FA Premier League 2005-06

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Image:FA Clubs map home colours.PNG The 2005-06 season of the FA Premier League saw Chelsea defend and win a back-to-back-title by defeating Manchester United on 29 April. On the same day, West Bromwich and Birmingham City were relegated, joining Sunderland in The Championship next season.

1 Final league table
- 1.1 Season Statistics
2 Season Summary
3 Top goal scorers
4 Promoted teams
5 Relegated teams
6 Notable events
7 Notes
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Final league table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Chelsea	38	29	4	5	72	22	+50	91	CL<ref>Qualify for UEFA Champions League group stage</ref>
2	Manchester United	38	25	8	5	72	34	+38	83	CL<ref>Qualify for UEFA Champions League group stage</ref>
3	Liverpool	38	25	7	6	57	25	+32	82	CLQ<ref>Qualify for UEFA Champions League third qualifying round</ref>
4	Arsenal	38	20	7	11	68	31	+37	67
5	Tottenham Hotspur	38	18	11	9	53	38	+15	65	UC<ref name="UC">Qualify for UEFA Cup</ref>
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	19	6	13	51	42	+9	63	UC<ref name="UC">Qualify for UEFA Cup</ref>
7	Newcastle United	38	17	7	14	47	42	+5	58	UI<ref>Qualify for UEFA Intertoto Cup</ref>
8	Bolton Wanderers	38	15	11	12	49	41	+8	56
9	West Ham United	38	16	7	15	52	55	-3	55	UC<ref>Qualify for UEFA Cup as FA Cup finalists.</ref>
10	Wigan Athletic	38	15	6	17	45	52	-7	51
11	Everton	38	14	8	16	34	49	-15	50
12	Fulham	38	14	6	18	48	58	-10	48
13	Charlton Athletic	38	13	8	17	41	55	-14	47
14	Middlesbrough	38	12	9	17	48	58	-10	45
15	Manchester City	38	13	4	21	43	48	-5	43
16	Aston Villa	38	10	12	16	42	55	-13	42
17	Portsmouth	38	10	8	20	37	62	-25	38
18	Birmingham City	38	8	10	20	28	50	-22	34	R<ref>Relegated to the Championship</ref>
19	West Bromwich Albion	38	7	9	22	31	58	-27	30
20	Sunderland	38	3	6	29	26	69	-43	15

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

[edit] Season Statistics

Total Goals:	944
Average Goals per game:	2.48

[edit] 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 highly eventful albeit controversial season. Chelsea's early season form with 15 wins out of 16 gave the champions an unequivocal headstart. With Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool falling way short of their expectations before Christmas, Chelsea had effectively became 'Champions-Elect' by early 2006. However a sudden collapse in form by mid-March caused their seemingly unassailable lead of 18 points to be cut down to just 7 in two weeks due to the impressive late run of form of Manchester United who went on a ten-match winning streak scoring over 30 goals. However a shock home draw with bottom of the table Sunderland (who evidently were relegated as a result) at Old Trafford killed United's title hopes. The momentum was back with Chelsea who didn't need a second bite at the cherry with wins over Bolton, Everton and finally Manchester United giving the west Londoners their second successive championship under Mourinho.

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 F.C Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Champions League.

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.

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 Man 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 - which was Newcastle United this season - wins a 2-legged match means they earn a place in the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

[edit] Top goal scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Thierry Henry	27	Arsenal F.C.
Ruud van Nistelrooy	21	Manchester United F.C.
Darren Bent	18	Charlton Athletic F.C.
Robbie Keane	16	Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Frank Lampard	16	Chelsea F.C.
Wayne Rooney	16	Manchester United F.C.
Marlon Harewood	14	West Ham United F.C.
Craig Bellamy	13	Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni	13	Middlesbrough F.C.
Henri Camara	12	Wigan Athletic F.C.
Didier Drogba	12	Chelsea F.C.

[edit] Promoted teams

These three teams were promoted from The Championship at the start of the season:

Sunderland (Championship champions)
Wigan Athletic (runners-up)
West Ham United (playoff winners)

Wigan played in the top flight for the first time in their history.

[edit] Relegated teams

These three teams were relegated to The Championship at the end of the season:

[edit] Notable events

This was Arsenal's last ever season at their long-time home of Highbury. Their last ever match there was a 4-2 victory over Wigan Athletic, where Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick- the last in the Barclays Premiership this season. After scoring his hat-trick goal from the penalty spot, Henry kissed the grass at Highbury. The Gunners opened the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2006.
In the season's first match, Everton hosted Manchester United, losing 0-2 to United. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the season's first goal.
Marlon Harewood scored the first Barclays Premiership hat-trick of the season in West Ham United's 4-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Chelsea celebrated their centennial year with a series of events, and a second consecutive Premiership title.
Liverpool recorded the highest points total (82) for a third-placed club.
In this season Arsenal F.C were fined an undisclosed sum of money for the illegal exchange of money between Arsenal and K.S.K. Beveren, a Belgian club.
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 is 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.
Alan Shearer and Dennis Bergkamp both retired this season after long and successful Premiership careers. Shearer was injured and in essence, has had his career ended early.
The largest win during this season was recorded when Arsenal defeated Middlesbrough 7-0.
Sunderland had the worst ever season in the history of the FA Premier League after picking up only 15 points and three wins all season. They broke their previous record of 19 points in 2002-03. They were also outscored by Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who had 27 goals at the end of the season, while Sunderland as a whole, managed 26.
Fulham FC were almost the third Premier League club in history to go a whole season without an away win, however a 2-1 victory over Manchester City on the penultimate week spared them that record.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

2005-06 in English football

[edit] External links

2005/2006 League table from sportpress

FA Premier League 2006–07 v • d • e</div>
Arsenal \| Aston Villa \| Blackburn Rovers \| Bolton Wanderers \| Charlton Athletic \| Chelsea \| Everton \| Fulham \| Liverpool \| Manchester City \| Manchester United \| Middlesbrough \| Newcastle United \| Portsmouth \| Reading \| Sheffield United \| Tottenham Hotspur \| Watford \| West Ham United \| Wigan Athletic
FA Premier League seasons v • d • e</div>
1992–93 \| 1993–94 \| 1994–95 \| 1995–96 \| 1996–97 \| 1997–98 \| 1998–99 \| 1999–00 \| 2000–01 \| 2001–02 \| 2002–03 \| 2003–04 \| 2004–05 \| 2005–06 \| 2006–07 \| 2007–08 \|