During the 2005–06 English football season, Southampton Football Club competed in the Football League Championship after relegation from the premier league the previous season. It was their first season in the second tier since 1977–78.

Southampton endured a poor to largely indifferent season after relegation from the Premier League the previous season and finished in a lowly 12th place in the Championship. Although the south coast side started the season well, they ended up drawing too many games (19 games by the season's end) and a run of five wins from 35 games dragged them into the lower reaches of the table and put Southampton in danger of a second successive relegation. Manager Harry Redknapp, unable to establish consistency and unhappy with the appointment of former rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward to the coaching staff, had resigned in December, returning as manager of Southampton's archrivals Portsmouth. His replacement, former Ipswich Town manager George Burley, was unable to turn the club's form around until the back end of the season, with five wins from their last six games taking the team from 20th to 12th. The late run of form gave fans hope that next season Southampton could mount a sustained attempt at promotion.

Kit The season's kit was manufactured by the club's own brand, Saints. The kit was sponsored by English life insurance company Friends Provident.

Final league table

Results Southampton's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Championship DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 6 August 2005 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–024,061 9 August 2005 Luton TownA2–39,447Oakley, Jones 13 August 2005 Sheffield WednesdayA1–026,688Jones 20 August 2005 Norwich CityH1–023,498Quashie (pen) 27 August 2005 Crewe AlexandraH2–020,792Belmadi, Quashie 29 August 2005 Coventry CityA1–123,000Fuller 10 September 2005 Queens Park RangersH1–125,744Higginbotham 13 September 2005 Ipswich TownA2–222,997Powell, Wise 18 September 2005 Derby CountyA2–222,348Ormerod, Fuller 24 September 2005 Plymouth ArgyleH0–026,331 28 September 2005 ReadingH0–024,946 1 October 2005 Preston North EndA1–115,263Davidson (own goal) 15 October 2005 Hull CityH1–123,810Oakley 18 October 2005 Leeds UnitedA1–218,881Walcott 22 October 2005 MillwallA2–010,759Walcott, Fuller 29 October 2005 Stoke CityH2–024,095Walcott, Belmadi 5 November 2005 Leicester CityA0–021,318 19 November 2005 Leeds UnitedH3–430,173Pahars, Quashie (2, 1 pen) 22 November 2005 Hull CityA1–118,061Kosowski 26 November 2005 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–024,628 3 December 2005 BurnleyH1–121,592Higginbotham (pen) 11 December 2005 Luton TownH1–019,086Walcott 17 December 2005 Norwich CityA1–324,836Belmadi 26 December 2005 WatfordA0–316,972 28 December 2005 Sheffield UnitedH0–127,443 31 December 2005 Cardiff CityA1–213,377Blackstock 2 January 2006 Brighton & Hove AlbionH2–124,630Blackstock (2) 14 January 2006 Queens Park RangersA0–115,494 21 January 2006 Ipswich TownH0–222,250 25 January 2006 Crystal PalaceH0–024,651 31 January 2006 Plymouth ArgyleA1–215,936Surman 4 February 2006 Derby CountyH0–021,829 10 February 2006 ReadingA0–223,845 15 February 2006 Preston North EndH0–019,534 25 February 2006 Sheffield WednesdayH3–026,236Higginbotham, Rasiak, Jones 4 March 2006 Coventry CityH1–121,980Rasiak 11 March 2006 Crewe AlexandraA1–16,588Madsen 20 March 2006 WatfordH1–319,202Madsen 25 March 2006 Sheffield UnitedA0–322,824 28 March 2006 BurnleyA1–110,636Bardsley (own goal) 1 April 2006 Cardiff CityH3–222,388Lundekvam, Fuller (2) 8 April 2006 Brighton & Hove AlbionA2–07,999Fuller, Chaplow 15 April 2006 Stoke CityA2–116,501Rasiak (2, 1 pen) 17 April 2006 MillwallH2–022,043Jones (pen), Fuller 22 April 2006 Crystal PalaceA1–220,995Fuller 30 April 2006 Leicester CityH2–026,801Fuller, Surman

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR37 January 2006 Milton Keynes DonsH4–315,908Prutton, Quashie, Walcott, KentonR428 January 2006 Leicester CityA1–020,427JonesR518 February 2006 Newcastle UnitedA0–140,975

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR122 August 2005 Southend UnitedA3–06,358Blackstock, Dyer, OrmerodR220 September 2005 Mansfield TownA0–13,739

First-team squad Squad at end of seasonSouthampton squad for 2005–06 season

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Transfers in +DatePositionPlayerClub FromFeeReference27 June 2005MFDennis WiseMillwallFreeMFDjamel BelmadiAl-Kharitiyath1 July 2005DFDarren PowellCrystal PalaceFree29 July 2005FWRicardo FullerPortsmouth£90,00029 July 2005DFTomasz HajtoNurnbergFree6 January 2006GKBartosz BiałkowskiGórnik ZabrzeNominal26 January 2006MFDarren PotterLiverpoolLoan27 January 2006DFJim BrennanNorwich CItyFree30 January 2006DFAlexander ÖstlundFeyenoordUndisclosed30 January 2006FWPeter Madsen1. FC KolnLoan8 February 2006MFRichard ChaplowWest Bromwich AlbionThree-month Loan8 February 2006FWGrzegorz RasiakTottenham HotspurLoan8 February 2006MFJermaine WrightLeeds UnitedLoanGKKevin MillerBristol RoversFreeMFKamil KosowskiWisla KrakowLoan

Transfers out +DatePositionPlayerClub ToFeeReferenceDFGraeme Le SauxNoneRetirementDFJamie RedknappNoneRetirement29 June 2005FWKevin PhillipsAston Villa£1,000,00030 June 2005DFJelle Van DammeWerder BremenLoan1 July 2005FWJo TessemLynFree19 July 2005DFAndreas JakobssonHelsingborgUndisclosed20 July 2005FWPeter CrouchLiverpool£7,000,00022 July 2005DFPaul TelferCelticFree1 August 2005MFMikael NilssonPanathinaikos€700,00031 August 2005MFFabrice FernandesBolton WanderersFree1 September 2005DFOlivier BernardRangersFreeDFTomasz HajtoDerby County7 January 2006GKAlan BlayneyDoncaster Rovers£50,00010 January 2006GKAntti NiemiFulham£1,000,00017 January 2006MFNeil McCannHeartsFree19 January 2006MFDennis WiseCoventry CityFree20 January 2006FWTheo WalcottArsenal£5,000.00028 January 2006FWBrett OrmerodPreston North EndFree31 January 2006MFRory DelapSunderlandFree31 January 2006DFMatthew MillsManchester CItyUndisclosed31 January 2006FWLeon BestSheffield WednesdayLoan31 January 2006MFYoann FollySheffield WednesdayLoan1 February 2006MFNigel QuashieWest Bromwich Albion£1,400,0002 March 2006MFLeandre GriffitElfsborgFree

References