2005–06 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season

Crewe Alexandra

2005–06 season
Chairman	John Bowler
Manager	Dario Gradi
Stadium	Alexandra Stadium
Football League Championship	22nd (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: B Jones/Rodgers (6) All: B Jones (7)
Average home league attendance	6,731

During the 2005–06 English football season, Crewe Alexandra F.C. competed in the Football League Championship, their 83rd season in the English Football League.

Season summary

In the 2005–06 season, Crewe Alexandra's continued success in the Championship finally came to an end and despite a gallant effort in the second half of the season, the Railwaymen eventually finished in 22nd place and were relegated with Millwall and Brighton. Their relegation was confirmed on 17 April 2006 after a 1–1 draw at home with Cardiff City after Sheffield Wednesday won 2–0 at Brighton. The season did see some highs though with the club securing Algerian international Madjid Bougherra and the former Welsh international Gareth Taylor on loan from Nottingham Forest.

Final league table

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
20	Derby County	46	10	20	16	53	67	−14	50
21	Queens Park Rangers	46	12	14	20	50	65	−15	50
22	Crewe Alexandra (R)	46	9	15	22	57	86	−29	42	Relegation to Football League One
23	Millwall (R)	46	8	16	22	35	62	−27	40
24	Brighton & Hove Albion (R)	46	7	17	22	39	71	−32	38

Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2011. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results

Crewe Alexandra's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Championship

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 August 2005	Burnley	H	2–1	8,006	B Jones, Vaughan
9 August 2005	Norwich City	A	1–1	25,116	Varney
13 August 2005	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–2	6,132	Rivers, Higdon
20 August 2005	Leicester City	H	2–2	7,053	Varney, Rivers
27 August 2005	Southampton	A	0–2	20,792
29 August 2005	Sheffield United	H	1–3	7,501	Foster
11 September 2005	Derby County	H	1–1	5,958	Rivers
13 September 2005	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–1	10,460	Johnson
17 September 2005	Reading	A	0–1	17,668
24 September 2005	Watford	H	0–0	6,258
27 September 2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–4	7,471
1 October 2005	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	23,145	Vaughan
15 October 2005	Luton Town	H	3–1	6,604	B Jones, Lunt, Varney
18 October 2005	Stoke City	A	0–2	14,080
22 October 2005	Cardiff City	A	1–6	10,815	Foster
29 October 2005	Crystal Palace	H	2–2	6,766	S Jones, Higdon
1 November 2005	Leeds United	H	1–0	7,220	Butler (own goal)
5 November 2005	Millwall	A	3–1	8,120	S Jones (2), G Roberts
19 November 2005	Stoke City	H	1–2	8,942	Johnson
22 November 2005	Luton Town	A	1–4	7,474	Walker
26 November 2005	Burnley	A	0–3	11,151
3 December 2005	Preston North End	H	0–2	6,364
10 December 2005	Norwich City	H	1–2	6,132	B Jones
17 December 2005	Leicester City	A	1–1	24,873	Higdon
26 December 2005	Hull City	H	2–2	7,942	Johnson, G Roberts
28 December 2005	Coventry City	A	1–1	19,045	Rodgers
31 December 2005	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–4	5,687	Johnson, Varney, B Jones
2 January 2006	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–3	25,656
14 January 2006	Derby County	A	1–5	22,649	Vaughan
21 January 2006	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–2	5,984	Rodgers
28 January 2006	Watford	A	1–4	11,722	Rodgers
4 February 2006	Reading	H	3–4	6,484	Bell, Taylor, Lunt (pen)
11 February 2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1	21,683	B Jones
14 February 2006	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	5,686	S Jones
25 February 2006	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–1	5,925	Bell, Foster
3 March 2006	Sheffield United	A	0–0	22,691
11 March 2006	Southampton	H	1–1	6,588	Rodgers
18 March 2006	Hull City	A	0–1	21,163
25 March 2006	Coventry City	H	4–1	6,444	B Jones, Bougherra, Rodgers, Taylor
28 March 2006	Preston North End	A	0–1	13,170
1 April 2006	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	12,877	Lunt, Vaughan
8 April 2006	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–0	8,007	Taylor (2)
15 April 2006	Crystal Palace	A	2–2	18,358	Rodgers, Lunt (pen)
17 April 2006	Cardiff City	H	1–1	5,865	Vaughan
22 April 2006	Leeds United	A	0–1	21,046
30 April 2006	Millwall	H	4–2	5,945	Johnson, Maynard, Varney, S Jones

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	7 January 2006	Preston North End	A	1–2	8,380	B Jones

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	23 August 2005	Lincoln City	A	1–5	2,782	Walker

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Ben Williams
2	DF	WAL	Darren Moss
3	DF	ENG	Anthony Tonkin
4	DF	ENG	Billy Jones
5	DF	ENG	Adie Moses
6	DF	ENG	Stephen Foster
7	MF	ENG	Kenny Lunt
8	MF	ENG	Justin Cochrane
9	FW	NIR	Steve Jones
10	FW	ESP	Juan Ugarte
11	MF	WAL	David Vaughan
12	MF	ENG	Lee Bell
13	GK	ENG	Stuart Tomlinson
14	MF	ENG	Ben Rix
15	FW	ENG	Luke Varney
16	DF	ENG	Richard Walker
18	DF	ENG	Chris McCready
19	MF	ENG	Michael Higdon
20	DF	ENG	Eddie Johnson (on loan from Manchester United)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	ENG	Gary Roberts
22	DF	ENG	Paul Bignot
23	DF	ENG	Robert Lloyd
24	FW	ENG	Matt Bailey
25	DF	ENG	Mark Roberts
26	MF	ENG	Alex Morris
27	FW	ENG	Kyle Wilson
28	MF	NIR	Michael O'Connor
29	MF	ENG	Andy Bond
30	FW	ENG	Nicky Maynard
31	FW	SVK	Pavol Šuhaj
32	FW	ENG	Luke Rodgers
34	DF	ENG	Ritchie Sutton
35	FW	ENG	Tom Pope
36	MF	ENG	Tony Grant
37	GK	WAL	Owain Fôn Williams
38	FW	WAL	Gareth Taylor (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
39	DF	ENG	Jon Otsemobor
40	DF	ALG	Madjid Bougherra (on loan from FC Gueugnon)

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	ENG	Mark Rivers (to Carlisle United)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
33	GK	ENG	Ross Turnbull (on loan from Middlesbrough)