# 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.
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.

## Changes from last season
### Team changes
#### From Championship

Promoted to Premier League
* Sunderland
* Wigan Athletic
* West Ham United
Relegated to League One
* Gillingham
* Nottingham Forest
* Rotherham United

### To Championship

Promoted from League One
* Luton Town
* Hull City
* Sheffield Wednesday
Relegated from Premier League
* Crystal Palace
* Norwich City
* Southampton

## Team overview
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Brighton & Hove | Withdean Stadium | 8,850 |
| Burnley | Burnley | Turf Moor | 22,546 |
| Cardiff City | Cardiff | Ninian Park | 21,508 |
| Coventry City | Coventry | Ricoh Arena | 32,602 |
| Crewe Alexandra | Crewe | Alexandra Stadium | 10,153 |
| Crystal Palace | London | Selhurst Park | 26,309 |
| Derby County | Derby | Pride Park Stadium | 33,597 |
| Hull City | Hull | KC Stadium | 25,586 |
| Ipswich Town | Ipswich | Portman Road | 30,311 |
| Leeds United | Leeds | Elland Road | 39,460 |
| Leicester City | Leicester | Walkers Stadium | 32,500 |
| Luton Town | Luton | Kenilworth Road | 10,226 |
| Millwall | London | The Den | 20,146 |
| Norwich City | Norwich | Carrow Road | 26,018 |
| Plymouth Argyle | Plymouth | Home Park | 18,000 |
| Preston North End | Preston | Deepdale | 23,408 |
| Queens Park Rangers | London | Loftus Road | 18,360 |
| Reading | Reading | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,702 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Sheffield | Hillsborough Stadium | 39,812 |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,690 |
| Stoke City | Stoke | Britannia Stadium | 27,740 |
| Watford | Watford | Vicarage Road | 17,504 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Wolverhampton | Molineux | 27,828 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Kit maker | Main sponsor |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Mark McGhee | Erreà | Skint Records |
| Burnley | Steve Cotterill | Erreà | Hunters Estate Agents |
| Cardiff City | Dave Jones | Joma | Redrow Houses |
| Coventry City | Micky Adams | Kit@ | Cassidy Group |
| Crewe Alexandra | Dario Gradi | Diadora | Mornflake Oats |
| Crystal Palace | Iain Dowie | Diadora | Churchill Insurance |
| Derby County | Terry Westley | Joma | The Derbyshire |
| Hull City | Peter Taylor | Diadora | Bonus Electrical |
| Ipswich Town | Joe Royle | Punch | PowerGen |
| Leeds United | Kevin Blackwell | Admiral | Whyte & Mackay |
| Leicester City | Rob Kelly | JJB | Alliance & Leicester |
| Luton Town | Mike Newell | Diadora | Electrolux |
| Millwall | Tony Burns & Alan McLeary | Lonsdale | Beko |
| Norwich City | Nigel Worthington | Xara | Proton Cars (H) / Lotus Cars (A) |
| Plymouth Argyle | Tony Pulis | Puma | Ginsters |
| Preston North End | Billy Davies | Diadora | Enterprise plc |
| Queens Park Rangers | Gary Waddock | Le Coq Sportif | Binatone |
| Reading | Steve Coppell | Puma | Kyocera |
| Sheffield United | Neil Warnock | Le Coq Sportif | HFS Loans |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Paul Sturrock | Diadora | Plusnet |
| Southampton | George Burley | Saints | Friends Provident |
| Stoke City | Johan Boskamp | Puma | Britannia Building Society |
| Watford | Aidy Boothroyd | Diadora | Loans.co.uk |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Glenn Hoddle | Le Coq Sportif | Chaucer Consulting |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Reading (C, P) | 46 | 31 | 13 | 2 | 99 | 32 | +67 | 106 | Promotion to the FA Premier League |
| 2 | Sheffield United (P) | 46 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 76 | 46 | +30 | 90 | Promotion to the FA Premier League |
| 3 | Watford (O, P) | 46 | 22 | 15 | 9 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 81 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Preston North End | 46 | 20 | 20 | 6 | 59 | 30 | +29 | 80 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Leeds United | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 57 | 38 | +19 | 78 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 67 | 48 | +19 | 75 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 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 | |
| 22 | Crewe Alexandra (R) | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 57 | 86 | −29 | 42 | Relegation to Football League One |
| 23 | Millwall (R) | 46 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 35 | 62 | −27 | 40 | Relegation to Football League One |
| 24 | Brighton & Hove Albion (R) | 46 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 71 | −32 | 38 | Relegation to Football League One |

### Semi-finals
#### First leg
#### Second leg

* Leeds United win 3–1 on aggregate.
* Watford win 3–0 on aggregate.

### Final
## Results

| Home \ Away | BHA | BUR | CAR | COV | CRE | CRY | DER | HUL | IPS | LEE | LEI | LUT | MIL | NWC | PLY | PNE | QPR | REA | SHE | SHW | SOU | STK | WAT | WOL |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Burnley | 1–0 | | 3–3 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Cardiff City | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 |
| Coventry City | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 1–4 | 6–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 |
| Crystal Palace | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Derby County | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 |
| Hull City | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Ipswich Town | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Leeds United | 3–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Leicester City | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Luton Town | 3–0 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Millwall | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Norwich City | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 |
| Preston North End | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Reading | 5–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Sheffield United | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Southampton | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Stoke City | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| Watford | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 3–1 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |