During the 2005–06 English football season, Derby County F.C.

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 competed in the Football League Championship

Football League Championship

The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

.

Season summary

Derby County had high hopes going into the season after finishing fourth the previous season, but manager George Burley

George Burley

George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...

, who had transformed Derby from relegation candiates into promotion hopefuls, quit in June following the sale of young midfielder Tom Huddlestone

Tom Huddlestone

Thomas Andrew Huddlestone is an English footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team.-Derby County:...

 to Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, without Burley's knowledge nor consent. His replacement, Phil Brown (in his first full-time managerial position) was unable to build on Burley's good work and their poor form dragged them into the relegation mire instead. He was sacked in January after a 6-1 thrashing against Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 in the league and a 3-1 defeat against League One side Colchester United

Colchester United F.C.

Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

 in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

, with Derby languishing in 19th. Former coach Terry Westley

Terry Westley

Terry Westley is an association football coach and manager. Until 2011 he was the Academy Director at Birmingham City.Westley previously worked at Rushden & Diamonds, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Derby County. At these clubs he was responsible for developing young players, who...

 stepped up as caretaker manager; despite no wins in his first five games, he was named as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season - Westley promptly won his first game two days later, 1-0 at home to Plymouth

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

. Westley marginally improved Derby's form and they managed to confirm their Championship survival with a few games of the season to spare. Westley, however, was not offered the role of permanent manager; that went to former Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

 boss Billy Davies

Billy Davies

William McIntosh "Billy" Davies is a Glasgow-born Scottish football manager, noted for his achievement in the Football League Championship with East Midlands Rivals Derby County and Nottingham Forest and Preston North End which has led him to be described, in 2011, as "probably the best manager at...

.

Derby's form was especially poor away from home, with only 2 away wins all season.

Kit

Derby changed both their kit manufacturer and sponsor this season, with Spanish company Joma

Joma

Joma is a Spanish sports apparel manufacturer, which currently produces footwear and apparel for football, running and tennis. Its headquarters are located in the city of Toledo, Spain....

 producing the kits and the Derbyshire Building Society

Derbyshire Building Society

Derbyshire Building Society is a former UK building society based in Duffield, Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. With effect from 1 December 2008 it was acquired by Nationwide Building Society and now operates as a trading division of Nationwide...

 sponsoring the kits.

Squad

Left club during season