# 2005–06 Fulham F.C. season

The 2005–06 season was Fulham's fifth consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League.

## Season summary

Fulham were again managed by Chris Coleman and they managed to achieve a 12th-place finish in the Premier League, one place higher than the previous season. Their best results of the season were home wins against Chelsea (1–0) and Liverpool (2–0).
In the League Cup, they reached the third round by winning an exciting game against Lincoln City 5–4 after extra time, but they then succumbed to West Bromwich Albion. In the FA Cup, they fell at the first hurdle with a humiliating 2–1 home defeat to Leyton Orient.

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | WAL | Mark Crossley |
| 2 | DF | GER | Moritz Volz |
| 3 | DF | USA | Carlos Bocanegra |
| 4 | MF | FRA | Steed Malbranque |
| 5 | MF | FRA | Sylvain Legwinski |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Zat Knight |
| 7 | MF | WAL | Mark Pembridge |
| 8 | MF | DEN | Claus Jensen |
| 9 | MF | ENG | Michael Brown |
| 10 | FW | ISL | Heiðar Helguson |
| 11 | FW | POR | Luís Boa Morte |
| 13 | FW | CAN | Tomasz Radzinski |
| 14 | MF | SEN | Papa Bouba Diop |
| 15 | FW | NED | Collins John |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | GK | POR | Ricardo Batista |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Liam Rosenior |
| 18 | MF | AUS | Ahmad Elrich |
| 19 | DF | FRA | Philippe Christanval |
| 20 | FW | USA | Brian McBride |
| 22 | DF | ENG | Dean Leacock |
| 23 | MF | IRL | Michael Timlin |
| 24 | DF | FRA | Alain Goma |
| 27 | MF | NZL | Simon Elliott |
| 29 | GK | FIN | Antti Niemi |
| 30 | GK | TRI | Tony Warner |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Wayne Bridge (on loan from Chelsea) |
| 33 | DF | DEN | Niclas Jensen |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Ian Pearce |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | GHA | Elvis Hammond (to Leicester City) |
| 21 | DF | PAK | Zesh Rehman (on loan to Norwich City) |
| 25 | GK | CZE | Jaroslav Drobný (on loan to ADO Den Haag) |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Adam Green (on loan to Bristol City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Liam Fontaine (on loan to Bristol City) |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Darren Pratley (on loan to Brentford) |
| — | FW | FRA | Steve Marlet (to VfL Wolfsburg) |
| — | FW | ARG | Facundo Sava (to Lorca) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 32 | MF | WAL | Matty Collins |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Neale McDermott |
| 36 | MF | ENG | Robert Milsom |
| — | DF | ENG | Kasali Yinka Casal |
| — | DF | ENG | Elliot Omozusi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | TJ Moncur |
| — | DF | ENG | Robbie Watkins |
| — | MF | NZL | Chris James |
| — | FW | FRA | Ismael Ehui |

## Statistics
### Starting 11

    Considering starts in all competitions
* GK: #30, Tony Warner, 18
* RB: #2, Moritz Volz, 23
* CB: #6, Zat Knight, 31
* CB: #3, Carlos Bocanegra, 20
* LB: #17, Liam Rosenior, 25
* RM: #13, Tomasz Radzinski, 24
* CM: #4, Steed Malbranque, 33
* CM: 14, Papa Bouba Diop, 21
* LM: #11, Luís Boa Morte, 37
* CF: #20, Brian McBride, 34
* CF: #15, Collins John, 18

## Transfers
### Summer
#### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 27 June 2005 | FW | Heiðar Helguson | Watford | £1,300,000 |
| 17 July 2005 | DF | Niclas Jensen | Borussia Dortmund | Undisclosed |
| 11 Aug 2005 | GK | Tony Warner | Cardiff City | Six-month loan |
| 8 Sep 2005 | DF | Philippe Christanval | Marseille | Free |

#### Out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| 13 July 2005 | DF | Alex Lawless | Torquay | Free |
| 20 July 2005 | FW | Andy Cole | Manchester City | Free |
| 1 August 2005 | DF | Abdeslam Ouaddou | Lens | Undisclosed |
| 1 August 2005 | GK | Ross Flitney | Barnet | Free |
| 2 August 2005 | MF | Lee Clark | Newcastle | Free |
| 31 August 2005 | FW | Elvis Hammond | Leicester City | £225,000 |
| 31 August 2005 | FW | Stuart Noble | East Fife | Undisclosed |

### Winter
#### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 5 January 2006 | GK | Tony Warner | Cardiff City | Undisclosed |
| 6 January 2006 | MF | Simon Elliott | Columbus Crew | Free |
| 10 January 2006 | GK | Antti Niemi | Southampton | Undisclosed |
| 19 January 2006 | DF | Wayne Bridge | Chelsea | Loan (until 8 May 2006) |
| 31 January 2006 | MF | Michael Brown | Tottenham Hotspur | Undisclosed |

### Out on loan

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Return Date |
| 5 August 2005 | FW | Elvis Hammond | Leicester City | 30 August 2005 |
| 30 August 2005 | MF | Darren Pratley | Brentford | 15 May 2006 |
| 31 August 2005 | MF | Neale McDermott | Swindon Town | 2 February 2006 |
| 20 January 2006 | DF | Adam Green | Bristol City | 20 April 2006 |
| 21 January 2006 | DF | Robert Watkins | Ebbsfleet United | 1 May 2006 |
| 31 January 2006 | DF | Zesh Rehman | Norwich City | 1 May 2006 |
| 24 February 2006 | MF | Michael Timlin | Scunthorpe United | 11 March 2006 |
| 24 February 2006 | FW | Ismael Ehui | Scunthorpe United | 26 March 2006 |

## Competitions
### Overall

* Premier League:12th
* League Cup:3rd Round
* FA Cup:3rd Round

### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 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 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 7 May 2006. Source: Barclays Premier League

#### Results By Round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | L | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 10 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 |

## Matches
### Premier League

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| 1 | 13 August 2005 | Birmingham City | H | 0–0 | 16,550 | | Report |
| 2 | 20 August 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 16,953 | McBride | Report |
| 3 | 24 August 2005 | Arsenal | A | 1–4 | 37,867 | Jensen | Report |
| 4 | 27 August 2005 | Everton | H | 1–0 | 17,169 | McBride | Report |
| 5 | 10 September 2005 | Newcastle United | A | 1–1 | 52,208 | McBride | Report |
| 6 | 17 September 2005 | West Ham United | H | 1–2 | 21,907 | Boa Morte | Report |
| 7 | 26 September 2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 35,427 | | Report |
| 8 | 1 October 2005 | Manchester United | H | 2–3 | 21,862 | Jensen, John | Report |
| 9 | 17 October 2005 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–1 | 26,310 | John | Report |
| 10 | 22 October 2005 | Liverpool | H | 2–0 | 22,480 | John, Boa Morte | Report |
| 11 | 29 October 2005 | Wigan Athletic | A | 0–1 | 17,266 | | Report |
| 12 | 5 November 2005 | Manchester City | H | 2–1 | 22,241 | Malbranque (2) | Report |
| 13 | 20 November 2005 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–3 | 27,599 | John, Bouba Diop | Report |
| 14 | 27 November 2005 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 19,768 | McBride (2) | Report |
| 15 | 3 December 2005 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–0 | 23,144 | | Report |
| 16 | 10 December 2005 | Birmingham City | A | 0–1 | 27,597 | | Report |
| 17 | 17 December 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–1 | 20,138 | Bouba Diop, Boa Morte | Report |
| 18 | 26 December 2005 | Chelsea | A | 2–3 | 42,313 | Boa Morte, Helguson | Report |
| 19 | 28 December 2005 | Aston Villa | H | 3–3 | 20,446 | McBride (2), Helguson | Report |
| 20 | 31 December 2005 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 19,101 | | Report |
| 21 | 2 January 2006 | Sunderland | H | 2–1 | 19,372 | John (2) | Report |
| 22 | 14 January 2006 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 21,974 | Malbranque | Report |
| 23 | 23 January 2006 | West Ham United | A | 1–2 | 29,812 | Helguson | Report |
| 24 | 31 January 2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | 21,081 | Bocanegra | Report |
| 25 | 4 February 2006 | Manchester United | A | 2–4 | 67,844 | Helguson, McBride | Report |
| 26 | 11 February 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 6–1 | 21,508 | Helguson (2), Radzinski, John (2), Davies (o.g.) | Report |
| 27 | 26 February 2006 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 23,104 | Helguson | Report |
| 28 | 4 March 2006 | Arsenal | H | 0–4 | 22,397 | | Report |
| 29 | 11 March 2006 | Everton | A | 1–3 | 36,515 | John | Report |
| 30 | 15 March 2006 | Liverpool | A | 1–5 | 42,293 | John | Report |
| 31 | 19 March 2006 | Chelsea | H | 1–0 | 22,486 | Boa Morte | Report |
| 32 | 25 March 2006 | Aston Villa | A | 0–0 | 32,605 | | Report |
| 33 | 1 April 2006 | Portsmouth | H | 1–3 | 22,322 | Malbranque | Report |
| 34 | 15 April 2006 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–1 | 19,146 | Boa Morte (2) | Report |
| 35 | 24 April 2006 | Wigan Athletic | H | 1–0 | 17,164 | Malbranque | Report |
| 36 | 29 April 2006 | Manchester City | A | 2–1 | 41,128 | Malbranque, John | Report |
| 37 | 4 May 2006 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 28,226 | Radzinski | Report |
| 38 | 7 May 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | 22,434 | Helguson | Report |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| R3 | 8 January 2006 | Leyton Orient | H | 1–2 | 13,394 | John | Report |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| R2 | 21 September 2005 | Lincoln City | H | 5–4 | 5,365 | Rehman, Helguson, Rosenior, Radzinski, McBride | Report |
| R3 | 25 October 2005 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–3 | 7,373 | Helguson, Boa Morte | Report |