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Here is the Bulls News review of what happened at Edgar Street over the course of 2005:
January: The year got off to a poor start, losing 2-1 at home to Exeter then 3-0 at Burton. The Bulls managed to progress in the FA Trophy but lost an LDV Area Semi to Wrexham. The Bulls were third in the table but 17 points off leaders Barnet. Bulls fans helped raise £1,339 for Tsunami disaster victims in a bucket collection. Andy Williams started his first game for the Bulls in a GLS Cup match that also featured coach John Trewick as an unused sub. New faces this month were Joe Anyinsah, on loan from Bristol City, and Ashley Hildred, who joined non-contract from Grimsby. Graham Turner notched his 500th game in charge at Edgar Street.
February: The highlight of the month was beating runaway leaders Barnet 2-0 at Underhill, but it still left the Bulls 16 points off the leaders. New faces this month was Kyle Patterson and Brian 'Junior' Smikle from West Brom. The Bulls progressed further in the FA Trophy by beating Hyde Utd, but drew with Eastwood for a March replay.
March: The Bulls finished the job by beating Eastwood 4-2 in a replay, after initial reports suggested Brian Smikle wasn't eligible to play in the first match, but crashed out of the following round after taking two attempts to lose to Hucknall in a dismal display. The Bulls also revealed profits for the previous season of nearly £300,000, and sealed a two year extension on the Sun Valley sponsorship deal. A league draw against Morecambe saw the Bulls drop to eighth. David Brown left the club after a training ground bust-up, and joined Accrington shortly after. New faces this month was physio Wayne Jones, a former assistant boss at Gillingham and a man who worked with Turner at Shrewsbury many years ago, and Daryl Taylor and Leroy Williams from Walsall. Williams made an immediate impression - scoring and then being sent off for a headbutt in his debut at Farnboro.
April: The month started with Parka'Bull running for Parliament. The Bulls, visibly bouyed by the news, beat Stevenage 1-0 to surge into the play-off zone on the back of three straight wins - the team wouldn't lose any of their remaining league games either. 1400 Bulls fans make the trip to Forest Green to see a 3-1 win with the Bulls third in the table, but only 257 watched the HFA cup win over Kington. Tom Smith departs Edgar Street after requesting his release. He later joins Worksop briefly, and Daryl Taylor will miss the remainder of the season after twisting a knee in the win over York.
May: A full house of 1400 Bulls fans travel to Hertfordshire to face Stevenage in the play-offs. A tight 1-1 draw leaves it all on the line for the second leg. The Bulls also sell out their allocation for the home leg, but lose to a single goal. Carlisle join Barnet in the Football League after beating Stevenage in the play-off final. Four players are released at the end of the season, and Mark Robinson leaves for Stockport. Adriano Rigolioso is linked with a move to Edgar Street. Simon Travis punctures a lung playing for England in the non-league tournament.
June: Andy Tretton becomes the only other player to refuse a new deal at Edgar Street, and joins Accrington on a two year deal. Alex Jeannin signs up for Edgar Street, while Danny Williams and Jon Brady make opposite trips to and from Stevenage. The GLS Cup is scrapped at the Conference AGM. Former manager Frank Lord dies at 68.
July: Dean Beckwith signs from Gillingham, Guy Ipoua joins from Doncaster, and Wayne Brown is in on loan from Chester for the season.
August: Stacy Coldicott ends two months of speculation by signing a two year deal. He is joined by Andy Ferrell, Graham Evans, and Darren Blewitt. A group of fans set off on a tour of grounds to raise money for St Michaels Hospice, raising nearly £6,000 in total. The new season starts with a 4-0 demolition of Scarboro, with Guy Ipoua dominating the game, but the Bulls are brought down to earth with a televised loss at Cambridge with team morale questioned as Brady and Ferrell are seen on camera arguing furiously. Ryan Green is controversially sent off at Tamworth.
September: Conferencefootball.tv hits the buffers as Phil Wallace refuses permission for their cameras to show the Stevenage-Exeter game live and free, later cancels planned coverage of the Aldershot-Bulls match, and manages to broadcast just half of the Grays-Dagenham match. The Bulls goalscoring problems, without Adam Stansfield and Guy Ipoua, are evident as they notch just four goals in six games in the month. Matt Bailey signs on loan from Crewe. Danny Carey-Bertram scores after 26 seconds against Aldershot to seal all three points. George Hyde dies at 69.
October: Adam Stansfield gets an operation on a Double Hernia, while Stacy Coldicott is to undergo tests on a troublesome back injury that has seen him play just five times for the Bulls. The tests later suggest that no operation is needed. Former midfielder Mick Galloway say yes, then no, to the Bulls as he joins Eastwood Town instead, while Tony James admits the team are nine points short of their target tally. Mansfield become the first LDV victims as an early Matt Bailey goal was the only goal of the game. Guy Ipoua began a slow return to fitness with a ten minute cameo appearance. The Bulls take two attempts to get past Alfreton in the FA Cup, but finally manage it after penalties. Bulls fans are attacked by Police with CS Spray at Worcester Foregate Street railway station after the derby match with Kidderminster. No injured officers and no arrests are reported, but the Police deny being over agressive.
November: Jon Brady puts the Bulls into the Second Round of the FA Cup with the only goal against Cambridge City, but mystery surrounds Matt Bailey's future of the club after fans are told by a club official that he has been sent back, which is later denied by Turner. Thankfully, Bailey is not seen again. LDV success continues with the defeat of Port Vale 2-1. Former Bulls midfielder, and current Morecambe manager, Jim Harvey suffers a heart attack prior to a match. On the pitch, Woking get thumped 4-0 as the glimpses of brilliance surface, but Wayne Brown fractures a wrist in training. Birmingham academy keeper Andy Bagnall is signed as cover. Former manager Joe Wade dies at 84, and former Chairman Frank Miles dies at 72.
December: Inconsistency bites again as Stockport meet little resistence in a 2-0 FA Cup win over the Bulls, but LDV success is quick to follow as Scunthorpe are played off the park in a 2-0 win, and Bognor are demolished in the FA Trophy 7-1. The Bulls are undefeated in the league in the month but drop valuable points at Forest Green, rounding off the year by beating Exeter 2-1 live on Sky.
2005 started with a 2-1 loss to Exeter, and finished with a 2-1 win over the Grecians. Let's hope we're not finishing 2006 playing our first opponents Forest Green!
