During the 2000–01 English football season, Coventry City F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was their 34th consecutive season in the top division, but this season saw the club relegated. They would not return to the Premier League for another 25 years until the 2026–27 Coventry City F.C. season.
Season summary Coventry City's season started promisingly. Despite an opening-day 3–1 home defeat to Middlesbrough, this was followed by back-to-back away victories at Southampton and Manchester City, which was the first time they had won an away league game since April 1999 and the first time they had won back-to-back away league games since February 1998. However, this burst of form instantly evaporated and by December 2000, Coventry had dropped into the relegation zone after obtaining only one more win (a 2–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur) and 6 points from 13 matches. With the exception of three rounds, all of which were before January 2001, Coventry would ultimately stay there for the rest of the season. After 34 years in the top flight and 10 close shaves with relegation, their luck finally ran out and they were relegated to the First Division after a 3–2 away defeat at Aston Villa on 5 May 2001. It was the first time they had suffered relegation since 1958, when they were relegated to Division Four - then the fourth tier of English football. Much optimism followed Coventry's relegation with everyone at the club working hard to attain promotion at the first attempt. These hopes were boosted with the signing of prolific striker Lee Hughes from local rivals West Bromwich Albion.
In the FA Cup, Coventry won 2–0 away at Swindon Town in the third round, but were eliminated by Manchester City after a 1–0 defeat at Maine Road. Their League Cup campaign began with the club convincingly beating Preston North End 7–2 on aggregate in the second round (in which they won both legs), before defeating Southampton away for the second time in the season. However, this cup run came to an end after a 2–1 defeat by Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Results Coventry City's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR36 January 2001 Swindon TownA2–014,445Bellamy, HadjiR427 January 2001 Manchester CityA0–124,637
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg19 September 2000 Preston North EndA3–110,770Zúñiga, Hall, Strachan (pen)R2 2nd Leg27 September 2000 Preston North EndH4–1 (won 7–2 on agg)7,425Aloisi (3, 1 pen), EustaceR31 November 2000 SouthamptonA1–011,809EustaceR428 November 2000 Ipswich TownA1–219,563Bellamy (pen)
Players First-team squad Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Reserve squad The following players were contracted to Coventry, but did not appear for the first team this season.
Transfers
In DatePosNameFromFeeNotes12 July 2000FW Jay Bothroyd Arsenal£1,000,0002 August 2000MF David Thompson Liverpool£2,500,00016 August 2000FW Craig Bellamy Norwich City£6,500,0006 September 2000FW Jairo Martínez MotaguaSigned19 October 2000MF Iván Guerrero MotaguaSigned1 December 2000MF Lee Carsley Blackburn Rovers£2,500,00022 December 2000MF Andreas Dahl IFK Hässleholm£300,0008 February 2001FW John Hartson WimbledonSigned
Out DatePosNameToFeeNotes9 June 2000FW Chukki Eribenne BournemouthFree transfer28 June 2000DF David Burrows Birmingham CityFree transfer1 July 2000MF Gary McAllister LiverpoolFree transfer5 July 2000DF Ian Brightwell WalsallFree transfer6 July 2000DF Mark Burrows Exeter CityFree transfer30 July 2000FW Robbie Keane Inter Milan£13,000,00031 July 2000FW Noel Whelan Middlesbrough£2,000,00012 January 2001MF Daire Doyle Kidderminster HarriersFree transfer13 February 2001DF Colin Hendry Bolton Wanderers£250,00015 February 2001FW Cédric Roussel Wolverhampton Wanderers£1,500,000
Transfers in: £12,800,000 Transfers out: £16,750,000 Total spending: £3,950,000
Loan in Alan Miller - Blackburn Rovers, 20 October, 37 days
Loan out Colin Hendry - Bolton Wanderers Robert Betts - Plymouth Argyle, 16 February, 19 days
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred or loaned out during the season
Notes
References