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2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season

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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

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.

Season overview

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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

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In

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Date Pos. Name From
7 March 2005 DF Netherlands Frank van Eijs Vietnam Hà Nội F.C.
7 March 2005 DF Australia John Tambouras Free agent
14 April 2005 FW Republic of Ireland Sean Devine England Exeter City[1]
14 April 2005 MF England Neil Emblen England Walsall[1]
14 April 2005 MF Australia Steve Fitzsimmons Free agent[1]
14 April 2005 FW Japan Naoki Imaya Australia Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005 MF Australia Josh Maguire Australia Blacktown City Demons[1]
14 April 2005 GK New Zealand Glen Moss Australia Bonnyrigg White Eagles[1]
5 May 2005 MF Australia Zenon Caravella Australia Sydney Olympic[2]
27 May 2005 FW New Zealand Jeremy Brockie New Zealand Canterbury United[3]
27 May 2005 DF New Zealand Cole Tinkler Free agent[3]
1 June 2005 MF England Ben Collett England Manchester United[4]
1 June 2005 FW England Simon Yeo England Lincoln City[4]
1 June 2005 FW China Xiaobin Zhang Free agent[4]
21 June 2005 FW New Zealand Kris Bright New Zealand Waitakere City[5]
21 June 2005 DF England Ronnie Bull England Grimsby Town[5]
21 June 2005 MF New Zealand Jeremy Christie Free agent[5]
21 June 2005 MF New Zealand Sam Jasper New Zealand North Shore United[5]
21 June 2005 DF Australia Joshua Rose Free agent[5]

Transfers out

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Date Pos. Name To
6 November 2005 DF England Ronnie Bull Released[6]
17 December 2005 FW England Simon Yeo England Lincoln City[7]
23 December 2006 DF New Zealand Danny Hay Released[8]
25 January 2006 MF Australia Steve Fitzsimmons Released[9]

Squad statistics

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No. Pos Nat Player Total A-League Pre-Season Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Australia AUS Danny Milosevic 16 0 14 0 2 0
2 DF England ENG Darren Bazeley 21 0 21 0 0 0
3 DF England ENG Ronnie Bull 10 0 7 0 3 0
4 DF Australia AUS John Tambouras 21 0 15+3 0 3 0
5 DF New Zealand NZL Danny Hay 11 0 9 0 2 0
6 MF England ENG Neil Emblen 16 1 11+2 1 3 0
7 MF Australia AUS Steve Fitzsimmons 14 1 8+3 0 3 1
8 MF England ENG Ben Collett 21 0 15+3 0 3 0
9 FW England ENG Simon Yeo 12 5 10+1 4 1 1
10 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Sean Devine 20 3 13+4 3 3 0
11 MF Australia AUS Zenon Caravella 21 0 20+1 0 0 0
12 DF New Zealand NZL Cole Tinkler 13 0 9+2 0 2 0
13 FW New Zealand NZL Jeremy Brockie 14 4 9+3 4 0+2 0
14 MF Australia AUS Josh Maguire 14 0 7+6 0 1 0
15 DF Australia AUS Joshua Rose 15 1 10+2 1 2+1 0
16 MF New Zealand NZL Noah Hickey 19 0 12+5 0 1+1 0
17 DF Netherlands NED Frank van Eijs 9 0 8 0 1 0
18 FW China CHN Xiaobin Zhang 15 1 2+10 1 2+1 0
19 FW Japan JPN Naoki Imaya 10 0 6+4 0 0 0
20 GK New Zealand NZL Glen Moss 10 0 7+2 0 1 0
21 MF New Zealand NZL Jeremy Christie 10 1 8+2 1 0 0
22 MF New Zealand NZL Sam Jasper 2 0 1+1 0 0 0
24 FW New Zealand NZL Kris Bright 12 0 9+3 0 0 0
30 GK New Zealand NZL Roy Bell 0 0 0 0 0 0

Competitions

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Pre-season

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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

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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

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  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.