# 2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season

The 2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season was the club's inaugural season in the Australian A-League. Picking up just one win and three draws out of the 21 regular season matches, the Knights finished at the bottom of the table, 20 points behind 7th placed Melbourne Victory.

## Season overview

In their debut season, the Knights scored only 15 goals in their 21 fixtures. Their joint leading scorers were Englishman Simon Yeo and teenage whizkid Jeremy Brockie, with four apiece. Sean Devine scored three goals, while Joshua Rose, Jeremy Christie, Neil Emblen and Xiaobin Zhang all managed to find the back of the net once. Former Walsall right-back Darren Bazeley was the only Knight to start in all 21 of their games.
The club was plunged into turmoil in late 2005, as club captain Danny Hay apparently fell out with Knights bosses and coach John Adshead, and was released just before Christmas. This followed the departures of UK signings Ronnie Bull and former Lincoln City striker Simon Yeo.
The Knights may have had poor crowds in their inaugural A-League season but they did have loyal support from their supporters group, Bloc-5. Supporters who formerly supported the now-defunct Football Kingz franchise, are known for dressing up in the team's colours, chanting loudly and attending all home fixtures.
Immediately after the season, the Knights fired assistant coach Tommy Mason. Former Fulham reserve team and academy head coach Paul Nevin was named head coach to assist current manager John Adshead as Mason's replacement.
One positive to come out of the Knights' horrific debut season was 17-year-old New Zealander Jeremy Brockie. The dreadlocked midfielder-cum-striker was originally selected as one of the Knights three under-20 players in their squad. By the end of the season though, he had become a regular starter, scoring a brilliant double at home against the Newcastle Jets. This was followed up by a fantastic strike to earn a draw with Sydney FC, and a goal in the Knights' final game of the season, versus Melbourne Victory.

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From |
| 7 March 2005 | DF | Frank van Eijs | Hà Nội F.C. |
| 7 March 2005 | DF | John Tambouras | Free agent |
| 14 April 2005 | FW | Sean Devine | Exeter City |
| 14 April 2005 | MF | Neil Emblen | Walsall |
| 14 April 2005 | MF | Steve Fitzsimmons | Free agent |
| 14 April 2005 | FW | Naoki Imaya | Blacktown City Demons |
| 14 April 2005 | MF | Josh Maguire | Blacktown City Demons |
| 14 April 2005 | GK | Glen Moss | Bonnyrigg White Eagles |
| 5 May 2005 | MF | Zenon Caravella | Sydney Olympic |
| 27 May 2005 | FW | Jeremy Brockie | Canterbury United |
| 27 May 2005 | DF | Cole Tinkler | Free agent |
| 1 June 2005 | MF | Ben Collett | Manchester United |
| 1 June 2005 | FW | Simon Yeo | Lincoln City |
| 1 June 2005 | FW | Xiaobin Zhang | Free agent |
| 21 June 2005 | FW | Kris Bright | Waitakere City |
| 21 June 2005 | DF | Ronnie Bull | Grimsby Town |
| 21 June 2005 | MF | Jeremy Christie | Free agent |
| 21 June 2005 | MF | Sam Jasper | North Shore United |
| 21 June 2005 | DF | Joshua Rose | Free agent |

### Transfers out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To |
| 6 November 2005 | DF | Ronnie Bull | Released |
| 17 December 2005 | FW | Simon Yeo | Lincoln City |
| 23 December 2006 | DF | Danny Hay | Released |
| 25 January 2006 | MF | Steve Fitzsimmons | Released |

## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | A-League | A-League | Pre-Season Cup | Pre-Season Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Danny Milosevic | 16 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Darren Bazeley | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Ronnie Bull | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | AUS | John Tambouras | 21 | 0 | 15+3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NZL | Danny Hay | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Neil Emblen | 16 | 1 | 11+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | AUS | Steve Fitzsimmons | 14 | 1 | 8+3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ben Collett | 21 | 0 | 15+3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Simon Yeo | 12 | 5 | 10+1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | IRL | Sean Devine | 20 | 3 | 13+4 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Zenon Caravella | 21 | 0 | 20+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | NZL | Cole Tinkler | 13 | 0 | 9+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | NZL | Jeremy Brockie | 14 | 4 | 9+3 | 4 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | AUS | Josh Maguire | 14 | 0 | 7+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Joshua Rose | 15 | 1 | 10+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | NZL | Noah Hickey | 19 | 0 | 12+5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | NED | Frank van Eijs | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | CHN | Xiaobin Zhang | 15 | 1 | 2+10 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Naoki Imaya | 10 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | NZL | Glen Moss | 10 | 0 | 7+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | NZL | Jeremy Christie | 10 | 1 | 8+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | NZL | Sam Jasper | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | NZL | Kris Bright | 12 | 0 | 9+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | NZL | Roy Bell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Competitions
### Pre-season

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 24 July 2005 | Sydney FC | Away | 1-3 | Fitzsimmons | 8,714 |
| 30 July 2005 | Queensland Roar | Home | 0-5 | | 3,397 |
| 6 August 2005 | Central Coast Mariners | Home | 0-1 | | 2,269 |

### A-League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Adelaide United | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 25 | +8 | 43 | Qualification for 2007 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Sydney FC (C) | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 36 | Qualification for 2007 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 32 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Newcastle Jets | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 31 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 29 | |
| 6 | Queensland Roar | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 22 | +5 | 28 | |
| 7 | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 26 | |
| 8 | New Zealand Knights | 21 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 47 | −32 | 6 | |
* ↑ New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Position |
| 28 August 2005 | Queensland Roar | Away | 0-2 | | 20,725 | 8 |
| 2 September 2005 | Sydney FC | Home | 1-3 | Rose | 9,827 | 8 |
| 10 September 2005 | Central Coast Mariners | Away | 2-0 | Yeo, Devine | 5,261 | 7 |
| 18 September 2005 | Newcastle Jets | Away | 0-4 | | 7,495 | 8 |
| 22 September 2005 | Perth Glory | Home | 0-1 | | 4,138 | 8 |
| 2 October 2005 | Adelaide United | Home | 1-2 | Yeo | 3,558 | 8 |
| 10 October 2005 | Melbourne Victory | Away | 0-3 | | 11,010 | 8 |
| 16 October 2005 | Queensland Roar | Home | 0-2 | | 4,182 | 8 |
| 21 October 2005 | Sydney FC | Away | 0-2 | | 11,836 | 8 |
| 29 October 2005 | Central Coast Mariners | Home | 1-3 | Yeo | 2,583 | 8 |
| 4 November 2005 | Newcastle Jets | Home | 2-4 | Brockie (2) | 2,561 | 8 |
| 11 November 2005 | Perth Glory | Away | 0-3 | | 9,667 | 8 |
| 20 November 2005 | Adelaide United | Away | 0-1 | | 9,676 | 8 |
| 26 November 2005 | Melbourne Victory | Home | 2-3 | Christie, Devine | 1,922 | 8 |
| 1 December 2005 | Queensland Roar | Away | 1-1 | Yeo | 8,607 | 8 |
| 30 December 2005 | Sydney FC | Home | 2-2 | Devine, Brockie | 4,212 | 8 |
| 8 January 2006 | Central Coast Mariners | Away | 0-1 | | 7,257 | 8 |
| 13 January 2006 | Newcastle Jets | Away | 0-3 | | 6,862 | 8 |
| 19 January 2006 | Perth Glory | Home | 1-4 | Emblen | 3,024 | 8 |
| 28 January 2006 | Adelaide United | Home | 1-1 | Zhang | 3,079 | 8 |
| 4 February 2006 | Melbourne Victory | Away | 1-2 | Brockie | 10,078 | 8 |