# 2005–06 Celtic F.C. season

Celtic started the season 2005–06 looking to win the Scottish Premier League trophy and retain the Scottish Cup. They competed in the Scottish League Cup, and entered the Champions League at the qualification stage.
Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the third round by Clyde, losing 2–1. They won the Scottish League Cup with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Dunfermline on 19 March 2006, while the league was regained after a 1–0 win over Hearts. Rival managers were quick to praise the manner in which Celtic had regained the SPL title.

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | POL | Artur Boruc | 40 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Paul Telfer | 42 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | GUI | Mo Camara | 23 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Adam Virgo | 12 | 0 | 3+7 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | CHN | Du Wei | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | GUI | Dianbobo Balde | 33 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | POL | Maciej Żurawski | 30 | 20 | 22+2 | 16 | 0+1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Alan Thompson | 19 | 3 | 11+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Sutton | 10 | 2 | 7+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Dion Dublin (from January) | 12 | 2 | 3+8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | WAL | John Hartson | 41 | 20 | 29+6 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | SCO | Stephen Pearson | 20 | 2 | 2+16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | SCO | Mark Wilson | 15 | 0 | 14+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | FRA | Jérémie Aliadière | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | IRL | Roy Keane | 13 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | FRA | Didier Agathe | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | NIR | Neil Lennon | 38 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | BUL | Stiliyan Petrov | 43 | 10 | 36+1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | SCO | David Marshall | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | SVK | Stanislav Varga | 13 | 1 | 9+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Shunsuke Nakamura | 38 | 6 | 30+3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | SCO | Shaun Maloney | 43 | 16 | 27+9 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | SCO | Ross Wallace | 14 | 0 | 8+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | SCO | Paul Lawson | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | SCO | Craig Beattie | 15 | 7 | 7+6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 |
| 42 | FW | SCO | Michael McGlinchey | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | SCO | Stephen McManus | 42 | 8 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 46 | MF | IRL | Aiden McGeady | 24 | 4 | 11+9 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |

### Goal scorers

| R | Player | Scottish Premier League | Scottish League Cup | Scottish Cup | UEFA Champions League | Total |
| 1 | Maciej Żurawski | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| 1 | John Hartson | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| 2 | Shaun Maloney | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 3 | Stiliyan Petrov | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Stephen McManus | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Craig Beattie | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Shunsuke Nakamura | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | Aiden McGeady | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Alan Thompson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Chris Sutton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Stephen Pearson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Dion Dublin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Bobo Balde | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Paul Telfer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Roy Keane | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Neil Lennon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Stanislav Varga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 93 | 37 | +56 | 91 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 71 | 31 | +40 | 74 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Rangers | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 67 | 37 | +30 | 73 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Hibernian | 38 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 61 | 56 | +5 | 56 | Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round |
| 5 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 63 | 64 | −1 | 55 | |
* ↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
* ↑ Hibernian qualified for the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup by being the highest place applicant for the competition.

## Technical staff

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Gordon Strachan |
| Assistant Manager | Gary Pendrey |
| First Team Coach | Tommy Burns |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Jim Blyth |
| Head of Youth Academy | Tommy Burns |
| Head of Recruitment | Tom O'Neil |
| Head Physiotherapist | Tim Williamson |
| Physiotherapist | Gavin McCarthy |
| Doctor | Roddy MacDonald |
| Head of Sports Science | Kenny McMillan |
| Performance Coach | Jim Henry |
Last updated: 12 June 2017 Source:

## Transfers

In :
| Player | From | Fee |
| Mohammed Camara | Burnley | Free |
| Jérémie Aliadière | Arsenal | Loan |
| Maciej Żurawski | Wisła Kraków | £2,500,000 |
| Artur Boruc | Legia Warsaw | Loan |
| Adam Virgo | Brighton & Hove Albion | £1,500,000 |
| Paul Telfer | Southampton | £200,000 |
| Shunsuke Nakamura | Reggina | £2,500,000 |
| Du Wei | Shanghai Shenhua | Loan |
| Artur Boruc | Legia Warsaw | £750,000 |
| Mark Wilson | Dundee United | £500,000 |
| Roy Keane | Manchester United | Free |
| Dion Dublin | Leicester City | Free |
Out :
| Player | From | Fee |
| Du Wei | Shanghai Shenhua | End of loan |
| Chris Sutton | Birmingham City | Free |
| David Fernández | Dundee United | Free |
| Jackie McNamara | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Free |
| Stéphane Henchoz | Wigan Athletic | Free |
| Robert Douglas | Leicester City | Free |
| Mohammed Sylla | Leicester City | Free |
| Paul Lambert | Livingston | Free |
| Joos Valgaeren | Club Brugge | Free |
| Ulrik Laursen | Odense BK | Free |
| Magnus Hedman | Chelsea | Free |
    Total spending: £7.6 million
    Total income: £0