This page documents Huddersfield Town's 1999–2000 season.

Following the sacking of Peter Jackson at the end of the previous season, owner Barry Rubery hired Steve Bruce as his replacement, and Huddersfield finished in 8th place in Division One that season, just 2 points outside the play-offs. This season also saw Town beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup.

Squad at the start of the season

Review Rubery and managing director Ian Ayre talked up the side's chances of promotion, pointing to the acquisition of the high-profile Steve Bruce as a clear indication of their ambition. More serious investment brought the likes of Clyde Wijnhard, Chris Lucketti, Georgios Donis, Scott Sellars, Kenny Irons, Ken Monkou and Dean Gorré to the club. The Terriers tore up the Division for the first few months playing attractive attacking football in the 7–1 annihilation of Crystal Palace (their best league result for 20 years), plus notable wins over rivals Ipswich Town, recently relegated Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest. During October and November, Town won 6 games in a row, a best for 17 years. In early October, the side even scored a famous 1–0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup and were widely considered to be 'the best Town side in 30 years'. They lost to fellow Premier League side Wimbledon in the next round.

By Christmas time, Town were top of the table, but the loss of key defenders Steve Jenkins, Chris Lucketti, Ken Monkou and David May (who only made one appearance for Town because of injury) all suffered injuries at the wrong time. At the turn of the year, with the side suffering a blip in form, manager Bruce accepted the BBC's offer to cover previous club Manchester United's involvement in the much-derided FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. With Town's form suffering, his popularity with the club's supporters plummeted. A run of 2 wins in 13 games didn't help things much either. Also during that run star striker Marcus Stewart was surprisingly sold to fellow 1st Division side Ipswich Town for a record fee of £2.75million. Less than a month later, he scored Ipswich's winning goal in a 2–1 win between the sides at Portman Road. Town signed Sheffield United's striker Martin Smith. Following that dreadful run Town went on a run of 6 games unbeaten, which saw Town on the verge of a play-off place with 4 games left.

After losing 3–0 at home to fellow play-off contenders Bolton Wanderers, they beat relegated Port Vale, meaning Town would get a play-off spot by winning their last 2 games at home to Stockport County and away to Fulham at Craven Cottage, but instead they lost them 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. In the end, if they won either of those last 2 games they would have got a play-off place.

Squad at the end of the season

Results Division One DateOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendancePosition7 August 1999Queens Park RangersA1 - 3Wijnhard 13,64221st13 August 1999Blackburn RoversH3 - 2Grayson [26 (og)], Stewart , Edwards 13,6707th21 August 1999Tranmere RoversA0 - 16,72818th28 August 1999Crystal PalaceH7 - 1Beech , Wijnhard [25, 60, 64], Irons , Stewart [47, 74]10,6567th30 August 1999PortsmouthA0 - 013,1057th11 September 1999Wolverhampton WanderersA1 - 0Stewart [60 (pen)]20,3855th18 September 1999Norwich CityH1 - 0Wijnhard 12,8234th25 September 1999BarnsleyA2 - 4Monkou , Stewart 17,7656th2 October 1999Sheffield UnitedH4 - 1Beech , Wijnhard , Stewart [57, 90]14,2386th9 October 1999Port ValeH2 - 2Stewart [2 (pen)], Irons 11,8856th16 October 1999Bolton WanderersA0 - 116,6037th19 October 1999Stockport CountyA1 - 1Sellars 7,3058th23 October 1999FulhamH1 - 1Wijnhard 13,3508th26 October 1999BarnsleyH2 - 1Wijnhard , Baldry 15,7645th30 October 1999Sheffield UnitedA1 - 0Dyson 14,9285th2 November 1999Ipswich TownH3 - 1Dyson , Beech , Stewart 12,0933rd6 November 1999Swindon TownH4 - 0Beech , Thornley , Gorré [57, 63]11,8913rd14 November 1999Nottingham ForestA3 - 1Wijnhard [22, 63], Gray 15,2583rd20 November 1999West Bromwich AlbionH1 - 0Gorré 14,2442nd23 November 1999WalsallA0 - 25,8603rd27 November 1999Manchester CityA1 - 0Beech 32,9362nd4 December 1999Queens Park RangersH1 - 0Wijnhard 13,0271st18 December 1999Grimsby TownH3 - 1Wijnhard [6, 25], Stewart 14,0651st26 December 1999Crewe AlexandraA1 - 1Beech 8,1062nd28 December 1999Charlton AthleticH1 - 2Stewart 17,4152nd3 January 2000Birmingham CityA0 - 119,9585th15 January 2000Blackburn RoversA0 - 221,4205th22 January 2000Tranmere RoversH1 - 0Stewart 12,6535th29 January 2000Crystal PalaceA2 - 2Stewart [34, 41]14,2905th5 February 2000PortsmouthH0 - 112,7535th12 February 2000Ipswich TownA1 - 2Gorré 21,2335th18 February 2000Manchester CityH1 - 1Wijnhard 18,1735th26 February 2000Norwich CityA1 - 1Vincent 16,4645th4 March 2000Wolverhampton WanderersH2 - 0Smith [20, 34]17,2146th7 March 2000Swindon TownA0 - 24,7016th11 March 2000WalsallH1 - 1Smith 12,4246th18 March 2000West Bromwich AlbionA1 - 0Smith 15,4846th21 March 2000Nottingham ForestH2 - 1Beech , Holland 12,8936th25 March 2000Crewe AlexandraH3 - 0Gray , Beech [53, 79] 14,0145th1 April 2000Grimsby TownA0 - 06,9936th8 April 2000Birmingham CityH0 - 016,9616th14 April 2000Charlton AthleticA1 - 0Wijnhard 19,7395th22 April 2000Bolton WanderersH0 - 316,4046th24 April 2000Port ValeA2 - 1Vincent , Irons [54 (pen)] 5,8286th29 April 2000Stockport CountyH0 - 214,0466th7 May 2000FulhamA0 - 313,7288th

FA Cup

DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance12 December 1999Third roundLiverpoolH0–2 23,678

League Cup

DateRoundOpponentsHome/AwayResultF - AScorersAttendance10 August 1999First round first LegScunthorpe UnitedA2–0Lucketti , Beech 3,39824 August 1999First round second LegScunthorpe UnitedH0–04,345 Huddersfield won 2–0 on aggregate14 September 1999Second round first LegNotts CountyH2–1Wijnhard , Stewart 6,90021 September 1999Second round second LegNotts CountyA2–2Irons , Gorré 4,414 Huddersfield won 4–3 on aggregate13 October 1999Third roundChelseaA1–0Irons 20,00830 November 1999Fourth roundWimbledonH1–2 (aet: 90 mins: 1–1)Sellars 13,312

Appearances and goals Squad No.NameNationalityPositionLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1Nico VaesenGK46010605302Steve JenkinsDF33010203603Jamie VincentDF33 (3)2101 (2)035 (5)24Craig ArmstrongMF37 (2)0105 (1)043 (3)05Chris LuckettiDF26000513116Kevin GrayDF16 (2)2102019 (2)27Georgios DonisMF10 (10)00 (1)03 (1)013 (12)08Kenny IronsMF39310624659Martin SmithFW10 (2)4000010 (2)49Marcus StewartFW29141061361510Scott SellarsMF23 (11)1101 (1)125 (12)211Clyde WijnhardFW45151061521612Ben ThornleyMF16 (12)1104021 (12)114Alun ArmstrongFW4 (3)000004 (3)014Barry HorneMF6 (8)000309 (8)015Rob EdwardsMF1 (8)100203 (8)116Delroy FaceyFW0 (2)000000 (2)017Simon BaldryMF5 (14)1000 (2)05 (16)118Darren EdmondsonDF2 (3)000002 (3)018Chris HayFW2 (5)000002 (5)019David BeresfordMF00000 (1)00 (1)020Wayne AllisonFW0 (3)0000 (1)00 (4)020Thomas HearyDF1000001021Jon DysonDF22 (6)2002 (2)024 (8)222Chris BeechMF34 (1)9004138 (1)1023Chris HollandMF16 (1)1000016 (1)124Danny SchofieldMF0 (2)00 (1)00 (1)00 (4)034Michael SeniorMF00000 (1)00 (1)035David MayDF1000001036Kwami HodoutoDF1 (1)000102 (1)036Michel NgongeFW0 (4)000000 (4)037Steve BakerDF3000003038Ken MonkouDF191004023140Dean GorréMF26 (2)4103130 (2)5

References