# 2005–06 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

During the 2005–06 season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the FA Premier League.

## Season summary

Despite attaining FA Premier League survival on the final day of the previous season, this time West Brom were unable to repeat their "great escape" and were relegated to the Championship. West Brom had spent much of the season just ahead of the relegation zone, but Portsmouth's late run of good form – in addition to West Brom failing to win any of their final 13 fixtures – dragged the Midlanders into the relegation places.

## Kit

West Brom retained their kit manufacturing agreement with Diadora, who introduced a new kit for the season. T-Mobile remained the kit sponsors.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 42 | 55 | −13 | 42 | |
| 17 | Portsmouth | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 37 | 62 | −25 | 38 | |
| 18 | Birmingham City (R) | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 34 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion (R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 58 | −27 | 30 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |
| 20 | Sunderland (R) | 38 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 26 | 69 | −43 | 15 | Relegation to the Football League Championship |

## Results

West Bromwich Albion's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 2005 | Manchester City | A | 0–0 | 42,983 | |
| 20 August 2005 | Portsmouth | H | 2–1 | 24,404 | Horsfield (2) |
| 24 August 2005 | Chelsea | A | 0–4 | 41,201 | |
| 27 August 2005 | Birmingham City | H | 2–3 | 23,993 (2,353) | Horsfield (2) |
| 10 September 2005 | Wigan Athletic | H | 1–2 | 25,617 | Greening |
| 17 September 2005 | Sunderland | A | 1–1 | 31,657 (1,809) | Gera |
| 24 September 2005 | Charlton Athletic | H | 1–2 | 23,909 | Davies |
| 1 October 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–2 | 20,721 | |
| 15 October 2005 | Arsenal | H | 2–1 | 26,604 (2,600) | Kanu, Carter |
| 23 October 2005 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–2 | 24,151 | |
| 30 October 2005 | Newcastle United | H | 0–3 | 26,216 | |
| 5 November 2005 | West Ham United | A | 0–1 | 34,325 (2,621) | |
| 19 November 2005 | Everton | H | 4–0 | 24,784 (2,595) | Ellington (2, 1 pen), Clement, Earnshaw |
| 27 November 2005 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–2 | 27,041 (1,020) | Ellington, Kanu |
| 3 December 2005 | Fulham | H | 0–0 | 23,144 | |
| 10 December 2005 | Manchester City | H | 2–0 | 25,472 (2,599) | Kamara, Campbell |
| 17 December 2005 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 20,052 | |
| 26 December 2005 | Manchester United | A | 0–3 | 67,972 | |
| 28 December 2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | 27,510 (2,600) | Kanu (2) |
| 31 December 2005 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 44,192 (1,736) | |
| 2 January 2006 | Aston Villa | H | 1–2 | 27,073 (2,600) | Watson |
| 15 January 2006 | Wigan Athletic | A | 1–0 | 17,421 (3,316) | Albrechtsen |
| 21 January 2006 | Sunderland | H | 0–1 | 26,464 (1,585) | |
| 31 January 2006 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–0 | 25,921 | |
| 4 February 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–0 | 23,993 (838) | Campbell, Greening |
| 11 February 2006 | Fulham | A | 1–6 | 21,508 (3,300) | Campbell |
| 26 February 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–2 | 24,061 | |
| 4 March 2006 | Chelsea | H | 1–2 | 26,581 (2,600) | Kanu |
| 11 March 2006 | Birmingham City | A | 1–1 | 28,041 (2,694) | Ellington |
| 18 March 2006 | Manchester United | H | 1–2 | 27,623 (2,599) | Ellington |
| 27 March 2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–2 | 36,152 | Davies |
| 1 April 2006 | Liverpool | H | 0–2 | 27,576 (2,598) | |
| 9 April 2006 | Aston Villa | A | 0–0 | 33,303 | |
| 15 April 2006 | Arsenal | A | 1–3 | 38,167 (2,900) | Quashie |
| 17 April 2006 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 23,181 | |
| 22 April 2006 | Newcastle United | A | 0–3 | 52,272 | |
| 1 May 2006 | West Ham United | H | 0–1 | 24,462 (2,308) | |
| 7 May 2006 | Everton | A | 2–2 | 39,671 | Gera, Martínez |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 7 January 2006 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 19,197 | Gera (pen.) |
| R3R | 17 January 2006 | Reading | A | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | 16,737 (1,487) | Chaplow (2) |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 20 September 2005 | Bradford City | H | 4–1 | 10,792 | Ellington (2), Kamara, Earnshaw |
| R3 | 25 October 2005 | Fulham | A | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | 7,373 (688) | Earnshaw, Kanu, Inamoto |
| R4 | 30 November 2005 | Manchester United | A | 1–3 | 48,924 | Ellington |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Russell Hoult |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Paul Robinson |
| 4 | DF | DEN | Thomas Gaardsøe |
| 5 | DF | URU | Williams Martínez (on loan from Defensor Sporting) |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Neil Clement |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Nigel Quashie |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Jonathan Greening |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Geoff Horsfield |
| 10 | MF | WAL | Andy Johnson |
| 11 | MF | HUN | Zoltán Gera |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Richard Chaplow |
| 13 | MF | SVK | Jan Kozak (on loan from Artmedia Bratislava) |
| 14 | DF | DEN | Martin Albrechtsen |
| 15 | FW | SEN | Diomansy Kamara |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Steve Watson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Darren Carter |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Curtis Davies |
| 20 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland (on loan from Liverpool) |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Kevin Campbell (captain) |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Nathan Ellington |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Ronnie Wallwork |
| 25 | FW | NGA | Nwankwo Kanu |
| 26 | MF | WAL | Rob Davies |
| 27 | FW | ENG | Rob Elvins |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Jared Hodgkiss |
| 29 | GK | POL | Tomasz Kuszczak |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Brian Smikle |
| 31 | FW | ENG | Stuart Nicholson |
| 32 | DF | ENG | Jeff Forsyth |
| 33 | MF | JPN | Junichi Inamoto |

### 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. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Riccardo Scimeca (to Cardiff City) |
| 5 | DF | JAM | Darren Moore (to Derby County) |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Lloyd Dyer (to Millwall) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | FW | WAL | Robert Earnshaw (to Norwich City) |
| — | MF | WAL | Jason Koumas (on loan to Cardiff City) |
| — | GK | IRL | Joe Murphy (to Sunderland) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 4 July 2005 | MF | Darren Carter | Birmingham City | £1,500,000 |
| 5 July 2005 | DF | Steve Watson | Everton | Free |
| 16 July 2005 | GK | Chris Kirkland | Liverpool | Loan |
| 28 July 2005 | FW | Diomansy Kamara | Modena | £1,500,000 |
| 13 August 2005 | FW | Nathan Ellington | Wigan Athletic | £3,000,000 |
| 31 August 2005 | DF | Curtis Davies | Luton Town | £3,000,000 |
| 20 January 2006 | MF | Jan Kozak | Artmedia Bratislava | Loan |
| 31 January 2006 | MF | Nigel Quashie | Southampton | £1,400.000 |

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 9 May 2005 | FW | Rob Hulse | Leeds United | £1,100,000 |
| 27 July 2005 | MF | Jason Koumas | Cardiff City | Loan |
| 26 September 2006 | MF | Lloyd Dyer | Queens Park Rangers | Loan |
| 26 January 2006 | DF | Darren Moore | Derby County | £500,000 |
| 27 January 2006 | MF | Lloyd Dyer | Millwall | Free |

## Statistics
### Starting 11

    Considering starts in all competitions
| No. | Pos. | Name | MS | Notes |
| 29 | GK | Tomasz Kuszczak | 30 | |
| 14 | RB | Martin Albrechtsen | 30 | |
| 19 | CB | Curtis Davies | 35 | |
| 6 | CB | Neil Clement | 32 | |
| 3 | LB | Paul Robinson | 36 | |
| 8 | RM | Jonathan Greening | 40 | |
| 16 | CM | Steve Watson | 29 | |
| 24 | CM | Ronnie Wallwork | 35 | |
| 33 | LM | Junichi Inamoto | 20 | |
| 15 | CF | Diomansy Kamara | 24 | Kevin Campbell has 19 starts |
| 22 | CF | Nathan Ellington | 19 | Nwankwo Kanu has 19 starts |