2005–06 Hibernian F.C. season

Season 2005–06 was a season of missed opportunities for Hibernian. The team started strongly in the league, winning 10 of their first 14 games, but this form dipped after Christmas. The Scottish Cup seemed to be opening up for Hibs after they defeated Rangers 3–0 at Ibrox in the fourth round, but they then lost 4–0 in an Edinburgh derby semi–final against Hearts. Hibs lost 3–0 in the quarter–final of the Scottish League Cup at Dunfermline, and were well beaten by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Cup.

Hibernian
2005–06 season
ChairmanRod Petrie
ManagerTony Mowbray
SPL4th
Scottish CupSemi
CIS CupQuarter
UEFA CupR1
Top goalscorerLeague: Riordan, 16
All: Riordan, 20
Highest home attendance17180[1]
Lowest home attendance10427[1]
Average home league attendance13818[1] (up 1279)

Pre-season

Hibs went on a three match tour of Ireland in early July, beating St Patrick's Athletic and drawing with Cork City and Shamrock Rovers. This was followed by a series of friendly matches against Scottish Football League clubs. Unusually, two of these matches were played on the same day as Hibs split their squad between matches at Ayr United and Queen of the South. Hibs then played a match against Rot-Weiss Essen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup competition before completing their pre-season schedule with a 1–0 win against Hartlepool United.

Results
3 July 2005 Friendly matchCork City3 – 3HibernianTurners Cross, Cork
O'Callaghan
O'Callaghan  pen.'
Behan 		Morrow
Fletcher
Morrow
5 July 2005 Friendly matchSt Patrick's Athletic0 – 5HibernianRichmond Park, Dublin
O'Connor
O'Connor
Morrow
O'Connor
Shiels
6 July 2005 Friendly matchShamrock Rovers1 – 1HibernianTolka Park, Dublin
O'Neill  pen.' Konte
12 July 2005 Friendly matchBerwick Rangers1 – 4HibernianShielfield Park, Berwick
Gordon Riordan
Riordan
O'Connor
Riordan 		Attendance: 1,158
13 July 2005 Friendly matchStirling Albion0 – 2HibernianForthbank Stadium, Stirling
Morrow
Konte 		Attendance: 1,450
Referee: Ian Frickleton
16 July 2005 Friendly matchAyr United1 – 1HibernianSomerset Park, Ayr
Hyslop O'Connor Attendance: 1,028
16 July 2005 Friendly matchQueen of the South0 – 0HibernianPalmerston Park, Dumfries
Attendance: 1,226
Referee: John McKendrick
22 July 2005 Friendly matchRot-Weiss Essen0 – 3HibernianGeorg-Melches-Stadion, Essen
Beuzelin
O'Connor
Caldwell 		Attendance: 5,129
26 July 2005 Friendly matchHibernian1 – 0Hartlepool UnitedEaster Road, Edinburgh
Sproule Attendance: 7,072

League season

Hibs began the season inauspiciously, drawing 1–1 at home to Dunfermline, although a draw represented something of a recovery having been a goal and a man down at half time. The second match was an Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle, where Hibs felt the full brunt of a powerful new Hearts side under the management of George Burley. Hibs lost 4–0 as Hearts went on to start the season with eight consecutive league wins.

Hibs ended Hearts' unbeaten start to the season on 29 October 2005.

Hibs themselves then went on a run of form, winning four league games in a row. The obvious highlight of this run was a 3–0 win at Ibrox, which was Hibs' first win there since 1995. Ivan Sproule, who had been thinking of returning to his native Northern Ireland,[2] scored all the goals as a second-half substitute for Garry O'Connor. Sproule became the first visiting player to score a hat-trick at Ibrox since Allan Johnston did it for Hearts in 1996,[3] and the first Hibs player to achieve the feat in more than 100 years.[4]

Although Hibs then lost home matches to Celtic and Inverness immediately after their European ties, they then went on another run of victories, this time five in succession. The highlight of this run was the 2–0 Edinburgh derby win against Hearts, which ended their unbeaten start to the season.[5] Despite a home defeat by Falkirk where Hibs had led 2–0, a convincing 2–1 win against Rangers led to media speculation that Hibs could challenge for the league title, which Tony Mowbray played down.[6]

Results
30 July 2005 SPLHibernian1 – 1Dunfermline AthleticEaster Road, Edinburgh
O'Connor  74' Shields  12' Attendance: 13,010
Referee: Charlie Richmond
7 August 2005 SPLHeart of Midlothian4 – 0HibernianTynecastle, Edinburgh
Skacel  12'
Hartley  58' (pen.)
Simmons  71'
Mikoliunas  83'		 Attendance: 16,459
Referee: Stuart Dougal
13 August 2005 SPLHibernian3 – 0LivingstonEaster Road, Edinburgh
Murphy  40'
Shiels  42'
O'Connor  53'		 Attendance: 11,341
Referee: G Turner
20 August 2005 SPLFalkirk0 – 2HibernianFalkirk Stadium, Falkirk
Brown  36'
Riordan  63' (pen.)		 Attendance: 6,268
Referee: Brian Winter
27 August 2005 SPLRangers0 – 3HibernianIbrox Stadium, Glasgow
Sproule  67', 86', 90' Attendance: 49,754
Referee: Iain Brines
10 September 2005 SPLHibernian2 – 1Dundee UnitedEaster Road, Edinburgh
O'Connor  18' (pen.)
Sproule  70'		 Brebner  14' Attendance: 12,062
Referee: Kenny Clark
18 September 2005 SPLHibernian0 – 1CelticEaster Road, Edinburgh
Petrov  5' Attendance: 15,649
Referee: Craig Thomson
24 September 2005 SPLMotherwell1 – 3HibernianFir Park, Motherwell
Foran  83' (pen.) Beuzelin  20'
Stewart  68'
Riordan  80'		 Attendance: 6,461
Referee: Dougie McDonald
2 October 2005 SPLHibernian1 – 2Inverness CTEaster Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher  82' Proctor  49'
Wyness  65'		 Attendance: 11,683
Referee: Brian Winter
15 October 2005 SPLHibernian4 – 2KilmarnockEaster Road, Edinburgh
Caldwell  53'
Beuzelin  61', 80'
Riordan  81'		 Ford  7'
Fowler  40'		 Attendance: 11,731
Referee: Alan Freeland
22 October 2005 SPLAberdeen0 – 1HibernianPittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Riordan  55' Attendance: 13,375
Referee: Mike McCurry
26 October 2005 SPLDunfermline Athletic1 – 2HibernianEast End Park, Dunfermline
Mason  87' O'Connor  48', 83' Attendance: 6,853
Referee: Craig Mackay
29 October 2005 SPLHibernian2 – 0Heart of MidlothianEaster Road, Edinburgh
Beuzelin  78'
O'Connor  80'		 Attendance: 17,180
Referee: John R. Underhill
5 November 2005 SPLLivingston1 – 2HibernianAlmondvale, Livingston
Strong  42' Shiels  83'
O'Connor  86'		 Attendance: 8,390
Referee: Dougie McDonald
19 November 2005 SPLHibernian2 – 3FalkirkEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  1', 33' Duffy  48', 73'
Gow  55'		 Attendance: 13,092
Referee: Steve Conroy
27 November 2005 SPLHibernian2 – 1RangersEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  18'
O'Connor  25'		 Ferguson  59' Attendance: 16,958
Referee: Stuart Dougal
3 December 2005 SPLDundee United1 – 0HibernianTannadice Park, Dundee
Samuel  61' Attendance: 7,976
Referee: Brian Winter
10 December 2005 SPLCeltic3 – 2HibernianCeltic Park, Glasgow
Hartson  40', 65'
Maloney  57'		 Beuzelin  47'
Fletcher  53'		 Attendance: 59,895
Referee: Kenny Clark
17 December 2005 SPLHibernian2 – 1MotherwellEaster Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher  3'
Riordan  90'		 McDonald  17' Attendance: 11,926
Referee: Charlie Richmond
26 December 2005 SPLInverness CT2 – 0HibernianCaley Stadium, Inverness
Wilson  8'
Dargo  11'		 Attendance: 7,017
Referee: Alan Freeland
2 January 2006 SPLKilmarnock2 – 2HibernianRugby Park, Kilmarnock
Naismith  30'
Wales  90'		 Hogg  60'
O'Connor  85'		 Attendance: 9,224
Referee: Brian Winter
14 January 2006 SPLHibernian1 – 2AberdeenEaster Road, Edinburgh
Whittaker  90' Crawford  4'
Mackie  14'		 Attendance: 14,572
Referee: Dougie McDonald
21 January 2006 SPLHibernian3 – 1Dunfermline AthleticEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  17', 71'
Fletcher  89'		 Donnelly  35' Attendance: 13,316
Referee: Stuart Dougal
28 January 2006 SPLHeart of Midlothian4 – 1HibernianTynecastle, Edinburgh
Hartley  27', 44' (pen.)
Skacel  41'
Elliot  50'		 O'Connor  58' Attendance: 17,371
Referee: Mike McCurry
8 February 2006 SPLHibernian7 – 0LivingstonEaster Road, Edinburgh
Killen  19'
Riordan  33' (pen.), 64'
O'Connor  48'
Mackay  70' (o.g.)
Fletcher  89', 90'		 Attendance: 12,170
Referee: Charlie Richmond
11 February 2006 SPLFalkirk0 – 0HibernianFalkirk Stadium, Falkirk
Attendance: 5,937
Referee: Craig Mackay
18 February 2006 SPLRangers2 – 0HibernianIbrox Stadium, Glasgow
Boyd  40'
Ferguson  74'		 Attendance: 49,720
Referee: Iain Brines
4 March 2006 SPLHibernian3 – 1Dundee UnitedEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  6'
Archibald  25' (o.g.)
Killen  33'		 Goodwillie  89' Attendance: 16,266
Referee: Brian Winter
12 March 2006 SPLHibernian1 – 2CelticEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  24' Maloney  36' (pen.)
McManus  60'		 Attendance: 16,985
Referee: Alan Freeland
18 March 2006 SPLMotherwell2 – 2HibernianFir Park, Motherwell
O'Donnell  40'
Craigan  90'		 Killen  48'
Glass  78'		 Attendance: 6,724
Referee: Mike McCurry
25 March 2006 SPLHibernian0 – 2Inverness CTEaster Road, Edinburgh
Dods  58'
Wilson  79' (pen.)		 Attendance: 12,745
Referee: Mike Ritchie
5 April 2006 SPLHibernian2 – 1KilmarnockEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  80'
Dalglish  87'		 Wales  19' Attendance: 10,427
Referee: Calum Murray
8 April 2006 SPLAberdeen1 – 0HibernianPittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Severin  21' Attendance: 14,110
Referee: Iain Brines
16 April 2006 SPLCeltic1 – 1HibernianCeltic Park, Glasgow
Zurawski  76' Fletcher  35' Attendance: 60,047
Referee: Kevin Toner
22 April 2006 SPLHibernian2 – 1Heart of MidlothianEaster Road, Edinburgh
Riordan  16'
Benjelloun  78'		 Bednar  45' Attendance: 16,654
Referee: Charlie Richmond
29 April 2006 SPLAberdeen4 – 0HibernianPittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Crawford  4'
Lovell  30', 54'
Foster  65'		 Attendance: 10,490
Referee: Brian Winter
2 May 2006 SPLHibernian1 – 2RangersEaster Road, Edinburgh
Hemdani  72' (o.g.) Boyd  36', 74' Attendance: 14,933
Referee: Mike McCurry
7 May 2006 SPLKilmarnock3 – 1HibernianRugby Park, Kilmarnock
Naismith  48' (pen.)
Greer  72'
Nish  75'		 Fletcher  5' Attendance: 5,732
Referee: Alan Freeland

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
2 Heart of Midlothian 38 22 8 8 71 31 +40 74 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3 Rangers 38 21 10 7 67 37 +30 73 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Hibernian 38 17 5 16 61 56 +5 56 Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round[lower-alpha 2]
5 Kilmarnock 38 15 10 13 63 64 −1 55
6 Aberdeen 38 13 15 10 46 40 +6 54
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. Hibernian qualified for the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup by being the highest place applicant for the competition.

UEFA Cup

Having finished third in the Scottish Premier League table in the previous season, Hibs qualified directly into the first round proper of the UEFA Cup. They were drawn against Ukrainian Premier League side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, with Hibs due to play at home first. The match at Easter Road was a goalless draw, although Hibs hit the woodwork twice.[7] Dnipro took the lead early in the return match thanks to a deflected goal, but Derek Riordan equalised midway through the first half.[8] Hibs conceded two goals before half-time, however, and Dnipro added two more late goals on the counter-attack.[8] This eliminated Hibs at the first hurdle, as they had been in their previous entry in 2001.

Results
15 September 2005 UEFA CupHibernian0 – 0DniproEaster Road, Edinburgh
Attendance: 16,861
Referee: Knud Erik Fisker
29 September 2005 UEFA CupDnipro5 – 1HibernianMeteor, Dnipropetrovsk
Nazarenko  1'
Shershun  26'
Shelayev  39' (pen.)
Melaschenko  87', 90'		 Riordan  24' Referee: Fritz Stuchlik

Scottish League Cup

As one of the European qualifiers from the previous season, Hibs were given a bye to the last 16 of the competition. In that round they defeated Ayr United 2–1 at Somerset Park. In the quarter-final, Hibs were drawn to play Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park. Dunfermline were struggling in the SPL and had recently lost at home to Hibs in the league, but they turned this form on its head to comfortably beat Hibs 3–0 in the League Cup, ending Hibs' involvement in the competition.

Results
21 September 2005 Scottish League CupAyr United1 – 2HibernianSomerset Park, Ayr
Wardlaw  86' Riordan  37', 41' Attendance: 2,598
Referee: Steve Conroy
8 November 2005 Scottish League CupDunfermline Athletic3 – 0HibernianEast End Park, Dunfermline
Burchill  15', 45'
Mason  90'		 Attendance: 6,005
Referee: Stuart Dougal

Scottish Cup

Hibs had a straightforward win in the last 32 of the Scottish Cup at home to Arbroath. In the last 16 they were given the daunting task of facing Rangers at Ibrox, although Hibs had won 3–0 at Ibrox earlier in the season thanks to Ivan Sproule's hat-trick. Their preparations for the game were not helped when Rangers made an offer to sign Derek Riordan, Hibs' top scorer, in the week before the match. Hibs rejected Rangers' offer, but accepted offers from foreign clubs that Riordan himself turned down. This transfer activity led Tony Mowbray to decide to leave Riordan on the bench for the match at Ibrox, just as he had done before the previous match at that ground that season. Riordan ended up making a cameo appearance, setting up the third goal for Chris Killen in a second 3–0 win for Hibs at Ibrox, and their third victory in all over Rangers that season. Garry O'Connor and Sproule had scored Hibs' first two goals early in the second half, with Simon Brown gaining some credit for producing an excellent save from Bob Malcolm during the first half.

With Celtic having already been eliminated in a shock defeat by Clyde in the last 32, the Scottish Cup had been opened up for a first winner from outside the Old Firm since Hearts in 1998. The first Scottish Cup Final without an Old Firm club present since 1997 was also guaranteed by those two results. In the quarter-final, Hibs were drawn to play SPL club Falkirk away. Hibs progressed through to the semi-final after a 5–1 victory at the Falkirk Stadium. Hibs were joined in the semi-finals by Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts and Scottish Football League clubs Dundee and Gretna. Gretna beat Dundee 3–0 in the first semi-final, leaving Hibs and Hearts to contest the right to face a Second Division side in a Cup Final where they would be heavy favourite.

The problem for Hibs was that they had been seriously weakened by the time of that semi-final. Derek Riordan had not been sold in the January window, but was suspended for the semi-final after collecting a second yellow card of the competition against Falkirk.[9] Garry O'Connor had been sold to Lokomotiv Moscow straight after the quarter-final win. Chris Killen had failed a late fitness test[9] and Paul Dalglish was cup-tied to Livingston. Midfielders Scott Brown and Michael Stewart were also unavailable due to injury.

These selection problems, particularly in attack, meant that Mowbray drafted in Moroccan youngster Abdessalam Benjelloun for his debut, and also started with youngster Steven Fletcher in attack.[9] He also juggled the other areas of the team by moving Gary Caldwell into midfield and bringing Chris Hogg into defence.[9] The makeshift Hibs side lost the match 4–0 and had Sproule and Gary Smith sent off. Former Hibs player Paul Hartley scored a hat-trick, leaving Mowbray to wonder whether Hibs would have won if the absent players had been available.[10]

Results
7 January 2006 Scottish CupHibernian6 – 0ArbroathEaster Road, Edinburgh
Brown  40', 78'
Sproule  45'
Stewart  63'
O'Connor  74'
Fletcher  85'		 Attendance: 10,523
Referee: William Collum
4 February 2006 Scottish CupRangers0 – 3HibernianIbrox Stadium, Glasgow
O'Connor  50'
Sproule  59'
Killen  78'		 Attendance: 40,722
Referee: Stuart Dougal
25 February 2006 Scottish CupFalkirk1 – 5HibernianFalkirk Stadium, Falkirk
McBreen  70' Riordan  9'
O'Connor  64'
Sproule  74'
Caldwell  77'
Fletcher  88'		 Attendance: 6,259
Referee: Kenny Clark
2 April 2006 Scottish CupHibernian0 – 4Heart of MidlothianHampden Park, Glasgow
Hartley  28', 59', 88' (pen.)
Jankauskas  81'		 Attendance: 43,180
Referee: Stuart Dougal

Transfers

Hibs did not make many major changes from the squad that had finished third in the SPL in the previous season. Captain Ian Murray moved to Rangers under freedom of contract, while Hibs signed Michael Stewart, who had been on loan at Hearts. Tony Mowbray also signed Zbigniew Małkowski to play in goal, as Simon Brown had made some errors towards the end of the previous season.

During the winter, Hibs brought in Chris Killen, Oumar Kondé and Paul Dalglish in an attempt to strengthen a squad that was being stretched by injuries. The only major transfer during the season was the sale of Garry O'Connor to Lokomotiv Moscow at the start of March 2006. This transfer went ahead outside of the normal British transfer windows because the Russian Premier League transfer window was still open.[11] O'Connor's transfer started a trend of Hibs selling players, as Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown, Steven Whittaker and David Murphy all moved for fees in excess of £1.5M over the course of the next two years.

Player stats

During the 2005–06 season, Hibs used 31 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[12]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalSPLScottish CupLeague CupUEFA Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK Simon Brown 11070301000
GK Zibi Malkowski 360320101020
DF Gary Caldwell 412341411020
DF Chris Hogg 301231302020
DF Oumar Kondé 130110200000
DF David Murphy 371301401020
DF Humphrey Rudge 8060002000
DF Jay Shields 7070000000
DF Gary Smith 240200201010
DF Steven Whittaker 401341400020
MF Guillaume Beuzelin 255215002020
MF Scott Brown 243201221010
MF Stephen Glass 341281401010
MF Sean Lynch 2020000000
MF Jamie McCluskey 6030300000
MF Kevin McDonald 3020001000
MF Antonio Murray 1010000000
MF Dean Shiels 202162002020
MF Ivan Sproule 407324432020
MF Lewis Stevenson 1000001000
MF Michael Stewart 302251310020
MF Kevin Thomson 370310301020
FW Abdessalam Benjelloun 6151100000
FW Ross Campbell 1010000000
FW Paul Dalglish 142111000031
FW Steven Fletcher 4110348422010
FW Chris Killen 8473110000
FW Amadou Konte 150130101000
FW Sam Morrow 12080102010
FW Garry O'Connor 32142611331020
FW Derek Riordan 42203616312211

See also

References
  1. "Average Home League Game Attendances". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. Hibs delight at Sproule's U-turn, BBC Sport, 30 August 2005.
  3. Football: YOU'RE IVAN A LAUGH; Gers slump to fourth after Sproule hits stunning hat-trick.(Sport), Sunday Mail, 28 August 2005.
  4. Hardie, David. As Hibs get ready to take on Rangers, Sproule looks back on his favourite Ibrox moment – and it's not the one you might think.., Edinburgh Evening News, 2 February 2008.
  5. Leslie, Colin. Hibernian 2–0 Hearts: Derby day countdown: Capital's SPL Classics Part IV, The Scotsman, 17 October 2008.
  6. Mowbray denies title credentials, BBC Sport, 27 November 2005.
  7. Hibernian 0–0 Dnipro, BBC Sport, 15 September 2005.
  8. Dnipro 5–1 Hibernian (agg 5–1), BBC Sport, 29 September 2005.
  9. Hibernian 0–4 Hearts, BBC Sport, 2 April 2006.
  10. Mowbray vows to come back better, BBC Sport, 2 April 2006.
  11. Gordon, Phil. Lokomotiv express desire to capture O'Connor, The Times, 28 February 2006.
  12. "Hibernian 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
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