2005–06 Watford F.C. season

Watford F.C.
2005–06 season
Chairman	Graham Simpson
Manager	Aidy Boothroyd
Stadium	Vicarage Road
Championship	3rd (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Winners
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Marlon King (21) All: Marlon King (22)
Average home league attendance	15,415
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

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

Season summary

Against the odds, Watford managed to gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs, comprehensively defeating Leeds United 3-0 in the play-off final to return to the top flight after an absence of six years.^[1] Crucial to Watford's promotion was striker Marlon King, who was the Championship's top scorer. Striker Darius Henderson and young winger Ashley Young also chipped in with 15 and 14 league goals respectively; between them, the three scored 51 of the club's 77 goals scored in the league. Promotion was a fine way for young manager Aidy Boothroyd, only in his mid-thirties, to celebrate his first full season in club management.

Final league table

Main article: 2005–06 Football League

			P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
C	1	Reading	46	31	13	2	99	32	+67	106
P	2	Sheffield United	46	26	12	8	76	46	+30	90
P	3	Watford	46	22	15	9	77	53	+24	81
	4	Preston North End	46	20	20	6	59	30	+29	80
	5	Leeds United	46	21	15	10	57	38	+19	78
	6	Crystal Palace	46	21	12	13	67	48	+19	75
	7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	16	19	11	50	42	+8	67
	8	Coventry City	46	16	15	15	62	65	−3	63
	9	Norwich City	46	18	8	20	56	65	−9	62
	10	Luton Town	46	17	10	19	66	67	−1	61
	11	Cardiff City	46	16	12	18	58	59	−1	60
	12	Southampton	46	13	19	14	49	50	−1	58
	13	Stoke City	46	17	7	22	54	63	−9	58
	14	Plymouth Argyle	46	13	17	16	39	46	−7	56
	15	Ipswich Town	46	14	14	18	53	66	−13	56
	16	Leicester City	46	13	15	18	51	59	−8	54
	17	Burnley	46	14	12	20	46	54	−8	54
	18	Hull City	46	12	16	18	49	55	−6	52
	19	Sheffield Wednesday	46	13	13	20	39	52	−13	52
	20	Derby County	46	10	20	16	53	67	−14	50
	21	Queens Park Rangers	46	12	14	20	50	65	−15	50
R	22	Crewe Alexandra	46	9	15	22	57	86	−29	42
R	23	Millwall	46	8	16	22	35	62	−27	40
R	24	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	7	17	22	39	71	−32	38

Results

Watford's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Championship

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

Championship play-offs


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

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup


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

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup


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

Squad

Squad at end of season^[3]

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Alec Chamberlain
2	DF	James Chambers
3	DF	Jordan Stewart
4	DF	Malky Mackay
5	DF	Clarke Carlisle
6	DF	Jay DeMerit
7	MF	Chris Eagles (on loan from Manchester United)
8	MF	Gavin Mahon (captain)
9	FW	Marlon King^[4]
12	DF	Lloyd Doyley^[5]
14	MF	Dominic Blizzard
15	MF	Ashley Young
18	FW	Hameur Bouazza^[6]
19	DF	Anthony McNamee
20	MF	Al Bangura

No.	Position	Player
21	MF	Toumani Diagouraga
22	DF	Junior Osborne
23	DF	Adrian Mariappa^[7]
25	MF	Matthew Spring
26	GK	Ben Foster (on loan from Manchester United)
27	FW	Joel Grant^[8]
28	FW	Francino Francis
29	FW	Darius Henderson
30	MF	Marvin Homand
31	MF	Alex Campana
32	FW	Les Ferdinand
34	MF	Ben Gill
35	DF	Joe O'Cearuill^[9]
36	FW	Theo Robinson^[10]

Left club during season

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

No.	Position	Player
7	MF	Martin Devaney (to Barnsley)
7	MF	Carl Fletcher (on loan from West Ham United)
10	MF	Paul Devlin^[11] (to Walsall)
11	DF	Sietes (released)
16	GK	Richard Lee (on loan to Blackburn Rovers)
17	MF	Jamie Hand (to Fisher Athletic)

No.	Position	Player
24	DF	Adam Griffiths (to Bournemouth)
25	FW	José Júnior (to Odense)
33	FW	Trevor Benjamin^[12] (on loan from Peterborough United)
36	FW	Gabriel Agbonlahor (on loan from Aston Villa)
50	GK	Yves Makabu-Ma-Kalambay (on loan from Chelsea)
	MF	Ryan Gilligan (to Swindon Town)

References

↑ "Leeds 0-3 Watford". BBC Sport. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/watford/2005-2006
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2005-2006/flcham/watford.htm
↑ King was born in Dulwich, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 2004.
↑ Doyley was born in Whitechapel, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in March 2013.
↑ Bouazza was born in Évry, France, but qualifies to represent Algeria internationally and would make his international debut for Algeria in February 2007.
↑ Mariappa was born in Harrow, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica and Fiji internationally through his grandparents and father respectively; he would make his international debut for Jamaica in June 2012.
↑ Grant was born in Ealing, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would represent them at U-20 level.
↑ O'Cearuill was born in Edmonton, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would make his full international debut for the Republic of Ireland in May 2007.
↑ Robinson was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in February 2013.
↑ Devlin was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualifies to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in October 2002.
↑ Benjamin was born in Kettering, England, and has represented England at level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in November 2002.

Watford Football Club

The Club	History Seasons Players (fewer than 50 appearances) Players of the season Managers Records Watford Ladies Cassio Road Vicarage Road Europe Current season

Matches	1984 FA Cup Final 1999 play-off final 2006 play-off final 2013 play-off final

Supporters	Luton Town rivalry Harry the Hornet

Watford F.C. seasons

1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15

2005–06 in English football

« 2004–05

2006–07 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

FA Premier League
Football League (Championship, League One, League Two)
League Cup (Final)
Football League Trophy (Final)
Play-offs (Championship Final, League One Final, League Two Final)

Football Conference

Football Conference (National, North, South)

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Other events

2006 English football corruption investigation

Club seasons

FA Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Chelsea Everton Fulham Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Portsmouth Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic

Championship	Brighton & Hove Albion Burnley Cardiff City Coventry City Crewe Alexandra Crystal Palace Derby County Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Luton Town Millwall Norwich City Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Stoke City Watford Wolverhampton Wanderers

League One	Barnsley Blackpool Bournemouth Bradford City Brentford Bristol City Chesterfield Colchester United Doncaster Rovers Gillingham Hartlepool United Huddersfield Town Milton Keynes Dons Nottingham Forest Oldham Athletic Port Vale Rotherham United Scunthorpe United Southend United Swansea City Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall Yeovil Town

League Two	Barnet Boston United Bristol Rovers Bury Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Chester City Darlington Grimsby Town Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Notts County Oxford United Peterborough United Rochdale Rushden & Diamonds Shrewsbury Town Stockport County Torquay United Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers

Conference National	Accrington Stanley Aldershot Town Altrincham Burton Albion Cambridge United Canvey Island Crawley Town Dagenham & Redbridge Exeter City Forest Green Rovers Gravesend & Northfleet Grays Athletic Halifax Town Hereford United Kidderminster Harriers Morecambe Scarborough Southport Stevenage Borough Tamworth Woking York City

Others	AFC Wimbledon F.C. United of Manchester Gateshead Newport County