The 1999–2000 season was Sheffield Wednesday's 133rd season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team FA Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club finished nineteenth and were relegated from the Premier League for the first time. To date, this is the last season the club have participated in the top-flight.
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 FA 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
Results summary
Results by round
Results Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 7 August 1999 LiverpoolH1–234,853Carbone 11 August 1999 Manchester UnitedA0–454,941 14 August 1999 Bradford CityA1–118,276Dreyer (own goal) 21 August 1999 Tottenham HotspurH1–224,027Carbone (pen) 25 August 1999 Derby CountyH0–220,943 28 August 1999 SouthamptonA0–214,815 11 September 1999 EvertonH0–223,539 19 September 1999 Newcastle UnitedA0–836,619 25 September 1999 SunderlandA0–141,132 2 October 1999 WimbledonH5–118,077Jonk, De Bilde (2), Rudi, Sibon 16 October 1999 Leeds UnitedA0–239,437 23 October 1999 Coventry CityH0–023,296 30 October 1999 Leicester CityA0–319,046 6 November 1999 WatfordH2–221,658De Bilde (2, 1 pen) 21 November 1999 West Ham UnitedA3–423,015Rudi, Jonk, Booth 5 December 1999 LiverpoolA1–442,517Alexandersson 18 December 1999 Aston VillaA1–223,885De Bilde (pen) 26 December 1999 MiddlesbroughH1–028,531Atherton 29 December 1999 ChelseaA0–332,938 3 January 2000 ArsenalH1–126,155Sibon 15 January 2000 Bradford CityH2–024,682Alexandersson, O'Brien (own goal) 22 January 2000 Tottenham HotspurA1–035,897Alexandersson 2 February 2000 Manchester UnitedH0–139,640 5 February 2000 Derby CountyA3–330,100De Bilde, Sibon, Donnelly 12 February 2000 SouthamptonH0–123,470 26 February 2000 Newcastle UnitedH0–229,212 4 March 2000 EvertonA1–132,020Quinn 11 March 2000 West Ham UnitedH3–121,147Cresswell, Hinchcliffe, Alexandersson 18 March 2000 WatfordA0–115,840 25 March 2000 MiddlesbroughA0–132,748 5 April 2000 Aston VillaH0–118,136 12 April 2000 WimbledonA2–08,248De Bilde, Sibon 15 April 2000 ChelseaH1–021,743Jonk (pen) 22 April 2000 SunderlandH0–228,072 30 April 2000 Leeds UnitedH0–323,416 6 May 2000 Coventry CityA1–419,921De Bilde 9 May 2000 ArsenalA3–337,271Sibon, De Bilde, Quinn 14 May 2000 Leicester CityH4–021,656Quinn, Booth, Alexandersson, De Bilde
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR311 December 1999 Bristol CityH1–011,644BoothR48 January 2000 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–118,506AlexanderssonR4R18 January 2000 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–0 (won 4–3 on pens)25,201R529 January 2000 GillinghamA1–310,130Sibon
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg14 September 1999 Stoke CityA0–09,313R2 2nd Leg22 September 1999 Stoke CityH3–1 (won 3–1 on agg)10,993Alexandersson (2), De BildeR313 October 1999 Nottingham ForestH4–115,524Cresswell, Booth, Sonner, RudiR430 November 1999 Bolton WanderersA0–112,543
Players First-team squad Squad at end of seasonFootballSquads – Sheffield Wednesday – 1999/00
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In Date Pos. Name From Fee29 June 1999MFPhil O'DonnellCelticFree transfer29 June 1999MFSimon DonnellyCelticFree transfer10 July 1999FWGerald SibonAjax£2,000,00010 July 1999FWGilles De BildePSV Eindhoven£3,000,00023 March 2000MFBarry HorneHuddersfield TownNon-contract
Out Date Pos. Name To Fee15 June 1999MFKrystof KotyloNuneaton BoroughFree transfer22 June 1999GKMatt ClarkeBradford CityFree transfer1 July 1999DFJuan CobiánCharlton AthleticSigned13 July 1999FWGuy WhittinghamPortsmouthFree transfer20 October 1999FWBenito CarboneAston Villa£805,00023 December 1999DFEmerson ThomeChelsea£2,700,00026 January 2000FWJunior AgogoFree agentReleased9 March 2000GKStuart JonesTorquay United£30,000
Transfers in: £5,000,000 Transfers out: £2,730,000 Total spending: £2,270,000
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Players with no appearances not included in the list
|colspan="14"|Players featured for club who have left:
Source:
Disciplinary record
No. Pos. Name FA Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total 1GKKevin Pressman100000102DFPeter Atherton500000504MFWim Jonk400000405DFEmerson Thome300000307MFDanny Sonner411000519FWGerald Sibon2010003010FWAndy Booth3000003011MFPhil O'Donnell1000001012FWRichard Cresswell3000003014MFPetter Rudi2000002015MFPhilip Scott1000001016MFNiclas Alexandersson2010003017DFIan Nolan4000004018MFSimon Donnelly2000002019DFJon Newsome1000001021MFLee Briscoe1000102023FWGilles De Bilde3000104033MFAlan Quinn30110041Total4514120512 Source:
Notes
References