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2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season

(Redirected from New Zealand Knights season 2005–06)

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
ChairmanBrian Katzen
ManagerJohn Adshead
A-League8th
Pre-Season CupGroup stage
Top goalscorerLeague: Jeremy Brockie (4)
Simon Yeo (4)
All: Jeremy Brockie (4)
Simon Yeo (4)
Highest home attendance9,827 v Sydney FC
2 September 2005
Lowest home attendance1,922 v Melbourne Victory
26 November 2005
Average home league attendance3,909

Season overview edit

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 edit

In edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Pre-season edit

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 edit

Pos Team
 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[a] 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 edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f "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. ^ a b "NZ Knights sign two more". Football Federation Samoa. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Trio Join Knights". TVNZ. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e "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.
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