FA Premier League 1999-00
Encyclopedia
The FA Premier League 1999–2000 season was the eighth season of the FA Premier League
, and Manchester United
secured their sixth Premiership title. Like the previous season, they lost only three league games all season. Unlike in 1998–99 season, they won by a comfortable margin – 18 points as opposed to a single point.
Their only disappointment of the season came when they lost their defence of the European Cup
following a 3–2 defeat against Real Madrid
in the quarter finals. United had withdrawn from the 1999–2000 FA Cup
in order to participate in the FIFA World Club Championship at the request of the FA who wanted United to compete to support England's bid to host the World Cup. Chelsea
would go on to win the last
FA Cup held at Wembley Stadium before its redevelopment. The League Cup
final was won by Leicester City
, for the second time in four seasons. In Europe
, Leeds United reached the UEFA Cup
semi final (where two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death preceding a game against Turkish
side Galatasaray
in Istanbul) and Arsenal
were on the losing side to Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup final.
This season, only one newly promoted team suffered relegation. Watford
, who finished in last place, and achieved a record Premiership low of just 24 points (a record since broken by Sunderland (twice) and Derby County), despite a decent start to their campaign which saw them beat both Liverpool (at Anfield) and Chelsea. The most successful promoted team was Sunderland
, who finished seventh in the final table and spent much of the season pushing for a place in European competition. Bradford City
, back in the top division for the first time since 1922, secured their Premiership survival with a 1–0 win over Liverpool
who surrendered a Champions League
place. That result also spelled the end for Wimbledon
, who relegated on the last day of the season after 14 years of top division football. Second-from-bottom Sheffield Wednesday
were relegated after failing to beat Arsenal in their penultimate game of the season, having spent 15 of the last 16 seasons in the top division. The worst moment of the season for Danny Wilson's men came with an 8–0 defeat at Newcastle
– who were now being managed by the 66-year-old Bobby Robson
.
Amazingly Coventry City went all season without an away win but still managed to secure 14th place due to an impressive home record which saw them win 12 out of their 19 matches.
As well as Premiership champions Manchester United and runners-up Arsenal, third placed Leeds United qualified for the 2000–01 Champions League. UEFA Cup places went to fourth placed Liverpool, F.A Cup winners Chelsea, and League Cup winners Leicester City.
Promoted to the Premiership for 2000–01 were First Division
champions Charlton Athletic
, runners-up Manchester City and playoff winners Ipswich Town
. For the first time since the formation of the Premiership, all of the promoted teams had been members of the Premiership before.
moved to Celtic at the end of the season and was replaced by Gillingham's Peter Taylor.
Newcastle United manager Ruud Gullit
resigned in early September and was replaced by former England manager Bobby Robson
, who at 66 was the oldest manager in Premiership history.
Southampton manager Dave Jones was put on 'gardening leave' in January to concentrate on clearing his name in connection with child abuse charges and was replaced by former England manager Glenn Hoddle. At the end of the season, Hoddle's role was made permanent, and Jones' contract with the club was terminated.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Wilson was sacked in March and assistant Peter Shreeves took over until the end of the season, after which he reverted to the assistant manager's job and the managerial duties were took on by Paul Jewell of Bradford City, who named Jewell's assistant Chris Hutchings as their new manager.
Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear
resigned before the start of the season after seven years in charge, and was replaced by former Norway coach Egil Olsen. Olsen was sacked just before the end of the season and replaced by coach Terry Burton, who was given the job on a permanent basis despite failing to prevent relegation.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
1 Chelsea qualified for the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners
2 Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners
finished Premiership runners-up for the second season running. Last year there was a one-point gap between themselves and champions Manchester United
, but this time the gap was 18 points and Arsenal never seriously looked like winning the title. Their last hope of silverware was extinguished in May when they suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Galatasaray
in the UEFA Cup
final. This was the season when the era of the legendary Arsenal back line (Adams
, Keown
, Bould
, Winterburn
and Dixon
) came to an end; Bould left for Sunderland just before the start of the season, while Winterburn, Dixon and Keown lost their places after a 3–2 defeat at Coventry City on Boxing Day 1999. Although Dixon and Keown were subsequently recalled, Winterburn was permanently replaced by Sylvinho
and only appeared again as cover in midfield; he transferred to West Ham United at the end of the season.
matched their previous season's solid sixth place finish, and also reached the FA Cup
final for the first time in 43 years. But their hopes of winning the famous trophy for the eighth time were ended by a 1–0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea
, whose success was achieved in the last game at Wembley before the old stadium is rebuilt. At least John Gregory's men had a UEFA Cup campaign to look forward to, and will be hoping for their season on the continent to be less short-lived and more successful than other recent forays.
's goal on the final day of the season gave Bradford City
a surprise 1–0 victory over Liverpool
which secured the top division place that the Bantams had spent 77 years trying to regain, and condemned Wimbledon
to relegation. Manager Paul Jewell
then walked out at Valley Parade
to take over at relegated Sheffield Wednesday
, leaving his assistant Chris Hutchings
to pick up the pieces.
was signed for £3 million from Juventus
to add even more quality and experience a Chelsea midfield that already included Dennis Wise
, Roberto Di Matteo
and Gustavo Poyet
. Blackburn Rovers
stiker Chris Sutton
was also signed for £10 million to partner one of the league's best players in Gianfranco Zola
in attack. Zola, by his standards, had a poor league season, scoring just 4 goals, but he made up for that by again setting up many more goals for the team. In contrast to his average league form, Zola made Europe sit up and notice as he led Chelsea's Champions league
campaign, scoring a spectacular free kick in a 3–1 win over F.C. Barcelona at Stamford Bridge
, but Chelsea were eliminated in the second leg at the Nou Camp. On the Premiership front, Gianluca Vialli
's side finished a solid fifth place in the final table but were too inconsistent to mount anything like a title challenge. Chelsea won their fourth cup in four seasons with a 1–0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley, giving them the last cup final triumph at the old Wembley stadium before it was rebuilt.
were one of the Premiership's best-performing sides at home during 1999–2000
, achieving 12 victories at the Highfield Road stadium, but failed to win a single away game all season. Their dismal away record ruined their hopes of getting anywhere near the top five, and they were restricted to 14th place in the final table. 1999-2000 also marked the end of 43-year-old goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic
's illustrious career at the club, and severed their final remaining link with the 1987 FA Cup winning side. Robbie Keane
proved a successful signing with 12 goals in 34 league appearances.
endured their most difficult season for years as they finished 16th with a mere 38 points. They were just two places and five points clear of relegation.
, but the blue half of Merseyside
was still left frustrated by their side's lack of success; something which has been a familiar scene for far too long. Manager Walter Smith
, determined to save his job and preserve Everton's top flight status, pulled off one of the biggest transfer surprises of the close season by bringing in Paul Gascoigne
and bolstering one of the most ungainly squads currently in the Premiership.
entered the New Millennium top of the Premiership, but by the end of the season they had fallen to third place and were 22 points adrift of champions Manchester United. There was real trauma in the UEFA Cup
, when two fans were stabbed to death after a clash between rival supporters on the eve of Leeds United's UEFA Cup
semi-final against Galatasaray
. On the more positive side, Leeds attained their highest finish since the 1992 title triumph, and achieved Champions League
qualification in manager David O'Leary
's second season at the helm. Promising young players like Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate
and Michael Bridges
gave Leeds fans hope that their side would be among next season's contenders for the Premiership title, as well as making another strong challenge on the continent. Australian midfielder, Harry Kewell
, announced his arrival to the Premier League in winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
achieved their best-ever Premiership finish by coming eighth in the final table, as well as reaching their third League Cup final in four years. They triumphed for the second time under Martin O'Neill
and the third time in their history, beating Tranmere Rovers
2–1 at Wembley. O'Neill then stunned the Filbert Street
faithful by announcing that he had accepted the offer to manage Celtic, and in came former England under 21
coach Peter Taylor
as his successor.
marked his first full season in charge of the club with a massive clearout of the previous season's team that was assembled by Roy Evans
, releasing such names as Paul Ince
, David James
, Mark Wright, Steve Staunton
and Steve Harkness
and bringing in a clutch of continental players, mostly recruited from the French
Ligue 1
, such as Vladimir Smicer
and Titi Camara
. Finnish international Sami Hyypia
was recruted from Dutch side Willem II. Liverpool managed to gel the foreign players with local talent like Michael Owen
, Robbie Fowler
and Steven Gerrard
and were looking well placed for a Champions League place as they kicked off at relegation-threatened Bradford on the final day of the season, but yet another shock 1–0 defeat (they had a few of those, including a defeat at home against Watford
) forced them to settle for a UEFA Cup place. With key assets Owen and Fowler still on the payroll, and European talent arriving in numbers, Liverpool were looking ahead to a new era.
in the quarter-finals. Just before the end of the season, it was announced that Dutch
striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
had agreed to join the club from PSV Eindhoven, but he then failed a medical and a subsequent knee injury suffered during training stalled the move. In the meantime, Sir Alex Ferguson
decided that Mark Bosnich
was not good enough to be Peter Schmeichel
's long-term successor and brought in French
World Cup
winning shot-stopper Fabien Barthez
from Monaco
.
experienced another satisfactory season, finishing 12th in the Premiership. They never looked like qualifying for Europe, but were never in any danger of relegation. Nor did they make much of an impact in the cup competitions.
first five Premiership fixtures prompted the resignation of manager Ruud Gullit
after one year in charge, and led to the appointment of Bobby Robson
– at 66 the oldest manager in the league – as his successor. Robson consolidated a fading Newcastle side, and they finished a secure 11th in the final table. More impressively, they were the division's third-highest scoring team with 63 goals from 38 games – eight of these came in an 8–0 drubbing of Sheffield Wednesday
.
saw most people tip Sheffield Wednesday as favourites for relegation, and this opinion was further strengthened by their failure to make a substantial improvement as the season went on. The board of directors decided that enough was enough in March, and terminated Danny Wilson's contract as manager. Peter Shreeves
, who had previously been assistant to Wilson's predecessor Ron Atkinson
, took temporary charge and kept the Owls in contention for survival right up to the penultimate day of the season. A failure to beat Arsenal confirmed their relegation after nine successive seasons of top division football
but they went down fighting by drawing 3–3 at Highbury
,. Bradford manager Paul Jewell was then given the uphill task of restoring Premiership football to the club, though the club's mounting debts triggered fears that further struggles would lie ahead.
charges, and former England boss Glenn Hoddle
was appointed on a temporary basis. Hoddle did well to keep the Saints clear of relegation, and safety was achieved with a 15th place finish and a respectable 44 points. As the new season approached, it was still unclear as to whether Jones would ever return to the club. Matt Le Tissier scored a modest 6 goals during the season but that was sufficient to bring his total number of Premier League goals to 100, making him the first midfielder to reach this milestone.
made an impressive return to the top flight and quickly established themselves as real contenders for a European place, while 30-goal striker Kevin Phillips
was the country's top scorer in the league. In the end, seventh place finish wasn't good enough for a place in Europe but it was still Sunderland's highest finish for decades, and meant that the Stadium of Light
finally had a team fit for such an impressive stadium.
failed to make much of an impact on their return to Europe after an eight-year exile, nor were their cup exploits particularly impressive. Tenth place finish was a long way short of the top-five finishes attained by local rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, and manager George Graham
bolstered his ranks for the 2000–01 season by paying a club record fee for Ukrainian
striker Sergi Rebrov.
managed some encouraging early results, including victories over Liverpool and Chelsea, suggesting that experienced manager Graham Taylor might be able to keep the club in the Premier League against all expectations. After the victory against Chelsea on 18 September however, Watford only managed three more wins all season, and it soon became obvious that this campaign was a bridge too far after two successive promotions. The club were eventually relegated with the then-lowest points total in Premier League history, although observers widely predicted that Taylor would at least stabilise the club in Division One again, and maybe even get the club to make an immediate return to the Premiership.
continued to make the most of their limited resources by giving the rest of the Premiership a run for their money and finishing a respectable ninth place finish, though their return to European competition after an absence of nearly 20 years was short-lived. Their attack recovered reasonably well from the sale of striker John Hartson
, while Harry Redknapp
was able to hang on to highly-rated youngsters like Rio Ferdinand
and Frank Lampard
.
because of health problems (he would suffer from them again as manager of Newcastle United) after seven years as manager led to the appointment of former Norwegian national coach
Egil Olsen
as Wimbledon's new manager, giving Dons fans hope of beating the drop once again. The mid-season collapse of star striker John Hartson
's move to Tottenham was further good news to the cause, but a run of eight straight defeats during the final weeks of the season dragged Wimbledon into the depth of the relegation mire. Olsen was sacked after a 3–0 defeat away to Bradford, to be replaced by former coach and assistant manager Terry Burton
for the final two games of the season. A 2–2 draw at home to Aston Villa gave them hope going into their last game, away to Southampton. They were one place above the relegation zone on goal difference, but a 2–0 defeat at The Dell – combined with Bradford's shock 1–0 win over Liverpool – condemned Wimbledon to relegation and ended their 14-year stay in the top flight. The transition coincided with the end of one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches stories in football; which had started with Wimbledon's election to the Football League in 1977 and seen them reach the top flight nine years later, before peaking as FA Cup
winners in 1988. Their relegation was ironically confirmed 12 years to the day that Wimbledon achieved their famous victory over Liverpool at Wembley.
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...
, and 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...
secured their sixth Premiership title. Like the previous season, they lost only three league games all season. Unlike in 1998–99 season, they won by a comfortable margin – 18 points as opposed to a single point.
Their only disappointment of the season came when they lost their defence of 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...
following a 3–2 defeat against 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...
in the quarter finals. United had withdrawn from the 1999–2000 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 participate in the FIFA World Club Championship at the request of the FA who wanted United to compete to support England's bid to host the World 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...
would go on to win the last
FA Cup held at Wembley Stadium before its redevelopment. The 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...
final was won by 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...
, for the second time in four seasons. In Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Leeds United reached the 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...
semi final (where two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death preceding a game against Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
side Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
in Istanbul) and 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...
were on the losing side to Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup final.
This season, only one newly promoted team suffered relegation. 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...
, who finished in last place, and achieved a record Premiership low of just 24 points (a record since broken by Sunderland (twice) and Derby County), despite a decent start to their campaign which saw them beat both Liverpool (at Anfield) and Chelsea. The most successful promoted team was 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...
, who finished seventh in the final table and spent much of the season pushing for a place in European competition. 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....
, back in the top division for the first time since 1922, secured their Premiership survival with a 1–0 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...
who surrendered a Champions League
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...
place. That result also spelled the end for 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...
, who relegated on the last day of the season after 14 years of top division football. Second-from-bottom 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 relegated after failing to beat Arsenal in their penultimate game of the season, having spent 15 of the last 16 seasons in the top division. The worst moment of the season for Danny Wilson's men came with an 8–0 defeat at Newcastle
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...
– who were now being managed by the 66-year-old 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....
.
Amazingly Coventry City went all season without an away win but still managed to secure 14th place due to an impressive home record which saw them win 12 out of their 19 matches.
As well as Premiership champions Manchester United and runners-up Arsenal, third placed Leeds United qualified for the 2000–01 Champions League. UEFA Cup places went to fourth placed Liverpool, F.A Cup winners Chelsea, and League Cup winners Leicester City.
Promoted to the Premiership for 2000–01 were First Division
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....
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 and playoff winners 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....
. For the first time since the formation of the Premiership, all of the promoted teams had been members of the Premiership before.
Managerial changes
Leicester City manager Martin O'NeillMartin 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...
moved to Celtic at the end of the season and was replaced by Gillingham's Peter Taylor.
Newcastle United manager 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...
resigned in early September and was replaced by former England manager 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....
, who at 66 was the oldest manager in Premiership history.
Southampton manager Dave Jones was put on 'gardening leave' in January to concentrate on clearing his name in connection with child abuse charges and was replaced by former England manager Glenn Hoddle. At the end of the season, Hoddle's role was made permanent, and Jones' contract with the club was terminated.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Wilson was sacked in March and assistant Peter Shreeves took over until the end of the season, after which he reverted to the assistant manager's job and the managerial duties were took on by Paul Jewell of Bradford City, who named Jewell's assistant Chris Hutchings as their new manager.
Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear
Joe Kinnear
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United....
resigned before the start of the season after seven years in charge, and was replaced by former Norway coach Egil Olsen. Olsen was sacked just before the end of the season and replaced by coach Terry Burton, who was given the job on a permanent basis despite failing to prevent relegation.
Personnel and kits
(as of 14 May 2000)| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
 Arsène WengerArsène Wenger Arsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996... |
 Tony AdamsTony Adams (footballer) Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends... |
Nike Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area... |
Dreamcast |
| 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... |
John Gregory |
Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009... |
Reebok Reebok Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle... |
LDV Vans |
| Bradford City | Paul Jewell Paul Jewell Paul Steven Jewell is a former English footballer who is currently the manager of Ipswich Town.His playing career started with Liverpool before moving to Wigan Athletic and then a ten-year spell with Bradford City... |
 Stuart McCallStuart McCall Andrew Stuart Murray McCall , usually known as Stuart McCall, is a former footballer who played in central midfield. He played a total of 763 league games during his career, the 13th highest of all British footballers... |
ASICS ASICS ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other... |
JCT600 JCT600 JCT600 is a car dealership founded in Bradford, England in 1946 by Edward Tordoff - the company is now run by his grandson, John Tordoff. It has 22 franchises operating from 48 retail outlets across the North of England with an annual turnover in excess of £450 million.JCT600 takes its name from... |
| 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... |
 Gianluca VialliGianluca 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.... |
Dennis Wise Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United.... |
Umbro Umbro Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment... |
Autoglass Autoglass Autoglass is a car-windscreen repair company based in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.-History:In 1971, Windshields was formed in Bedford, and operated across southern England doing mobile repairs. In 1973 the Doulton Group launched Autoglass, which operated across northern England... |
| 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... |
Gordon Strachan Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,... |
Gary McAllister Gary McAllister Gary McAllister MBE is a Scottish former professional footballer.McAllister played primarily as a midfielder, in a successful career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell before moving south of the border to Leicester City at the age of 20... |
CCFC Garments | Subaru Subaru ; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as... |
| 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... |
Jim Smith Jim Smith (footballer) James Michael "Jim" Smith is a retired English footballer and manager. As a player, he made 249 appearances in the Fourth Division of The Football League, representing Aldershot, Halifax Town, Lincoln City and Colchester United, and played for three-and-a-half years for Boston United of the... |
 Darryl PowellDarryl Powell Darryl Anthony Powell is an English-born former professional footballer who made more than 350 appearances in the Football League and Premier League and played international football for the Jamaican national team... |
Puma AG PUMA AG Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two... |
EDS Electronic Data Systems HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,... |
| 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... |
Walter Smith Walter Smith Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at... |
Dave Watson Dave Watson David "Dave" Watson is an English former professional footballer who made 12 appearances for the English national team. He is now the youth team coach at Newcastle United.-Playing career:... |
Umbro Umbro Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment... |
One2One |
| Leeds United | 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... |
 Lucas RadebeLucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Radebe is a former Leeds United and South African football player. During his career, Radebe was renowned for being a world-class centre back and a great ambassador for the sport.... |
Puma AG PUMA AG Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two... |
Packard Bell Packard Bell Packard Bell is a Dutch computer manufacturer and a subsidiary of Acer. The name was previously used by Packard Bell, an American radio manufacturer founded in 1926. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturer. Originally the company produced... |
| 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... |
 Martin O'NeillMartin 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... |
Matt Elliott |
Fox Leisure | Walkers Crisps Walkers (snack foods) Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market... |
| 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... |
Gérard Houllier Gérard Houllier Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season.... |
Jamie Redknapp Jamie Redknapp Jamie Frank Redknapp is a retired English footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a football pundit with Sky Sports, and an editorial columnist with the Daily Mail.... |
Reebok Reebok Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle... |
Carlsberg Group |
| 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... |
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... |
Roy Keane 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.... |
Umbro Umbro Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment... |
Sharp |
| 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... |
Bryan Robson Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008... |
Paul Ince Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town... |
Errea Erreà Erreà is a sportswear trademark founded in 1988, in Torrile... |
BT Cellnet O2 (United Kingdom) Telefónica UK Limited is a telecommunications, internet and financial services provider in the United Kingdom owned by Telefónica, forming part of its Telefónica Europe division... |
| 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... |
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.... |
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... |
Adidas Adidas Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport... |
Newcastle Brown Ale Newcastle Brown Ale Newcastle Brown Ale is a beer produced by Heineken International. It was introduced in 1927 by Newcastle Breweries. In 2005, brewing was moved out of Newcastle upon Tyne for the first time, to Dunston on the other side of the River Tyne, and in 2010 moved entirely to Tadcaster, North Yorkshire... |
| 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... |
 Peter ShreevesPeter Shreeves Peter Shreeves is a Welsh former football player, manager and coach.-Career:Shreeves was born in Neath in South Wales where his mother had been evacuated to during the early stages of World War II, but was brought up in Islington, London. He began his career with non-league Finchley from where he... (caretaker) |
Des Walker Des Walker Desmond Sinclair "Des" Walker is a former England international footballer who is best remembered for his spells with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday... |
Puma AG PUMA AG Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two... |
Sanderson |
| 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... |
Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England.... |
Matt Le Tissier |
Saints | Friends Provident Friends Provident Friends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends... |
| Sunderland | 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... |
Michael Gray |
ASICS ASICS ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other... |
Reg Vardy Reg Vardy Evans Halshaw is a chain of car dealerships with around 180 showrooms, predominantly in Northern England. It is a subsidiary of Pendragon PLC.-Pendragon PLC:... |
| 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.... |
George Graham George Graham (footballer) George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:... |
Sol Campbell Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's... |
Adidas Adidas Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport... |
Holsten |
| 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... |
Graham Taylor |
Nigel Gibbs Nigel Gibbs Nigel James Gibbs , is a former English footballer. A Watford supporter, as well as a product of their youth system, Gibbs spent his entire professional career as a right back for the club. He was voted Watford F.C. Player of the Season in 1992, and later captained them... |
Le Coq Sportif Le Coq Sportif Le Coq Sportif is a French company producing sports equipment such as shoes, shorts, and T-shirts. It was founded in 1882 by Émile Camuset, but the first clothing items branded with the rooster appeared in 1948... |
Phones4U |
| 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... |
Harry Redknapp Harry Redknapp Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur.... |
Steve Lomas Steve Lomas Stephen "Steve" Lomas is the football manager of St Johnstone and a former Northern Ireland international player. He played for Manchester City, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Gillingham, finishing his playing career at United Counties Football League Premier Division club St Neots Town... |
Fila Fila (company) Fila is one of the world's largest sportswear manufacturing companies. Founded in 1911 in Italy, Fila has been owned and operated from South Korea since a takeover in 2007. Headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon, Fila now has offices in 11 countries worldwide.... |
Dr. Martens Dr. Martens Dr. Martens is a traditional British footwear brand, which also makes a range of accessories – shoe care products, clothing, luggage, etc. In addition to Dr. Martens, they are known as Doctor Martens, Doc Martens, Docs or DMs... |
| 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... |
Terry Burton Terry Burton Terry Burton is an English football manager and coach who is currently on garden leave at Cardiff... (caretaker) |
Robbie Earle Robbie Earle Robert Fitzgerald "Robbie" Earle MBE is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals.... |
Lotto Lotto Sport Italia Lotto Sport Italia is an Italian sports apparel manufacturer. Its products are now distributed in more than 60 countries.-History:Lotto was established in 1973 by the Caberlotto family in Montebelluna, northern Italy, the world centre of footwear manufacturing. In June 1973, Lotto made its debut... |
Tiny |
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification/relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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... |
38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 97 | 45 | 91 | UEFA Champions League 2000–01 1st group stage | |
| 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 | 73 | UEFA Champions League 2000–01 1st group stage | |
| 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 | 69 | UEFA Champions League 2000–01 3rd qualifying round | |
| 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 | 67 | UEFA Cup 2000–01 1st round | |
| 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 | 65 | UEFA Cup 2000–01 1st round1 | |
| 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 | 58 | 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup 3rd round | |
| 7 | Sunderland | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 57 | 56 | 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 | UEFA Cup 2000–01 1st round2 |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 38 | 68 | −30 | 36 | 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup 2nd round |
| 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 | Relegation to The Football League First Division 2000–01 |
| 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 |
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
1 Chelsea qualified for the UEFA Cup as FA Cup winners
2 Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners
Results
Arsenal
ArsenalArsenal 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...
finished Premiership runners-up for the second season running. Last year there was a one-point gap between themselves and champions 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...
, but this time the gap was 18 points and Arsenal never seriously looked like winning the title. Their last hope of silverware was extinguished in May when they suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
in the 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...
final. This was the season when the era of the legendary Arsenal back line (Adams
Tony Adams (footballer)
Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends...
, Keown
Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown is a former English footballer. Widely regarded as one of the best man-markers of his generation, Keown played for six different football clubs during his career but it was with Arsenal that he will be best remembered. Keown made over three hundred appearances for Arsenal...
, Bould
Steve Bould
Stephen Andrew Bould is an English former football player and current coach. He played professionally for Stoke City, Torquay United, Arsenal and Sunderland.-Stoke City:...
, Winterburn
Nigel Winterburn
Nigel Winterburn is a retired English footballer who played at left-back for Arsenal. He is best known for his role alongside Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Lee Dixon, forming a celebrated defensive line in the Premier League and European football during the 1990s.-Early career:Winterburn was born...
and Dixon
Lee Dixon
Lee Michael Dixon is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once....
) came to an end; Bould left for Sunderland just before the start of the season, while Winterburn, Dixon and Keown lost their places after a 3–2 defeat at Coventry City on Boxing Day 1999. Although Dixon and Keown were subsequently recalled, Winterburn was permanently replaced by Sylvinho
Sylvinho
Sylvio Mendes Campos Junior , commonly known as Sylvinho is a retired Brazilian footballer, who played for Corinthians, Arsenal, Celta Vigo, FC Barcelona and Manchester City...
and only appeared again as cover in midfield; he transferred to West Ham United at the end of the season.
Aston Villa
Aston VillaAston 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...
matched their previous season's solid sixth place finish, and also reached 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...
final for the first time in 43 years. But their hopes of winning the famous trophy for the eighth time were ended by a 1–0 defeat at the hands of 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...
, whose success was achieved in the last game at Wembley before the old stadium is rebuilt. At least John Gregory's men had a UEFA Cup campaign to look forward to, and will be hoping for their season on the continent to be less short-lived and more successful than other recent forays.
Bradford City
David WetherallDavid 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...
's goal on the final day of the season gave 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....
a surprise 1–0 victory 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...
which secured the top division place that the Bantams had spent 77 years trying to regain, and condemned 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...
to relegation. Manager Paul Jewell
Paul Jewell
Paul Steven Jewell is a former English footballer who is currently the manager of Ipswich Town.His playing career started with Liverpool before moving to Wigan Athletic and then a ten-year spell with Bradford City...
then walked out 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...
to take over at relegated 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...
, leaving his assistant Chris Hutchings
Chris Hutchings
Christopher "Chris" Hutchings is an English former footballer and former manager of Walsall. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town...
to pick up the pieces.
Chelsea
After a very good third place finish last season, Chelsea were expected to go one better and win the title. France captain Didier DeschampsDidier 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...
was signed for £3 million from Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
to add even more quality and experience a Chelsea midfield that already included Dennis Wise
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....
, 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...
and Gustavo Poyet
Gustavo Poyet
Gustavo Augusto Gus Poyet Domínguez is a former Uruguay international footballer and current manager of English side Brighton & Hove Albion.During his playing career, Poyet featured for teams including Real Zaragoza, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur....
. 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....
stiker 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...
was also signed for £10 million to partner one of the league's best players in Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola, OBE, Ufficiale OMRI is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi...
in attack. Zola, by his standards, had a poor league season, scoring just 4 goals, but he made up for that by again setting up many more goals for the team. In contrast to his average league form, Zola made Europe sit up and notice as he led Chelsea's Champions league
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...
campaign, scoring a spectacular free kick in a 3–1 win over F.C. Barcelona at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
, but Chelsea were eliminated in the second leg at the Nou Camp. On the Premiership front, 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....
's side finished a solid fifth place in the final table but were too inconsistent to mount anything like a title challenge. Chelsea won their fourth cup in four seasons with a 1–0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley, giving them the last cup final triumph at the old Wembley stadium before it was rebuilt.
Coventry City
Coventry CityCoventry 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...
were one of the Premiership's best-performing sides at home during 1999–2000
1999-2000 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United were crowned FA Premier League champions with an 18-point margin over runners-up Arsenal and with just 3 league defeats all season. This was despite their failure to retain the European Cup and withdrawal from the FA Cup in order to compete in the FIFA Club World...
, achieving 12 victories at the Highfield Road stadium, but failed to win a single away game all season. Their dismal away record ruined their hopes of getting anywhere near the top five, and they were restricted to 14th place in the final table. 1999-2000 also marked the end of 43-year-old goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic
Steve Ogrizovic
Steven "Oggy" Ogrizovic is a former English goalkeeper who achieved fame during 16 years at Coventry City...
's illustrious career at the club, and severed their final remaining link with the 1987 FA Cup winning side. 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....
proved a successful signing with 12 goals in 34 league appearances.
Derby County
After two successive top-10 finishes which gave promise a possible bid for a UEFA Cup place, Derby CountyDerby 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...
endured their most difficult season for years as they finished 16th with a mere 38 points. They were just two places and five points clear of relegation.
Everton
1999–2000 brought a one-place improvement upon last season's 14th place finish for EvertonEverton 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...
, but the blue half of Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
was still left frustrated by their side's lack of success; something which has been a familiar scene for far too long. Manager Walter Smith
Walter Smith
Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...
, determined to save his job and preserve Everton's top flight status, pulled off one of the biggest transfer surprises of the close season by bringing in Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
and bolstering one of the most ungainly squads currently in the Premiership.
Leeds United
Leeds UnitedLeeds 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...
entered the New Millennium top of the Premiership, but by the end of the season they had fallen to third place and were 22 points adrift of champions Manchester United. There was real trauma in the 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...
, when two fans were stabbed to death after a clash between rival supporters on the eve of Leeds United's 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...
semi-final against Galatasaray
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...
. On the more positive side, Leeds attained their highest finish since the 1992 title triumph, and achieved Champions League
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...
qualification in manager 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...
's second season at the helm. Promising young players like Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate
Jonathan Woodgate
Jonathan Simon Woodgate is an English footballer who plays for Stoke City in the Premier League.Woodgate started his football career at Leeds United where he established himself in the starting eleven. However, Woodgate was sold to Newcastle United for £9 million in January 2003. He impressed...
and 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:...
gave Leeds fans hope that their side would be among next season's contenders for the Premiership title, as well as making another strong challenge on the continent. 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...
, announced his arrival to the Premier League in winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Leicester City
Leicester CityLeicester 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...
achieved their best-ever Premiership finish by coming eighth in the final table, as well as reaching their third League Cup final in four years. They triumphed for the second time under 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...
and the third time in their history, beating 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 at Wembley. O'Neill then stunned the Filbert Street
Filbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
faithful by announcing that he had accepted the offer to manage Celtic, and in came former England under 21
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...
coach Peter Taylor
Peter John Taylor
Peter John Taylor is an English football manager and former player and current head coach of the Bahrain national football team...
as his successor.
Liverpool
Gerard HoullierGérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season....
marked his first full season in charge of the club with a massive clearout of the previous season's team that was assembled by Roy Evans
Roy Evans
Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...
, releasing such names as Paul Ince
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town...
, 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...
, Mark Wright, Steve Staunton
Steve Staunton
Stephen "Steve" Staunton is an Irish association football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently manager of Darlington...
and Steve Harkness
Steve Harkness
Steven "Steve" Harkness is a former footballer who played for several clubs, most notably Liverpool.-Playing career:...
and bringing in a clutch of continental players, mostly recruited from the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
, such as Vladimir Smicer
Vladimír Šmicer
Vladimír Šmicer is a former Czech football midfielder and forward player. Šmicer was a devout player of Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. He also played notably for Lens in France, with whom he won the Ligue 1 title. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England, where he played several...
and Titi Camara
Titi Camara
Aboubacar Sidiki Camara, more commonly known as Titi Camara , is the Sports Minister of Guinea. He is a former football player who was also the coach of the Syli National , the Guinean national team, which he captained and played for.-Club career:Camara was once a highly-touted prospect, spending...
. Finnish international Sami Hyypia
Sami Hyypiä
Sami Tuomas Hyypiä is a retired European Cup winning Finnish footballer who played in the centre back position. He last played for German Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen and was the captain of the Finland national football team. He joined Leverkusen in summer 2009, ending a ten year spell at...
was recruted from Dutch side Willem II. Liverpool managed to gel the foreign players with local talent like Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
, Robbie Fowler
Robbie Fowler
Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United....
and Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 89 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfielder role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger...
and were looking well placed for a Champions League place as they kicked off at relegation-threatened Bradford on the final day of the season, but yet another shock 1–0 defeat (they had a few of those, including a defeat at home against Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
) forced them to settle for a UEFA Cup place. With key assets Owen and Fowler still on the payroll, and European talent arriving in numbers, Liverpool were looking ahead to a new era.
Manchester United
By attaining 91 points and losing just three Premiership games all season, Manchester United retained their Premiership title and confirmed themselves as league champions for the sixth time in eight seasons. They started the season well, though they were second in the league to Leeds as the new Millennium dawned, and got even better during the second half of the campaign. The only disappointment of the season was the end of their Champions League defence at the hands of Real MadridReal 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...
in the quarter-finals. Just before the end of the season, it was announced that Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van Nistelrooy, , is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Málaga CF in Spain's La Liga. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals...
had agreed to join the club from PSV Eindhoven, but he then failed a medical and a subsequent knee injury suffered during training stalled the move. In the meantime, 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...
decided that Mark Bosnich
Mark Bosnich
Mark Bosnich is a retired Australian football player and football pundit. He represented Australia 17 times and played for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea.-Manchester United :...
was not good enough to be Peter Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...
's long-term successor and brought in French
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...
World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
winning shot-stopper 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...
from 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...
.
Middlesbrough
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough 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...
experienced another satisfactory season, finishing 12th in the Premiership. They never looked like qualifying for Europe, but were never in any danger of relegation. Nor did they make much of an impact in the cup competitions.
Newcastle United
Four defeats from Newcastle'sNewcastle 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...
first five Premiership fixtures prompted the resignation of manager 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...
after one year in charge, and led to the appointment of 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....
– at 66 the oldest manager in the league – as his successor. Robson consolidated a fading Newcastle side, and they finished a secure 11th in the final table. More impressively, they were the division's third-highest scoring team with 63 goals from 38 games – eight of these came in an 8–0 drubbing of Sheffield Wednesday
.
Sheffield Wednesday
An 8–0 hammering at the hands of Newcastle United in Septembersaw most people tip Sheffield Wednesday as favourites for relegation, and this opinion was further strengthened by their failure to make a substantial improvement as the season went on. The board of directors decided that enough was enough in March, and terminated Danny Wilson's contract as manager. Peter Shreeves
Peter Shreeves
Peter Shreeves is a Welsh former football player, manager and coach.-Career:Shreeves was born in Neath in South Wales where his mother had been evacuated to during the early stages of World War II, but was brought up in Islington, London. He began his career with non-league Finchley from where he...
, who had previously been assistant to Wilson's predecessor Ron Atkinson
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...
, took temporary charge and kept the Owls in contention for survival right up to the penultimate day of the season. A failure to beat Arsenal confirmed their relegation after nine successive seasons of top division football
but they went down fighting by drawing 3–3 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...
,. Bradford manager Paul Jewell was then given the uphill task of restoring Premiership football to the club, though the club's mounting debts triggered fears that further struggles would lie ahead.
Southampton
Manager Dave Jones was given leave from his duties in January in order to concentrate on clearing his name in connection with child abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
charges, and former England boss Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
was appointed on a temporary basis. Hoddle did well to keep the Saints clear of relegation, and safety was achieved with a 15th place finish and a respectable 44 points. As the new season approached, it was still unclear as to whether Jones would ever return to the club. Matt Le Tissier scored a modest 6 goals during the season but that was sufficient to bring his total number of Premier League goals to 100, making him the first midfielder to reach this milestone.
Sunderland
SunderlandSunderland 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 return to the top flight and quickly established themselves as real contenders for a European place, while 30-goal 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...
was the country's top scorer in the league. In the end, seventh place finish wasn't good enough for a place in Europe but it was still Sunderland's highest finish for decades, and meant that the Stadium of Light
Stadium of Light
The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches...
finally had a team fit for such an impressive stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur
TottenhamTottenham 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....
failed to make much of an impact on their return to Europe after an eight-year exile, nor were their cup exploits particularly impressive. Tenth place finish was a long way short of the top-five finishes attained by local rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, and manager George Graham
George Graham (footballer)
George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...
bolstered his ranks for the 2000–01 season by paying a club record fee for Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
striker Sergi Rebrov.
Watford
WatfordWatford 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...
managed some encouraging early results, including victories over Liverpool and Chelsea, suggesting that experienced manager Graham Taylor might be able to keep the club in the Premier League against all expectations. After the victory against Chelsea on 18 September however, Watford only managed three more wins all season, and it soon became obvious that this campaign was a bridge too far after two successive promotions. The club were eventually relegated with the then-lowest points total in Premier League history, although observers widely predicted that Taylor would at least stabilise the club in Division One again, and maybe even get the club to make an immediate return to the Premiership.
West Ham United
West Ham UnitedWest 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...
continued to make the most of their limited resources by giving the rest of the Premiership a run for their money and finishing a respectable ninth place finish, though their return to European competition after an absence of nearly 20 years was short-lived. Their attack recovered reasonably well from the sale of striker 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...
, while Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
was able to hang on to highly-rated youngsters like Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
and Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...
.
Wimbledon
The close season resignation of former Joe KinnearJoe Kinnear
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United....
because of health problems (he would suffer from them again as manager of Newcastle United) after seven years as manager led to the appointment of former Norwegian national coach
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
Egil Olsen
Egil Olsen
Egil Roger Olsen , nicknamed Drillo, is a Norwegian association football manager and former Norwegian football player. He is best known as a highly successful coach of the Norwegian national football team. He has since been coach of the Iraqi national football team, his departure from which caused...
as Wimbledon's new manager, giving Dons fans hope of beating the drop once again. The mid-season collapse of star striker 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 move to Tottenham was further good news to the cause, but a run of eight straight defeats during the final weeks of the season dragged Wimbledon into the depth of the relegation mire. Olsen was sacked after a 3–0 defeat away to Bradford, to be replaced by former coach and assistant manager Terry Burton
Terry Burton
Terry Burton is an English football manager and coach who is currently on garden leave at Cardiff...
for the final two games of the season. A 2–2 draw at home to Aston Villa gave them hope going into their last game, away to Southampton. They were one place above the relegation zone on goal difference, but a 2–0 defeat at The Dell – combined with Bradford's shock 1–0 win over Liverpool – condemned Wimbledon to relegation and ended their 14-year stay in the top flight. The transition coincided with the end of one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches stories in football; which had started with Wimbledon's election to the Football League in 1977 and seen them reach the top flight nine years later, before peaking as 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...
winners in 1988. Their relegation was ironically confirmed 12 years to the day that Wimbledon achieved their famous victory over Liverpool at Wembley.
Top goal scorers
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England 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... |
Sunderland | 30 |
| 2 | England 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... |
Newcastle United | 23 |
| 3 |  Trinidad and Tobago Dwight YorkeDwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke is a Trinidad and Tobago former football player. He played for Aston Villa for most of his career, followed by stints with Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland... |
Manchester United | 20 |
| 4 | England 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:... |
Leeds United | 19 |
| England 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... |
Manchester United | 19 | |
| 6 | France Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and... |
Arsenal | 17 |
| 7 | Italy Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio is a Italian former professional footballer and current manager of League Two side Swindon Town. Di Canio made over 500 league appearances and scored over 100 league goals as a player.... |
West Ham United | 16 |
| 8 | England Chris Armstrong Chris Armstrong (footballer born 1971) Christopher Peter "Chris" Armstrong is an English former England B international footballer who has played as a striker for Wrexham , Millwall, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers between 1989 and 2005.-Crystal Palace:After short spells with Wrexham and Millwall, Armstrong found... |
Tottenham Hotspur | 14 |
 Norway Steffen IversenSteffen 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.... |
Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | |
| 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... |
Sunderland | 14 |
Monthly awards
| Month | Manager | Player |
|---|---|---|
| August | 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... (Manchester United) |
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.... (Coventry City) |
| September | Walter Smith Walter Smith Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at... (Everton) |
 Muzzy Izzet (Leicester City) |
| October | 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... (Sunderland) |
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... (Sunderland) |
| November | 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... (Leicester City) |
 Sami HyypiäSami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä is a retired European Cup winning Finnish footballer who played in the centre back position. He last played for German Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen and was the captain of the Finland national football team. He joined Leverkusen in summer 2009, ending a ten year spell at... (Liverpool) |
| December | Gérard Houllier Gérard Houllier Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season.... (Liverpool) |
Roy Keane 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.... (Manchester United) |
| January | Danny Wilson (Sheffield Wednesday) |
Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009... (Aston Villa) |
| February | 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.... (Newcastle United) |
Paul Merson Paul Merson Paul Charles Merson is a retired English football player, and former player-manager of Walsall. His playing career has included spells at Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and finishing his playing career at Tamworth. He also played for England 21 times... (Aston Villa) |
| March | 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... (Manchester United) |
Dwight Yorke Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke is a Trinidad and Tobago former football player. He played for Aston Villa for most of his career, followed by stints with Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland... (Manchester United) |
| April | 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... (Manchester United) |
Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and... (Arsenal) |