2001-02 in English football

Encyclopedia : 2 : 20 : 200 : 2001-02 in English football

The 2001-2002 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.

Events

Dario reaches managerial milestone

On November 20 2001, Dario Gradi took charge of his 1,000 competitive game in charge of Crewe Alexandra in Division One. Gradi had arrived at Crewe in June 1983, and he reached this landmark just four months into a season which had already seen a total of more than 20 managerial changes in the Premiership, Division One, Division Two and Division Three. Crewe ended the season by being relegated to Division Two but the club's directors showed no intention of parting company with the longest-serving manager at any Football League club.

Wimbledon get go-ahead for Milton Keynes move

Just after the end of the Division one season, a three-man panel of The Football Association gave permission for Wimbledon F.C. to move from their historic South London home to Milton Keynes. The move sparked outrage among Wimbledon supporters, who formed their own club - AFC Wimbledon - in response to the controversial plans of chairman Charles Koppel.

Arsenal cruise to title glory

In one of the most closely-fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal cruised to title glory at the end of an outstanding season. They won their final 13 Premiership fixtures, scored in all 38 Premiership games and were unbeaten on their Premiership travels. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the season when they beat defending champions Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Four days earlier they had also won the F.A Cup with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium.

Albion and Birmingham back in the big time

West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, who had both been outside the top division since 1986, were finally promoted back to the top division with Albion as Division One runners-up and Birmingham as playoff winners. In an ironic twist, Albion had overtaken near neighbours Wolves in the race for the run for second place by winning seven of their final nine league games. Birmingham's triumph was sealed by a penalty-shoot out win over Norwich at the Millennium Stadium. They followed Manchester City, managed by Kevin Keegan, into the Premiership.

Sir Alex puts off his retirement

Sir Alex Ferguson announced in February that he would be postponing his retirement as Manchester United manager by at least three more seasons after he signed a new contract as manager. The news came just after United completed an impressive revival in the Premiership which saw them rise from ninth to first in the space of two months.

On 8th December, United stood ninth in the Premiership - 11 points behind Liverpool, who had a game in hand - and had lost six of their seven previous games. Even a UEFA Cup place was now looking beyond reach. But a nine-match winning run saw United cruise to the top of the Premiership and they were soon challenging a three-horse race with Liverpool and Arsenal. They remained in the title race until the penultimate game of the season, when they lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal and surrendered the title crown to their opponents.

United's failure was largely put down to the inability to find a suitable replacement for Jaap Stam, the brilliant Dutch central defender who had been sold to Lazio for £16.25million just after the start of the season. Another disappointment was the failure of Juan Sebastian Veron, at £28.1million the most expensive player ever to sign for an English club, to live up to his hefty price tag. On a positive note, Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy lived up to his £19million price tag by scoring 34 goals in all competitions during his first season at Old Trafford.

After the season was over, rumours began to circulate that Sir Alex was about to break the English transfer record once again and bring in Leeds United central defender Rio Ferdinand, in hope that his side would return to their winning ways in 2002-03.....

ITV Digital crisis plunges league clubs into turmoil

The collapse of debt-ridden ITV Digital in May 2002 plunged many Football League clubs into turmoil. The likes of Bradford City, Nottingham Forest, Watford, Barnsley, Lincoln City and Port Vale filed for administration, fearful that the drastic loss of revenue would put them out of business.

Of all the troubled clubs, Bradford City's situation was the most precarious. The West Yorkshire club had debts of £36million and had failed to meet a deadline for a takeover deal. It seemed inevitable that the Bantams, who had gone into liquidation in 1983, would endure a total collapse and lose their place in the Football League. Their only hope was for the Football League to ignore their financial plight and allow them a place in Division One for the 2002-03 season....

Ipswich fall from grace

A year after qualifying for the UEFA Cup and earning George Burley the Manager of the Year award, Ipswich Town dropped back into Division One. The Suffolk side had looked doomed by Christmas after winning just one of their first 18 Premiership games. Then came a turnaround in form which saw them win seven out of eight fixtures and climb to 12th place, suggesting that they were safe. But another decline set in, and this time Ipswich were unable to halt it. Their relegation was confirmed with a 4-0 defeat away to runners-up Liverpool on the final day of the season.

Joining Ipswich in Division One would be already doomed Derby County and Leicester City, both going down after six seasons in the Premiership - the last of which had seen three different men take charge of the team.

Successful managers

Arsene Wenger guided Arsenal to the Premiership title and F.A Cup double for the second time in five seasons.

Bobby Robson, 69, earned a knighthood just weeks after his Newcastle side finished fourth in the Premiership and qualified for the Champions League.

Graeme Souness marked Blackburn's return to the Premiership with a tenth-place finish in the league as well as glory in the League Cup.

Kevin Keegan won the Division One title with Manchester City to return them to the Premiership at the first time of asking.

Gary Megson's two-year revival of West Bromwich Albion was completed with a long-awaited return to the top flight of English football. Just weeks later, they were joined in the Premiership with rivals Birmingham City - who had triumphed in the playoffs under the management of Steve Bruce.

Peter Taylor's only season as Brighton manager was a great success as they topped Division Two and claimed a second successive promotion.

Alan Pardew finally made the most of Reading's impressive resources as they won promotion to Division One.

Joe Kinnear began to reverse Luton Town's decline by guiding them to promotion to Division Two.

Steve Cotterill gave Cheltenham Town their third promotion in six seasons after they won the Division Three playoffs.

Successful players

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored more than 30 goals in all competitions during his first season with Manchester United.

Thierry Henry's 24 Premiership goals were a major factor in Arsenal's double glory.

Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole were an instrumental half of Arsenal's defence in their glorious season.

Shaun Goater's frequent goalscoring helped Manchester City win promotion to the Premiership.

Honours

Date	Opposition	Venue		Competition	Result	Score	England Scorers
15 August 2001	Netherlands	Home	White Hart Lane, London	Friendly	Lost	0-2
1 September 2001	Germany	Away	Olympic Stadium, Munich	World Cup Qualifier	Won	5-1	Michael Owen (3), Steven Gerrard, Emile Heskey
5 September 2001	Albania	Home	St James' Park, Newcastle	World Cup Qualifier	Won	2-0	Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler
6 October 2001	Greece	Home	Old Trafford, Manchester	World Cup Qualifier	Drawn	2-2	Teddy Sheringham, David Beckham
10 November 2001	Sweden	Home	Old Trafford, Manchester	Friendly	Drawn	1-1	David Beckham (pen)
13 February 2002	Netherlands	Away	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam	Friendly	Drawn	1-1	Darius Vassell
27 March 2002	Italy	Home	Elland Road, Leeds	Friendly	Lost	1-2	Robbie Fowler
17 April 2002	Paraguay	Home	Anfield, Liverpool	Friendly	Won	4-0	Michael Owen, Danny Murphy, Darius Vassell, Celso Ayala (og)
21 May 2002	Korea Republic	Away	Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo	Friendly	Drawn	1-1	Michael Owen
26 May 2002	Cameroon	Neutral	Wing Stadium, Kobe	Friendly	Drawn	2-2	Darius Vassell, Robbie Fowler
2 June 2002	Sweden	Neutral	Saitama Stadium, Saitama	World Cup First Round	Drawn	1-1	Sol Campbell
7 June 2002	Argentina	Neutral	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo	World Cup First Round	Won	1-0	David Beckham (pen)
12 June 2002	#redirect	Neutral	Nagai Stadium, Osaka	World Cup First Round	Drawn	0-0
15 June 2002	Denmark	Neutral	Stadium Big Swan, Niigata	World Cup Second Round	Won	3-0	Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Emile Heskey
21 June 2002	Brazil	Neutral	Stadium Epoca, Fukuroi	World Cup Quarter Final	Lost	1-2	Michael Owen

Tables

P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1. Arsenal                  38  12  4  3  42  25  14  5  0  37  11  +43  87
2. Liverpool                38  12  5  2  33  14  12  3  4  34  16  +37  80
3. Manchester United        38  11  2  6  40  17  13  3  3  47  28  +42  77
4. Newcastle United         38  12  3  4  40  23   9  5  5  34  29  +22  71
5. Leeds United             38   9  6  4  31  21   9  6  4  22  16  +16  66
6. Chelsea                  38  11  4  4  43  21   6  9  4  23  17  +28  64
7. West Ham United          38  12  4  3  32  14   3  4 12  16  43   -9  53
8. Aston Villa              38   8  7  4  22  17   4  7  8  24  30   -1  50
9. Tottenham Hotspur        38  10  4  5  32  24   4  4 11  17  29   -4  50
10. Blackburn Rovers         38   8  6  5  33  20   4  4 11  22  31   +4  46
11. Southampton              38   7  5  7  23  22   5  4 10  23  32   -8  45
12. Middlesbrough            38   7  5  7  23  26   5  4 10  12  21  -12  45
13. Fulham                   38   7  7  5  21  16   3  7  9  15  28   -8  44
14. Charlton Athletic        38   5  6  8  23  30   5  8  6  15  19  -11  44
15. Everton                  38   8  4  7  26  23   3  6 10  19  34  -12  43
16. Bolton Wanderers         38   5  7  7  20  31   4  6  9  24  31  -18  40
17. Sunderland               38   7  7  5  18  16   3  3 13  11  35  -22  40
18. Ipswich Town             38   6  4  9  20  24   3  5 11  21  40  -23  36
19. Derby County             38   5  4 10  20  26   3  2 14  13  37  -30  30
20. Leicester City           38   3  7  9  15  34   2  6 11  15  30  -34  28

Blue bold text = To enter the UEFA Champions League at the first round stage
Blue normal text = To enter the Champions League at the qualifier stage
Red text = Relegated to Division One

P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1. Manchester City          46  19  3  1  63  19  12  3  8  45  33  +56  99
2. West Bromwich Albion     46  15  4  4  36  11  12  4  7  25  18  +32  89
3. Wolverhampton Wanderers  46  13  4  6  33  18  12  7  4  43  25  +33  86
4. Millwall                 46  15  3  5  43  22   7  8  8  26  26  +21  77
5. Birmingham City          46  14  4  5  44  20   7  9  7  26  29  +21  76
6. Norwich City             46  15  6  2  36  16   7  3 13  24  35   +9  75
7. Burnley                  46  11  7  5  39  29  10  5  8  31  33   +8  75
8. Preston North End        46  13  7  3  45  21   7  5 11  26  38  +12  72
9. Wimbledon                46   9  8  6  30  22   9  5  9  33  35   +6  67
10. Crystal Palace           46  13  3  7  42  22   7  3 13  28  40   +8  66
11. Coventry City            46  12  4  7  33  19   8  2 13  26  34   +6  66
12. Gillingham               46  12  5  6  38  26   6  5 12  26  41   -3  64
13. Sheffield United         46   8  8  7  34  30   7  7  9  19  24   -1  60
14. Watford                  46  10  5  8  38  30   6  6 11  24  26   +6  59
15. Bradford City            46  10  1 12  41  39   5  9  9  28  37   -7  55
16. Nottingham Forest        46   7 11  5  26  21   5  7 11  24  30   -1  54
17. Portsmouth               46   9  6  8  36  31   4  8 11  24  41  -12  53
18. Walsall                  46  10  6  7  29  27   3  6 14  22  44  -20  51
19. Grimsby Town             46   9  7  7  34  28   3  7 13  16  44  -22  50
20. Sheffield Wednesday      46   6  7 10  28  37   6  7 10  21  34  -22  50
21. Rotherham United         46   7 13  3  32  29   3  6 14  20  37  -14  49
22. Crewe Alexandra          46   8  8  7  23  32   4  5 14  24  44  -29  49
23. Barnsley                 46   9  9  5  37  33   2  6 15  22  53  -27  48
24. Stockport County         46   5  1 17  19  44   1  7 15  23  58  -60  26

Blue text = Promoted to The Premiership
Green text = Losing play-off candidates
Red text = Relegated to Division Two

P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1. Brighton & Hove Albion   46  17  5  1  42  16   8 10  5  24  26  +24  90
2. Reading                  46  12  7  4  36  20  11  8  4  34  23  +27  84
3. Brentford                46  17  5  1  48  12   7  6 10  29  31  +34  83
4. Cardiff City             46  12  8  3  39  25  11  6  6  36  25  +25  83
5. Stoke City               46  16  4  3  43  12   7  7  9  24  28  +27  80
6. Huddersfield Town        46  13  7  3  35  19   8  8  7  30  28  +18  78
7. Bristol City             46  13  6  4  38  21   8  4 11  30  32  +15  73
8. Queens Park Rangers      46  11 10  2  35  18   8  4 11  25  31  +11  71
9. Oldham Athletic          46  14  6  3  47  27   4  10 9  30  38  +12  70
10. Wigan Athletic           46   9  6  8  36  23   7  10 6  30  28  +15  64
11. Wycombe Wanderers        46  13  5  5  38  26   4  8 11  20  38   -6  64
12. Tranmere Rovers          46  10  9  4  39  19   6  6 11  24  41   +3  63
13. Swindon Town             46  10  7  6  26  21   5  7 11  20  35  -10  59
14. Port Vale                46  11  6  6  35  24   5  4 14  16  38  -11  58
15. Colchester United        46   9  6  6  35  33   6  6 11  30  43  -11  57
16. Blackpool                46   8  9  6  39  31   6  5 12  27  38   -3  56
17. Peterborough United      46  11  5  7  46  26   4  5 14  18  33   -5  55
18. Chesterfield             46   9  3 11  35  36   4 10  9  18  29  -12  52
19. Notts County             46   8  7  8  28  29   5  4 14  31  42  -12  50
20. Northampton Town         46   9  4 10  30  33   5  3 15  24  46  -25  49
21. A.F.C. Bournemouth       46   9  4 10  36  33   1 10 12  20  38  -15  44
22. Bury                     46   6  9  8  26  32   5  2 16  17  43  -32  44
23. Wrexham                  46   7  7  9  29  32   4  3 16  27  57  -33  43
24. Cambridge United         46   7  7  9  29  34   0  6 17  18  59  -46  34

P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A   GD  Pts
1. Plymouth Argyle          46  19  2  2  41  11  12  7  4  30  17  +43  102
2. Luton Town               46  15  5  3  50  18  15  2  6  46  30  +48  97
3. Mansfield Town           46  17  3  3  49  24   7  4 12  23  36  +12  79
4. Cheltenham Town          46  11 11  1  40  20  10  4  9  26  29  +17  78
5. Rochdale                 46  13  8  2  41  22   8  7  8  24  30  +13  78
6. Rushden & Diamonds       46  14  5  4  40  20   6  8  9  29  33  +15  73
7. Hartlepool United        46  12  6  5  53  23   8  5 10  21  25  +26  71
8. Scunthorpe United        46  14  5  4  43  22   5  9  9  31  34  +18  71
9. Shrewsbury Town          46  13  4  6  36  19   7  6 10  28  34  +11  70
10. Kidderminster Harriers   46  13  6  4  35  17   6  3 14  21  30   +9  66
11. Hull City                46  12  6  5  38  18   4  7 12  19  33   +6  61
12. Southend United          46  12  5  6  36  22   3  8 12  15  32   -3  58
13. Macclesfield Town        46   7  7  9  23  25   8  6  9  18  27  -11  58
14. York City                46  11  5  7  26  20   5  4 14  28  47  -13  57
15. Darlington               46  11  6  6  37  25   4  5 14  23  46  -11  56
16. Exeter City              46   7  9  7  25  32   7  4 12  23  41  -25  55
17. Carlisle United          46  11  5  7  31  21   1 11 11  18  35   -7  52
18. Leyton Orient            46  10  7  6  37  25   3  6 14  18  46  -16  52
19. Torquay United           46   8  6  9  27  31   4  9 10  19  32  -17  51
20. Swansea City             46   7  8  8  26  26   6  4 13  27  51  -24  51
21. Oxford United            46   8  7  8  34  28   3  7 13  19  34   -9  47
22. Lincoln City             46   8  4 11  25  27   2 12  9  19  35  -18  46
23. Bristol Rovers           46   8  7  8  28  28   3  5 15  12  32  -20  45
24. Halifax Town             46   5  9  9  24  28   3  3 17  15  56  -45  36

European qualifiers

Group phase

• Arsenal
• Liverpool

Qualifying round

• Manchester United
• Newcastle United

• Chelsea (FA Cup finalist; winners Arsenal qualified for Champions League)
• Blackburn Rovers (League Cup)
• Leeds United
• Fulham (via Intertoto Cup)
• Ipswich Town (Fair Play entry)

Promoted teams

From Division One to The Premier League:

Manchester City

West Bromwich Albion

Birmingham City

From Division Two to Division One:

Brighton & Hove Albion

Reading

Stoke City

From Division Three to Division Two:

Plymouth Argyle

Luton Town

Mansfield Town

Cheltenham Town

From The Football Conference to Division Three:

Boston United

Relegated teams

From The Premier League to Division One:

Ipswich Town

Derby County

Leicester City

From Division One to Division Two:

Crewe Alexandra

Barnsley

Stockport County

From Division Two to Division Three:

A.F.C. Bournemouth

Bury

Wrexham

Cambridge United

From Division Three to The Football Conference:

Halifax Town

Transfer deals

• 1 August 2001 - Christian Ziege from Liverpool to Spurs, £4m
• 2 August 2001 - John Hartson from Coventry City to Celtic, £6.5m
• 3 August 2001 - Fabrizio Ravanelli from Lazio to Derby County, free
• 9 August 2001 - Jon Harley from Chelsea to Fulham, £3.5m
• 9 August 2001 - Lee Hughes from West Bromwich Albion to Coventry City, £5m
• 10 August 2001 - Laurent Robert from Paris Saint-Germain to Newcastle United, £10.5m
• 10 August 2001 - Edwin van der Sar from Juventus to Fulham, £7m
• 10 August 2001 - Boudewijn Zenden from Barcelona to Chelsea, £7.5m
• 14 August 2001 - Steed Malbranque from Lyon to Fulham, £5m
• 16 August 2001 - Kasey Keller from Rayo Vallecano to Spurs, free
• 24 August 2001 - Bosko Balaban from Dinamo Zagreb to Aston Villa, £6m
• 31 August 2001 - Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord to Liverpool, £4.85m
• 31 August 2001 - Don Hutchison from Sunderland to West Ham, £5m
• 31 August 2001 - Chris Kirkland from Coventry City to Liverpool, £6m
• 3 September 2001 - Laurent Blanc from Internazionale to Manchester United, free
• 3 September 2001 - Steve Marlet from Lyon to Fulham, £13.5m
• 14 September 2001 - Tomas Repka from Fiorentina to West Ham United, £5.5m
• 24 September 2001 - Dean Richards from Southampton to Spurs, £8.1m
• 19 October 2001 - Seth Johnson from Derby County to Leeds United, £7m
• 30 November 2001 - Robbie Fowler from Liverpool to Leeds United, £11m
• 7 December 2001 - Claudio Reyna from Rangers to Sunderland, £4.5m
• 24 December 2001 - Milan Baroš from Banik Ostrava to Liverpool
• 29 December 2001 - Andy Cole from Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers, £7.5m
• 23 January 2002 - Diego Forlán from Independiente to Manchester United, £7.5
• 30 January 2002 - Abel Xavier from Everton to Liverpool, £800,000
• 8 February 2002 - Jermaine Jenas from Nottingham Forest to Newcastle United, £5m
• 18 February 2002 - Kolo Touré from ASEC Mimosas to Arsenal, undisclosed
• 6 March 2002 - Jon Macken from Preston North End to Manchester City, £4m
• 18 March 2002 - Paul Gascoigne from Everton to Burnley, free
• 28 March 2002 - Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa, £4m
• 18 April 2002 - Jamie Redknapp from Liverpool to Spurs, free

For subsequent transfer deals see 2002-03 in English football.

Managerial changes

August

• August 3 2001 - Roy Evans and Neil Ruddock take over at Swindon Town, replacing Andy King (sacked August 1)

September

• September 13 - Colin Addison takes over at Swansea City, replacing John Hollins (sacked September 12)

October

• October 8 - Dennis Smith takes over at Wrexham, replacing Brian Flynn
• October 8 - Colin Todd takes over at Derby County, replacing Jim Smith (resigned same day)
• October 10 - Dave Bassett takes over at Leicester City, replacing Peter Taylor (sacked September 30)
• October 10 - Coach Gary Brazil takes over at Notts County, replacing Jocky Scott (sacked October 10)
• October 12 - Alan Little takes over at Halifax Town, replacing Paul Bracewell (resigned August 30)
• October 15 - Paul Brush takes over at Leyton Orient, replacing Tommy Taylor
• October 16 - Roland Nilsson takes over at Coventry City, replacing Gordon Strachan (resigned September 10)
• October 17 - Peter Taylor takes over at Brighton & Hove Albion
• October 22 - Gordon Strachan takes over at Southampton, replacing Stuart Gray (sacked October 21)
• October 22 - Caretaker manager Rob Newman takes over at Southend United, replacing David Webb (resigned October 9)
• October 25 - Kevin Broadhurst takes over at Northampton Town, replacing Kevin Wilson (sacked September 26)
• October 25 - Tommy Taylor takes over at Darlington until the end of the season, replacing Gary Bennett (resigned October 24)
• October 30 - John Cornforth takes over at Exeter City, replacing Noel Blake (sacked September 23)

November

• November 6 - Carlton Palmer takes over at Stockport County, replacing Andy Kilner (sacked October 29)
• November 7 - Mick Wadsworth takes over at Oldham Athletic
• November 8 - David Moss takes over at Macclesfield Town
• November 9 - Steve Parkin takes over at Barnsley, replacing Nigel Spackman (sacked October 25)
• November 14 - Terry Yorath takes over at Sheffield Wednesday, replacing Peter Shreeves (left October 17)
• November 30 - Trevor Francis takes over at Crystal Palace, replacing Steve Bruce (resigned November 2)
• November 30 - Ian Atkins takes over at Oxford United, replacing Mark Wright (resigned)

December

• December 11 - John Hollins takes over at Rochdale, replacing Steve Parkin
• December 12 - Steve Bruce takes over at Birmingham City, replacing Trevor Francis (left October 15)
• December 22 - Andy King is reappointed at Swindon Town, replacing Roy Evans (resigned as Director of Football December 20)
• December 28 - Garry Thompson takes over at Bristol Rovers for the second time, replacing Gerry Francis (resigned December 24)
• December 28 - Paul Groves takes over at Grimsby Town, replacing Lennie Lawrence (resigned)

January

• January 1 - Nicky Law takes over at Bradford City, replacing Jim Jefferies (resigned December 24)
• January 6 - John Taylor takes over at Cambridge United, replacing John Beck (resigned November 22)
• January 7 - Billy Dearden takes over at Notts County, replacing Gary Brazil (steps back down to coach)
• January 9 - Assistant manager Stuart Watkiss takes over at Mansfield Town, replacing Billy Dearden (resigned January 6)
• January 23 - Colin Lee takes over at Walsall, replacing Ray Graydon (sacked January 22)
• January 30 - John Gregory takes over at Derby County, replacing Colin Todd (sacked January 14 after just 98 days as manager)

February

• February 5 - Non-executive director Graham Taylor takes over as manager at Aston Villa, replacing John Gregory (resigned January 24)
• February 18 - Director of Football Lennie Lawrence takes over as manager at Cardiff City, replacing Alan Cork (resigned)
• February 22 - Dave Rushbury takes over at Chesterfield, replacing Nicky Law (resigned January 1)

March

• March 14 - David Moyes takes over at Everton, replacing Walter Smith (left March 12)
• March 25 - Director of Football Harry Redknapp takes over at Portsmouth, replacing Graham Rix (sacked)

April

• April 4 - Micky Adams takes over at Leicester City, replacing Dave Bassett (becomes Director of Football)
• April 4 - Jan Mølby takes over at Hull City, replacing Brian Little (left February 27)
• April 24 - Gary McAllister takes over at Coventry City, replacing Roland Nilsson (sacked April 16)
• April 25 - Ray Graydon takes over at Bristol Rovers, replacing Garry Thompson (sacked April 9)
• April 25 - Ian Britton takes over at Kidderminster Harriers, replacing Jan Molby (resigned April 4)
• April 29 - Craig Brown takes over at Preston North End, replacing David Moyes (left March 14)

May

• May 5 - Caretaker Keith Alexander takes over at Lincoln City, replacing Alan Buckley (left April 25)
• May 9 - Leroy Rosenior takes over at Torquay United, replacing Roy McFarland (sacked April 23)
• May 27 - Steve Cotterill takes over at Stoke City, replacing Gudjon Thordarson (sacked May 16)
• May 29 - Paul Simpson takes over at Rochdale, replacing John Hollins (sacked May 13)
• May 30 - Coach Graham Allner takes over at Cheltenham Town, replacing Steve Cotterill (resigned May 16)
• May 31 - Coach Iain Dowie takes over at Oldham Athletic, replacing Mick Wadsworth (sacked)

June

• June - Stuart Murdoch takes over at Wimbledon, replacing Terry Burton (left April 25)
• June 28 - Assistant Wally Downes takes over at Brentford, replacing Steve Coppell (resigned June 6)

July

• July 1 - Mick Wadsworth takes over at Huddersfield Town, replacing Lou Macari
• July 11 - Ray Lewington takes over at Watford, replacing Gianluca Vialli
• July - Chris Wilder takes over at Halifax Town, replacing caretaker Neil Redfearn (resigned May 23), who replaced Alan Little (left April 8)

• July 15 - Youth director Martin Hinshelwood takes over at Brighton & Hove Albion, replacing Peter Taylor (resigned April 29)
• July - Terry Venables takes over at Leeds United, replacing David O'Leary (sacked June 27)

Deaths

• Aaron Flahavan, 25, Portsmouth goalkeeper who had played 93 first-team games since 1996, died in a car crash in west Hampshire just before the start of the season.

• Les Sealey, 43, who kept goal for Manchester United in their 1990 F.A Cup and 1991 Cup Winners Cup triumphs, died of a heart attack in north London. He had also played for Coventry City, Luton Town, Aston Villa, Birmingham City (on loan), Blackpool and West Ham United, and at the time of his death had been working for West Ham United as goalkeeping coach.

• Tom Staniforth, 20, Sheffield Wednesday defender, collapsed and died on a night out in York. He was a promising young defender for the club and a son of former footballer Gordon Staniforth.

• Brian Moore, 69, former BBC Radio and ITV commentator, died of cancer three years after retiring from football commentary.

• Bertie Mee, 80, Arsenal double-winning manager 1970-71, died after a long illness. He also guided Arsenal to European Fairs Cup glory, achieved one year before the double triumph. From 1976 to 1986 he was assistant manager to Graham Taylor at Watford, and remained at the club as a director until his retirement in 1991.

• Ken Aston, 86, World Cup referee who created the red and yellow cards system.

• Jeff Astle, 59, West Bromwich Albion and England striker, died suddenly in Burton-upon-Trent. He is best remembered for his appearances on the T.V series 'Fantasy Football' and for scoring Albion's winning goal against Everton in the 1968 F.A Cup final.

• Sir Walter Winterbottom, 88, the first England manager. Managed England from 1946 until 1962, when he made way for Alf Ramsey.

• Kenneth Wolstenholme, 81, BBC television commentator, who famously commentated England's 1966 World Cup triumph and is best remembered for saying 'They think it's all over... it is now' when Geoff Hurst scored England's last-minute winner.

• Ray Wood, 71, Manchester United and England goalkeeper, who was a survivor of the Munich Air Disaster and won two league championship medals.

 

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