2000/01 Premier League Table: Alex Wins 3 Successive Titles

Champions: Manchester United

Runners-up: Arsenal

Champions League places: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool

UEFA Cup places: Leeds United, Chelsea, Ipswich Town, Aston Villa (Intertoto Cup)

Promoted (from 1999/2000): Charlton Athletic, Manchester City, Ipswich Town

Relegated: Bradford City, Coventry City, Manchester City

Leading Scorer: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea) 23 goals

Premier League Table 2000 – 2001

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	38	24	8	6	79	31	+48	80
2	Arsenal	38	20	10	8	63	38	+25	70
3	Liverpool	38	20	9	9	71	39	+32	69
4	Leeds United	38	20	8	10	64	43	+21	68
5	Ipswich Town	38	20	6	12	57	42	+15	66
6	Chelsea	38	17	10	11	68	45	+23	61
7	Sunderland	38	15	12	11	46	41	+5	57
8	Aston Villa	38	13	15	10	46	43	+3	54
9	Charlton Athletic	38	14	10	14	50	57	-7	52
10	Southampton	38	14	10	14	40	48	-8	52
11	Newcastle United	38	14	9	15	44	50	-6	51
12	Tottenham Hotspur	38	13	10	15	47	54	-7	49
13	Leicester city	38	14	6	18	39	51	-12	48
14	Middlesbrough	38	9	15	14	44	44	0	42
15	West Ham United	38	10	12	16	45	50	-5	42
16	Everton	38	11	9	18	45	59	-14	42
17	Derby County	38	10	12	16	37	59	-22	42
18	Manchester City	38	8	10	20	41	65	-24	34
19	Coventry City	38	8	10	20	36	63	-27	34
20	Bradford City	38	5	11	22	30	70	-40	26

2000/2001 Season Review

Once again, Manchester United blew their rivals out of the water, taking the title by ten points to end on top of the 2000/01 Premier League table. As a result, Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three English titles on the trot. T

he United manager said: “This is the toughest league in the world, and winning three in a row is something special. Perhaps we’re like a great artist whose work is only really appreciated with time.”

Arsenal was hot on their heels, producing one of the most memorable matches of the season when they beat Charlton Athletic 5-3 at Highbury in August. The Gunners also became the first team since February to defeat Manchester United – narrowly winning 1-0 in October.

But by Christmas, most bookmakers had stopped taking bets on United taking the crown. And the Red Devils avenged their Highbury defeat in February, playing Arsenal off the pitch to win 6-1. That astonishing result widened the gap to 16 points and mathematically handed United the title.

Champions League Spot

Leeds United and Liverpool wrestled for the final Champions League spot. Leeds looked like favorites in November when they came from behind to beat Liverpool 4-3 in one of the greatest ever Premier League matches. Mark Viduka scored all four Leeds goals.

But Liverpool pipped Leeds to the third spot by just one point in a remarkable season for the Reds. Having already secured the FA and League Cups, an astonishing UEFA Cup final victory against Alaves clinched their unique cup treble.

Leeds had some consolation as they reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League for the first time since 1975. They also bought Rio Ferdinand from West Ham United for an English record fee of £ 18 million.

Only Five Wins

Bradford City’s tally of just five victories at the other end matched Swindon’s record low number of Premier League wins (set seven years previously). And Coventry City’s luck finally ran out. After 34 years in the top flight and many relegation battles, they lost their Premiership status thanks to a 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa.

Newly promoted Manchester City was the third relegated team but had high hopes of bouncing straight back up as former England manager Kevin Keegan replaced the sacked Joe Royle.

Fellow new boys Ipswich Town fared much better. Tipped for relegation before the season started, the Tractor boys stunned even their fans by emerging as unlikely challengers for a Champions League spot. They eventually finished fifth, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time since 1982.

Manager George Burley was voted “Manager of the Year” by his colleagues.

Italian Replaces An Italian

Chelsea’s slow start to the season meant Gianluca Vialli was sacked despite winning five trophies since taking the job in February 1998. His replacement was Claudio Ranieri. He spoke only limited English and led the Blues to sixth spot on the 2000/01 premier league table and a UEFA Cup place.

Things did not bode well for the rest of the Barclaycard Premiership when Manchester United broke the English transfer record in the close season to sign PSV Eindhoven’s Ruud Van Nistelrooy. And weeks later, broke it again to snap up Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

2000/2001 Cup Results

2000/01 FA Cup Winners: Liverpool [Final – Liverpool 2 v 1 Arsenal]

2000/01 League Cup Winners: Liverpool [Final – Liverpool 1 v 1 Birmingham City (aet) Liverpool win 5-4 on penalties]

2000/01 Champions League Winners: Bayern Munich [Final – Bayern Munich 1 v 1 Valencia (aet) Bayern Munich win 5-4 on penalties]

2000/01 UEFA Cup Winners: Liverpool [Final – Liverpool 5 v 4 Alaves (aet)]

2000/01 Managerial Changes

Bradford: Paul Jewell out, Chris Hutchings in, Chris Hutchings out, Jim Jefferies in

Chelsea: Gianluca Vialli out, Claudio Ranieri in

Leicester City: Martin O’Neill out, Peter Taylor in

Manchester City: Joe Royle out, Kevin Keegan in

Middlesbrough: Terry Venables joined manager Bryan Robson in a consultative capacity

Southampton: Glenn Hoddle out, Stuart Gray in

Tottenham Hotspur: George Graham out, Glenn Hoddle in

West Ham United: Harry Redknapp out, Glenn Roeder in

2000/2001 Premier League Player of the Month Awards

The following soccer players received the award for their achievements in the Premier League Player of the Month 2000/2001 season.

• August 2000: Alan Smith (Leeds United)
• September 2000: Tim Flowers (Leicester City)
• October 2000: Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United)
• November 2000: Paul Robinson (Leeds United)
• December 2000: James Beattie (Southampton)
• January 2001: Robbie Keane (Leeds United)
• February 2001: Stuart Pearce (West Ham United)
• March 2001: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
• April 2001: Gary McAllister (Liverpool)