# 2005–06 Preston North End F.C. season

During the 2005–06 English football season, Preston North End F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.

## Season summary

In the 2005–06 season, Billy Davies and his assistant David Kelly were rewarded for their success with new and improved contracts in June 2005 and repaid the board's faith by leading Preston to the play-offs for the second year in succession. However, this time they were knocked out in the semi-final stage by Leeds United.
In June 2006, Davies left his post at Deepdale to become manager of Derby County.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 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 |

## Results

Preston North End's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Championship

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 6 August 2005 | Watford | A | 2–1 | 12,597 | Nugent, Etuhu |
| 8 August 2005 | Derby County | H | 1–1 | 13,127 | Nugent |
| 13 August 2005 | Reading | H | 0–3 | 13,154 | |
| 20 August 2005 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 20,519 | McKenna |
| 27 August 2005 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–0 | 12,461 | |
| 29 August 2005 | Ipswich Town | A | 4–0 | 22,551 | Nugent (2), Jones, Agyemang |
| 10 September 2005 | Millwall | A | 2–1 | 7,674 | Jones, Agyemang |
| 13 September 2005 | Burnley | H | 0–0 | 17,139 | |
| 16 September 2005 | Stoke City | H | 0–1 | 12,453 | |
| 24 September 2005 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–1 | 17,291 | Lucketti |
| 27 September 2005 | Luton Town | A | 0–3 | 7,815 | |
| 1 October 2005 | Southampton | H | 1–1 | 15,263 | Agyemang |
| 15 October 2005 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 13,660 | Mawéné |
| 18 October 2005 | Cardiff City | A | 2–2 | 9,574 | Mears, Sedgwick |
| 22 October 2005 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 22,802 | Etuhu |
| 29 October 2005 | Leicester City | H | 0–0 | 13,904 | |
| 1 November 2005 | Hull City | H | 3–0 | 13,536 | Johnson, Jones, McKenna |
| 5 November 2005 | Leeds United | A | 0–0 | 22,289 | |
| 19 November 2005 | Cardiff City | H | 2–1 | 13,904 | Sedgwick, Agyemang |
| 22 November 2005 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–0 | 10,901 | Nugent, Davidson |
| 26 November 2005 | Watford | H | 1–1 | 14,638 | Davidson |
| 3 December 2005 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 2–0 | 6,364 | Davidson, Nowland |
| 10 December 2005 | Derby County | A | 1–1 | 22,740 | Davis |
| 16 December 2005 | Sheffield United | H | 0–0 | 14,378 | |
| 26 December 2005 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–0 | 18,867 | |
| 31 December 2005 | Coventry City | H | 3–1 | 12,936 | Nowland, Alexander (pen), Sedgwick |
| 2 January 2006 | Norwich City | A | 3–0 | 25,032 | Nowland, Alexander (pen), Nugent |
| 14 January 2006 | Millwall | H | 2–0 | 14,165 | Agyemang, Davis |
| 21 January 2006 | Burnley | A | 2–0 | 17,220 | Nugent, Alexander (pen) |
| 31 January 2006 | Crystal Palace | H | 2–0 | 13,867 | Ormerod, O'Neil |
| 4 February 2006 | Stoke City | A | 0–0 | 13,218 | |
| 11 February 2006 | Luton Town | H | 5–1 | 15,237 | Neal, Nugent, Mears, Sedgwick (pen), Davis |
| 15 February 2006 | Southampton | A | 0–0 | 19,534 | |
| 25 February 2006 | Reading | A | 1–2 | 23,011 | Davidson |
| 7 March 2006 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 0–0 | 10,874 | |
| 11 March 2006 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–0 | 6,361 | |
| 14 March 2006 | Ipswich Town | H | 3–1 | 14,507 | Nugent (2), Agyemang |
| 18 March 2006 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 0–2 | 23,429 | |
| 25 March 2006 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 0–0 | 13,925 | |
| 28 March 2006 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–0 | 13,170 | Ormerod |
| 1 April 2006 | Coventry City | A | 1–0 | 21,023 | Whaley |
| 8 April 2006 | Norwich City | H | 2–0 | 15,714 | Shackell (own goal), Doherty (own goal) |
| 15 April 2006 | Leicester City | A | 2–1 | 21,865 | Whaley, Jarrett |
| 17 April 2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–0 | 16,885 | Neal, Ormerod |
| 22 April 2006 | Hull City | A | 1–1 | 19,716 | Whaley |
| 30 April 2006 | Leeds United | H | 2–0 | 19,350 | Stock, Ormerod |

### Football League Championship play-offs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| SF 1st leg | 5 May 2006 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | 35,239 | Nugent |
| SF 2nd leg | 8 May 2006 | Leeds United | H | 0–2 (lost 1–3 on agg) | 20,383 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 7 January 2006 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 2–1 | 8,380 | Alexander, Sedgwick |
| R4 | 28 January 2006 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–1 | 9,489 | O'Neil |
| R4R | 7 February 2006 | Crystal Palace | A | 2–1 | 7,356 | Dichio (2) |
| R5 | 19 February 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–2 | 19,877 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 23 August 2005 | Barnsley | H | 2–2 (lost 4–5 on pens) | 3,137 | Dichio, Alexander (pen) |

## 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 | Andy Lonergan |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Graham Alexander |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Callum Davidson |
| 4 | DF | JAM | Claude Davis |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Youl Mawéné |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Jason Jarrett (on loan from Norwich City) |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Chris Sedgwick |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Brian O'Neil |
| 9 | FW | GHA | Patrick Agyemang |
| 10 | FW | ENG | David Nugent |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Danny Dichio |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Gavin Ward |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Tyrone Mears |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Simon Whaley |
| 16 | MF | ENG | Paul McKenna |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Brett Ormerod |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Matt Hill |
| 19 | FW | NIR | Andy Smith |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Chris Lucketti |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Dave Hibbert |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Carlo Nash |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Lewis Neal |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Joe Anyinsah |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Adam Nowland |
| 26 | MF | WAL | Brian Stock |
| 27 | MF | IRL | Alan McCormack |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Kelvin Wilson |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Mark Jackson |
| 30 | GK | ENG | Chris Neal |
| 31 | FW | ENG | Marcus Stewart (on loan from Bristol City) |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Ashley Parillon |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Warren Beattie |
| 33 | GK | ENG | Nathan kerr |

### 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 |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Richard Cresswell (to Leeds United) |
| 33 | FW | USA | Jemal Johnson (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) |
| 6 | MF | ENG | David Jones (on loan from Manchester United) |
| 15 | MF | NGA | Dickson Etuhu (to Norwich City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 31 | DF | IRL | David Elebert (to Hamilton Academical) |
| 17 | MF | FRA | Eric Skora (to Kilmarnock) |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Michael Brown (to Lancaster City) |