During the 2005–06 season, Newcastle United participated in the Premier League.
Season summary In July 2005 rumours circulated that Newcastle was being stalked with a new buyer, but this later emerged to be the Shepherds consolidating their interests. On the pitch, Newcastle were eliminated from the Intertoto Cup after a 4–2 aggregate loss to Deportivo La Coruna in the semi-final, eliminating the club from European competition for the season.
Upon Craig Bellamy's return from his loan to Celtic, it was reported that he had not resolved his differences with Souness or Shearer, and was sold to Blackburn Rovers for £5 million. During the summer transfer window, Patrick Kluivert, Jermaine Jenas, Aaron Hughes and Andy O'Brien were sold by Souness. Laurent Robert and James Milner were loaned out, to Portsmouth and Aston Villa respectively (Robert would be transferred to Benfica in January). The club signed Emre, Scott Parker, Craig Moore and Albert Luque.
In August, the club signed Michael Owen from Real Madrid, despite strong interest from Owen's former club Liverpool. The fee, £17 million, surpassed Newcastle's previous record of £15 million for Alan Shearer from Blackburn in 1996. In the closing hours of the transfer window, the club re-signed Nolberto Solano from Aston Villa.
Souness's decision to pair Shearer and Owen together up front proved to be lethal, but Owen broke his fourth metatarsal bone in his foot after a clash with Paul Robinson in a match against Tottenham Hotspur, keeping him out for the rest of the season. With Owen injured the team's form dipped.
Souness was sacked as manager following a 3–0 defeat to Manchester City in early February. Shay Given, Robbie Elliott and Alan Shearer have since stated that the fans never really took to him, with his favouritism of players damaging morale and a series of injuries leading to poor form.
United's youth academy director, former West Ham United manager Glenn Roeder, was put in charge as caretaker manager. Upon Roeder's first game in charge, against Portsmouth, Alan Shearer scored his 201st goal for the club, breaking Jackie Milburn's record of 200 goals for the club and becoming the club's highest ever goalscorer.
Despite speculation that Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce was interested in taking charge, Roeder guided Newcastle from 15th place to 7th place by the end of the season, winning 9 out of their remaining 14 Premier League games to see the club qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup - a great way for club legend Alan Shearer to end his playing career. Despite the exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea, Roeder was praised for amazingly achieving a European spot, having seen the prospect of a relegation battle when he joined. At the end of the season he was given a two-year contract by chairman Freddie Shepherd. Final league table
Kit Newcastle's kit for the 2005–06 season was produced by German company Adidas. The main shirt sponsor was British bank Northern Rock.
Transfers
In DatePlayerPrevious clubCost 15 June 2005 Chelsea£6,500,000 19 July 2005 £3,800,000 19 July 2005 Undisclosed 29 July 2005 Free 2 August 2005 FulhamFree 26 August 2005 £9,500,000 31 August 2005 £17,000,000 31 August 2005 Aston Villa£1,500,000
Out DatePlayerBuying clubCost 13 June 2005 Portsmouth£2,000,000 15 June 2005 PortsmouthLoan 7 July 2005 Blackburn Rovers£4,900,000 8 July 2005 Charlton AthleticUndisclosed 3 August 2005 Birmingham CityLoan 23 August 2005 Loan 31 August 2005 Tottenham Hotspur£7,000,000 31 August 2005 Aston VillaLoan 31 August 2005 Carlisle UnitedLoan 16 February 2006 Stockport CountyLoan 1 March 2006 £1,700,000
First-team squad The following players made appearances for the first-team squad this season.
Left club during season
Coaching staff
Reserve squad The following players spent most of the season playing for the reserves, and did not appear for the first team this season.
Trialists
Match results
Pre-season
UEFA Intertoto Cup
Premier League
Results per matchday
FA Cup
League Cup
Alan Shearer testimonial
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season
References
External links FootballSquads - Newcastle United - 2005/06