2005–06 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

Season summary

During the 2005–06 English football season, Tottenham Hotspur participated in the English Premier League. The club had a mixed, short season, securing what was their highest place finish in the Premier league at the time, but exiting both cup competitions at the earliest possible stage against lower league opposition, therefore playing just 40 games.

In September, Tottenham faced Grimsby Town in the League Cup, losing 1–0 at Blundell Park. Their FA Cup draw pitted the team against Leicester City, but the side let a two-goal lead slip, and an injury time goal saw them defeated 3–2 at Walkers Stadium.

In the league Tottenham had occupied the crucial fourth place in the table for much of the latter half of the season. Their win in their penultimate game of the season against Bolton Wanderers on 30 April meant they were seven points ahead of their nearest rivals Arsenal in the race for possible Champions League qualification. Despite Arsenal winning their two games in hand, Tottenham only had to match their result in the final game of the season in order to secure fourth spot.

On the morning of the decisive match against West Ham United a number of Tottenham players were taken ill with suspected food poisoning, the players having stayed the night at the Marriott Hotel in Canary Wharf and eaten lasagne. The club appealed for the Premier League to delay the kick off, but the police would not allow a kick off any later than 5pm, due to crowd control concerns, so the club decided to play at the scheduled time. Despite the scoreline being 1–1 for much of the game, Tottenham looked set to clinch fourth spot due to Arsenal trailing 2–1 at Highbury against Wigan Athletic. But Arsenal went on to win their fixture 4–2, with a Thierry Henry hat-trick, meaning Tottenham also required a win. Their fate was sealed when Yossi Benayoun scored a winner for West Ham, meaning Tottenham fell to fifth place and therefore would only play in the following season's UEFA Cup.

Tottenham appealed to the Premier League to have the match against West Ham replayed, but this was rejected as no grounds were found for accepting the request. Club chairman Daniel Levy called in the police to investigate the Marriott Hotel and threatened to sue the hotel chain and Premier League over the incident, having wrongly suspected foul play. Tests by the Health Protection Agency on the food at the hotel soon proved to be negative for sources of food poisoning and instead players were identified as having norovirus.

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Transfers

In

• ENG Tom Huddlestone – ENG Derby County, undisclosed (est. £2,500,000)
• CAN Paul Stalteri – GER Werder Bremen, 16 May, undisclosed
• ENG Aaron Lennon – ENG Leeds United, 15 June, £1,000,000
• FIN Teemu Tainio – FRA Auxerre, 1 July, free
• ENG Wayne Routledge – ENG Crystal Palace, 1 July, £1,250,000 (rising to £2,000,000)
• NED Edgar Davids – ITA Inter Milan, 3 August, free
• KOR Lee Young-Pyo – NED PSV, £1,350,000, 31 August
• ENG Jermaine Jenas – ENG Newcastle United, 31 August, £7,000,000
• POL Grzegorz Rasiak – ENG Derby County, 31 August, undisclosed
• EGY Hossam Ghaly – NED Feyenoord, 31 January, undisclosed
• ENG Danny Murphy – ENG Charlton Athletic, 31 January, £2,000,000

Out

• MLI Frédéric Kanouté - ESP Sevilla, 18 August, £5,075,000
• SWE Erik Edman - FRA Rennes, 3 August, undisclosed
• ENG Sean Davis, FRA Noé Pamarot, POR Pedro Mendes – ENG Portsmouth, 12 January, £7,500,000 combined
• ENG Michael Brown – ENG Fulham, 31 January, undisclosed
• ISL Emil Hallfreðsson - SWE Malmö, loan
• BRA Rodrigo Defendi - ITA Udinese, loan

:Transfers in: £15,100,000 :Transfers out: £12,575,000 :Total spending: £2,525,000

Loans out

• ENG Philip Ifil - ENG Millwall, 13 September, three-month loan
• MAR Mounir El Hamdaoui - ENG Derby County, 16 September, three-month loan
• ENG Johnnie Jackson - ENG Derby County, 16 September, three-month loan
• HUN Márton Fülöp - ENG Coventry City, 28 October, three-month loan
• ENG Philip Ifil - ENG Millwall, 20 January, season-long loan
• SUI Reto Ziegler – ENG Wigan Athletic, 23 January, season-long loan
• ENG Wayne Routledge – ENG Portsmouth, 30 January, season-long loan

Competitions Overview

Results

Premier League

Main article: 2005–06 FA Premier League

Defoe Mido Duff Mido Keane Jenas Davids Keane Carrick Le Tallec Mido Defoe Queudrue Jenas Mido Defoe Mido Keane Jenas Defoe Mido Bellamy Gallas Keane Ameobi Shearer Dawson Carrick Davids Benayoun

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Hughes de Vries Stalteri

League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Final league table

Main article: 2005–06 FA Premier League

Statistics

Appearances and goals

|- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season |}

Goal scorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Clean sheets

Notes

References

References

1. (20 September 2005). "Grimsby 1-0 Tottenham". BBC News.
2. (8 January 2006). "Leicester 3-2 Tottenham". BBC News.
3. Hunter, Andy. (August 2021). "Manchester City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2: Jol plays down Spurs' challenge to established order – Premier League, Football – The Independent". The Independent.
4. (30 April 2006). "Jol makes Champions League plea". BBC News.
5. Bose, Mihir. (8 May 2006). "Spurs dealt devastating blow by food poisoning". The Daily Telegraph.
6. (7 May 2006). "Premiership finale clockwatch". BBC News.
7. (11 May 2006). "Spurs' replay request rejected". Television New Zealand.
8. (11 May 2006). "Spurs' replay request rejected". Television New Zealand.
9. "Poisoned soccer stars,a dodgy lasagne and cries of foul play.".
10. "Spurs Food Bug – Foul Play Suspected". Sky News.
11. "RTÉ Sport: Tests clear hotel in Spurs food poisoning incident". RTÉ News.
12. (1 February 2005). "Spurs agree deal for Huddlestone". BBC News.
13. "Spurs snap up defender Stalteri". BBC Sport.
14. "Tainio to join Spurs next season". BBC Sport.
15. (17 June 2005). "Tottenham agree deal on Routledge". BBC News.
16. (3 August 2005). "Tottenham complete Davids signing". BBC News.
17. "Lee completes move to Tottenham". BBC Sport.
18. (31 August 2005). "Jenas completes £7m Spurs switch". BBC News.
19. (1 September 2005). "Spurs agree Rasiak deal with Rams". BBC News.
20. "Tottenham sign midfielder Ghaly". BBC Sport.
21. "Tottenham clinch late Murphy deal". BBC Sport.
22. "Kanoute completes Sevilla switch". BBC Sport.
23. "Rennes complete signing of Edman". BBC Sport.
24. "Portsmouth swoop for Spurs trio". BBC Sport.
25. "Fulham seal move for Spurs' Brown". BBC Sport.
26. "Lions net Ifil and Wright on loan". BBC Sport.
27. "Derby sign Tottenham duo on loan". BBC Sport.
28. "Sky Blues make Fulop loan swoop". BBC Sport.
29. "Ifil returns to Millwall on loan". BBC Sport.
30. "Ziegler switches to Wigan on loan". BBC Sport.
31. "Pompey sign Routledge & Koroman". BBC Sport.