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2000-01 in English football

Encyclopedia : 2 : 20 : 200 : 2000-01 in English football

The 2000-2001 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.

Contents

Overview

Fulham reached the Premiership as Division One champions to secure their five-season rise from Division Three. They also became the first club to have played in all four divisions of the English league since the creation of the Premiership.

Arguably two of the most famous clubs outside the Premiership fell into Division Three. They were Luton Town - who had been League Cup winners 13 years earlier and top division members until 9 years ago - and Oxford United - who had been League Cup winners 15 years earlier and top division members until 13 years ago.

Mid-table Divison Two side Wycombe Wanderers beat all odds by reaching the FA Cup Semi-Final veruses Liverpool, having beaten Divison One sides Millwall, Wolves, Wimbledon and a very strong Premiership Leicester City en route. Wycombe were beaten 2-1 at Villa Park, Keith Ryan scoring the Chairboys' goal.

Successful managers

George Burley guided newly promoted Ipswich Town to fifth place in the Premiership and achieved qualification for the UEFA Cup.

Gerard Houllier won a treble of trophies with Liverpool after they triumphed in the F.A Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager in English football to win three successive league titles after Manchester United (only the fourth team in history to win three straight titles) topped the Premiership's final table for the third year in a row.

Alan Curbishley consolidated newly-promoted Charlton Athletic in the Premiership with a ninth-place finish - their highest standing for nearly 50 years.

Jean Tigana won the Division One title with Fulham to gain promotion to the Premiership and end their 33-year exile from the top flight of English football.

Mark McGhee enjoyed success in his first season as Millwall manager by guiding them to the Division Two title.

Ronnie Moore surprised all the observers by winning a second successive promotion with Rotherham United, who were this time elevated into Division One.

Ray Graydon won his second promotion in three years with Walsall, who triumphed in the Division Two playoffs.

Micky Adams gave Brighton their most successful season for years as they ended the campaign as Division Three champions.

Brian Talbot took Rushden & Diamonds (founded just 9 years ago) into the Football League as Conference champions.

Events

Swede Eriksson is England's first foreign coach

With pressure building up on him following England's dismal Euro 2000 campaign, Kevin Keegan resigned as manager of England's national team minutes after a 1-0 defeat to Germany in the opening 2002 World Cup qualifying game. The match, played October 7, 2000, was also the last played at Wembley Stadium. Howard Wilkinson and Peter Taylor each had one-match stints as caretaker manager before Sven-Göran Eriksson accepted the F.A's offer to become the new national coach. Former Lazio coach Eriksson, 52, was the first foreigner to be appointed coach of the England national team. His first match in charge was a 3-0 win over Spain on February 28. England would go on to win their first five matches with Eriksson in charge and all the critics who were opposed to Eriksson being appointed looked to have made a major misjudgement.

Houllier delivers treble for Liverpool

Liverpool captured the 2001 UEFA Cup on 16th May with a 5-4 win over Alavés. The game was won in the 116th minute by golden goal, and it completed a treble of trophies for Liverpool which ended their six-year trophy drought as well as delivering their first trophies under Houllier's management. The League Cup had already been won with a penalty shoot-out triumph over Birmingham City in the first English final at the Millennium Stadium, and the F.A Cup was secured after a dramatic 2-1 win over Arsenal in which Michael Owen scored two late goals after Freddie Ljungberg had put Arsenal ahead.

Sir Alex makes history with United

Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager in English football to win three successive league titles after Manchester United were crowned Premiership champions for the third season running. Their title was secured with 80 points and a 10-point gap between themselves and runners-up Arsenal. Most bookmakers had closed their books before the turn of the New Year and admitted that United were certain of their seventh Premiership title in nine seasons. A 6-1 demolition of Arsenal in late February crushed any lingering doubts over the title's destiny.

United were not the first team to win three straight league titles. Huddersfield Town, Arsenal and Liverpool had all done it before, but with managerial changes in between.

Fulham back in the big time

Fulham won the Division One title to end their 33-year absence from the top flight. The key men in this success were money-spinning chairman Mohamed al Fayed, enthusiastic manager Jean Tigana and free scoring striker Louis Saha.

Fulham's return to the top flight of English football came four years after they had won promotion from Division Three and been taken over by al Fayed in a £30million deal. With his target of Premiership football finally achieved, al Fayed was now determined to turn Fulham into the 'Manchester United of the South'.

Burley clinches Manager of the Year award

While Sir Alex Ferguson won a third successive Premiership title with Manchester United and Gerard Houllier guided Liverpool to a unique treble of cup competitions, Ipswich Town's George Burley received the Manager of the Year award.

Burley, 45, had been at Portman Road since December 1994, when he took over from John Lyall at an Ipswich side rooted to the foot of the Premiership. He was unable to save them from the drop but quickly put together a new team in hope of getting Ipswich back in the elite of English football. They endured three successive playoff failures before winning the Division One playoff final in 2000 and ending a five-year exile from the Premiership.

Most people had tipped Ipswich to go straight back down in 2000-01, but they spent most of the season in the top five and finished fifth to claim a UEFA Cup place - their first foray in Europe for 20 years.

United's record breaking summer

After the end of the 2000-01 season, Sir Alex Ferguson began a summer of heavy spending. Before the season was over he had agreed an English record fee of £19million with PSV Eindhoven for Ruud van Nistelrooy, the 25-year-old Dutch striker who had agreed to sign for United a year earlier, but his original move was scrapped after he suffered a serious knee injury. Then, on 12th July, Sir Alex broke the English transfer fee record again. This time he brought in Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, 26, from Lazio in a £28.1million deal.

Basement battle for survival

At the bottom of the football league, the battle for survival went to the very last day of the season, with the bottom two sides Torquay United and Barnet playing each other at Barnet's Underhill Ground. Both teams knew that if they lost they would be relegated to the Conference. Torquay were 3-0 up at half-time, but Barnet, playing 5 up front for periods of the second half scored twice to keep the tension levels high until the end of the game. It finished 3-2 to Torquay and Barnet lost their league place.

Honours

Competition Winner
FA Premier League Manchester United
FA Cup Liverpool
Football League Cup Liverpool
Football League Trophy Port Vale
Football League First Division Fulham
Football League Second Division Millwall
Football League Third Division Brighton & Hove Albion
FA Community Shield Liverpool

Date Venue Opponents Score Comp England scorers
September 2, 2000 Paris France 1-1 F Owen
October 7, 2000 Wembley, London Germany 0-1 WCQ
October 11, 2000 Helsinki Finland 0-0 WCQ
November 15, 2000 Turin Italy 0-1 F
February 28, 2001 Villa Park, Birmingham Spain 3-0 F Barmby, Heskey, Ehiogu
March 24, 2001 Anfield, Liverpool Finland 2-1 WCQ Owen, Beckham
March 28, 2001 Tirana Albania 3-1 WCQ Owen, Scholes, Cole
May 25, 2001 Pride Park, Derby Mexico 4-0 F Scholes, Fowler, Beckham, Sheringham
June 6, 2001 Athens Greece 2-0 WCQ Scholes, Beckham

Key: WCQ = 2002 World Cup qualifiers, F = Friendly; scores are written England first

League competitions

P   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1 Manchester United         38  24  8  6  79  31   +48   80
2 Arsenal                   38  20 10  8  63  38   +25   70
3 Liverpool                 38  20  9  9  71  39   +32   69
4 Leeds United              38  20  8 10  64  43   +21   68
5 Ipswich Town              38  20  6 12  57  42   +15   66
6 Chelsea                   38  17 10 11  68  45   +23   61
7 Sunderland                38  15 12 11  46  41   +5    57
8 Aston Villa               38  13 15 10  46  43   +3    54
9 Charlton Athletic         38  14 10 14  50  57   -7    52
10 Southampton               38  14 10 14  40  48   -8    52
11 Newcastle United          38  14  9 15  44  50   -6    51
12 Tottenham Hotspur         38  13 10 15  47  54   -7    49
13 Leicester City            38  14  6 18  39  51   -12   48
14 Middlesbrough             38   9 15 14  44  44    0    42
15 West Ham United           38  10 12 16  45  50   -5    42
16 Everton                   38  11  9 18  45  59   -14   42
17 Derby County              38  10 12 16  37  59   -22   42
18 Manchester City           38   8 10 20  41  65   -24   34
19 Coventry City             38   8 10 20  36  63   -27   34
20 Bradford City             38   5 11 22  30  70   -40   26
Leading goalscorer: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea), 23

P   W   D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1 Fulham                    46  30  11  5  100 42  +58  101
2 Blackburn Rovers          46  26  13  7  76  39  +37  91
3 Bolton Wanderers          46  24  15  7  76  45  +31  87
4 Preston North End         46  23   9 14  64  52  +12  78
5 Birmingham City           46  23   9 14  59  48  +11  78
6 West Bromwich Albion      46  21  11 14  60  52   +8  74
7 Burnley                   46  21   9 16  50  54   -4  72
8 Wimbledon                 46  17  18 11  71  50  +21  69
9 Watford                   46  20   9 17  76  67   +9  69
10 Sheffield United          46  19  11 16  52  49   +3  68
11 Nottingham Forest         46  20   8 18  55  53   +2  68
12 Wolverhampton Wanderers   46  14  13 19  45  48   -3  55
13 Gillingham                46  13  16 17  61  66   -5  55
14 Crewe Alexandra           46  15  10 21  47  62  -15  55
15 Norwich City              46  14  12 20  46  58  -12  54
16 Barnsley                  46  15   9 22  49  62  -13  54
17 Sheffield Wednesday       46  15   8 23  52  71  -19  53
18 Grimsby Town              46  14  10 22  43  62  -19  52
19 Stockport County          46  11  18 17  58  65   -7  51
20 Portsmouth                46  10  19 17  47  59  -12  49
21 Crystal Palace            46  12  13 21  57  70  -13  49
22 Huddersfield Town         46  11  15 20  48  57   -9  48
23 Queens Park Rangers       46   7  19 20  45  75  -30  40
24 Tranmere Rovers           46   9  11 26  46  77  -31  38
Leading goalscorer: Louis Saha (Fulham), 27

P   W     D    L   F   A   GD   Pts
1 Millwall                  46   28    9    9   89  38  +51   93
2 Rotherham United          46   27   10    9   79  55  +24   91
3 Reading                   46   25   11   10   86  52  +34   86
4 Walsall                   46   23   12   11   79  50  +29   81
5 Stoke City                46   21   14   11   74  49  +25   77
6 Wigan Athletic            46   19   18    9   53  42  +11   75
7 AFC Bournemouth           46   20   13   13   79  55  +22   73
8 Notts County              46   19   12   15   62  66   -4   69
9 Bristol City              46   18   14   14   70  56  +14   68
10 Wrexham                   46   17   12   17   65  71   -6   63
11 Port Vale                 46   16   14   16   55  49   +6   62
12 Peterborough United       46   15   14   17   61  66   -5   59
13 Wycombe Wanderers         46   15   14   17   46  53   -7   59
14 Brentford                 46   14   17   15   56  70  -14   59
15 Oldham Athletic           46   15   13   18   53  65  -12   58
16 Bury                      46   16   10   20   45  59  -14   58
17 Colchester United         46   15   12   19   55  59   -4   57
18 Northampton Town          46   15   12   19   46  59  -13   57
19 Cambridge United          46   14   11   21   61  77  -16   53
20 Swindon Town              46   13   13   20   47  65  -18   52
21 Bristol Rovers            46   12   15   19   53  57   -4   51
22 Luton Town                46    9   13   24   52  80  -28   40
23 Swansea City              46    8   13   25   47  73  -26   37
24 Oxford United             46    7    6   33   53 100  -47   27
Leading goalscorer: Jamie Cureton (Reading), 27

P    W    D    L   F   A   GD   Pts
1 Brighton & Hove Albion         46   28    8   10  73  35   +38   92
2 Cardiff City                   46   23   13   10  95  58   +37   82
3 Chesterfield*                  46   25   14    7  79  42   +37   80
4 Hartlepool United              46   21   14   11  71  54   +17   77
5 Leyton Orient                  46   20   15   11  59  51    +8   75
6 Hull City                      46   19   17   10  47  39    +8   74
7 Blackpool                      46   22    6   18  74  58   +16   72
8 Rochdale                       46   18   17   11  59  48   +11   71
9 Cheltenham Town                46   18   14   14  59  52    +7   68
10 Scunthorpe United              46   18   11   17  62  52   +10   65
11 Southend United                46   15   18   13  55  53    +2   63
12 Plymouth Argyle                46   15   13   18  54  61    -7   58
13 Mansfield Town                 46   15   13   18  64  72    -8   58
14 Macclesfield Town              46   14   14   18  51  62   -11   56
15 Shrewsbury Town                46   15   10   21  49  65   -16   55
16 Kidderminster Harriers         46   13   14   19  47  61   -14   53
17 York City                      46   13   13   20  42  63   -21   52
18 Lincoln City                   46   12   15   19  58  66    -8   51
19 Exeter City                    46   12   14   20  40  58   -18   50
20 Darlington                     46   12   13   21  44  56   -12   49
21 Torquay United                 46   12   13   21  52  77   -25   49
22 Carlisle United                46   11   15   20  42  65   -23   48
23 Halifax Town                   46   12   11   23  54  68   -14   47
24 Barnet                         46   12    9   25  67  81   -14   45
Leading goalscorer: Bobby Zamora (Brighton & Hove Albion), 28

'' * = Chesterfield deducted 9 points for financial irregularites.

European qualifiers

Group phase

Qualifying round

Promoted teams

From Division One to the Premier League:
Fulham
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
From Division Two to Division One:
Millwall
Rotherham United
Walsall
From Division Three to Division Two:
Brighton & Hove Albion
Cardiff City
Chesterfield
Blackpool
From The Football Conference to Division Three:
Rushden & Diamonds

Relegated teams

From the Premier League to Division One:
Manchester City
Coventry City
Bradford City
From Division One to Division Two:
Huddersfield Town
Queens Park Rangers
Tranmere Rovers
From Division Two to Division Three:
Bristol Rovers
Luton Town
Swansea City
Oxford United
From Division Three to The Football Conference:
Barnet

Major Transfer deals

Deaths

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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