1999–2000 Football League

The Football League

Season	1999–2000
Champions	Charlton Athletic
Promoted	Charlton Athletic Manchester City Ipswich Town
Relegated	Chester City
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

The 1999–2000 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st completed season of The Football League.

The 1999–2000 season saw the league dispense with the traditional 1–11 numbering of players’ shirts in favour of squad numbers, a system that had been adopted by the Premier League a few seasons before. This also meant that players’ names appeared on the back of their shirts for the first time since the league’s inception.^[1]

The three promotion places in Division One went to champions Charlton Athletic, runners-up Manchester City and playoff winners Ipswich Town.

1999–2000 also saw some of Division One’s biggest clubs miss out on promotion — the biggest of these were Blackburn Rovers (11th) and Nottingham Forest (14th). Steve Coppell ended his fourth spell as Crystal Palace manager after doing wonders to keep a virtually bankrupt club clear of the Division One relegation zone.

Going down were Walsall, Port Vale and Swindon Town. West Bromwich Albion just missed out on the drop zone thanks to a late turn-around in form during the final weeks of the season which followed the appointment of Gary Megson as manager.

David Moyes, 37, showed promise as one of the league’s most highly rated young managers after he guided Preston North End to the Division Two championship. Stan Ternent’s two-year rebuilding project at Burnley paid off as they finished runners-up in the division and would establish themselves as a second tier side for nine years until promotion to the Premier League happened at the end of the 2008–09 season. Joining them in Division One were Peter Taylor’s Gillingham, who had reached the upper half of the league for the first time in their history.

Going down were Cardiff City, Blackpool, Scunthorpe United and Chesterfield. Narrowly avoiding the drop were Oxford United, who struggled all season long despite the club’s financial crisis being eased by the arrival of new Tanzanian chairman Firoz Kassam.

Swansea City, Rotherham United, Northampton Town and Peterborough United occupied the four promotion places in Division Three.

Chester City were relegated on the last day of the season, ending their 69-year league career and would be relegated from the League again nine years later while Shrewsbury Town and Carlisle United saved themselves from Conference football.

First Division

Football League, First Division

Season	1999–2000
Champions	Charlton Athletic (1st second tier title)
Direct promotion to FA Premier League	Charlton Athletic, Manchester City
Promoted to FA Premier League through play-offs	Ipswich Town
Relegated	Port Vale, Swindon Town, Walsall
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1391 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Hunt (Charlton Athletic), 24 [2]
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Charlton Athletic	46		15	3	5	37	18		12	7	4	42	27		79	45	+34		91
2	Manchester City	46		17	2	4	48	17		9	9	5	30	23		78	40	+38		89
3	Ipswich Town	46		16	3	4	39	17		9	9	5	32	25		71	42	+29		87
4	Barnsley	46		15	4	4	48	24		9	6	8	40	43		88	67	+21		82
5	Birmingham City	46		15	5	3	37	16		7	6	10	28	28		65	44	+21		77
6	Bolton Wanderers	46		14	5	4	43	26		7	8	8	26	24		69	50	+19		76
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46		15	5	3	45	20		6	6	11	19	28		64	48	+16		74
8	Huddersfield Town	46		14	5	4	43	21		7	6	10	19	28		62	49	+13		74
9	Fulham	46		13	7	3	33	13		4	9	10	16	28		49	41	+8		67
10	Queens Park Rangers	46		9	12	2	30	20		7	6	10	32	33		62	53	+9		66
11	Blackburn Rovers	46		10	9	4	33	20		5	8	10	22	31		55	51	+4		62
12	Norwich City	46		11	6	6	26	22		3	9	11	19	28		45	50	–5		57
13	Tranmere Rovers	46		10	8	5	35	27		5	4	14	22	41		57	68	–11		57
14	Nottingham Forest	46		9	10	4	29	18		5	4	14	24	37		53	55	–2		56
15	Crystal Palace	46		7	11	5	33	26		6	4	13	24	41		57	67	–10		54
16	Sheffield United	46		10	8	5	38	24		3	7	13	21	47		59	71	–12		54
17	Stockport County	46		8	8	7	33	31		5	7	11	22	36		55	67	–12		54
18	Portsmouth	46		9	6	8	36	27		4	6	13	19	39		55	66	–11		51
19	Crewe Alexandra	46		9	5	9	27	31		5	4	14	19	36		46	67	–21		51
20	Grimsby Town	46		10	8	5	27	25		3	4	16	14	42		41	67	–26		51
21	West Bromwich Albion	46		6	11	6	25	26		4	8	11	18	34		43	60	–17		49
22	Walsall	46		7	6	10	26	34		4	7	12	26	43		52	77	–25		46
23	Port Vale	46		6	6	11	27	30		1	9	13	21	39		48	69	–21		36
24	Swindon Town	46		5	6	12	23	37		3	6	14	15	40		38	77	–39		36

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

^[3]

Location of clubs

Barnsley

Birmingham

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton

Charlton

Crewe Alexandra

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Grimsby Town

Huddersfield

Ipswich Town

Manchester City

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Portsmouth

Port Vale

QPR

Sheffield United

Stockport

Swindon

Tranmere

Walsall

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1999–2000 teams

Charlton Athletic

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Queens Park Rangers

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1999–2000

Play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 13th/14th; 2nd leg – May 17th/18th, 2000							Final at Wembley May 29th, 2000
	3rd	Ipswich Town (a.e.t.)	2	5	7
	6th	Bolton Wanderers	2	3	5
								3rd	Ipswich Town	4
								4th	Barnsley	2
	4th	Barnsley	4	1	5
	5th	Birmingham City	0	2	2

^[3]

First Division results

Home ╲ Away

BAR

BIR

BLB

BOL

CHA

CRE

CRY

FUL

GRI

HUD

IPS

MCI

NOR

NOT

PTV

POR

QPR

SHU

STP

SWI

TRA

WAL

WBA

WOL

Barnsley

2–1

5–1

1–1

1–1

0–2

2–3

1–0

3–0

4–2

0–2

2–1

2–1

1–0

3–1

6–0

1–1

2–0

2–1

1–0

3–0

3–2

2–2

1–2

Birmingham City

3–1

1–0

2–1

1–0

5–1

2–0

2–2

0–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

2–0

0–1

4–2

1–0

2–0

0–2

2–1

1–1

3–1

2–0

1–1

1–0

Blackburn Rovers

1–2

1–0

3–1

1–1

0–1

1–1

2–0

1–1

2–0

2–2

1–4

1–1

2–1

0–0

1–1

0–2

5–0

2–0

0–0

2–0

2–0

2–1

1–1

Bolton Wanderers

2–2

3–3

3–1

0–2

2–2

2–0

3–1

2–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–0

3–2

2–1

3–0

2–1

2–0

0–1

2–0

2–3

4–3

1–1

2–1

Charlton Athletic

3–1

1–0

1–2

2–1

1–0

2–1

1–0

4–0

0–1

1–3

0–1

1–0

3–0

2–2

1–1

2–1

1–0

4–0

0–1

3–2

2–1

0–0

2–0

Crewe Alexandra

0–1

2–3

0–0

1–3

0–2

2–0

1–1

1–1

1–1

1–2

1–1

1–0

0–3

2–1

1–3

2–1

1–0

3–2

2–1

0–2

2–3

2–0

1–0

Crystal Palace

0–2

0–2

2–1

0–0

0–1

1–1

0–0

3–0

2–2

2–2

1–1

1–0

2–0

1–1

4–0

3–0

1–1

3–3

1–2

2–2

3–2

0–2

1–1

Fulham

1–3

0–0

2–2

1–1

2–1

3–0

1–0

0–1

3–0

0–0

0–0

1–1

1–1

3–1

1–0

1–0

4–0

4–1

1–0

1–0

2–0

1–0

0–1

Grimsby Town

0–3

1–1

0–0

0–1

2–5

1–1

1–0

1–1

0–0

2–1

1–1

2–1

4–3

2–0

1–0

2–1

2–2

0–1

1–0

1–2

1–0

1–1

1–0

Huddersfield Town

2–1

0–0

3–2

0–3

1–2

3–0

7–1

1–1

3–1

3–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

2–2

0–1

1–0

4–1

0–2

4–0

1–0

1–1

1–0

2–0

Ipswich Town

6–1

0–1

0–0

1–0

4–2

2–1

1–0

1–0

2–0

2–1

2–1

0–2

3–1

3–0

0–1

1–4

1–1

1–0

3–0

0–0

2–0

3–1

1–0

Manchester City

3–1

1–0

2–0

2–0

1–1

4–0

2–1

4–0

2–1

0–1

1–0

3–1

1–0

2–1

4–2

1–3

6–0

1–2

3–0

2–0

1–1

2–1

0–1

Norwich City

2–2

0–1

0–2

2–1

0–3

2–1

0–1

1–2

3–0

1–1

0–0

1–0

1–0

0–0

2–1

2–1

2–1

2–0

0–2

1–1

1–1

2–1

1–0

Nottingham Forest

3–0

1–0

0–1

1–1

1–1

1–0

2–0

0–0

2–1

1–3

0–1

1–3

1–1

2–0

2–0

1–1

0–0

1–1

3–1

1–1

4–1

0–0

1–1

Port Vale

2–2

3–1

0–0

0–1

2–2

1–0

2–2

0–2

3–1

1–2

1–2

1–2

0–1

0–2

2–0

1–1

2–3

1–1

2–0

1–0

1–2

1–2

0–1

Portsmouth

3–0

2–2

1–2

0–0

0–2

0–2

3–1

0–1

1–2

0–0

1–1

2–2

2–1

2–1

0–0

1–3

2–0

2–0

4–1

1–2

5–1

2–0

2–3

Queens Park Rangers

2–2

2–2

0–0

0–1

0–0

1–0

0–1

0–0

1–0

3–1

3–1

1–1

2–2

1–1

3–2

0–0

3–1

1–1

2–1

2–1

2–1

0–0

1–1

Sheffield United

3–3

1–2

2–1

1–2

1–2

1–1

3–1

2–0

0–0

0–1

2–2

1–0

0–0

2–1

1–3

1–0

1–1

1–0

2–2

3–1

1–1

6–0

3–0

Stockport County

1–3

2–0

0–1

0–0

1–3

2–1

1–2

2–1

2–1

1–1

0–1

2–2

2–2

2–3

1–0

1–1

3–3

1–1

3–0

2–1

1–1

0–1

3–2

Swindon Town

1–2

1–4

2–1

0–4

1–2

0–1

2–4

1–0

0–1

2–0

1–4

0–2

0–0

0–0

2–1

1–1

0–1

2–2

1–1

3–1

1–1

1–2

1–2

Tranmere Rovers

2–2

2–1

2–1

0–0

2–2

2–0

1–2

1–1

3–2

1–0

0–2

1–1

1–2

3–0

2–1

2–4

1–1

1–3

0–0

3–1

1–1

3–0

1–0

Walsall

1–4

1–0

1–1

2–0

2–4

1–4

2–2

1–3

1–0

2–0

0–1

0–1

2–2

0–2

0–0

1–0

2–3

2–1

1–2

0–0

1–2

2–1

1–1

West Bromwich Albion

0–2

0–3

2–2

4–4

2–0

1–0

0–0

0–0

2–1

0–1

1–1

0–2

1–1

1–1

0–0

3–2

0–1

2–2

2–0

1–1

2–0

0–1

1–1

Wolverhampton Wanderers

2–0

2–1

2–1

1–0

2–3

2–0

2–1

3–0

3–0

0–1

2–1

4–1

1–0

3–0

2–2

1–1

3–2

1–0

2–2

1–1

4–0

1–2

1–1

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division

Football League, Second Division

Season	1999–2000
Champions	Preston North End (2nd third tier title)
Direct promotion	Preston North End, Burnley
Promoted through play-offs	Gillingham
Relegated	Blackpool, Cardiff City, Chesterfield, Scunthorpe United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1404 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Payton (Burnley), 27 [2]
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Preston North End	46		15	4	4	37	23		13	7	3	37	14		74	37	+37		95
2	Burnley	46		16	3	4	42	23		9	10	4	27	24		69	47	+22		88
3	Gillingham	46		16	3	4	46	21		9	7	7	33	27		79	48	+31		85
4	Wigan Athletic	46		15	3	5	37	14		7	14	2	35	24		72	38	+34		83
5	Millwall	46		14	7	2	41	18		9	6	8	35	32		76	50	+26		82
6	Stoke City	46		13	7	3	37	18		10	6	7	31	24		68	42	+26		82
7	Bristol Rovers	46		13	7	3	34	19		10	4	9	35	26		69	45	+24		80
8	Notts County	46		9	6	8	32	27		9	5	9	29	28		61	55	+6		65
9	Bristol City	46		7	14	2	31	18		8	5	10	28	39		59	57	+2		64
10	Reading	46		10	9	4	28	18		6	5	12	29	45		57	63	–6		62
11	Wrexham	46		9	6	8	23	24		8	5	10	29	37		52	61	–9		62
12	Wycombe Wanderers	46		11	4	8	32	24		5	9	9	24	29		56	53	+3		61
13	Luton Town	46		10	7	6	41	35		7	3	13	20	30		61	65	–4		61
14	Oldham Athletic	46		8	5	10	27	28		8	7	8	23	27		50	55	–5		60
15	Bury	46		8	10	5	38	33		5	8	10	23	31		61	64	–3		57
16	Bournemouth	46		11	6	6	37	19		5	3	15	22	43		59	62	–3		57
17	Brentford	46		8	6	9	27	31		5	7	11	20	30		47	61	–14		52
18	Colchester United	46		9	4	10	36	40		5	6	12	23	42		59	82	–23		52
19	Cambridge United	46		8	6	9	38	33		4	6	13	26	32		64	65	–1		48
20	Oxford United	46		6	5	12	24	38		6	4	13	19	35		43	73	–30		45
21	Cardiff City	46		5	10	8	23	34		4	7	12	22	33		45	67	–22		44
22	Blackpool	46		4	10	9	26	37		4	7	12	23	40		49	77	–28		41
23	Scunthorpe United	46		4	6	13	16	34		5	6	12	24	40		40	74	–34		39
24	Chesterfield	46		5	7	11	17	25		2	8	13	17	38		34	63	–29		36

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Location of clubs

Bournemouth

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Burnley

Bury

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Chesterfield

Colchester

Gillingham

Luton Town

Millwall

Notts County

Oldham

Oxford

Preston North End

Reading

Scunthorpe United

Stoke

Wigan Athletic

Wrexham

Wycombe

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1999–2000 teams

Brentford

Millwall

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1999–2000

Play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 13th; 2nd leg – May 17th, 2000							Final at Wembley Stadium May 28th, 2000
	3rd	Gillingham	2	3	5
	6th	Stoke City	3	0	3
								3rd	Gillingham (a.e.t.)	3
								4th	Wigan Athletic	2
	4th	Wigan Athletic	0	1	1
	5th	Millwall	0	0	0

^[3]

Third Division

Football League, Third Division

Season	1999–2000
Champions	Swansea City (1st fourth tier title)
Direct promotion	Swansea City, Northampton, Rotherham United
Promoted through play-offs	Peterborough United
Relegated to Conference	Chester
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1303 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Marco Gabbiadini (Darlington), 24 [2]
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Swansea City	46		15	6	2	32	11		9	7	7	19	19		51	30	+21		85
2	Rotherham United	46		13	5	5	43	17		11	7	5	29	19		72	36	+36		84
3	Northampton Town	46		16	2	5	36	18		9	5	9	27	27		63	45	+18		82
4	Darlington	46		13	9	1	43	15		8	7	8	23	21		66	36	+30		79
5	Peterborough United	46		14	4	5	39	30		8	8	7	24	24		63	54	+9		78
6	Barnet	46		12	6	5	36	24		9	6	8	23	29		59	53	+6		75
7	Hartlepool United	46		16	1	6	32	17		5	8	10	28	32		60	49	+11		72
8	Cheltenham Town	46		13	4	6	28	17		7	6	10	22	25		50	42	+8		70
9	Torquay United	46		12	6	5	35	20		7	6	10	27	32		62	52	+10		69
10	Rochdale	46		8	7	8	21	25		10	7	6	36	29		57	54	+3		68
11	Brighton & Hove Albion	46		10	7	6	38	25		7	9	7	26	21		64	47	+17		67
12	Plymouth Argyle	46		12	10	1	38	18		4	8	11	17	33		55	51	+4		66
13	Macclesfield Town	46		9	7	7	36	30		9	4	10	30	31		66	61	+5		65
14	Hull City	46		7	8	8	26	23		8	6	9	17	20		43	43	±0		59
15	Lincoln City	46		11	6	6	38	23		4	8	11	29	46		67	69	–2		59
16	Southend United	46		11	5	7	37	31		4	6	13	16	30		53	61	–8		56
17	Mansfield Town	46		9	6	8	33	26		7	2	14	17	39		50	65	–15		56
18	Halifax Town	46		7	5	11	22	24		8	4	11	22	34		44	58	–14		54
19	Leyton Orient	46		7	7	9	22	22		6	6	11	25	30		47	52	–5		52
20	York City	46		7	10	6	21	21		5	6	12	18	32		39	53	–14		52
21	Exeter City	46		8	6	9	27	30		3	5	15	19	42		46	72	–26		44
22	Shrewsbury Town	46		5	6	12	20	27		4	7	12	20	40		40	67	–27		40
23	Carlisle United	46		6	8	9	23	27		3	4	16	19	48		42	75	–33		39
24	Chester City	46		5	5	13	20	36		5	4	14	24	43		44	79	–35		39

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

^[3]

• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	New club in the league
	Relegated to Conference

Locations of clubs

Barnet

Blackpool

Brighton & Hove

Carlisle United

Cheltenham

Chester

Darlington

Exeter City

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hull

Leyton Orient

Lincoln City

Macclesfield

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Peterborough

Plymouth Argyle

Rochdale

Rotherham

Southend

Shrewsbury

Swansea City

Torquay

York City

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1999–2000

Barnet

Leyton Orient

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1999–2000

Play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg – May 13th; 2nd leg – May 17th, 2000							Final at Wembley Stadium May 26th, 2000
	4th	Darlington	2	1	3
	7th	Hartlepool United	0	0	0
								4th	Darlington	0
								5th	Peterborough United	1
	5th	Peterborough United	2	3	5
	6th	Barnet	1	0	1

^[3]

See also

• 1999-2000 in English football
• 1999 in association football
• 2000 in association football

References

1. "Put your shirt on squad numbers next season". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 1999-04-09. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
3. "England 1999–00". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.