During the 2005–06 English football season, Southampton Football Club competed in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

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 Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

, unable to establish consistency and unhappy with the appointment of former rugby coach Sir

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...

to the coaching staff, had resigned in December, returning as manager of Southampton's archrivals

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. His replacement, former Ipswich Town manager

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

, 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 Friends' Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, Yorkshire, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century I ...

Final league table

Results

''Southampton's score comes first''

Legend

Championship

FA Cup

League Cup

First-team squad

''Squad at end of season''Southampton squad for 2005–06 season
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Left club during season

Reserve squad

Transfers in

Transfers out

References

Southampton F.C. seasons

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

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