1999-2000 in English football - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Premier League

Manchester United were crowned FA Premier League

FA Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

champions with an 18-point margin over runners-up Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

and with just 3 league defeats all season. This was despite their failure to retain the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

and withdrawal from 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...

in order to compete in the FIFA Club World Championship — a campaign which was short lived. Andy Townsend

Andy Townsend

Andrew "Andy" David Townsend is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit....

also once said in The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

that Manchester United should be "banned for life" from the FA Cup. Their season after the domination of 98/99 was seen as a relative failure by the tabloids. Man United's failure in the FIFA Club World Championship, was surprisingly compounded by the press even more when David Beckham

David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...

's wife Victoria

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...

, admitted on The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...

that he enjoys wearing her thongs

Thong (clothing)

The thong is a garment generally worn as either underwear or as a swimsuit in many industrialized societies around the world. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions such as sumo wrestling...

. It was during this tournament he was sent off

Penalty card

A penalty card is used in many sports as a means of warning, reprimanding or penalising a player, coach or team official. Penalty cards are most commonly used by referees or umpires to indicate that a player has committed an offense. The referee will hold the card above his or her head while...

against Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

team Club Necaxa, which was seen as the starting point in his team's first-round exit.

Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

made an impressive Premiership

FA Premier League

comeback by finishing seventh and just missing out on a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

place, in part due to 30 goals from prolific striker Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

Kevin Mark Phillips is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Blackpool.Phillips was the Premier League top scorer in the 1999–2000 season with 30 goals for Sunderland, a tally which won him the European Golden Shoe. He remains the only Englishman to win the trophy...

.

Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

went down in bottom place with a record Premiership

FA Premier League

low of 24 points. Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

were next to go down. On the last day of the season, Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...

lost 3–0 at Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

and Bradford City

Bradford City A.F.C.

Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

achieved a shock 1–0 home win over Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

thanks to a goal by David Wetherall

David Wetherall

David Wetherall is an English former footballer who played as a central defender, finishing his playing career with Bradford City at the end of the 2007–08 season. Born in Sheffield, he supported Sheffield Wednesday as a child, and started his playing career there...

. This meant that Bradford had survived the drop and Liverpool had surrendered a UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

place. It also meant that Wimbledon's 14-year spell in the top flight was over and they were relegated to Division One 12 years to the day that they had beaten Liverpool to achieve a shock FA Cup

FA Cup

triumph.

Division One

The three promotion places in Division One went to league champions Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

, runners-up Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

and playoff champions Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

.

1999–2000 also saw some of Division One's biggest clubs miss out on promotion—the biggest of these were Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

(11th) and Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

(14th). Steve Coppell

Steve Coppell

Stephen James "Steve" Coppell is an English former footballer and manager, currently without a club.As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and represented England at the World Cup...

ended his fourth spell as Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

manager after doing wonders to keep a virtually bankrupt club clear of the Division One relegation zone.

Going down were Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

, Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

and Swindon Town

Swindon Town F.C.

Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

. West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

just missed out on the drop zone thanks to a late turn-around in form during the final weeks of the season which followed the appointment of Gary Megson

Gary Megson

Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers...

as manager.

Division Two

David Moyes

David William Moyes is an association football manager and former player, currently managing English Premier League club Everton. He was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year...

, 37, showed promise as one of the league's most highly rated young managers after he guided 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...

to the Division Two championship. Stan Ternent

Stan Ternent

Francis Stanley "Stan" Ternent is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He is currently a scout for Sunderland.-Career:...

's two-year rebuilding project at Burnley

Burnley F.C.

Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

paid off as they finished runners-up in the division. Joining them in Division One were Peter Taylor's Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, who had reached the upper half of the league for the first time in their history.

Going down were Cardiff City

Cardiff City F.C.

Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

, Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

, Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

and Chesterfield

Chesterfield F.C.

Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

. Narrowly avoiding the drop were Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

, who struggled all season long despite the club's financial crisis being eased by the arrival of new Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

n chairman Firoz Kassam

Firoz Kassam

Firoz Kassam is a Tanzanian-born, businessman. He is the former owner of Oxford United F.C.He was born in Tanzania ofPakistani parents and came to Britain as a student during the 1970s....

Division Three

Swansea City

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

, Rotherham United

Rotherham United F.C.

Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...

, Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

and Peterborough United

Peterborough United F.C.

Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...

occupied the four promotion places in Division Three.

Chester City

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

were relegated on the last day of the season, ending their 69-year league career while Shrewsbury Town

Shrewsbury Town F.C.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

and Carlisle United

Carlisle United F.C.

Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....

saved themselves from Conference football.

FA Cup

Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

beat Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

1–0 in the last FA Cup

FA Cup

final at Wembley before its redevelopment. The competition was played despite the absence of holders Manchester United due to FIFA Club World Cup

FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...

commitments. Their absence meant that in the 3rd round of the competition, there was an uneven number of teams, and so Darlington FC were picked out of a hat of "lucky losers" and played against Aston Villa despite having lost in the 2nd round of the competition. Villa beat them 2–1.

In a one-off season, most FA Cup rounds were played a few weeks earlier than their traditional dates. For example, the first round was played in late October (rather than mid-November) and the third round was held on the second Saturday in December (instead of its annual place at the start of the new year). The experiment has not been repeated since.

League Cup

Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

beat Tranmere Rovers

Tranmere Rovers F.C.

Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

2–1 to yield their second League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

in four seasons.

United retain their title

Manchester United retained their Premiership title after losing just three league games all season and finishing 18 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal. Roy Keane was voted Player of the Year by both the PFA and FWA and Dwight Yorke finished as the club's top scorer with 20 Premiership goals. United lost their defence of the European Cup after losing to eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter finals. Along the way they suffered an embarrassing 5–0 domestic loss to Chelsea, the biggest ever defeat for a British team defending the European Cup.

Chelsea triumph in Wembley finale

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1–0 in the last F.A. Cup final at Wembley before the stadium was closed for reconstruction. Robert di Matteo, who had scored in the 1997 final, scored the only goal of the 2000 final to give Chelsea their third F.A. Cup triumph and end Villa's hopes of winning the trophy for the first time since 1957.

O'Neill lured to Celtic

Martin O'Neill guided Leicester City to their second League Cup triumph in four seasons before moving north of the border to Celtic, whose 'dream team' partnership of Director of Football Kenny Dalglish and Head Coach John Barnes had ended a nightmare as they finished 21 points behind champions Rangers in the SPL title race and had suffered a shock SFA Cup exit at the hands of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, which had inspired The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

newspaper headline: "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious".

England blow it at Euro 2000

England overcame Scotland in the qualification playoffs to qualify for Euro 2000, and beat Germany in the group stages. But they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3–2 to Portugal and lost by the same scoreline to Romania, and thus failed to reach the quarter finals. This dismal showing saw continued calls for the F.A. to terminate Kevin Keegan's contract.

Veteran Robson takes over on Tyneside

Bobby Robson, 66, became the oldest manager ever to take charge of a Premiership club when he succeeded 37-year-old Ruud Gullit as manager of Newcastle United.

Chester out, Kidderminster in

Chester City were relegated to the Conference after 69 years of Football League membership. They were replaced by Conference champions Kidderminster Harriers, who had won the Conference title six years earlier but had been refused promotion because their Aggborough ground did not meet capacity requirements.

Coppell quits Palace again

Steve Coppell was sacked as Crystal Palace manager, having been in charge of the club four times in 16 years. New owner Simon Jordan brought in Alan Smith (who had managed Palace between 1993 and 1995) as Coppell's successor. The change of hands gave Palace fans hope for the future after a financial crisis had almost put the club out of business.

Shearer quits the international stage

Alan Shearer retired from international football after playing for England at Euro 2000, much to the dismay of many fans who felt that he still had a few years left in him at the highest level.

Wimbledon's luck finally runs out

Wimbledon were relegated from the Premiership after 14 years in the top flight. Their fate was sealed on 14 May, 12 years to the day that they had achieved their famous F.A. Cup victory over Liverpool.

Successful players

Roy Keane

Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....

captained Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

to another Premiership

FA Premier League

title triumph and was credited with the Player of the Year awards from both the PFA

Professional Footballers' Association

The Professional Footballers' Association is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members....

and FWA

Football Writers' Association

The Football Writers' Association is an association of England football journalists and correspondents writing for newspapers and agencies, founded in 1947....

.

Leeds United's exciting 22-year-old Australian midfielder Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell

Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...

was voted PFA

Professional Footballers' Association

The Professional Footballers' Association is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members....

Young Player of the Year after helping secure a Champions League place for his side.

Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

opened his Premiership

FA Premier League

goalscoring account at Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

with 30 goals in a season – making him the highest scoring footballer in the whole league.

Andy Cole

Andy Cole

Andrew Alexander Cole is a retired English footballer. He is most well known by the name Andy Cole , but in 2000, he reputedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole...

scored 19 Premiership

FA Premier League

goals for Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

— the highest number of goals he had scored in any season for the Old Trafford

Old Trafford (football)

Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...

club.

Successful managers

Sir Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

guided Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

to their sixth Premiership

FA Premier League

title in eight years.

Gianluca Vialli

Gianluca Vialli

Gianluca Vialli is an Italian football manager and former player. Since retiring, he has gone into management and punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sport Italia....

won his fourth major trophy in two-and-a-half seasons by winning the FA Cup

FA Cup

for Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

.

David O'Leary

David O'Leary

David Anthony O'Leary is an Irish football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United and later he managed Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai...

ended his first full season as Leeds United manager with a run to the semi finals of the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

and qualification for next season's Champions League.

Peter Reid

Peter Reid

Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and retired player, who is currently without a club since his departure from Plymouth Argyle.A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career...

achieved a remarkable seventh-place finish for Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

in their Premiership

FA Premier League

comeback season.

Joe Royle

Joe Royle

Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...

took Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

into the Premiership

FA Premier League

after winning a second successive promotion.

Alan Curbishley

Alan Curbishley

Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley is an English football manager and former professional player....

guided Charlton Athletic to promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt after they finished champions of Division One.

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...

finally got Ipswich Town into the Premiership when they triumphed in the Division One playoffs after three successive seasons of failure.

David Moyes

David Moyes

continued Preston North End's revival by guiding them to title success in Division Two.

Stan Ternent

Stan Ternent

guided Burnley to runners-up spot in Division Two and secured their promotion to Division One.

John Hollins

John Hollins

John William Hollins MBE is a retired English footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective centre back.Hollins' son, Chris Hollins is the main sport presenter on BBC Breakfast....

brought success to Swansea City, who won the Division Three title.

Biggest rise

Gillingham won the Division Two playoffs to reach the upper half of the English league for the first time in their history.

Biggest fall

Wimbledon were relegated from the Premiership after 14 successive seasons of top flight football. 12 years earlier they had been F.A. Cup winners.

FA Premier League

For more detail on the Premiership this season see FA Premier League 1999-2000

Manchester United retained the Premier League title, winning it for the sixth time in eight seasons, and finished the season as champions by an 18-point margin after a long winning run rounded off an already very good season. Arsenal finished runners-up for the second successive season, while Leeds United's third place finish was their highest since title glory in 1992. Liverpool's fourth place finish meant that they had to settle for a UEFA Cup place, a shock defeat to Bradford City (who defied all the odds to avoid relegation in their first top flight season for nearly 80 years) preventing them from qualifying for the Champions League on the final day. Joining Liverpool in the UEFA Cup were fifth placed Chelsea (the FA Cup winners) and League Cup winners Leicester City, while newly promoted Sunderland just missed out on Europe but their seventh place finish was still their highest for decades.

Bradford's surprise escape from relegation spelled the end in the Premier League for Wimbledon, who had defied the odds on limited resources for 14 years but finally ran out of luck when they were beaten by Southampton on the final day. Sheffield Wednesday went down after three seasons of steady decline, having been in the top flight for all but one season since 1984, while Watford's first top flight season for more than a decade ended in relegation.

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	38	28	7	3	97	45	+52	91
2	Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...	38	22	7	9	73	43	+30	73
3	Leeds United Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...	38	21	6	11	58	43	+15	69
4	Liverpool Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...	38	19	10	9	51	30	+21	67
5	Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...	38	18	11	9	53	34	+19	65
6	Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...	38	15	13	10	46	35	+11	58
7	Sunderland Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...	38	16	10	12	57	56	+1	58
8	Leicester City Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...	38	16	7	15	55	55	0	55
9	West Ham United West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...	38	15	10	13	52	53	−1	55
10	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....	38	15	8	15	57	49	+8	53
11	Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...	38	14	10	14	63	54	+9	52
12	Middlesbrough Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...	38	14	10	14	46	52	−6	52
13	Everton Everton F.C. Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...	38	12	14	12	59	49	+10	50
14	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...	38	12	8	18	47	54	−7	44
15	Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...	38	12	8	18	45	62	−17	44
16	Derby County 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...	38	9	11	18	44	57	−13	38
17	Bradford City Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....	38	9	9	20	38	68	−30	36
18	Wimbledon Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...	38	7	12	19	46	74	−28	33
19	Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...	38	8	7	23	38	70	−32	31
20	Watford Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...	38	6	6	26	35	77	−42	24

Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Relegated to Division 1

Leading goalscorer: Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

(Sunderland) - 30

Football League Division One

Charlton Athletic won the division with greater ease than the final table suggested – they were in fact the first team in the country to win promotion, but a return of just 4 points from their last 7 matches allowed the pursuing teams to close the gap. Manchester City won their second successive promotion in the runners-up spot, well and truly putting the memories of their relegation to the Second Division behind them. Ipswich Town finished in the play-offs for the fourth season in a row, but this time they were successful as they triumphed over Barnsley at Wembley and won promotion back to the Premier League after a five year absence.

Swindon suffered from a financial crisis since 1994 and 1995 and a transfer embargo for most of the season, and the effect on the pitch was obvious as they were relegated in bottom place. Port Vale, who had only survived the previous season due to the League's short-lived usage of Goals Scored over Goal Difference, went down with them. Walsall took their survival battle to the final day of the season, but were unable to avoid an immediate relegation back to Division Two.

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic F.C. Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...	46	27	10	9	79	45	91
2.	Manchester City Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...	46	26	11	9	78	40	89
3.	Ipswich Town Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....	46	25	12	9	71	42	87
4.	Barnsley Barnsley F.C. Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...	46	24	10	12	88	67	82
5.	Birmingham City Birmingham City F.C. Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...	46	22	11	13	65	44	77
6.	Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....	46	21	13	12	69	50	76
7.	Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...	46	21	11	14	64	48	74
8.	Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town F.C. Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...	46	21	11	14	62	49	74
9.	Fulham Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...	46	17	16	13	49	41	67
10.	Queens Park Rangers	46	16	18	12	62	53	66
11.	Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....	46	15	17	14	55	51	62
12.	Norwich City Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...	46	14	15	17	45	50	57
13.	Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers F.C. Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...	46	15	12	19	57	68	57
14.	Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...	46	14	14	18	53	55	56
15.	Crystal Palace Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...	46	13	15	18	57	67	54
16.	Sheffield United Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...	46	13	15	18	59	66	54
17.	Stockport County Stockport County F.C. Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...	46	13	15	18	55	67	54
18.	Portsmouth Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...	46	13	12	21	55	66	51
19.	Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra F.C. Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...	46	14	9	23	46	67	51
20.	Grimsby Town Grimsby Town F.C. Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...	46	13	12	21	41	67	51
21.	West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...	46	10	19	17	43	60	49
22.	Walsall Walsall F.C. Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...	46	11	13	22	52	77	46
23.	Port Vale Port Vale F.C. Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...	46	7	15	24	48	69	36
24.	Swindon Town Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...	46	8	12	26	38	77	36

Key
Promoted to the Premier League
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division 2

Leading goalscorer: Andy Hunt

Andy Hunt (footballer)

Andrew "Andy" Hunt is a former English footballer.-Career:Hunt started his career in non-league football, whilst training in business and tourism management, with King's Lynn and Kettering Town before being signed by then manager Jim Smith for Newcastle United in early 1991...

(Charlton Athletic) - 24

Football League Division Two

Preston won the division title after 29 years away from the top two divisions, showing great progress under promising young manager David Moyes

David Moyes

. Burnley, who were unfancied and even tipped for relegation by some owing to two unimpressive previous seasons, achieved promotion in the second automatic spot. After suffering heartbreak in the previous year's play-off final, Gillingham went one better this season and won promotion.

Chesterfield started the season well enough, but a dreadful run of 2 wins in 20 games midseason consigned them to relegation. Scunthorpe, who had won promotion via the play-offs the previous year, never achieved enough wins to have a serious chance of survival, and went straight back down. Blackpool had been coping well in previous seasons despite financial problems, but they finally took their toll this season and helped send the club down. Cardiff were the final relegated team, eventually proving the weakest of a group of sides that could have easily gone down in the last weeks of the season. The highlight of their season was their game against Cambridge United, where they drew despite being a player down after 45 minutes, two players down after 63 minutes and 3 players down after 75 minutes.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	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...	46	28	11	7	74	37	91
2	Burnley Burnley F.C. Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...	46	25	13	8	69	47	88
3	Gillingham Gillingham F.C. Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...	46	25	10	11	79	48	85
4	Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic F.C. Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...	46	22	17	7	72	38	83
5	Millwall Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...	46	23	13	10	76	50	82
6	Stoke City Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...	46	23	13	10	68	42	82
7	Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers F.C. Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....	46	23	11	12	69	45	80
8	Notts County Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...	46	18	11	17	61	55	65
9	Bristol City Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...	46	15	19	12	59	57	64
10	Reading Reading F.C. Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...	46	16	14	16	57	63	62
11	Wrexham	46	17	11	18	52	61	62
12	Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...	46	16	13	17	56	53	61
13	Luton Town Luton Town F.C. Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...	46	17	10	19	61	65	61
14	Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic A.F.C. Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...	46	16	12	18	50	55	60
15	Bury Bury F.C. Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...	46	13	18	15	61	64	57
16	A.F.C. Bournemouth A.F.C. Bournemouth A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....	46	16	9	21	59	62	57
17	Brentford Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....	46	13	13	20	47	61	52
18	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....	46	14	10	22	59	82	52
19	Cambridge United Cambridge United F.C. Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...	46	12	12	22	64	65	48
20	Oxford United Oxford United F.C. Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...	46	12	9	25	43	73	45
21	Cardiff City Cardiff City F.C. Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...	46	9	17	20	45	67	44
22	Blackpool Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...	46	8	17	21	49	77	41
23	Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United F.C. Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....	46	9	12	25	40	74	39
24	Chesterfield Chesterfield F.C. Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...	46	7	15	24	34	63	36

Key
Promoted to the Division 1
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division 3

Leading goalscorer: Andy Payton

Andy Payton

Andrew Paul Payton is an English former professional footballer. A striker, Payton played for seven professional clubs in England and Scotland, scoring 200 goals in over 500 appearances, and gaining the nickname the Padiham Predator....

(Burnley) - 27

Football League Division Three

Swansea and Rotherham, both of whom had been dumped out in the play-off semi-finals the previous year, led the table for virtually the entire season. Swansea eventually won the title by drawing a stormy last game of the season between the two sides. The third automatic spot was won by Northampton, who were led to promotion by new manager Kevin Wilson after a poor start to the season under previous manager Ian Atkins

Ian Atkins

Ian Leslie Atkins is a former English professional footballer who became a manager later in his career, and now works as a coach with Sunderland. During a 20-year playing career he had eight clubs, including two spells with Sunderland and Birmingham City and playing more than 200 games with his...

. Peterborough won the play-offs.

A four-way relegation scrap took place throughout most of the season, involving Chester, Shrewsbury, Carlisle and York. York eventually pulled away to safety with some good results in the final weeks of the season, leaving the other three to face a final-day relegation battle. In the end Chester, who had spent virtually the entire season rooted to the bottom of the table and only had the chance of a last-day escape because of similarly poor campaigns by Carlisle and Shrewsbury, were relegated to the Conference.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Swansea City	46	24	13	9	51	30	85
2.	Rotherham United Rotherham United F.C. Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...	46	24	12	10	72	36	84
3.	Northampton Town Northampton Town F.C. Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...	46	25	7	14	63	45	82
4.	Darlington Darlington F.C. Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...	46	21	16	9	66	36	79
5.	Peterborough United Peterborough United F.C. Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...	46	22	12	12	63	54	78
6.	Barnet Barnet F.C. Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....	46	21	12	13	59	53	75
7.	Hartlepool United Hartlepool United F.C. Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...	46	21	9	16	60	49	72
8.	Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town F.C. Cheltenham Town Football Club is an English football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded in 1887, the team has played at four different grounds, namely Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field and now the Abbey Business Stadium, although it is more...	46	20	10	16	50	42	70
9.	Torquay United Torquay United F.C. Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...	46	19	12	15	62	52	69
10.	Rochdale	46	18	14	14	57	54	68
11.	Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....	46	17	16	13	64	47	67
12.	Plymouth Argyle 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...	46	16	18	12	55	51	66
13.	Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town F.C. Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...	46	18	11	17	66	61	65
14.	Hull City Hull City A.F.C. Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...	46	15	14	17	43	43	59
15.	Lincoln City Lincoln City F.C. Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....	46	15	14	17	67	69	59
16.	Southend United Southend United F.C. Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...	46	15	11	20	53	61	56
17.	Mansfield Town Mansfield Town F.C. Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...	46	16	8	22	50	65	56
18.	Halifax Town Halifax Town A.F.C. Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...	46	12	16	18	44	58	54
19.	Leyton Orient Leyton Orient F.C. Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...	46	13	13	20	47	52	52
20.	York City	46	12	16	18	39	53	52
21.	Exeter City Exeter City F.C. Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...	46	11	11	24	46	72	44
22.	Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town F.C. Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...	46	9	13	24	40	67	40
23.	Carlisle United Carlisle United F.C. Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....	46	9	12	25	42	75	39
24.	Chester City Chester City F.C. Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...	46	10	9	27	44	79	39

Key
Promoted to Division 2
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Conference

Leading goalscorer: Marco Gabbiadini

Marco Gabbiadini

Marco Gabbiadini is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He totalled nearly £3 million in transfer fees and played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.-York City:...

(Darlington) - 25

Diary of the season

17 June 1999 — David James

David James (footballer)

David Benjamin James is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bristol City.On 14 February 2009, he achieved the all-time Premier League appearance record with 536 appearances, overtaking Gary Speed. He held this record until being overtaken by Ryan Giggs on the 14th May 2011...

leaves Liverpool after seven years in a £1.7million move to Aston Villa.

21 June 1999 — France national football team

France national football team

The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

captain Didier Deschamps

Didier Deschamps

Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...

joins Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

in a £3million move from Juventus.

30 June 1999 — Bradford City prepare for their first time top division season for nearly 80 years with a club record £1.4million move for Leeds United defender David Wetherall

David Wetherall

.

5 July 1999 — Chelsea pay a club record £10million for Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

striker Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...

.

14 July 1999 — Newcastle United pay Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

£6.5million for midfielder Kieron Dyer

Kieron Dyer

Kieron Courtney Dyer is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers. Born in Ipswich, he is an attacking midfielder who played youth football for his home club before going on to make nearly 100 league appearances for the club's first team...

and Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

pay Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor won six championships in Turkish Super League. The Club won their first Championship title in 1975 which is also the Club's initiation year...

£3million for on-loan striker Kevin Campbell

Kevin Campbell (footballer)

Kevin Joseph Campbell is an English former football player who played as a striker.-Playing career:Campbell began his career as a trainee with Arsenal, joining the club on schoolboy forms in 1985...

(who scored eight goals in seven games for them late last season).

23 July 1999 — Leeds United sign striker Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges is an English football striker who currently plays for A-League club, Newcastle Jets. Bridge has previously played over 200 Premier League games.-Sunderland:...

from Sunderland for £5million.

29 July 1999 — Four years after leaving Arsenal, Stefan Schwarz

Stefan Schwarz

Hans-Jürgen Stefan Schwarz is a Swedish former footballer.Born to a German father, he played as a midfielder and a left-back. He started playing football at youth level in Kulladals FF and began his career at his hometown club Malmö FF...

returns to English football in a £4million move to Sunderland from Valencia

Valencia CF

Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...

.

31 July 1999 — Middlesbrough sign German

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

international midfielder Christian Ziege

Christian Ziege

Christian Ziege is a former German football defender and midfielder. With the German national team, Ziege won Euro 96. An attacking left wingback, Ziege was considered a dead-ball specialist.-Club career:...

from AC Milan for £4million.

1 August 1999 — Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

lift the Charity Shield thanks to a 2–1 victory over Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

at Wembley.

2 August 1999 — Arsenal sell Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka

Abdul-Salam Bilal on 14 March 1979) is a French international footballer, who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Chelsea. Anelka was also a regular starter for the French national team...

for Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

for £23million – the highest fee involving a British club.

4 August 1999 — Leeds United sell Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Jerrel Hasselbaink usually known as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is a Dutch former football striker who played for various clubs in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and Spain, as well as the Dutch national team. He scored more than 200 career goals...

to Atletico Madrid of Spain for £12million.

7 August 1999 — Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

mark their first game at the JJB Stadium

JJB Stadium

The DW Stadium is a sports stadium in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, that is home to Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club....

with a 3–0 win over Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

in Division Two

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

. The first Premier League games of the season include Chelsea's 4–0 home win over newly promoted Sunderland and Watford's return the top flight being soured by a 3–2 home defeat against Wimbledon. Bradford, meanwhile, mark their first top flight game since 1922 with a 1–0 away win over Middlesbrough, in which Dean Saunders

Dean Saunders

Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....

scores a last gasp winner.

10 August 1999 — Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

scores his first two Premier League goals in Sunderland's 2–0 home win over his old club Watford.

11 August 1999 — Manchester United beat Sheffield Wednesday 4–0 at Old Trafford

Old Trafford

Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...

. Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges is an English football striker who currently plays for A-League club, Newcastle Jets. Bridge has previously played over 200 Premier League games.-Sunderland:...

scores a hat-trick for Leeds United in their 3–0 away win over Southampton. Leeds United sign Coventry City striker Darren Huckerby

Darren Huckerby

Darren Huckerby is a former English footballer who played as a forward.-Early career:Huckerby was born in Nottingham, England. His mother is of partial Georgian descent. Huckerby started playing professionally for Lincoln City, before signing for Newcastle United in a £400,000 deal in 1995...

for £4.4million.

14 August 1999 — Tommy Mooney

Tommy Mooney

Thomas John Mooney is a former professional English football player who played as a striker.-Early career:...

scores for Watford in their shock 1–0 league win at Liverpool.

18 August 1999 — 19-year-old Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane

Robert David "Robbie" Keane is an Irish association football player who plays as a striker for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and captains the Irish national football team....

becomes Coventry City's record signing in a £6million deal.

21 August 1999 — Manchester United captain Roy Keane

Roy Keane

scores twice as Manchester United beat Arsenal 2–1 in the league at Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

.

25 August 1999 — Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

and Niall Quinn

Niall Quinn

Niall John Quinn honorary MBE is a former Irish international footballer, and the ex-chairman of Sunderland AFC. He still works at the club as an overseas manager. He is also heavily involved in the management side of horse racing...

plunge Newcastle United into crisis as they score in Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

's 2–1 derby win at St. James' Park,

27 August 1999 — Lazio

S.S. Lazio

Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

beat Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

1–0 in Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

to win the European Super Cup

European Super Cup

The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...

.

28 August 1999 — Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit

OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...

resigns after one year as manager of Newcastle United.

30 August 1999 — Andy Cole scores four goals against his old club Newcastle United as Manchester United beat them 5–1 at Old Trafford.

31 August 1999 — The first month of the league season ends with treble winners Manchester United looking well placed for retaining their league title as Premier League leaders with five wins and a draw from their first six games. Aston Villa are their nearest contenders, while Chelsea, West Ham United and Leicester City complete the top five. Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United, both winless, prop up the rest of the top flight, while Bradford City occupy the final bottom three position at the end of the first month of their first top division season for nearly 80 years. Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

are hopeful of making it back to the Premier League after five seasons away (during which time they have suffered three playoff disappointments) as they finish the first month of the season as Division One leaders. Stockport County

Stockport County F.C.

Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

have emerged as surprise contenders for a Premier League place as they stand second in Division One. The playoff zone is occupied by West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

, Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

, Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

and Fulham

Fulham F.C.

Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

.

3 September 1999 — Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

appoint Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson

Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....

as their new manager. The former England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

manager, 66, is the oldest manager in all four division of the English league – and almost 30 years older than his predecessor Ruud Gullit.

7 September 1999 — Ade Akinbiyi

Ade Akinbiyi

Adeola Peter Oluwatoyin "Ade" Akinbiyi is a professional footballer.Akinbiyi has had a much-travelled career with many different clubs with transfer fees totalling more than £11.5 million during his career, including being Leicester City's record signing .Born in England, Akinbiyi qualifies to...

becomes the most expensive Division Two player when he leaves Bristol City for Division One promotion hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers.

11 September 1999 — Jamie Carragher

Jamie Carragher

James Lee Duncan "Jamie" Carragher is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League side Liverpool...

scores two own goals as Liverpool lose 3–2 at home to Manchester United in the league.

17 September 1999 — Former England

England national football team

and Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

full-back Rob Jones retires from football at the age of 28 after failing to recover from a succession of injuries.

18 September 1999 — Newcastle United record the second highest win in FA Premier League

FA Premier League

history when they beat Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

8–0. Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

scores five goals in this game, while Kevin Phillips

Kevin Phillips (footballer)

scores a hat-trick in Sunderland's 5–0 win at Derby County. In a rare appearance for Manchester United, Jordi Cruyff

Jordi Cruyff

Johan Jordi Cruijff , anglicised as Jordi Cruyff is a Dutch former footballer and currently AEK Larnaca's Director of Football. He played from 1992 through to 2010, his clubs including Barcelona and Manchester United. He gained nine caps for the Netherlands national football team, playing in the...

scores a late equaliser in their 1–1 home draw with Wimbledon.

30 September 1999 — Manchester United retain their lead of the Premier League, with Leeds United now their nearest contenders by a two-point margin. Arsenal, Sunderland and Chelsea complete the top five. Sheffield Wednesday remain bottom after a terrible first two months of the season, while Newcastle United remain second from bottom despite that record-breaking victory 12 days ago, and Wimbledon now occupy the final remaining relegation position. Ipswich Town and Birmingham City are level on points at the top of Division One. Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

, Manchester City, Fulham and Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

complete the top six.

2 October 1999 — Sheffield Wednesday pull together with a 5–1 home win over Wimbledon.

3 October 1999 — Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

crush Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

5–0 – the first domestic competitive game that United have lost for nearly nine months. Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

scores twice as Newcastle beat Middlesbrough 2–1.

24 October 1999 — A Premier League thriller at Goodison Park

Goodison Park

Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...

sees Everton and Leeds United draw 4–4.

31 October 1999 — October draws to a close with Leeds United as the new Premier League leaders, with Manchester United in second place and trailing them by two points. Arsenal, Sunderland and Leicester City complete the top five. Sheffield Wednesday remain bottom, with Watford and Bradford City completing the bottom three. Manchester City lead Division One, with Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City level on points as their nearest rivals. Huddersfield Town and Fulham complete the top six.

13 November 1999 — Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes is a retired English footballer, a one-club man who played his entire professional career for Manchester United.Born in Salford, but later moving to Langley, Scholes excelled in both cricket and football in school. He first trained with Manchester United at the age of 14 after being...

scores twice as England

England national football team

beat Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

2–0 at Hampden Park

Hampden Park

Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...

in the Euro 2000 qualifying playoff first leg.

17 November 1999 —

- – Arsenal
  Arsenal F.C.
  Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
  
  announce plans to move to a new 60,000-seat stadium at Ashburton Grove near Highbury
  Arsenal Stadium
  Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
  
  – their home since 1913. They hope to be in their new home for the 2003–04 season.
  - – England qualify for Euro 2000 despite a 1–0 second leg defeat by Scotland at Wembley.

20 November 1999 — Marc Overmars

Marc Overmars

Marc Overmars is a retired Dutch footballer. He is best known as a right-footed left winger, although he is able to use both his feet with equal precision and power...

scores a hat-trick in Arsenal's 5–1 home league win over Middlesbrough.

30 November 1999 — Manchester United are back on top of the Premier League as November draws to a close, with former leaders Leeds United now bracketed on points with Arsenal as their nearest rivals. Newly promoted Sunderland's excellent start to the season sees them still in fourth place, with a resurgent Liverpool standing fifth. Sheffield Wednesday and Watford continue to prop up the rest of the Premier League, accompanied in the drop zone by a Derby County side who had spent the previous two seasons chasing a place in Europe. Manchester City remain top of Division One, with Huddersfield Town now second and in the hunt for top division for the first time in nearly 30 years. Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Barnsley and Fulham occupy the playoff places.

1 December 1999 — Film producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

and actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

Bill Kenwright

Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....

, 54, completes a takeover of Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

after buying out former owner Peter Johnson.

4 December 1999 — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scores four goals in Manchester United's 5–1 home league win over Everton.

31 December 1999 — 1999 draws to a close and as the new millennium approaches, Leeds United are back on top though with just a one-point lead over Manchester United who have a game in hand. Arsenal, Sunderland and Liverpool are the only three teams still posing a reasonable threat to the top two. Sheffield Wednesday's terrible season has continued as they remain bottom with a mere two wins and nine points from their first 20 games, while Watford and Derby County remain in the bottom three. The race for promotion to the Premier League is still headed by Manchester City and Huddersfield Town, while Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Barnsley and Stockport County complete the top six.

8 January 2000 — Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

suffer a shock 1–0 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers (now in Division One) in the FA Cup fourth round. Tranmere Rovers, on a good run in the League Cup, progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup after a surprise 1–0 win at home to Sunderland in the fourth round. There is a major shock also for Bradford City, who are crushed 3–1 by Division Two Gillingham at Priestfield

Priestfield Stadium

Priestfield Stadium is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent...

.

12 January 2000 — Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

n striker George Weah

George Weah

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah is a Liberian humanitarian and politician, and an ex-footballer. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting...

, 31, joins Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

on a six-month loan from A.C. Milan

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

.

19 January 2000 — Arsenal's hopes of FA Cup glory are ended in a replay penalty shoot-out defeat by Leicester City, who boost their own bid for a cup double.

29 January 2000 — The FA Cup fifth round brings some surprise results as Gillingham's giant-killing run continues with a 3–1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic win at Coventry City to give the rest of the Premier League some idea of what they will be performing like when inevitable promotion is achieved. Leicester City's hopes of a domestic cup double are ended when they lose 2–1 at Chelsea, while Cambridge United's impressive run ends in a 3–1 home defeat by Bolton Wanderers. On the transfer front, Division One strugglers West Bromwich Albion sell Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca is an Italian footballer, who currently plays for Málaga CF in Spanish La Liga.-Youth career:Maresca started playing youth football at A.C. Milan, before joining Cagliari...

to Juventus for £4million.

30 January 2000 — Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

striker Martin Aldridge

Martin Aldridge

Martin James Aldridge was an English professional footballer.-Playing career:Northampton-born Aldridge joined Coventry City as a schoolboy, but was released in 1990. As a sixteen year old, he then played for Ford Sports Daventry , and joined Braunston Rangers on a Sunday to play with his brother...

, 25, on loan to Rushden & Diamonds

Rushden & Diamonds F.C.

Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Formed by a merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992, the club played in the Conference National following a short spell in the Football League at the start of...

, dies in an Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

hospital after being injured in a car crash in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

.

31 January 2000 — Struggling Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

complete the month unbeaten in the FA Premier League

FA Premier League

. Danny Wilson is named FA Premier League Manager of the Month, but the club are still in the relegation zone, though no longer in the bottom place (now occupied by a Watford side whose form in last four months has been little short of hopeless). Bradford City occupy the other bottom three position. Manchester United now lead at the top on goal difference ahead of Leeds United, with Arsenal and Liverpool still posing a threat but Sunderland's challenge is ebbing away. Charlton Athletic have taken over from Manchester City as Division One leaders. Ipswich Town, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers complete the top six.

12 February 2000 — Manchester United suffer their first Premier League defeat in four months, and only their third of the season, as they lose 3–0 at Newcastle United. A Premier League thriller at Upton Park

Boleyn Ground

The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...

sees West Ham United beat Bradford City 5–4.

19 February 2000 — Bolton Wanderers reach the FA Cup semi-finals with a 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic as they hope to challenge for a "Wembley double" of the FA Cup final and Division One play-off final.

20 February 2000 — Gillingham's FA Cup dreams are ended with a 5–0 defeat at Chelsea, while a 2–1 defeat at home to Aston Villa resigns Everton to another season of disappointment in Walter Smith's second season as manager. Tranmere Rovers are eliminated by Newcastle United after a brave 3–2 defeat.

23 February 2000 — Stanley Matthews

Stanley Matthews

Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...

, one of the greatest English footballers of all time, dies at the age of 85.

26 February 2000 — Wimbledon become the first team this season to be unbeaten twice in the league by Manchester United after holding them to a 2–2 draw at Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park is an English football stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon. It is the current home ground of Crystal Palace Football Club. Its present capacity is 26,309.-History:...

.

29 February 2000 — Manchester United have now extended their Premier League lead to six points as February ends, with Leeds United posing the closest threat, while Arsenal and Liverpool (along with a resurgent Chelsea) pose a more distant threat, and Sunderland are now focused on qualifying for the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

rather than challenging for the league title. Sheffield Wednesday and Watford continue to prop up the Premier League, with Bradford City joining them in the drop zone. Charlton Athletic and Manchester City continue to head the Division One promotion race, with Ipswich Town, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City completing the top six.

4 March 2000 — Debutant striker Stan Collymore

Stan Collymore

Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...

scores a hat-trick for Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

in their 5–2 win over Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

in the Premier League, just days after his transfer from Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

.

7 March 2000 — John Hartson

John Hartson

John Hartson is a former Welsh international footballer who played as a striker, best known for his spells with West Ham and Celtic. Hartson also featured prominently for Wales, earning 51 caps until his international retirement in 2006...

's proposed move from Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

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....

collapses after he fails a medical.

10 March 2000 — Liverpool pay a club record £11million for Leicester City striker Emile Heskey

Emile Heskey

Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a striker.Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995...

.

11 March 2000 — Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen is a Norwegian football player who currently plays for Crystal Palace. He has earned four Norwegian league championships with Rosenborg and one with Vålerenga....

scores a hat-trick in Tottenham's 7–2 home league win over Southampton.

22 March 2000 — Dean Windass

Dean Windass

Dean Windass is an English footballer, who predominantly played as a striker, and is known for his spells at Bradford City and his hometown team Hull City...

scores a hat-trick in Bradford City's 4–4 relegation crunch thriller at Valley Parade

Valley Parade

Valley Parade, also known as the Coral Windows Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they changed code from rugby football to association...

.

31 March 2000 — Manchester United are now looking all set for title glory as they lead the league by a seven-point margin with Leeds United as their closest rivals. Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are looking more and more distant a threat in the race to prevent the Premier League trophy from remaining at Old Trafford

Old Trafford

. At the other end of the table, Sheffield Wednesday and Watford are looking doomed, with Bradford City occupying the final relegation position and Derby County hovering dangerously close to the drop zone. The race for Premier League football next season is headed by Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town. Barnsley, Manchester City, Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City complete the top six.

2 April 2000 — Aston Villa beat Bolton Wanderers on penalties after a goalless draw in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, to reach their first FA Cup final for 43 years.

5 April 2000 — Two Leeds United Fans, Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight are killed on the eve of clubs UEFA Cup Semi Final against Galatasaray.

9 April 2000 — Two goals from Gus Poyet give Chelsea a 2–1 win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup semi-final.

10 April 2000 — A late surge by Middlesbrough is unable to prevent Manchester United from winning a thrilling Premier League 4–3 at the Riverside Stadium

Riverside Stadium

The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough F.C. since it opened in 1995...

.

19 April 2000 — Derby County bring Georgi Kinkladze back to England after two years with Ajax after agreeing a £3million deal. Manchester United surrender their defence of the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

after losing 3–2 at home to Real Madrid

Real Madrid

in the quarter final second leg.

21 April 2000 — Charlton Athletic win promotion back to the Premier League after one season away.
22 April 2000 — Manchester United secure their sixth Premier League title in eight seasons thanks to a 4–2 win at Southampton

Southampton F.C.

.

22 April 2000 — Manchester United seal their sixth Premier League title in eight seasons with a 3–1 win at Southampton.

29 April 2000 — Bradford City boost their survival bid and dent Wimbledon's with a 3–0 win at Valley Parade.

30 April 2000 — April draws to a close with champions Manchester United an incredible 19 points ahead of second placed Arsenal, who have two games in hand. Liverpool are looking set for the third Champions League place, while Chelsea head the UEFA Cup race alongside Leeds United, Aston Villa, Sunderland and West Ham United. Charlton Athletic have been confirmed as Division One champions, but the race for second place is still being contested by Manchester City and Ipswich Town.

7 May 2000 — Chester City

Chester City F.C.

are relegated to the Football Conference

Football Conference

The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

after 69 years of Football League membership. On the same day, Manchester City secure promotion to the Premier League as Division One runners-up (their second successive promotion), Walsall suffer relegation to Division Two, Burnley secure promotion to Division One as Division Two runners-up, and Northampton seal the third and final automatic promotion place in Division Three. Chester City's place in the Football League will be taken by Conference champions Kidderminster Harriers

Kidderminster Harriers F.C.

Kidderminster Harriers F.C. are an English football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire formed in 1886 They currently play in the Conference National and have played at Aggborough Stadium since they were formed...

.

9 May 2000 — Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

are relegated from the Premier League after nine successive seasons of top flight football, but go down fighting with a 3–3 draw against Arsenal.

14 May 2000 — Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

lose 3–0 at Southampton

Southampton F.C.

and are relegated to Division One

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

after 14 years in the top flight. Bradford City, meanwhile, confirm their survival with a 1–0 win over Liverpool who surrender a Champions League place that instead went to Leeds United. Ironically, this came 12 years to the day that Wimbledon achieved their famous FA Cup triumph over Liverpool.

14 May 2000 — ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

announces a £500million bid to bring live Premier League matches onto terrestrial television for the first time. If the deal goes ahead, it will be the first time since 1992 (when the Premier League was created from the old Football League First Division

Football League First Division

) that live top division football has been shown on any terrestrial television channel.

18 May 2000 — West Ham United sell Marc-Vivien Foé

Marc-Vivien Foé

Marc-Vivien Foé was a Cameroonian international footballer, who played in midfield for both club and country. With success in the French League, and stints in the English Premier League, his sudden death, while in the middle of an international competitive fixture, came as a shock to the worldwide...

to Olympique Lyonnais

Olympique Lyonnais

Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...

for £6million.

20 May 2000 — Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

beat Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

1–0 in the last FA Cup final to be played at Wembley before the 77-year-old stadium is rebuilt. Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current assistant manager of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played...

, who scored for Chelsea in the opening minute of their 1997 triumph, scores the only goal of the game.

29 May 2000 — Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

seal promotion to the Premier League after a five-year exile by defeating Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

4–2 in the Division One playoff final at Wembley. It is their first win at Wembley since they won the FA Cup in 1978.

30 May 2000 — Arsenal sign Cameroon

Cameroon national football team

The Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables , is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is Africa's most successful side in FIFA world cup; having qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times – in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010– more than any...

defender Lauren

Lauren Etame Mayer

Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer , commonly known as Lauren, is a retired Cameroonian footballer of Equatoguinean origin, who formerly played for the Cameroonian national team.-Early career:...

for £7.2million from Mallorca

Mallorca

Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...

.

31 May 2000 — Manchester United pay a national record fee for a goalkeeper when they sign AS Monaco and France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez

Fabien Barthez

Fabien Alain Barthez is a former French footballer goalkeeper who won honours with Manchester United and the French national team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 World Cup. He shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets...

for £7.8million.

1 June 2000 — Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...

leaves Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

to take over as manager of Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

. Tottenham Hotspur pay a club record £11million for Dynamo Kiev striker Sergei Rebrov.

2 June 2000 — Chelsea equal the national transfer record (set by Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

four years ago) with a £15million move for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

14 June 2000 — Match of the Day

Match of the Day

Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...

, the longest-running and most popular football programme on British television, is set to end after next season as a result of ITV's

ITV

£183million deal to show highlights from Premier League games.

20 June 2000 — Chelsea sign Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen

Eiður Guðjohnsen

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is an Icelandic footballer who currently plays for AEK Athens F.C. in the Superleague Greece. He has previously played for Premier League club Chelsea and FC Barcelona of Spain, having made his name with Bolton Wanderers. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until...

from Bolton Wanderers for £5million.

Famous debutants

Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....

, 18, was involved in Arsenal's
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

League Cup tie at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

in November 1999, with his first taste of league action following in a loan spell at Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

.
A future rival of Cole's for the England left-back slot, Nicky Shorey
Nicky Shorey
Nicholas "Nicky" Robert Shorey is an English footballer who currently plays for West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League as a left-back.-Leyton Orient:...

, 18, is brought on as susbtitute for Leyton Orient at Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

in February 2000.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers and the England national team. He is the adopted son of former England international, Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow professional football player Bradley Wright-Phillips...

helps Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

win at Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

in the League Cup in August 1999, two months before his 18th birthday.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United and the England national team. He has made more than 300 Premier League appearances and played in 50 UEFA Champions League games as of April 2011...

makes his professional debut, for West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, in the Intertoto Cup in the 1–1 draw with FC Jokerit
FC Jokerit
FC Jokerit was a football club based in Helsinki, Finland. It was founded in 1999. The club was known for its wild supporters, 116% Boys, and for its owner, Hjallis Harkimo who is also the owner of Jokerit, an ice hockey club based in Helsinki....

in August 1999.

Retirements

David Hirst
David Hirst (footballer)
David Eric Hirst is an English former professional footballer, an exciting but injury prone striker who played for Sheffield Wednesday for much of his career.-Playing career:...

, 32, retired after a spell at Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

which lasted for more than two years but was disrupted by a series of injuries.
Peter Beardsley
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...

, 38, finished his professional career on 28 October 1999 after spending 10 months at Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...

, but prolonged his playing career at non-league level with Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

in the Nationwide Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

until finally hanging up his boots on 30 November.
Jim Leighton
Jim Leighton
James "Jim" Leighton MBE is a Scottish former football goalkeeper. Among the clubs he played for are Aberdeen , Manchester United, Arsenal, Dundee and Hibernian.-Club:...

, 41, who was in the English league with Manchester United as a goalkeeper from 1988 to 1992 (being first choice in his first two seasons there), finished his career in his native Scotland with Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

.
Ian Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...

, 36, retired at the end of the season after a four-month spell with Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

, in which his four goals from 15 games helped them win promotion from Division Two.
Nigel Spink
Nigel Spink
Nigel Philip Spink is a former football goalkeeper who made his name at Aston Villa and also made one appearance for England at international level on the tour of Australia in 1983.-Career:...

, 41, one of the oldest and longest serving players in the English leagues, finally hung up his boots at professional level after a three-year spell at Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

, though he would continue at non-league level for a year as player-manager of Forest Green Rovers.

Deaths

27 October 1999: Johnny Byrne
Johnny Byrne (footballer)
John Joseph "Budgie" Byrne was an English professional football player.Johnny started his career playing for Epsom Town, and then Guildford City Youth, before moving to Football League club Crystal Palace, signing a professional contract on his 17th birthday...

, 60, was a striker who played for Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

, before commanding a British transfer record fee
British football transfer record
The progression of the British football transfer fee record tracks the increases in the record for the highest transfer fee paid or received by British association football clubs. A transfer fee is the sum of money paid by one club to purchase the contract, and therefore the playing services, of a...

to go to West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, playing in the side that won 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...

and the Cup Winners' Cup in the mid-1960s. He also played for the England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

team, scoring 8 goals in 11 appearances, including a hattrick against a Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

side that featured Eusébio
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...

. He later went back to Palace, then to Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

, before rounding out his career in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, with Durban City. "Budgie" would spend the rest of his life there.

November 1999: Dave Bickles
Dave Bickles
David 'Dave' Bickles was a professional footballer who played as a centre half.-Career:Bickles started his career as a youth player for West Ham United...

, 55, was a full-back in the same 1960s West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

side. He too later played for Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

and then 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....

before retiring from football to become a P.E. teacher in 1979. He was also a part-time coach for West Ham United.

23 December 1999: Stan Flashman
Stan Flashman
Stan Flashman was known for many years as a ticket tout who claimed he could obtain tickets for almost anything, from Cup Finals to the Queen's Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace.-Chairmanship of Barnet:...

, 69, rescued near-bankrupt non-league Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....

with a takeover deal in 1985. He made funds available to manager Barry Fry
Barry Fry
Barry Francis Fry is an English football manager. A former Manchester United apprentice as a winger, his playing career involved brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he retired prematurely due to injury.He has managed Dunstable Town, Bedford Town, Maidstone...

in hope of building a quality side, and this paid off with promotion to the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

in 1991, but he had quit within two years with the club knee deep in financial problems once again. Although Flashman's rash attitude (which saw him sack and reinstate Fry eight times) made him unpopular with most Barnet fans, it is unlikely that Barnet would have experienced league football without his takeover — they could well have gone out of business.

30 January 2000: Martin Aldridge
Martin Aldridge
Martin James Aldridge was an English professional footballer.-Playing career:Northampton-born Aldridge joined Coventry City as a schoolboy, but was released in 1990. As a sixteen year old, he then played for Ford Sports Daventry , and joined Braunston Rangers on a Sunday to play with his brother...

, 25, Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

striker on loan to Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds F.C.
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Formed by a merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992, the club played in the Conference National following a short spell in the Football League at the start of...

, died in an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

hospital from injuries sustained in a car crash in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

. He had been a fairly consistent goalscorer for Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

and Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

earlier in his career, and was a regular striker for Oxford during their 1996–97 Division Two promotion campaign.

23 February 2000: Sir Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...

, 85, one of the greatest footballers England ever produced, died in his native Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

three weeks after his 85th birthday. Despite his on-the-field brilliance, he only ever won one major trophy – the 1953 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 Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

. That game was dubbed 'The Matthews Final' because he had so influenced his side's dramatic recovery from almost certain defeat at the hands of Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

.

14 April 2000: Wilf Mannion
Wilf Mannion
Wilfred James Mannion was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England...

, 81, died just a few weeks after his old England team mate Sir Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...

. Mannion had played 26 times for England in the immediate postwar years, and was a regular goalscorer for Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

at club level.

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