1999–2000 FA Premier League

1999–2000 FA Premier League

The 1999–2000 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) 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 the 1998–99 season, they won by a comfortable margin – 18 points as opposed to a single point.

Manchester United lost their defence of the European Cup following a 3–2 defeat against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. The club had withdrawn from the 1999–2000 FA Cup to participate in the FIFA World Club Championship at the request of the FA who wanted Manchester United to compete to support England's bid to host the World Cup. Chelsea won 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 and Arsenal were on the losing side to Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup final.

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), Derby County, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Norwich City (twice), Sheffield United (twice), Ipswich Town, Southampton, and themselves), 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 on the last day of the season with a 1–0 win over Liverpool. The result meant that Liverpool lost out on a Champions League place, and Wimbledon were relegated after 14 years of top-division football. Second-from-bottom Sheffield Wednesday were relegated in their penultimate game of the season, having spent 15 of the previous 16 seasons in the top division. Wednesday's season included an 8–0 defeat at Newcastle. 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.

Teams

1999–2000 FA Premier League

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Sunderland, Bradford City and Watford, who returned after absences of two, seventy-seven and eleven years respectively. This was also both Bradford City and Watford's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Charlton Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest, who were relegated to the First Division. Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest were immediately relegated after a season's presence, while Blackburn Rovers' seven-year top flight spell came to an end.

Stadiums and locations

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Location</th><th>Stadium</th><th>Capacity</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Arsenal</td><td>London (Highbury)</td><td>Arsenal Stadium</td><td>38,419</td></tr><tr><td>Aston Villa</td><td>Birmingham</td><td>Villa Park</td><td>42,573</td></tr><tr><td>Bradford City</td><td>Bradford</td><td>Valley Parade</td><td>25,136</td></tr><tr><td>Chelsea</td><td>London (Fulham)</td><td>Stamford Bridge</td><td>42,055</td></tr><tr><td>Coventry City</td><td>Coventry</td><td>Highfield Road</td><td>23,489</td></tr><tr><td>Derby County</td><td>Derby</td><td>Pride Park Stadium</td><td>33,597</td></tr><tr><td>Everton</td><td>Liverpool (Walton)</td><td>Goodison Park</td><td>40,569</td></tr><tr><td>Leeds United</td><td>Leeds</td><td>Elland Road</td><td>40,242</td></tr><tr><td>Leicester City</td><td>Leicester</td><td>Filbert Street</td><td>22,000</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool</td><td>Liverpool (Anfield)</td><td>Anfield</td><td>45,522</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester United</td><td>Manchester</td><td>Old Trafford</td><td>68,174</td></tr><tr><td>Middlesbrough</td><td>Middlesbrough</td><td>Riverside Stadium</td><td>35,049</td></tr><tr><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Newcastle upon Tyne</td><td>St James' Park</td><td>52,387</td></tr><tr><td>Sheffield Wednesday</td><td>Sheffield</td><td>Hillsborough Stadium</td><td>39,732</td></tr><tr><td>Southampton</td><td>Southampton</td><td>The Dell</td><td>15,200</td></tr><tr><td>Sunderland</td><td>Sunderland</td><td>Stadium of Light</td><td>49,000</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>London (Tottenham)</td><td>White Hart Lane</td><td>36,240</td></tr><tr><td>Watford</td><td>Watford</td><td>Vicarage Road</td><td>19,920</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United</td><td>London (Upton Park)</td><td>Boleyn Ground</td><td>35,647</td></tr><tr><td>Wimbledon</td><td>London (Selhurst)</td><td>Selhurst Park</td><td>26,074</td></tr></tbody></table>

Personnel and kits

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Manager</th><th>Captain</th><th>Kit manufacturer</th><th>Shirt sponsor</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Arsenal</td><td>Arsène Wenger</td><td>Tony Adams</td><td>Nike</td><td>Dreamcast/Sega</td></tr><tr><td>Aston Villa</td><td>John Gregory</td><td>Gareth Southgate</td><td>Reebok</td><td>LDV Vans</td></tr><tr><td>Bradford City</td><td>Paul Jewell</td><td>Stuart McCall</td><td>Asics</td><td>JCT600</td></tr><tr><td>Chelsea</td><td>Gianluca Vialli</td><td>Dennis Wise</td><td>Umbro</td><td>Autoglass</td></tr><tr><td>Coventry City</td><td>Gordon Strachan</td><td>Gary McAllister</td><td>CCFC Garments</td><td>Subaru</td></tr><tr><td>Derby County</td><td>Jim Smith</td><td>Darryl Powell</td><td>Puma</td><td>EDS</td></tr><tr><td>Everton</td><td>Walter Smith</td><td>Dave Watson</td><td>Umbro</td><td>One2One</td></tr><tr><td>Leeds United</td><td>David O'Leary</td><td>Lucas Radebe</td><td>Puma</td><td>Packard Bell</td></tr><tr><td>Leicester City</td><td>Martin O'Neill</td><td>Matt Elliott</td><td>Fox Leisure</td><td>Walkers Crisps</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool</td><td>Gérard Houllier</td><td>Jamie Redknapp</td><td>Reebok</td><td>Carlsberg Group</td></tr><tr><td>Manchester United</td><td>Sir Alex Ferguson</td><td>Roy Keane</td><td>Umbro</td><td>Sharp</td></tr><tr><td>Middlesbrough</td><td>Bryan Robson</td><td>Paul Ince</td><td>Erreà</td><td>BT Cellnet</td></tr><tr><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Bobby Robson</td><td>Alan Shearer</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Newcastle Brown Ale</td></tr><tr><td>Sheffield Wednesday</td><td>Peter Shreeves (caretaker)</td><td>Des Walker</td><td>Puma</td><td>Sanderson</td></tr><tr><td>Southampton</td><td>Glenn Hoddle</td><td>Matt Le Tissier</td><td>Saints</td><td>Friends Provident</td></tr><tr><td>Sunderland</td><td>Peter Reid</td><td>Steve Bould</td><td>Asics</td><td>Reg Vardy</td></tr><tr><td>Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>George Graham</td><td>Sol Campbell</td><td>Adidas</td><td>Holsten</td></tr><tr><td>Watford</td><td>Graham Taylor</td><td>Rob Page</td><td>Le Coq Sportif</td><td>Phones4U</td></tr><tr><td>West Ham United</td><td>Harry Redknapp</td><td>Steve Lomas</td><td>Fila</td><td>Dr. Martens</td></tr><tr><td>Wimbledon</td><td>Terry Burton</td><td>Robbie Earle</td><td>Lotto</td><td>Tiny</td></tr></tbody></table>

• 1 The Dreamcast logo appeared on Arsenal's home shirt while the Sega logo appeared on their away shirt.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Wimbledon	Joe Kinnear	Resigned	9 June 1999	Pre-season	Egil Olsen	9 June 1999
Newcastle United	Ruud Gullit	Resigned	28 August 1999	19th	Bobby Robson	2 September 1999
Southampton	Dave Jones	Contract terminated	27 January 2000	17th	Glenn Hoddle	28 January 2000
Sheffield Wednesday	Danny Wilson	Sacked	21 March 2000	19th	Peter Shreeves (caretaker)	21 March 2000
Wimbledon	Egil Olsen	Sacked	1 May 2000	18th	Terry Burton	1 May 2000

League table

1999–2000 FA Premier League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	28	7	3	97	45	+52	91	Qualification for the Champions League first group stage
2	Arsenal	38	22	7	9	73	43	+30	73
3	Leeds United	38	21	6	11	58	43	+15	69	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4	Liverpool	38	19	10	9	51	30	+21	67	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Chelsea	38	18	11	9	53	34	+19	65
6	Aston Villa	38	15	13	10	46	35	+11	58	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round
7	Sunderland	38	16	10	12	57	56	+1	58
8	Leicester City	38	16	7	15	55	55	0	55	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
9	West Ham United	38	15	10	13	52	53	−1	55
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	15	8	15	57	49	+8	53
11	Newcastle United	38	14	10	14	63	54	+9	52
12	Middlesbrough	38	14	10	14	46	52	−6	52
13	Everton	38	12	14	12	59	49	+10	50
14	Coventry City	38	12	8	18	47	54	−7	44
15	Southampton	38	12	8	18	45	62	−17	44
16	Derby County	38	9	11	18	44	57	−13	38
17	Bradford City	38	9	9	20	38	68	−30	36	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round
18	Wimbledon (R)	38	7	12	19	46	74	−28	33	Relegation to the Football League First Division
19	Sheffield Wednesday (R)	38	8	7	23	38	70	−32	31
20	Watford (R)	38	6	6	26	35	77	−42	24

Season statistics

Top scorers

Sunderland's Kevin Phillips was the top scorer, with 30 goals.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kevin Phillips	Sunderland	30
2	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	23
3	Dwight Yorke	Manchester United	20
4	Michael Bridges	Leeds United	19
Andy Cole	Manchester United
6	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	17
7	Paolo Di Canio	West Ham United	16
8	Chris Armstrong	Tottenham Hotspur	14
Steffen Iversen	Tottenham Hotspur
Niall Quinn	Sunderland

Hat-tricks

The 1999–2000 Premier League season would see Everton's Nick Barmby score his one and only hat-trick during his professional career.

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Michael Bridges	Leeds United	Southampton	3–0 (A)	11 August 1999
Andy Cole4	Manchester United	Newcastle United	5–1 (H)	30 August 1999
Kevin Phillips	Sunderland	Derby County	5–0 (A)	18 September 1999
Alan Shearer5	Newcastle United	Sheffield Wednesday	8–0 (H)	19 September 1999
Nwankwo Kanu	Arsenal	Chelsea	3–2 (A)	23 October 1999
Marc Overmars	Arsenal	Middlesbrough	5–1 (H)	21 November 1999
Ole Gunnar Solskjær4 P	Manchester United	Everton	5–1 (H)	4 December 1999
Nick Barmby	Everton	West Ham United	4–0 (A)	26 February 2000
Stan Collymore	Leicester City	Sunderland	5–2 (H)	5 March 2000
Steffen Iversen	Tottenham Hotspur	Southampton	7–2 (H)	11 March 2000
Dwight Yorke	Manchester United	Derby County	3–1 (H)	11 March 2000
Paul Scholes	Manchester United	West Ham United	7–1 (H)	1 April 2000
Dean Windass	Bradford City	Derby County	4–4 (H)	21 April 2000

Note: 5 Player scored 5 goals; 4 Player scored 4 goals; P Player scored a perfect hat-trick; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Top assists

Manchester United's David Beckham was the joint top assist provider with 16 assists for the club in the 1999–2000 Premier League season.

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	David Beckham	Manchester United	16
Nolberto Solano	Newcastle United
3	Paolo Di Canio	West Ham United	13
4	Ryan Giggs	Manchester United	12
5	Dennis Bergkamp	Arsenal	9
6	Nick Barmby	Everton	8
Thierry Henry	Arsenal
Steffen Iversen	Tottenham Hotspur
Wim Jonk	Sheffield Wednesday
Paul Merson	Aston Villa

Awards

Monthly awards

Alex Ferguson was Manager of the Month three times during the 1999–2000 Premier League season, and was later named Manager of the Season.

<table><thead><tr><th>Month</th><th>Manager of the Month</th><th>Player of the Month</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Manager</td><td>Club</td><td>Player</td><td>Club</td></tr><tr><td>August</td><td>Alex Ferguson</td><td>Manchester United</td><td>Robbie Keane</td><td>Coventry City</td></tr><tr><td>September</td><td>Walter Smith</td><td>Everton</td><td>Muzzy Izzet</td><td>Leicester City</td></tr><tr><td>October</td><td>Peter Reid</td><td>Sunderland</td><td>Kevin Phillips</td><td>Sunderland</td></tr><tr><td>November</td><td>Martin O'Neill</td><td>Leicester City</td><td>Sami Hyypiä</td><td>Liverpool</td></tr><tr><td>December</td><td>Gérard Houllier</td><td>Liverpool</td><td>Roy Keane</td><td>Manchester United</td></tr><tr><td>January</td><td>Danny Wilson</td><td>Sheffield Wednesday</td><td>Gareth Southgate</td><td>Aston Villa</td></tr><tr><td>February</td><td>Bobby Robson</td><td>Newcastle United</td><td>Paul Merson</td><td>Aston Villa</td></tr><tr><td>March</td><td>Alex Ferguson</td><td>Manchester United</td><td>Dwight Yorke</td><td>Manchester United</td></tr><tr><td>April</td><td>Manchester United</td><td>Thierry Henry</td><td>Arsenal</td></tr></tbody></table>

Annual awards

<table><thead><tr><th>Award</th><th>Winner</th><th>Club</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Premier League Manager of the Season</td><td>Alex Ferguson</td><td>Manchester United</td></tr><tr><td>Premier League Player of the Season</td><td>Kevin Phillips</td><td>Sunderland</td></tr><tr><td>PFA Players' Player of the Year</td><td>Roy Keane</td><td>Manchester United</td></tr><tr><td>PFA Young Player of the Year</td><td>Harry Kewell</td><td>Leeds United</td></tr><tr><td>FWA Footballer of the Year</td><td>Roy Keane</td><td>Manchester United</td></tr></tbody></table>

PFA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Nigel Martyn (Leeds United)
Defence	Gary Kelly (Leeds United)	Jaap Stam (Manchester United)	Sami Hyypiä (Liverpool)	Ian Harte (Leeds United)
Midfield	David Beckham (Manchester United)	Roy Keane (Manchester United)	Patrick Vieira (Arsenal)	Harry Kewell (Leeds United)
Attack	Andy Cole (Manchester United)	Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)

Attendances

1999–2000 FA Premier League

No.	Club	Matches	Total attendance	Average
1	Manchester United	19	1,102,323	58,017
2	Liverpool FC	19	837,402	44,074
3	Sunderland AFC	19	776,131	40,849
4	Leeds United	19	743,942	39,155
5	Arsenal FC	19	722,630	38,033
6	Newcastle United	19	690,112	36,322
7	Tottenham Hotspur	19	663,324	34,912
8	Everton FC	19	661,728	34,828
9	Chelsea FC	19	656,110	34,532
10	Middlesbrough FC	19	634,474	33,393
11	Aston Villa	19	602,237	31,697
12	Derby County	19	557,678	29,351
13	West Ham United	19	476,769	25,093
14	Sheffield Wednesday	19	472,253	24,855
15	Coventry City	19	395,369	20,809
16	Leicester City	19	376,720	19,827
17	Watford FC	19	352,338	18,544
18	Bradford City	19	342,572	18,030
19	Wimbledon FC	19	325,974	17,157
20	Southampton FC	19	287,499	15,132