# 2005–06 Charlton Athletic F.C. season

During the 2005–06 season, Charlton Athletic competed in the FA Premier League.

## Season summary

Charlton started the season well, coming third at the end of August, second at the end of September and fifth at the end of October, but fell away during the second half of the season to finish in the lower half of the table in thirteenth. At the end of the season, manager Alan Curbishley resigned after 15 years at the club - 10 as manager - amidst rumours the FA was going to approach him with an offer to manage the English national side (the job eventually went to Middlesbrough's Steve McLaren). Curbishley was replaced by Iain Dowie, who infamously left South London rivals Crystal Palace, claiming he wanted to be closer to his family in Bolton - only to join the Addicks.
Striker Darren Bent, signed from Championship side Ipswich Town, made a significant impact in his first full Premiership season, scoring 18 goals (22 in all competitions) to finish as the third highest scorer in the league and the highest scoring Englishman. Unfortunately for him his prolific scoring was not enough for him to make England's World Cup squad, with Arsenal's 17-year-old striker Theo Walcott a surprise inclusion ahead of him.

## Kit

After two seasons Charlton changed their home kit, although Spanish apparel manufacturers Joma remained the suppliers. During the season, however, kit sponsors all:sports went bankrupt; Charlton then signed a sponsorship deal with Spanish real estate company Llanera through to the end of the 2007–08 season.
For the club's centenary, in a match in October Charlton wore a special centenary kit with a white band down the left-hand side of the shirt and a red band down the left-hand side of the shorts.

## Final league table

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

### Results per matchday

| Matchday | 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 | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | L | D | D | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | L | L | L |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 |

## Results

Charlton Athletic's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 2005 | Sunderland | A | 3–1 | 34,446 | D Bent (2), Murphy |
| 20 August 2005 | Wigan Athletic | H | 1–0 | 23,453 | D Bent |
| 28 August 2005 | Middlesbrough | A | 3–0 | 26,206 | Rommedahl, Perry, D Bent |
| 10 September 2005 | Birmingham City | A | 1–0 | 26,846 | D Bent |
| 17 September 2005 | Chelsea | H | 0–2 | 27,111 | |
| 24 September 2005 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–1 | 23,909 | Murphy (2, 1 pen) |
| 1 October 2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–3 | 27,111 | D Bent (2) |
| 17 October 2005 | Fulham | H | 1–1 | 26,310 | Murphy |
| 22 October 2005 | Portsmouth | A | 2–1 | 19,030 | Ambrose, Rommedahl |
| 29 October 2005 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 26,175 | |
| 5 November 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–4 | 17,691 | Hughes |
| 19 November 2005 | Manchester United | H | 1–3 | 26,730 | Ambrose |
| 26 November 2005 | Aston Villa | A | 0–1 | 30,023 | |
| 4 December 2005 | Manchester City | H | 2–5 | 25,289 | D Bent, Bothroyd |
| 10 December 2005 | Sunderland | H | 2–0 | 26,065 | D Bent, Ambrose |
| 17 December 2005 | Wigan Athletic | A | 0–3 | 17,074 | |
| 26 December 2005 | Arsenal | H | 0–1 | 27,111 | |
| 31 December 2005 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | 25,952 | Bartlett, D Bent |
| 2 January 2006 | Everton | A | 1–3 | 34,333 | Holland |
| 14 January 2006 | Birmingham City | H | 2–0 | 26,312 | Hughes, D Bent |
| 22 January 2006 | Chelsea | A | 1–1 | 41,355 | M Bent |
| 31 January 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–0 | 25,921 | |
| 5 February 2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–3 | 36,034 | Thomas |
| 8 February 2006 | Liverpool | H | 2–0 | 27,111 | D Bent (pen), Young |
| 12 February 2006 | Manchester City | A | 2–3 | 41,347 | D Bent, M Bent |
| 22 February 2006 | Newcastle United | A | 0–0 | 20,206 | |
| 25 February 2006 | Aston Villa | H | 0–0 | 26,594 | |
| 4 March 2006 | Liverpool | A | 0–0 | 43,892 | |
| 12 March 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 2–1 | 24,830 | D Bent (2) |
| 18 March 2006 | Arsenal | A | 0–3 | 38,223 | |
| 26 March 2006 | Newcastle United | H | 3–1 | 27,019 | D Bent (pen), Bowyer (own goal), Bothroyd |
| 2 April 2006 | West Ham United | A | 0–0 | 34,753 | |
| 8 April 2006 | Everton | H | 0–0 | 26,954 | |
| 15 April 2006 | Fulham | A | 1–2 | 19,146 | Euell |
| 17 April 2006 | Portsmouth | H | 2–1 | 25,419 | Hughes, D Bent |
| 22 April 2006 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–4 | 24,713 | D Bent (pen) |
| 29 April 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–2 | 26,254 | |
| 7 May 2006 | Manchester United | A | 0–4 | 73,006 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 7 January 2006 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 4–2 | 14,851 | Rommedahl (2), Holland, D Bent |
| R4 | 28 January 2006 | Leyton Orient | H | 2–1 | 22,029 | Fortune, Bothroyd |
| R5 | 18 February 2006 | Brentford | H | 3–1 | 22,098 | D Bent, Bothroyd, Hughes |
| QF | 23 March 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–0 | 24,187 | |
| QFR | 12 April 2006 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–4 | 30,248 | Hughes, Southgate (own goal) |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 20 September 2005 | Hartlepool United | H | 3–1 | 10,328 | Johansson (pen), D Bent, Bothroyd |
| R3 | 26 October 2005 | Chelsea | A | 2–3 (won 5–4 on pens) | 42,198 | D Bent |
| R4 | 30 November 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–3 | 14,093 | Ambrose, Murphy |

## 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 |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Luke Young |
| 3 | DF | ISL | Hermann Hreidarsson |
| 4 | DF | URU | Gonzalo Sorondo (on loan from Inter Milan) |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Chris Perry |
| 6 | FW | ENG | Marcus Bent |
| 7 | DF | BUL | Radostin Kishishev |
| 8 | MF | IRL | Matt Holland (captain) |
| 9 | FW | JAM | Jason Euell |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Darren Bent |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Francis Jeffers |
| 12 | FW | JAM | Kevin Lisbie |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Jerome Thomas |
| 16 | GK | DEN | Stephan Andersen |
| 17 | FW | RSA | Shaun Bartlett |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Darren Ambrose |
| 19 | MF | DEN | Dennis Rommedahl |
| 20 | MF | ENG | Bryan Hughes |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | DF | ENG | Chris Powell |
| 23 | DF | USA | Jonathan Spector (on loan from Manchester United) |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Jonathan Fortune |
| 26 | DF | CTA | Kelly Youga |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Osei Sankofa |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Lloyd Sam |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Mark Ricketts |
| 31 | FW | ENG | Alex Varney |
| 32 | DF | ENG | Barry Fuller |
| 33 | GK | IRL | Darren Randolph |
| 34 | FW | ENG | James Walker |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Nathan Ashton |
| 36 | GK | NOR | Thomas Myhre |
| 37 | DF | POR | Gonçalo Brandão (on loan from Belenenses) |
| 38 | FW | ENG | Jay Bothroyd |
| 39 | MF | ISL | Rúrik Gíslason |

### 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 |
| 1 | GK | IRL | Dean Kiely (to Portsmouth) |
| 6 | DF | RSA | Mark Fish (retired) |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Francis Jeffers (on loan to Rangers) |
| 13 | MF | ENG | Danny Murphy (to Tottenham Hotspur) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | MAR | Talal El Karkouri (on loan to Al Gharafa) |
| 21 | FW | FIN | Jonatan Johansson (on loan to Norwich City) |
| 25 | MF | RUS | Alexey Smertin (on loan from Chelsea) |
| 27 | GK | IRL | Rob Elliot (on loan to Accrington Stanley) |

## Transfers In
### Summer

| Date | Position | Player | Club From | Fee |
| 1 June 2005 | FW | Darren Bent | Ipswich Town | £2,500,000 |
| 1 July 2005 | DF | Kelly Youga | Lyon | Free |
| 8 July 2005 | MF | Darren Ambrose | Newcastle United | Undisclosed |
| 11 July 2005 | DF | Jonathan Spector | Manchester United | Loan |
| 11 July 2005 | DF | Chris Powell | West Ham United | Free |
| 14 July 2005 | DF | Gonzalo Sorondo | Inter Milan | Loan |
| 15 July 2005 | MF | Alexei Smertin | Chelsea | Loan (ended 15 March 2006) |
| 8 August 2005 | GK | Thomas Myhre | Fredrikstad | Free |
| 8 August 2005 | DF | Gonçalo Brandão | Belenenses | Loan |
| 31 August 2005 | FW | Jay Bothroyd | Perugia | Free |
| 31 August 2005 | MF | Rurik Gisalson | HK Kópavogur | £180,000 |

### Winter

| Date | Position | Player | Club From | Fee |
| 17 January 2006 | FW | Marcus Bent | Everton | |

## Transfers Out
### Summer

| Date | Position | Player | Club To | Fee |
| 5 July 2005 | DF | Paul Konchesky | West Ham United | £1,500,000 |
| 5 August 2005 | MF | Stacy Long | Notts County | Free |
| 8 August 2005 | DF | Mark Fish | Ipswich Town | One-Month Loan |
| 31 August 2005 | FW | Francis Jeffers | Rangers | Six-Month Loan |
| 9 September 2005 | FW | Kevin Lisbie | Norwich City | One-Month Loan |
| 27 September 2005 | DF | Osei Sankofa | Bristol City | One-Month Loan (extended 1 November) |

### Winter

| Date | Position | Player | Club To | Fee |
| 25 January 2006 | GK | Dean Kiely | Portsmouth | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2006 | MF | Danny Murphy | Tottenham Hotspur | £2,000,000 |
| 31 January 2006 | FW | Jonatan Johansson | Norwich City | Loan |
| 22 February 2006 | FW | Kevin Lisbie | Derby County | One-Month Loan |

## Statistics
### Starting 11

    Considering starts in all competitions
* GK: #36, Thomas Myhre, 26
* RB: #2, Luke Young, 38
* CB: #6, Chris Perry, 30
* CB: #3, Hermann Hreidarsson, 42
* LB: #22, Chris Powell, 32
* RM: #19, Dennis Rommedahl, 22
* CM: #8, Matt Holland, 26
* CM: #7, Radostin Kishishev, 40
* CM: #20, Bryan Hughes, 28
* LM: #18, Darren Ambrose, 22
* CF: #10, , Darren Bent, 43

## Awards

* August Premier League Player of the Month: Darren Bent
* September Premier League Player of the Month: Danny Murphy