2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season

New Zealand Knights
2005-06 season
Chairman Brian Katzen
Manager John Adshead
A-League 8th
Pre-Season Cup Group stage
Top goalscorer League: Jeremy Brockie (4)
Simon Yeo (4)
All: Jeremy Brockie (4)
Simon Yeo (4)
Highest home attendance 9,827 v Sydney FC
2 September 2005
Lowest home attendance 1,922 v Melbourne Victory
26 November 2005
Average home league attendance 3,909
Home colours
Away colours
2006–07 →

The 2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season was the club's inaugural season in the Australian A-League. Picking up just one win and three draws out of the 21 regular season matches, the Knights finished at the bottom of the table, 20 points behind 7th placed Melbourne Victory.

Season overview

In their debut season, the Knights scored only 15 goals in their 21 fixtures. Their joint leading scorers were Englishman Simon Yeo and teenage whizkid Jeremy Brockie, with four apiece. Sean Devine scored three goals, while Joshua Rose, Jeremy Christie, Neil Emblen and Xiaobin Zhang all managed to find the back of the net once. Former Walsall right-back Darren Bazeley was the only Knight to start in all 21 of their games.

The club was plunged into turmoil in late 2005, as club captain Danny Hay apparently fell out with Knights bosses and coach John Adshead, and was released just before Christmas. This followed the departures of UK signings Ronnie Bull and former Lincoln City striker Simon Yeo.

The Knights may have had poor crowds in their inaugural A-League season but they did have loyal support from their supporters group, Bloc-5. Supporters who formerly supported the now-defunct Football Kingz franchise, are known for dressing up in the team's colours, chanting loudly and attending all home fixtures.

Immediately after the season, the Knights fired assistant coach Tommy Mason. Former Fulham reserve team and academy head coach Paul Nevin was named head coach to assist current manager John Adshead as Mason's replacement.

One positive to come out of the Knights' horrific debut season was 17-year-old New Zealander Jeremy Brockie. The dreadlocked midfielder-cum-striker was originally selected as one of the Knights three under-20 players in their squad. By the end of the season though, he had become a regular starter, scoring a brilliant double at home against the Newcastle Jets. This was followed up by a fantastic strike to earn a draw with Sydney FC, and a goal in the Knights' final game of the season, versus Melbourne Victory.

Transfers

In

Date Pos. Name From
7 March 2005DFNetherlands Frank van EijsVietnam Hà Nội F.C.
7 March 2005DFAustralia John TambourasFree agent
14 April 2005FWRepublic of Ireland Sean DevineEngland Exeter City[1]
14 April 2005MFEngland Neil EmblenEngland Walsall[1]
14 April 2005MFAustralia Steve FitzsimmonsFree agent[1]
14 April 2005FWJapan Naoki ImayaAustralia Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005MFAustralia Josh MaguireAustralia Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005GKNew Zealand Glen MossAustralia Bonnyrigg White Eagles[1]
5 May 2005MFAustralia Zenon CaravellaAustralia Sydney Olympic[2]
27 May 2005FWNew Zealand Jeremy BrockieNew Zealand Canterbury United[3]
27 May 2005DFNew Zealand Cole TinklerFree agent[3]
1 June 2005MFEngland Ben CollettEngland Manchester United[4]
1 June 2005FWEngland Simon YeoEngland Lincoln City[4]
1 June 2005FWChina Xiaobin ZhangFree agent[4]
21 June 2005FWNew Zealand Kris BrightNew Zealand Waitakere City[5]
21 June 2005DFEngland Ronnie BullEngland Grimsby Town[5]
21 June 2005MFNew Zealand Jeremy ChristieFree agent[5]
21 June 2005MFNew Zealand Sam JasperNew Zealand North Shore United[5]
21 June 2005DFAustralia Joshua RoseFree agent[5]

Transfers out

Date Pos. Name To
6 November 2005DFEngland Ronnie BullReleased[6]
17 December 2005FWEngland Simon YeoEngland Lincoln City[7]
23 December 2006DFNew Zealand Danny HayReleased[8]
25 January 2006MFAustralia Steve FitzsimmonsReleased[9]

Squad statistics

No. Pos Nat Player TotalA-League Pre-Season Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Australia Danny Milosevic 16 0 14 0 2 0
2 DF England Darren Bazeley 21 0 21 0 0 0
3 DF England Ronnie Bull 10 0 7 0 3 0
4 DF Australia John Tambouras 21 0 15+3 0 3 0
5 DF New Zealand Danny Hay 11 0 9 0 2 0
6 MF England Neil Emblen 16 1 11+2 1 3 0
7 MF Australia Steve Fitzsimmons 14 1 8+3 0 3 1
8 MF England Ben Collett 21 0 15+3 0 3 0
9 FW England Simon Yeo 12 5 10+1 4 1 1
10 FW Republic of Ireland Sean Devine 20 3 13+4 3 3 0
11 MF Australia Zenon Caravella 21 0 20+1 0 0 0
12 DF New Zealand Cole Tinkler 13 0 9+2 0 2 0
13 FW New Zealand Jeremy Brockie 14 4 9+3 4 0+2 0
14 MF Australia Josh Maguire 14 0 7+6 0 1 0
15 DF Australia Joshua Rose 15 1 10+2 1 2+1 0
16 MF New Zealand Noah Hickey 19 0 12+5 0 1+1 0
17 DF Netherlands Frank van Eijs 9 0 8 0 1 0
18 FW China Xiaobin Zhang 15 1 2+10 1 2+1 0
19 FW Japan Naoki Imaya 10 0 6+4 0 0 0
20 GK New Zealand Glen Moss 10 0 7+2 0 1 0
21 MF New Zealand Jeremy Christie 10 1 8+2 1 0 0
22 MF New Zealand Sam Jasper 2 0 1+1 0 0 0
24 FW New Zealand Kris Bright 12 0 9+3 0 0 0
30 GK New Zealand Roy Bell 0 0 0 0 0 0

Competitions

Pre-season

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
24 July 2005Sydney FCAway1-3Fitzsimmons8,714
30 July 2005Queensland RoarHome0-53,397
6 August 2005Central Coast MarinersHome0-12,269

A-League

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Adelaide United 21 13 4 4 33 25+8 43 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Sydney FC (C) 21 10 6 5 35 28+7 36
3 Central Coast Mariners 21 8 8 5 35 28+7 32 2006 A-League Finals Series
4 Newcastle Jets 21 9 4 8 27 29−2 31
5 Perth Glory 21 8 5 8 34 29+5 29
6 Queensland Roar 21 7 7 7 27 22+5 28
7 Melbourne Victory 21 7 5 9 26 24+2 26
8 New Zealand Knights 21 1 3 17 15 47−32 6

Updated to games played on 5 February 2006
Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
1First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2006 A-League Finals Series.
2First place qualifies for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage.
3Winning the 2006 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
4New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the 2007 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendancePosition
28 August 2005Queensland RoarAway0-220,7258
2 September 2005Sydney FCHome1-3Rose9,8278
10 September 2005Central Coast MarinersAway2-0Yeo, Devine5,2617
18 September 2005Newcastle JetsAway0-47,4958
22 September 2005Perth GloryHome0-14,1388
2 October 2005Adelaide UnitedHome1-2Yeo3,5588
10 October 2005Melbourne VictoryAway0-311,0108
16 October 2005Queensland RoarHome0-24,1828
21 October 2005Sydney FCAway0-211,8368
29 October 2005Central Coast MarinersHome1-3Yeo2,5838
4 November 2005Newcastle JetsHome2-4Brockie (2)2,5618
11 November 2005Perth GloryAway0-39,6678
20 November 2005Adelaide UnitedAway0-19,6768
26 November 2005Melbourne VictoryHome2-3Christie, Devine1,9228
1 December 2005Queensland RoarAway1-1Yeo8,6078
30 December 2005Sydney FCHome2-2Devine, Brockie4,2128
8 January 2006Central Coast MarinersAway0-17,2578
13 January 2006Newcastle JetsAway0-36,8628
19 January 2006Perth GloryHome1-4Emblen3,0248
28 January 2006Adelaide UnitedHome1-1Zhang3,0798
4 February 2006Melbourne VictoryAway1-2Brockie10,0788

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.