2005–06 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 2005–06 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 103rd season in the English football league system and their fourth in the Premier League. Under the management of Steve Bruce, they finished in 18th position in the 20-team division, so were relegated to the Championship for 2006–07. They entered the 2005–06 FA Cup at the third round and progressed to the sixth round (quarter-final), in which they suffered their heaviest ever FA Cup defeat, and their heaviest defeat at St Andrew's in any competition, losing 7–0 at home to Liverpool.^[2] They also reached the quarter-final of the League Cup, in which they were eliminated by Manchester United.

Birmingham City F.C.

2005–06 season
Chairman	David Gold
Manager	Steve Bruce
Ground	St Andrew's
Premier League	18th (relegated)
FA Cup	Sixth round (eliminated by Liverpool)
League Cup	Quarter-final (eliminated by Manchester United)
Top goalscorer	League: Jiří Jarošík (5) All: Mikael Forssell, Jiří Jarošík (8)
Highest home attendance	29,257 vs Sunderland, 25 February 2006
Lowest home attendance	16.644 vs Reading, League Cup 4th round replay, 7 February 2006
Average home league attendance	27,392[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Jiří Jarošík was top scorer in league competition, with just five goals. If all competitions are included, Jarošík and fellow loanee Mikael Forssell scored eight apiece.

Pre-season

Pre-season friendlies

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
13 July 2005	Egersunds IK	A	W	2–0	Gray 44', Kuqi 70'		[3]
16 July 2005	Viking Stavanger	A	W	1–0	Pennant 43'		[4]
19 July 2005	Brann Bergen	A	L	0–4			[5]
23 July 2005	Derby County	A	W	4–0	Forssell 33', Heskey (2) 43' 55', Kuqi 90'		[6]
27 July 2005	Northampton Town	A	L	0–1			[7]
30 July 2005	QPR	A	L	1–2	Pennant 90' (pen)		[8]
30 July 2005	Peterborough United	A	L	1–2	Morrison 35'		[8]
6 August 2005	Deportivo La Coruna 'B'1	A	W	1–0	Forssell (pen)		[9]
6 August 2005	Deportivo La Coruna 'A'1	A	L	0–2			[9]

• Note 1: Each match was 45 minutes long as part of a short three-team tournament in Spain

Premier League

Main article: 2005–06 FA Premier League

Match details

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
11 August 2005	7th	Fulham	A	D	0–0		16,550	[10]
20 August 2005	13th	Manchester City	H	L	1–2	Butt 7'	26,366	[10]
23 August 2005	18th	Middlesbrough	H	L	0–3		27,998	[10]
27 August 2005	13th	West Bromwich Albion	A	W	3–2	Heskey 10', 33', Jarošík 26'	23,993	[10]
10 September 2005	16th	Charlton Athletic	H	L	0–1		26,846	[10]
17 September 2005	15th	Portsmouth	A	D	1–1	Jarošík 6'	19,319	[10]
24 September 2005	14th	Liverpool	H	D	2–2	Warnock 72' o.g., Pandiani 75'	27,733	[10]
2 October 2005	15th	Arsenal	A	L	0–1		37,891	[10]
16 October 2005	17th	Aston Villa	H	L	0–1		29,312	[10]
22 October 2005	18th	Blackburn Rovers	A	L	0–2		18,341	[10]
29 October 2005	19th	Everton	H	L	0–1		26,554	[10]
5 November 2005	19th	Newcastle United	A	L	0–1		52,191	[10]
26 November 2005	19th	Sunderland	A	W	1–0	Gray 68'	32,442	[10]
5 December 2005	19th	West Ham United	H	L	1–2	Heskey 11'	24,010	[10]
10 December 2005	18th	Fulham	H	W	1–0	Butt 84'	27,597	[10]
17 December 2005	19th	Manchester City	A	L	1–4	Jarošík 76'	41,343	[10]
26 December 2005	19th	Tottenham Hotspur	A	L	0–2		36,045	[10]
28 December 2005	19th	Manchester United	H	D	2–2	Clapham 18', Pandiani 78'	28,459	[10]
31 December 2005	19th	Chelsea	A	L	0–2		40,652	[10]
2 January 2006	19th	Wigan Athletic	H	W	2–0	Melchiot 20', Pennant 33'	29,189	[10]
14 January 2006	19th	Charlton Athletic	A	L	0–2		26,312	[10]
21 January 2006	18th	Portsmouth	H	W	5–0	Jarošík 5', Pennant 37', Upson 55', Forssell 90' pen., Dunn 90'	29,138	[10]
1 February 2006	18th	Liverpool	A	D	1–1	Alonso 88' o.g.	43,851	[10]
4 February 2006	18th	Arsenal	H	L	0–2		27,075	[10]
13 February 2006	18th	West Ham United	A	L	0–3		31,294	[10]
25 February 2006	18th	Sunderland	H	W	1–0	Heskey 39'	29,257	[10]
4 March 2006	18th	Middlesbrough	A	L	0–1		28,141	[10]
11 March 2006	18th	West Bromwich Albion	H	D	1–1	Forssell 49' pen.	28,041	[10]
18 March 2006	18th	Tottenham Hotspur	H	L	0–2		26,398	[10]
26 March 2006	18th	Manchester United	A	L	0–3		69,070	[10]
1 April 2006	19th	Chelsea	H	D	0–0		26,364	[10]
4 April 2006	17th	Bolton Wanderers	H	W	1–0	Jarošík 37'	26,493	[10]
8 April 2006	18th	Wigan Athletic	A	D	1–1	Dunn 77'	18,669	[10]
16 April 2006	18th	Aston Villa	A	L	1–3	Sutton 25'	40,158	[10]
19 April 2006	17th	Blackburn Rovers	H	W	2–1	Butt 62', Forssell 87'	25,287	[10]
22 April 2006	18th	Everton	A	D	0–0		35,420	[10]
29 April 2006	18th	Newcastle United	H	D	0–0		28,331	[10]
7 May 2006	18th	Bolton Wanderers	A	L	0–1		26,275	[10]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	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
20	Sunderland (R)	38	3	6	29	26	69	−43	15

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	8	10	20	28	50	−22	34	6	5	8	19	20	−1	2	5	12	9	30	−21

Source: ^[11]

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
Third round	7 January 2006	Torquay United	A	D	0–0		5,974	[10]
Third round replay	17 January 2006	Torquay United	H	W	2–0	Forssell 45', Jarošík 68'	24,650	[10]
Fourth round	28 January 2006	Reading	A	D	1–1	Dunn 67'	23,762	[10]
Fourth round replay	7 February 2006	Reading	H	W	2–1	Forssell 30', Gray 67'	16,644	[10]
Fifth round	19 February 2006	Stoke City	A	W	1–0	Forssell 47'	18,768	[10]
Sixth round	21 March 2006	Liverpool	H	L	0–7		27,378	[10]

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
Second round	20 September 2005	Scunthorpe United	A	W	2–0	Forssell 15', 70' pen.	6,109	[10]
Third round	26 October 2005	Norwich City	H	W	2–1	Pennant 5', Jarošík 86'	28,825	[10]
Fourth round	29 November 2005	Millwall	A	W	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 pens.)	Gray 10', Heskey 102'	7,732	[10]
Fifth round	20 December 2005	Manchester United	H	L	1–3	Jarošík 75'	20,454	[10]

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Club†	Fee	Ref
10 June 2005	Mikael Forssell	Chelsea	£3m	[12]
30 June 2005	Mehdi Nafti	Racing Santander	Undisclosed	[13]
5 August 2005	Walter Pandiani	Deportivo La Coruña	£3m	[14]
21 November 2005	Ingi Højsted	(B36 Tórshavn)	Free	[15]
5 January 2006	Chris Sutton	Celtic	Free	[16]
31 January 2006	DJ Campbell	Brentford	£500,000	[17]

† Brackets round club names indicate the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Birmingham.

Out

Date	Player	Fee	Joined†	Ref
4 July 2005	Darren Carter	£1.5m	West Bromwich Albion	[18]
18 July 2005	Robbie Blake	Undisclosed	Leeds United	[19]
22 August 2005	Darren Anderton	Free	Wolverhampton Wanderers	[20]
25 August 2005	Clinton Morrison	£2m	Crystal Palace	[21]
13 January 2006	Walter Pandiani	£1m	RCD Espanyol	[22]
31 January 2006	Andrew Barrowman	Free	Walsall	[23]
5 April 2006	Ingi Højsted	Free	(B36 Tórshavn)	[24]
30 June 2006	Sam Alsop	Released		[25]
30 June 2006	Jamie Clapham	Released	(Wolverhampton Wanderers)	[26]
30 June 2006	Chris Cottrill	Released		[25]
30 June 2006	Kenny Cunningham	Released	(Sunderland)	[27]
30 June 2006	James Dormand	Released		[25]
30 June 2006	Muzzy Izzet	Retired		[28]
30 June 2006	Njazi Kuqi	Released	(FC Groningen)	[28]
30 June 2006	Stan Lazaridis	Released	(Perth Glory)	[26]
30 June 2006	Mario Melchiot	Released	(Rennes)	[26]
30 June 2006	Carl Motteram	Released	(Torquay United)	[29]
30 June 2006	Chris Sutton	Released	(Aston Villa)	[26]
30 June 2006	Nico Vaesen	Released	(Lierse)	[26]

† Brackets round club names denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.

Loan in

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
3 August 2005	Nicky Butt	Newcastle United	End of season	[30]
22 August 2005	Jiří Jarošík	Chelsea	End of season	[31]
30 January 2006	Martin Latka	Slavia Prague	End of season	[32]

Loan out

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
17 August 2005	Alex Bruce	Tranmere Rovers	27 October 2005	[33]
9 August 2005	James Dormand	Tamworth	End of season	[34]
5 October 2005	Peter Till	Scunthorpe United	9 January 2006	[35]
24 November 2005	Colin Doyle	Millwall	19 December 2005	[36]
24 November 2005	Carl Motteram	Tamworth	2 January 2006	[37]
24 November 2005	Sam Oji	Doncaster Rovers	Six weeks	[38]
23 December 2005	Colin Doyle	Millwall	Two weeks	[39]
6 January 2006	Asa Hall	Boston United	Three months	[40]
12 January 2006	Peter Till	Boston United	End of season	[35]
12 January 2006	Colin Doyle	Millwall	End of season	[41]
23 January 2006	Njazi Kuqi	Blackpool	One month	[42]
17 March 2006	Njazi Kuqi	Peterborough United	End of season	[43]
24 March 2006	Sam Alsop	Yeovil Town	End of season	[44]

Appearances and goals

Sources:^[45]

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.

Players marked † left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Players' appearances and goals by competition

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	NIR	Maik Taylor	34	0	6	0	1	0	41	0	0	0
2	DF	ENG	Martin Taylor	20 (1)	0	3	0	4	0	27 (1)	0	2	0
3	DF	ENG	Jamie Clapham	13 (3)	1	2 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	18 (5)	1	2	0
4	DF	IRE	Kenny Cunningham	31	0	2	0	0	0	33	0	5	1
5	DF	ENG	Matthew Upson	24	1	1	0	4	0	29	1	5	0
6	MF	TUR	Muzzy Izzet	10 (6)	0	1	0	1	0	12 (6)	0	2	1
7	MF	ENG	Jermaine Pennant	35 (3)	2	6	0	4	1	45 (3)	3	4	0
8	FW	URU	Walter Pandiani †	7 (10)	2	0 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	9 (12)	2	3	0
8	DF	CZE	Martin Latka *	6	0	1	0	0	0	7	0	3	0
9	FW	FIN	Mikael Forssell	10 (17)	3	4 (1)	3	2 (1)	2	16 (19)	8	1	0
10	MF	ENG	David Dunn	8 (7)	2	2 (1)	1	1 (1)	0	11 (9)	3	0	0
11	MF	AUS	Stan Lazaridis	11 (6)	0	2	0	0 (1)	0	13 (7)	0	1	0
12	MF	TUN	Mehdi Nafti	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
13	GK	IRL	Colin Doyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	CZE	Jiří Jarošík *	19 (5)	5	4 (1)	1	2 (1)	2	25 (7)	8	2	0
15	MF	AUS	Neil Kilkenny	6 (12)	0	1 (3)	0	1 (2)	0	8 (17)	0	0	1
16	FW	ENG	Emile Heskey	34	4	3	0	3	1	40	5	4	1
18	GK	BEL	Nico Vaesen	4	0	0	0	3	0	7	0	1	1
19	FW	IRE	Clinton Morrison †	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
20	MF	ENG	Nicky Butt *	22 (2)	3	2	0	3	0	27 (2)	3	6	1
21	MF	ENG	Julian Gray	18 (3)	1	4	1	2	1	24 (3)	3	2	0
22	MF	NIR	Damien Johnson	31	0	4	0	3	0	38	0	7	1
23	DF	ENG	Mat Sadler	8	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	8 (1)	0	1	0
24	DF	IRL	Alex Bruce	3 (3)	0	4 (2)	0	0	0	7 (5)	0	2	0
25	MF	ENG	Stephen Clemence	13 (2)	0	4	0	2	0	19 (2)	0	6	0
26	DF	CIV	Olivier Tébily	12 (4)	0	1 (1)	0	1	0	14 (5)	0	4	0
28	FW	ENG	DJ Campbell	4 (7)	0	0	0	0	0	4 (7)	0	0	0
29	DF	NED	Mario Melchiot	22 (1)	1	5	0	1	0	28 (1)	1	3	0
30	DF	ENG	Sam Oji	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
31	DF	IRE	Marcos Painter	2 (2)	0	2 (1)	0	1 (1)	0	5 (4)	0	0	0
35	DF	ENG	Sam Alsop	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	MF	ENG	Mathew Birley	0 (1)	0	1	0	0 (1)	0	1 (2)	0	0	0
37	MF	ENG	Peter Till	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
39	FW	ENG	Sone Aluko	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	FW	ENG	Chris Sutton	10	1	1	0	0	0	11	1	2	0
41	FW	ENG	Oliver Allen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Players not included in matchday squads

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
14	MF	ENG	Darren Anderton †
17	MF	ENG	Asa Hall
19	FW	ENG	James McPike
27	FW	ENG	Carl Motteram
28	FW	SCO	Andrew Barrowman †
32	MF	NIR	David Howland
33	FW	FIN	Njazi Kuqi
34	GK	ENG	James Dormand
38	DF	ENG	Chris Cottrill

See also

• Birmingham City F.C. seasons

References

General

• Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
• Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
• Source for match dates, league positions and results: "Birmingham City 2005–2006: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
• Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 446–47.
• Source for goal times: "Birmingham Results 2005/06". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
• Source for transfers: "Birmingham Transfers 2005/06". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 June 2013.

Specific

1. "Barclays Premiership 2005–2006 Season Attendance Table". Football365.com. 365 Media Group. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
2. "Birmingham City: Records". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
3. Cartlidge, Brian (14 July 2005). "Blues Start Norway Tour with a Win". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
4. Cartlidge, Brian (16 July 2004). "Blues Gain Second Win in Norway". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
5. Cartlidge, Brian (19 July 2005). "Norwegian Tour Ends With Defeat". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
6. Cartlidge, Brian (23 July 2005). "Blues Cruise Against Rams". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
7. Cartlidge, Brian (11 August 2005). "Pre-Season Round-Up". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
8. Cartlidge, Brian (30 July 2005). "Two Teams Beaten in Friendlies". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
9. Cartlidge, Brian (6 August 2005). "A Win and a Loss in Spain". Singing The Blues. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
10. "Birmingham City Reports – 2005–2006". sportinglife.com. 365 Media Group. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Individual match reports are linked from this page.
    "Fixtures & Results 2005/2006". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008.
11. "Birmingham City 2005–2006: English Premier League Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
12. "Birmingham seal Forssell transfer". BBC Sport. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
13. "Birmingham complete Nafti signing". BBC Sport. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
14. "Birmingham complete Pandiani deal". BBC Sport. 5 August 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
15. "Birmingham sign youngster Hojsted". BBC Sport. 21 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
16. "Birmingham seal Sutton free deal". BBC Sport. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
17. "Campbell in shock Birmingham move". BBC Sport. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
18. "Baggies clinch signing of Carter". BBC Sport. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
19. "Striker Blake seals Leeds switch". BBC Sport. 18 July 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
20. "Wolves complete Anderton transfer". BBC Sport. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
21. "Morrison completes Palace return". BBC Sport. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
22. "Pandiani completes Espanyol move". BBC Sport. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
23. "Walsall snap up striker Barrowman". BBC Sport. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
24. "Blues will fight for 'crown jewels'". icBirmingham. Trinity Mirror. 7 April 2006. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
25. "Championship guide". The Telegraph. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
26. "Birmingham release seven players". BBC Sport. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
27. Adams, Tom (10 May 2006). "Captain Kenny suffers Blues axe". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
28. "Izzet finally admits defeat". Birmingham Post. 28 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
29. "Torquay sign Motteram and McPhee". BBC Sport. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
30. "Birmingham wrap up Butt loan deal". BBC Sport. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
31. "Birmingham wrap up Jarosik deal". BBC Sport. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
32. "Birmingham seal Latka loan move". BBC Sport. 30 January 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
33. "Bruce joins Tranmere in loan deal". BBC Sport. 17 August 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
    "Bruce quits loan deal at Rovers". BBC Sport. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
34. "Lambs complete Dormand loan deal". BBC Sport. 9 August 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
35. "Games played by Peter Till in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
36. Buckingham, Mark (24 November 2005). "Doyle heads to The Den". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
    "Doyle recalled from Millwall loan". BBC Sport. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
37. "Sports round-up". Birmingham Post. 25 November 2005. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
38. "Oji set for Doncaster loan move". BBC Sport. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
39. Fudge, Simon (30 December 2005). "Adams eyes Hutchison deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
40. "Games played by Asa Hall in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
41. Cary, Tom (13 January 2006). "Sport". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
42. "Blackpool sign Birmingham's Kuqi". BBC Sport. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
43. "Peterborough seal Kuqi loan deal". BBC Sport. 17 March 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
44. Fudge, Simon (24 March 2006). "Glovers land Blues man". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
45. "2005/06 squad numbers announced". Birmingham City F.C. 5 August 2005. Archived from the original on 7 August 2005.
    "Birmingham City: Current squad". Soccerbase. Mirror Group. Archived from the original on 11 May 2006.