Mick to spend in the transfer market. The £1.8 million spent on bringing Jonathan Stead from Blackburn Rovers was the highest fee paid. The opening months of the season brought little cheer for Sunderland fans. A solitary away victory over local rivals Middlesbrough was the only league win before New Year. Most critics and fans agreed that in many games Sunderland had been playing well and were unlucky not to get results, for example the home game against Chelsea, and that defensive mistakes at exactly the wrong moment and a lack of clinicalness up front were their downfall. As the season went from bad to worse, fans began to focus their anger on the board. Chairman Bob Murray strenuously denied reports that the club had planned for relegation from the beginning, and had used the season simply to pay off debts. Manager Mick McCarthy reportedly described his "hands being tied" in the transfer market, something which he later described as a misquote. On March 6, McCarthy was sacked by the board as Sunderland went into the remaining games of the season with only two wins under their belt - both away from home. Former club captain Kevin Ball took over as caretaker manager, with little chance of keeping Sunderland in the Premiership. They were mathematically relegated on April 14 despite an impressive goalless draw at Old Trafford. Fans then suffered the humiliation of 4-1 home defeat to local rivals Newcastle United, the worst derby result in over 50 years. It is a season that will live long in the memory of Sunderland fans for all of the wrong reasons. With a total of 15 points, the club broke their own Premier League record of attaining the lowest number of points in a season (they got 19 points in The 2002/2003 Season), although they avoided the stigma of being the only club to go an entire season without a home win, due to victory in the final home game of the season. On 9 May, Kevin Ball announced he would step down as caretaker manager of Sunderland. Former player Niall Quinn confirmed that he was looking to buy the club with an Irish consortium[1].

Events

• February 7 - News broke of a bust-up between manager Mick McCarthy and chairman Bob Murray over newspaper reports that McCarthy had complained in a press conference about the lack of transfer funds [2]. The row was denied by both parties, with McCarthy claiming his words had been 'misconstrued' [3].
• March 6 - Mick McCarthy was sacked by Sunderland with 10 games remaining. In a statement, chairman Bob Murray apologised to fans for the position the club was in, and announced that a caretaker manager would be appointed for the remaining games. Kevin Ball was confirmed as caretaker manager later that day. Ball is the 30th manager to take control of Sunderland, and the 4th in only four years.
• April 1 - The most expensive buy of the season, striker Jon Stead, scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Everton. The goal came in his 27th appearance.
• April 8 - Sunderland's game against Fulham was abandoned mid-way through the first half due to snow. Fulham were leading the game 1-0 at the time. Defeat in the game would have officially relegated Sunderland.
• April 14 - Sunderland were official relegated after drawing against Manchester United 0-0 at Old Trafford. Despite this being arguably the best result of the season for Sunderland, it was not enough to prolong their relegation to the Championship.
• May 1 - Sunderland broke their own record for the lowest number of points in a season after a 3-0 home defeat to Arsenal.
• May 4 - Sunderland win their first home game of the season at the final attempt. A 2-1 victory over Fulham in a rearranged fixture prevented the club for going the entire season without a home win, which would have been a Premiership record.
• May 7 - Sunderland finish the season with 15 points.

Transfers

In

Summer

3 June 2005 - Daryl Murphy - Waterford United - £100,000

10 June 2005 - Nyron Nosworthy - Gillingham - Free

13 June 2005 - Jonathan Stead - Blackburn Rovers - £1.8 million

14 June 2005 - Kelvin Davis - Ipswich Town - £1.25 million

22 June 2005 - Tommy Miller - Ipswich Town - Free

6 July 2005 - Martin Woods - Leeds United - Free

1 August 2005 - Alan Stubbs - Everton - Free

2 August 2005 - Anthony Le Tallec - Liverpool - Season Long Loan

9 August 2005 - Joe Murphy - West Brom - Undisclosed

10 August 2005 - Andy Gray - Sheffield United - £1.1 million

24 August 2005 - Christian Bassila - Strasbourg - Undisclosed

31 August 2005 - Justin Hoyte - Arsenal - Season Long Loan

January

25 January 2006 - Kevin Smith - Leeds United - Free

31 January 2006 - Rory Delap - Southampton - Free

Out

Summer

14 June 2005 - Mark Lynch - Hull City - Free

1 July 2005 - Jeff Whitley - Cardiff City - Free

1 July 2005 - Marcus Stewart - Bristol City - Free

1 July 2005 - Brian Deane - Perth Glory - Free

11 July 2005 - Sean Thornton - Doncaster Rovers - £175,000

25 July 2005 - Thomas Myhre - Fredrikstad - Free

25 July 2005 - Michael Bridges - Bristol City - Free

12 August 2005 - Neill Collins - Hartlepool United - Loan

8 September 2005 - Chris Brown - Hull City - Loan

23 September 2005 - Grant Leadbitter - Rotherham United - Loan

21 October 2005 - Joe Murphy - Walsall - Loan

24 November 2005 - Carl Robinson - Norwich City - Loan

24 November 2005 - Daryl Murphy - Sheffield Wednesday - Loan

January

12 January 2005 - Daniel Smith - Huddersfield Town - Loan

17 January 2005 - Carl Robinson - Norwich City - £50,000

20 January 2005 - Alan Stubbs - Everton - Free

23 Janaury 2005 - Mart Poom - Arsenal - Free

17 February 2005 - Neill Collins - Sheffield United - Loan

1 March 2005 - Andy Welsh - Leicester City - Loan

16 March 2005 - Andy Gray - Burnley - Loan

Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Starting 11

GK 1 Kelvin Davis

RB 12 Nyron Nosworthy

CB 5 Gary Breen (Captain)

CB 6 Steven Caldwell (Vice Captain)

LB 15 Danny Collins

RM 7 Liam Lawrence

CM 8 Dean Whitehead (2nd Vice Captain)

CM 14 Tommy Miller

LM 33 Julio Arca

RS 9 Jon Stead

LS 17 Anthony Le Tallec

Results

The Football League Cup

20 September 2005 - Second Round - Sunderland 1-0 Cheltenham Town (after extra time)

scorer = Le Tallec

25 October 2005 - Third Round - Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal

The F.A. Cup

8 January 2006 - Third Round - Sunderland 3-0 Northwich Victoria

scorers = Whitehead, Le Tallec, Collins (Neill)

28 January 2006 - Fourth Round - Brentford 2-1 Sunderland

scorer = Arca

The F.A. Premier League

13 August 2005 - Sunderland 1-3 Charlton Athletic

scorer= Gray

20 August 2005 - Liverpool 1-0 Sunderland

23 August 2005 - Sunderland 1-2 Man City

scorer = Le Tallec

27 August 2005 - Wigan Athletic 1-0 Sunderland

10 September 2005 - Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland

17 September 2005 - Sunderland 1-1 West Brom

scorer = Breen

25 September 2005 - Middlesbrough 0-2 Sunderland

scorers = Miller and Arca

1 October 2005 - Sunderland 1-1 West Ham

scorer = Miller

15 October 2005 - Sunderland 1-3 Man United

scorer = Elliott

23 October 2005 - The Scum 3-2 Sunderland

scorers = Lawrence and Elliott

29 October 2005 - Sunderland 1-4 Portsmouth

scorer = Whitehead

5 November 2005 - Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland

scorer = Stubbs

19 November 2005 - Sunderland 1-3 Aston Villa

scorer = Whitehead

26 November 2005 - Sunderland 0-1 Birmingham City

30 November 2005 - Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool

3 December 2005 - Spurs 3-2 Sunderland

scorers = Whitehead and Le Tallec

10 December 2005 - Charlton Athletic 2-0 Sunderland

26 December 2005 - Sunderland 0-0 Bolton Wanderers

31 December 2005 - Sunderland 0-1 Everton

2 January 2006 - Fulham 2-1 Sunderland

scorer = Lawrence

15 January 2006 - Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea

scorer = Lawrence

21 January 2006 - West Brom 0-1 Sunderland

scorer = own goal

30 January 2006 - Sunderland 0-3 Middlesbrough

4 February 2006 - Mighty Hammers 2-0 Sunderland

12 February 2006 - Sunderland 1-1 Spurs

scorer = Murphy

15 February 2006 - Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Sunderland

25 February 2006 - Birmingham City 1-0 Sunderland

5 March 2006 - Man City 2-1 Sunderland

scorer = Kyle

11 March 2006 - Sunderland 0-1 Wigan Athletic

18 March 2006 - Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Sunderland

25 March 2006 - Sunderland 0-1 Blackburn Rovers

1 April 2006 - Everton 2-2 Sunderland

scorers = Stead and Delap

14 April 2006 - Man United 0-0 Sunderland

17 April 2006 - Sunderland 1-4 The Scum

scorer = Hoyte

22 April 2006 - Portsmouth 2-1 Sunderland

scorer = Miller

1 May 2006 - Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal

4 May 2006 - Sunderland 2-1 Fulham

scorers = Le Tallec and Brown

7 May 2006 - Aston Villa 2-1 Sunderland

scorer = Collins (Danny)

References

Daryl Murphy signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4606097.stm

Nyron Nosworthy signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4080198.stm

Jon Stead signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4089430.stm

Kelvin Davis signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4586385.stm

Tommy Miller signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4599349.stm

Martin Woods signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4653755.stm

Alan Stubbs signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4737377.stm

Anthony Le Tallec signs for Sunderland on loan - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4740071.stm

Joe Murphy signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4136306.stm

Andy Gray signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4131608.stm

Christian Bassila signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4172698.stm

Justin Hoyte signs for Sunderland on loan - news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4201830.stm

Kevin Smith signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4650384.stm

Rory Delap signs for Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4666014.stm

Mark Lynch signs for Hull City - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city/4093078.stm

Jeff Whitley signs for Cardiff City - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/4119326.stm

Marcus Stewart signs for Bristol City - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/4613217.stm

Sean Thornton signs for Doncaster Rovers - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/4675401.stm

Michael Bridges signs for Bristol City - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/4708569.stm

Neill Collins signs for Hartlepool United on loan - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hartlepool_united/4146610.stm

Chris Brown signs for Hull City on loan - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city/4227266.stm

Grant Leadbitter signs for Rotherham United on loan - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rotherham_utd/4275496.stm

Sunderland 1-3 Charlton Athletic - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4127036.stm

Liverpool 1-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4148516.stm

Sunderland 1-2 Man City - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4171160.stm

Wigan Athletic 1-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4168908.stm

Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4210890.stm

Sunderland 1-1 West Brom - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4232368.stm

Sunderland 1-0 Cheltenham Town - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/4258510.stm

Middlesbrough 0-2 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4255482.stm

Sunderland 1-1 West Ham - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4277844.stm

Sunderland 1-3 Man United - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4322116.stm

The Scum 3-2 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4344594.stm

Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/4366938.stm

Sunderland 1-4 Portsmouth - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4366688.stm

Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4387814.stm

Sunderland 1-3 Aston Villa - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4430998.stm

Sunderland 0-1 Birmingham - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4450922.stm

Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4473034.stm

Spurs 3-2 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4473100.stm

Charlton Athletic 2-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4494764.stm

Sunderland 0-0 Bolton Wanderers - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4537528.stm

Sunderland 0-1 Everton - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4560324.stm

Fulham 2-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4562600.stm

Sunderland 3-0 Northwich Victoria - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4583230.stm

Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4590278.stm

West Brom 0-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4612222.stm

Brentford 2-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4634288.stm

Sunderland 0-3 Middlesbrough - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4657202.stm

West Ham 2-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4657238.stm

Sunderland 1-1 Spurs - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4680630.stm

Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4703768.stm

Birmingham City 1-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4726962.stm

Man City 2-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4750294.stm

Sunderland 0-1 Wigan Athletic - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4773702.stm

Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4796514.stm

Sunderland 0-1 Blackburn Rovers - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4819976.stm

Everton 2-2 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4842426.stm

Man United 0-0 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4890624.stm

Sunderland 1-4 The Scum - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4906562.stm

Portsmouth 2-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4907052.stm

Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4933780.stm

Sunderland 2-1 Fulham - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4957438.stm

Aston Villa 2-1 Sunderland - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4957446.stm

External Links