1999–2000 FA Premier League


The 1999–2000 FA Premier League 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 The club had withdrawn from the 1999–2000 FA Cup to participate in the FIFA World Club Championship at the request of the FA who wanted Manchester United to compete to support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, Derby County, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Norwich City, Sheffield United, despite a decent start to their campaign which saw them beat both Liverpool 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

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

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
ArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium38,419
Aston VillaBirminghamVilla Park42,573
Bradford CityBradfordValley Parade25,136
ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge42,055
Coventry CityCoventryHighfield Road23,489
Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium33,597
EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park40,569
Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road40,242
Leicester CityLeicesterFilbert Street22,000
LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield45,522
Manchester UnitedManchesterOld Trafford68,174
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium35,049
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park52,387
Sheffield WednesdaySheffieldHillsborough Stadium39,732
SouthamptonSouthamptonThe Dell15,200
SunderlandSunderlandStadium of Light49,000
Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane36,240
WatfordWatfordVicarage Road19,920
West Ham UnitedLondon Boleyn Ground35,647
WimbledonLondon Selhurst Park26,074

Personnel and kits

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

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Wimbledon

League table


Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
sortname|Michael|Bridges

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1

Awards

Annual awards

AwardWinnerClub
Premier League Manager of the Season

Attendances

Source:
No.ClubMatchesTotal attendanceAverage
1Manchester United191,102,32358,017
2Liverpool FC19837,40244,074
3Sunderland AFC19776,13140,849
4Leeds United19743,94239,155
5Arsenal FC19722,63038,033
6Newcastle United19690,11236,322
7Tottenham Hotspur19663,32434,912
8Everton FC19661,72834,828
9Chelsea FC19656,11034,532
10Middlesbrough FC19634,47433,393
11Aston Villa19602,23731,697
12Derby County19557,67829,351
13West Ham United19476,76925,093
14Sheffield Wednesday19472,25324,855
15Coventry City19395,36920,809
16Leicester City19376,72019,827
17Watford FC19352,33818,544
18Bradford City19342,57218,030
19Wimbledon FC19325,97417,157
20Southampton FC19287,49915,132