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.

New Zealand Knights

2005-06 season
Chairman	Brian Katzen
Manager	John Adshead
A-League	8th
Pre-Season Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Jeremy Brockie (4) Simon Yeo (4) All: Jeremy Brockie (4) Simon Yeo (4)
Highest home attendance	9,827 v Sydney FC 2 September 2005
Lowest home attendance	1,922 v Melbourne Victory 26 November 2005
Average home league attendance	3,909
Home colours Away colours
2006–07 →

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[1]
14 April 2005	MF	Neil Emblen	Walsall[1]
14 April 2005	MF	Steve Fitzsimmons	Free agent[1]
14 April 2005	FW	Naoki Imaya	Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005	MF	Josh Maguire	Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005	GK	Glen Moss	Bonnyrigg White Eagles[1]
5 May 2005	MF	Zenon Caravella	Sydney Olympic[2]
27 May 2005	FW	Jeremy Brockie	Canterbury United[3]
27 May 2005	DF	Cole Tinkler	Free agent[3]
1 June 2005	MF	Ben Collett	Manchester United[4]
1 June 2005	FW	Simon Yeo	Lincoln City[4]
1 June 2005	FW	Xiaobin Zhang	Free agent[4]
21 June 2005	FW	Kris Bright	Waitakere City[5]
21 June 2005	DF	Ronnie Bull	Grimsby Town[5]
21 June 2005	MF	Jeremy Christie	Free agent[5]
21 June 2005	MF	Sam Jasper	North Shore United[5]
21 June 2005	DF	Joshua Rose	Free agent[5]

Transfers out

Date	Pos.	Name	To
6 November 2005	DF	Ronnie Bull	Released[6]
17 December 2005	FW	Simon Yeo	Lincoln City[7]
23 December 2006	DF	Danny Hay	Released[8]
25 January 2006	MF	Steve Fitzsimmons	Released[9]

Squad statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		A-League		Pre-Season Cup
				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	Team v t e	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
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
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[lower-alpha 1]	21	1	3	17	15	47	−32	6

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. 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

References

1. "Knights sign up six". SBS Australia. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
2. "Knights' signing a cut above". New Zealand Herald. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
3. "NZ Knights sign two more". Football Federation Samoa. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
4. "Trio Join Knights". TVNZ. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
5. "NZ Knights squad complete". Football Federation Samoa. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
6. "Bull leaves NZ Knights to head home". ESPN. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
7. "Yeo leaves NZ Knights". TVNZ. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
8. "Knights cut skipper Hay". SBS Australia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
9. "Fitzsimmons leaves Knights". SBS Australia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.