The 2005–06 season of Huddersfield Town A.F.C. was their second competitive campaign in the restructured Football League One. They finished in 4th place, qualifying them for the play-offs, but, after beating Barnsley 1–0 in the first leg at Oakwell, they lost the second leg 3–1 at the Galpharm Stadium, to lose 3–2 on aggregate.
Their season was also noted for their cup campaigns in the Football League Cup and FA Cup. They managed a respectable 3–1 loss to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, where around half of the 12,000 crowd were Town fans. Then in the FA Cup, the Terriers were 8 minutes away from forcing a replay against José Mourinho's Chelsea, before succumbing to a goal by Eiður Guðjohnsen.
Squad at the start of the season
Review
Before the start of the season 2005–06, the club launched the controversial 'Young Guns' campaign. The players, manager Peter Jackson, assistant manager Terry Yorath, and coach Martyn Booty posed for the 2006 calendar in cowboy outfits.Club ridiculed over Brokeback Mountain calendar , Marc Shoffman, Pink News, 22 February 2006 Six of the younger players featured on the cover of the corporate hospitality brochure. Basing the cover around the 'Young Guns' theme was widely considered to be a mistake and caused the booklet to be adversely linked with the Brokeback Mountain film.
Despite losing to Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the season, Huddersfield started the 2005–06 season brightly and were top of the table by mid-October. During the season they got the chance to show their pedigree by playing at Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup, which they lost 3–1.
They also had a big money-spinning FA Cup match at Chelsea in January. While they performed well, only losing 2–1, but many predicted it could be the turning point in Town's season, as they hadn't won a game since being drawn against them, a month earlier.
Gerry Murphy won the Football League's Contribution to Football award on 5 March 2006 selected by listeners of BBC Radio 5 Live's Sport on Five."Football League Awards - Jagielka Named Championship Player Of The Year", Tony Leighton, FourFourTwo"Shortlists Announced For Football League Awards", The Football League
With the season heading towards its climax, Town had to prepare for the play-offs after a disappointing April, which saw them lose out on automatic promotion to the Championship. The goals of Paweł Abbott, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Andy Booth, Danny Schofield and Sheffield Wednesday loan signing David Graham helped Town to have the joint-second best scoring record in the division behind Swansea City.
Huddersfield beat Barnsley 1–0 at Barnsley in the play-off semi-final first leg but lost 1–3 (2–3 on aggregate) in the return. Season highlights included an away victory against local rivals Bradford City and a league double over fellow neighbours Oldham Athletic.
Squad at the end of the season
Final league table
Results Pre-season matches DateCompetitionOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance12 July 2005Copa Ibiza Semi-FinalCoventry CityN0 - 1?13 July 2005Copa Ibiza 3rd Place Play-OffIbiza XIN2 - 1Carss, Worthington?19 July 2005Friendly matchHarrogate TownA4 - 1Abbott 455120 July 2005Friendly matchRossendale UnitedA4 - 0Hudson, T. Clarke, Mendes, Young?22 July 2005Friendly matchMansfield TownA2 - 1Booth, Mendes1,56225 July 2005Friendly matchA.F.C. EmleyA1 - 1McAliskey34630 July 2005Friendly matchRochdaleA2 - 2Booth, Abbott (pen)1,9031 August 2005Friendly matchBradford Park AvenueA3 - 2Mendes 2, Carss408
Football League One DateOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition6 August 2005Nottingham ForestA1 - 2Abbott [64 (pen)]24,04216th9 August 2005Bristol CityH1 - 0Abbott 11,13812th13 August 2005Swansea CityH3 - 1Booth , Abbott , Schofield 10,3043rd20 August 2005Southend UnitedA1 - 1Abbott 5,5675th27 August 2005Hartlepool UnitedH2 - 1Abbott , Schofield 11,2412nd29 August 2005Doncaster RoversA2 - 1Brandon , Worthington 7,2221st2 September 2005Scunthorpe UnitedH1 - 4Abbott [66 (pen)]14,1122nd10 September 2005Oldham AthleticA3 - 0Schofield , Taylor-Fletcher [37, 72]8,8033rd17 September 2005BrentfordH3 - 2Abbott , Schofield , Booth 11,6222nd24 September 2005Colchester UnitedA1 - 1Taylor-Fletcher 3,4153rd27 September 2005Tranmere RoversH1 - 0Schofield 10,6403rd1 October 2005AFC BournemouthH2 - 2Schofield , Taylor-Fletcher 13,5223rd10 October 2005Bradford CityA2 - 1Hudson , Booth 12,2852nd15 October 2005WalsallH3 - 1Booth , Abbott [34, 78]11,6421st22 October 2005ChesterfieldA3 - 4Hudson , Worthington , Holdsworth 6,2062nd29 October 2005Swindon TownH1 - 1Brandon 11,3523rd12 November 2005Yeovil TownA2 - 1Booth , Hudson 6,7422nd19 November 2005Bradford CityH0 - 017,3312nd26 November 2005Nottingham ForestH2 - 1Schofield , Booth 17,3702nd6 December 2005Milton Keynes DonsA2 - 2Abbott , Booth 4,8322nd10 December 2005Bristol CityA0 - 29,9492nd17 December 2005Southend UnitedH0 - 011,2233rd26 December 2005Rotherham UnitedA1 - 1Taylor-Fletcher 7,3803rd28 December 2005Port ValeH0 - 310,8243rd31 December 2005BarnsleyA2 - 2Booth , Taylor-Fletcher 13,0634th2 January 2006GillinghamH0 - 011,4835th10 January 2006Scunthorpe UnitedA2 - 2Schofield , McIntosh 4,4504th14 January 2006BlackpoolH2 - 0T. Clarke , Schofield 11,9773rd21 January 2006BrentfordA0 - 27,6365th28 January 2006Oldham AthleticH3 - 2Branston [45 (og)], Abbott , Graham 14,9733rd3 February 2006Tranmere RoversA1 - 2Graham 8,3004th11 February 2006Colchester UnitedH2 - 0Worthington , Graham 13,5155th14 February 2006BlackpoolA1 - 0Brandon [43 (pen)]6,0045th18 February 2006Milton Keynes DonsH5 - 0McIntosh , Taylor-Fletcher , Worthington , Mirfin , Collins 11,4233rd24 February 2006Swansea CityA2 - 2McIntosh , Graham 13,1102nd4 March 2006Doncaster RoversH2 - 2McIntosh , Graham 14,4902nd10 March 2006Hartlepool UnitedA1 - 3Graham 5,6483rd18 March 2006Rotherham UnitedH4 - 1Booth [32, 39, 82], Taylor-Fletcher 15,2643rd25 March 2006Port ValeA1 - 1Booth 5,6642nd1 April 2006BarnsleyH1 - 0Taylor-Fletcher 19,0523rd8 April 2006GillinghamA0 - 27,0143rd15 April 2006AFC BournemouthA1 - 1Taylor-Fletcher 7,4063rd18 April 2006ChesterfieldH1 - 2Graham 13,3684th22 April 2006WalsallA3 - 1Graham , Abbott , Booth 5,5544th29 April 2006Yeovil TownH1 - 2Graham 14,4734th6 May 2006Swindon TownA0 - 06,3534th
League One Play-Offs DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance11 May 2006Semi-Final 1st LegBarnsleyA1 - 0Taylor-Fletcher 16,12715 May 2006Semi-Final 2nd LegBarnsleyH1 - 3Worthington 19,223 Huddersfield lost 3–2 on aggregate.
FA Cup DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance6 November 2005Round 1Welling UnitedH4 - 1Booth [27, 69], Schofield [50 (pen)], Holdsworth 5,5184 December 2005Round 2Worcester CityA1 - 0Brandon 4,1637 January 2006Round 3ChelseaA1 - 2Taylor-Fletcher 41,650
League Cup DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance24 August 2005Round 1ChesterfieldA4 - 2Abbott , Taylor-Fletcher [56, 76, 90]2,92221 September 2005Round 2Blackburn RoversA1 - 3Abbott 11,755
Football League Trophy DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance19 October 2005Round 1 NorthBoston UnitedA1 - 2Mirfin 1,593
Appearances and goals Squad No.NameNationalityPositionLeagueFA CupLeague CupFootball League TrophyPlay-offsTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1Paul RachubkaGK340202010204102Andy HoldsworthDF37 (5)131200 (1)02044 (6)23Danny AdamsDF400302000204704Mark HudsonMF25 (4)3300 (1)0002030 (5)35David MirfinDF27 (4)12 (1)0000 (1)10029 (6)26Nathan ClarkeDF46030200 (1)02053 (1)07Chris BrandonMF36 (4)3311 (1)0000 (1)040 (6)48Tony CarssMF9 (8)00 (1)020000011 (9)09Pawel AbbottFW26 (10)121 (2)022100 (2)030 (14)1410Gary Taylor-FletcherFW30 (13)10311 (1)3102137 (14)1511Danny SchofieldMF37 (4)93120002044 (4)1012Adnan AhmedMF4 (9)0100000005 (9)014Tom ClarkeDF16 (1)10 (1)00 (1)0100017 (3)115John McAliskeyFW0 (9)0000000000 (9)016Martin McIntoshDF20 (2)41010002024 (2)417John McCombeDF10001010003018Jon WorthingtonMF4142010102147519Anthony LloydDF00000010001019Dan SmithDF7 (1)0000000007 (1)020Junior MendesMF1 (4)0001 (1)000002 (5)021David GrahamFW15 (1)90000002017 (1)922Phil SeniorGK12 (1)01000000013 (1)023Andy BoothFW33 (3)132210002038 (3)1524Michael CollinsMF9 (8)10 (2)010100011 (10)125Matty YoungMF0 (2)0000010001 (2)026Aaron HardyDF00000010001027James HandMF000000100010
References