The 2005–06

New Zealand Knights FC New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

season was the club's inaugural season in the Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. 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 Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

Season overview

In their debut season, the Knights scored only 15 goals in their 21 fixtures. Their joint leading scorers were

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons, when they we ...

Simon Yeo Simon John Yeo (born 10 October 1973 ) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1997 to 2011 and is currently player-coach at Mossley. Yeo a former member of the British Army is most well known for his time at ...

and teenage whizkid

Jeremy Brockie Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He has represented New Zealand national football team, New Zealand at se ...

, with four apiece. Sean Devine scored three goals, while

Joshua Rose Joshua Liam "Josh" Rose (born 16 December 1981) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a left back for National Premier Leagues Northern NSW side Edgeworth. He previously featured in the A-League for New Zealand Knights, Cent ...

, Jeremy Christie, Neil Emblen and Xiaobin Zhang all managed to find the back of the net once. Former

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

right-back

Darren Bazeley Darren Shaun Bazeley (born 5 October 1972) is an English football coach and former player. He played as either a right back or right-sided midfielder. He is currently head coach of the New Zealand team and head coach of the national U-23 and O ...

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 Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional footballer who formerly managed the New Zealand men's national football team, New Zealand U-23, and New Zealand U-20. Hay played as a central defender for Premier Leagu ...

apparently fell out with Knights bosses and coach

John Adshead John Adshead (born 27 March 1942) is an English-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team—the All Whites—whom he led to their first FIFA World Cup appearance in the 1982 tournament. Life and work Adshead is one of the ...

, and was released just before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. This followed the departures of UK signings Ronnie Bull and former Lincoln City striker

. The Knights may have had poor crowds in their inaugural

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 Thomas Cyril Mason (July 8, 1939 – January 22, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave. College career Mason atte ...

. Former

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

reserve team and academy head coach

Paul Nevin Paul Richard Nevin (born 23 June 1969) is a football coach and former player. He is currently interim head coach of England U20s and assistant manager at Stoke City. Playing career Nevin began his playing career at Shrewsbury Town, before pla ...

was named head coach to assist current manager

as Mason's replacement. One positive to come out of the Knights' horrific debut season was 17-year-old New Zealander

. 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 Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. This was followed up by a fantastic strike to earn a draw with

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

, and a goal in the Knights' final game of the season, versus

Transfers

In

Transfers out

Squad statistics

Competitions

Pre-season

A-League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 New Zealand Knights FC season 2005–06 2005–06 A-League season by team 2005–06 in New Zealand association football