1999–2000 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

Sheffield Wednesday 1999–2000 football season

Sheffield Wednesday
1999–2000 season
Chairman	Dave Richards Howard Culley
Manager	Danny Wilson (until 21 March) Peter Shreeves (caretaker from 21 March)
Premiership	19th (relegated)
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Gilles De Bilde (10) All: Gilles De Bilde (11)
Highest home attendance	39,640 (vs. Manchester United, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	10,993 (vs. Stoke City, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	26,800
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

The 1999–2000 season was Sheffield Wednesday's 133rd season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club finished nineteenth and were relegated from the Premier League for the first time.

Season summary

Barring the opening-day 2–1 home defeat to Liverpool, Sheffield Wednesday were in the bottom three all season long. A very poor start to the season saw the club fail to win any of their first nine league games (gaining just one solitary point away to Premier League newcomers Bradford City) and an 8–0 hammering at the hands of Newcastle United in September saw most people tip the club as favourites for relegation, and this opinion was further strengthened by their failure to make a substantial improvement as the season went on as they won just once in their first 17 games (twice in their first 20). The cups offered little respite, with the Owls getting to the fourth round of the League Cup before losing to Division One side Bolton Wanderers, while in the FA Cup they needed a replay to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers (albeit the first leg only ended in a draw thanks to a Wolves goal that replays showed had been awarded incorrectly), before suffering a humiliating exit to Division Two side Gillingham.

Despite this, chairman Dave Richards steadfastly refused to sack manager Danny Wilson, and his patience was rewarded with an improved run of form after Christmas, which saw just one defeat in five games. However, the team's form slumped once again after that, and Richards departed to become chairman of the Premier League early in 2000. The remaining directors decided that enough was enough and on 21 March, Wilson's managerial contract was terminated, three days after an appalling 1–0 defeat away to a struggling Watford side who had previously won only once in their previous 20 league games.

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 did manage a 3–3 draw at Highbury. Bradford City manager Paul Jewell was then given the uphill task of restoring Premier League football to the club, though the club's mounting debts triggered fears that further struggles would lie ahead.

Final league table

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	8	7	23	38	70	−32	31	6	3	10	21	23	−2	2	4	13	17	47	−30

Source: 1999-2000 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H
Result	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	D	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	D	W	W	L	D	L	L	D	W	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	D	W
Position	14	20	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	19	19	19	19

Source: 11v11.com: 1999-2000 Sheffield Wednesday results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 August 1999	Liverpool	H	1-2	34,853	Carbone
11 August 1999	Manchester United	A	0-4	54,941
14 August 1999	Bradford City	A	1-1	18,276	De Bilde
21 August 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1-2	24,027	Carbone (pen)
25 August 1999	Derby County	H	0-2	20,943
28 August 1999	Southampton	A	0-2	14,815
11 September 1999	Everton	H	0-2	23,539
19 September 1999	Newcastle United	A	0-8	36,619
25 September 1999	Sunderland	A	0-1	41,132
2 October 1999	Wimbledon	H	5-1	18,077	Jonk, De Bilde (2), Rudi, Sibon
16 October 1999	Leeds United	A	0-2	39,437
23 October 1999	Coventry City	H	0-0	23,296
30 October 1999	Leicester City	A	0-3	19,046
6 November 1999	Watford	H	2-2	21,658	De Bilde (2, 1 pen)
21 November 1999	West Ham United	A	3-4	23,015	Rudi, Jonk, Booth
5 December 1999	Liverpool	A	1-4	42,517	Alexandersson
18 December 1999	Aston Villa	A	1-2	23,885	De Bilde (pen)
26 December 1999	Middlesbrough	H	1-0	28,531	Atherton
29 December 1999	Chelsea	A	0-3	32,938
3 January 2000	Arsenal	H	1-1	26,155	Sibon
15 January 2000	Bradford City	H	2-0	24,682	Alexandersson, O'Brien (own goal)
22 January 2000	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1-0	35,897	Alexandersson
2 February 2000	Manchester United	H	0-1	39,640
5 February 2000	Derby County	A	3-3	30,100	De Bilde, Sibon, Donnelly
12 February 2000	Southampton	H	0-1	23,470
26 February 2000	Newcastle United	H	0-2	29,212
4 March 2000	Everton	A	1-1	32,020	Quinn
11 March 2000	West Ham United	H	3-1	21,147	Cresswell, Hinchcliffe, Alexandersson
18 March 2000	Watford	A	0-1	15,840
25 March 2000	Middlesbrough	A	0-1	32,748
5 April 2000	Aston Villa	H	0-1	18,136
12 April 2000	Wimbledon	A	2-0	8,248	De Bilde, Sibon
15 April 2000	Chelsea	H	1-0	21,743	Jonk (pen)
22 April 2000	Sunderland	H	0-2	28,072
30 April 2000	Leeds United	H	0-3	23,416
6 May 2000	Coventry City	A	1-4	19,921	De Bilde
9 May 2000	Arsenal	A	3-3	37,271	Sibon, De Bilde, Quinn
14 May 2000	Leicester City	H	4-0	21,656	Quinn, Booth, Alexandersson, De Bilde

FA Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	11 December 1999	Bristol City	H	1-0	11,644	Booth
R4	8 January 2000	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1-1	18,506	Alexandersson
R4R	18 January 2000	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0-0 (won 4–3 on pens)	25,201
R5	29 January 2000	Gillingham	A	1-3	10,130	Sibon

League Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	14 September 1999	Stoke City	A	0-0	9,313
R2 2nd Leg	22 September 1999	Stoke City	H	3-1 (won 3–1 on agg)	10,993	Alexandersson (2), De Bilde
R3	13 October 1999	Nottingham Forest	H	4-1	15,524	Cresswell, Booth, Sonner, Rudi
R4	30 November 1999	Bolton Wanderers	A	0-1	12,543

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Kevin Pressman
2	DF	ENG	Peter Atherton
3	DF	ENG	Andy Hinchcliffe
4	MF	NED	Wim Jonk
6	DF	ENG	Des Walker
7	MF	NIR	Danny Sonner
9	FW	NED	Gerald Sibon
10	FW	ENG	Andy Booth
11	MF	SCO	Phil O'Donnell
12	FW	ENG	Richard Cresswell
13	GK	ENG	Barry Richardson (on loan from Lincoln City)
14	MF	NOR	Petter Rudi
15	MF	SCO	Philip Scott
16	MF	SWE	Niclas Alexandersson
17	DF	NIR	Ian Nolan
18	MF	SCO	Simon Donnelly
19	DF	ENG	Jon Newsome
20	FW	ENG	Ritchie Humphreys


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	ENG	Lee Briscoe
22	DF	ENG	Steve Haslam
23	FW	BEL	Gilles De Bilde
24	MF	IRL	Mark McKeever
25	MF	ENG	Scott Oakes
26	MF	WAL	Barry Horne
27	DF	ENG	Earl Barrett
28	GK	CZE	Pavel Srníček
29	MF	ENG	Matt Hamshaw
30	DF	IRL	Derek Geary
32	FW	NIR	Owen Morrison
33	MF	IRL	Alan Quinn
34	MF	ENG	Alex Higgins
35	MF	ENG	Peter Holmes
36	MF	ENG	Tony Crane
37	DF	ENG	Tom Staniforth
38	DF	ENG	Kevin Nicholson

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
5	DF	BRA	Emerson Thome (to Chelsea)
8	FW	ITA	Benito Carbone (to Aston Villa)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
31	FW	GHA	Junior Agogo (released)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Stuart Jones
—	DF	ENG	Scott Bettney
—	DF	ENG	Leigh Bromby
—	MF	IRL	Dean Brennan
—	MF	ENG	John Hibbins


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Nathan Hallam
—	MF	ENG	Peter Holmes
—	FW	ENG	James Coubrough
—	FW	ENG	John Hutton
—	FW	ENG	Andy Douglas

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
29 June 1999	MF	Phil O'Donnell	Celtic	Free transfer
29 June 1999	MF	Simon Donnelly	Celtic	Free transfer
10 July 1999	FW	Gerald Sibon	Ajax	£2,000,000
10 July 1999	FW	Gilles De Bilde	PSV Eindhoven	£3,000,000
23 March 2000	MF	Barry Horne	Huddersfield Town	Non-contract

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
15 June 1999	MF	Krystof Kotylo	Nuneaton Borough	Free transfer
22 June 1999	GK	Matt Clarke	Bradford City	Free transfer
1 July 1999	DF	Juan Cobián	Charlton Athletic	Signed
13 July 1999	FW	Guy Whittingham	Portsmouth	Free transfer
20 October 1999	FW	Benito Carbone	Aston Villa	£805,000
23 December 1999	DF	Emerson Thome	Chelsea	£2,700,000
26 January 2000	FW	Junior Agogo	Free agent	Released
9 March 2000	GK	Stuart Jones	Torquay United	£30,000

Transfers in:

£5,000,000

Transfers out:

£2,730,000

Total spending:

£2,270,000

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 14 May 2000

Players with no appearances not included in the list

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		FA Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Kevin Pressman	21	0	18+1	0	0	0	2	0
2	DF	ENG	Peter Atherton	42	1	35	1	4	0	3	0
3	DF	ENG	Andy Hinchcliffe	35	1	29	1	4	0	2	0
4	MF	NED	Wim Jonk	36	3	29+1	3	4	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	Des Walker	45	0	37	0	4	0	4	0
7	MF	NIR	Danny Sonner	34	1	18+9	0	2+1	0	3+1	1
9	FW	NED	Gerald Sibon	34	6	12+16	5	3+1	1	1+1	0
10	FW	ENG	Andy Booth	28	4	20+3	2	1	1	4	1
11	MF	SCO	Phil O'Donnell	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
12	FW	ENG	Richard Cresswell	25	2	2+18	1	0+3	0	1+1	1
14	MF	NOR	Petter Rudi	25	3	18+2	2	0+1	0	4	1
15	MF	SCO	Philip Scott	7	0	2+3	0	1+1	0	0	0
16	MF	SWE	Niclas Alexandersson	44	8	37	5	3	1	4	2
17	DF	NIR	Ian Nolan	37	0	28+1	0	4	0	3+1	0
18	MF	SCO	Simon Donnelly	18	1	3+9	1	0+3	0	1+2	0
19	DF	ENG	Jon Newsome	6	0	5+1	0	0	0	0	0
21	MF	ENG	Lee Briscoe	19	0	7+9	0	0	0	2+1	0
22	DF	ENG	Steve Haslam	27	0	16+7	0	3	0	0+1	0
23	FW	BEL	Gilles De Bilde	45	11	37+1	10	4	0	3	1
24	MF	IRL	Mark McKeever	4	0	1+1	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
26	MF	WAL	Barry Horne	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
28	GK	CZE	Pavel Srníček	26	0	20	0	4	0	2	0
33	MF	IRL	Alan Quinn	22	3	18+1	3	2+1	0	0	0
Players featured for club who have left:
5	DF	BRA	Emerson Thome (to Chelsea)	22	0	16+1	0	1	0	3+1	0
8	FW	ITA	Benito Carbone (to Aston Villa)	8	2	3+4	2	0	0	0+1	0

Source:

Disciplinary record

As of 14 May 2000

No.	Pos.	Name	FA Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
No.	Pos.	Name
1	GK	Kevin Pressman	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2	DF	Peter Atherton	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
4	MF	Wim Jonk	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
5	DF	Emerson Thome	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
7	MF	Danny Sonner	4	1	1	0	0	0	5	1
9	FW	Gerald Sibon	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
10	FW	Andy Booth	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
11	MF	Phil O'Donnell	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
12	FW	Richard Cresswell	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
14	MF	Petter Rudi	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
15	MF	Philip Scott	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
16	MF	Niclas Alexandersson	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
17	DF	Ian Nolan	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
18	MF	Simon Donnelly	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
19	DF	Jon Newsome	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
21	MF	Lee Briscoe	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
23	FW	Gilles De Bilde	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
33	MF	Alan Quinn	3	0	1	1	0	0	4	1
Total			45	1	4	1	2	0	51	2

Source:

References

"Newcastle hit eight". BBC News. 19 September 1999. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
"Owls sack Wilson". BBC Sport. 21 March 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
"Sheffield Wednesday relegated". BBC Sport. 9 May 2000. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
"Sheffield Wednesday 1999-2000 Results". statto.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
"BBC News | FA Carling Premiership | Five-star Owls hit form at last". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
FootballSquads - Sheffield Wednesday - 1999/00 Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Sheffield Wednesday Squad Stats – 1999/2000". 11v11. Retrieved 17 August 2014.

Dickinson, Jason; Brodie, John (2005). The Wednesday Boys: A Definitive Who's Who of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club 1880–2005. Sheffield: Pickard Communication. pp. 347, 350–351. ISBN 978-0-9547264-9-2.
Drake, A. "1999–2000 Players". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
Drake, A. "1999–2000 Matches". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
Drake, A. "1999–2000 Attendance". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.

Notes

Sonner was born in Wigan, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and represented them at B level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in September 1997.
Nolan was born in Liverpool, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1996.
McKeever was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level.

v t e Sheffield Wednesday F.C. seasons
1867–68
1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
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1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

1999–2000 in English football

« 1998–99 2000–01 »

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (Premier, One) Southern League (Premier, Eastern, Western)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two, Three) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Alliance (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 9 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only) Western League (Premier, One)
Lower leagues	Combined Counties League Essex Senior League Spartan South Midlands League

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

European competitions

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Bradford City Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Ham United Wimbledon
First Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Crewe Alexandra Crystal Palace Fulham Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Norwich City Nottingham Forest Port Vale Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Walsall West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Bournemouth Blackpool Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Bury Cambridge United Cardiff City Chesterfield Colchester United Gillingham Luton Town Millwall Notts County Oldham Athletic Oxford United Preston North End Reading Scunthorpe United Stoke City Wigan Athletic Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers
Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Chester City Darlington Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Torquay United York City

List of transfers

Categories: