1999–2000 West Ham United F.C. season

During the 1999–2000 season, West Ham United competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary West Ham's involvement in the Intertoto Cup meant that they would have their shortest close-season in history. Only 62 days had passed since the last game of the previous season before West Ham took to the field against Jokerit of Finland.

West Ham had already played four games before the FA Premier League season began, and this match-fitness head-start on the rest of the division would see them in third place after five games.

Although they lost in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup Final 1–0 at home to Metz, West Ham managed to win the return leg 3–1 two weeks later and ensure UEFA Cup football.

Harry Redknapp regarded this result as his greatest night as West Ham's manager: "That was a great performance and a great day for West Ham, to win the Intertoto Cup and to be in the UEFA Cup and turning in such an outstanding performance against a good French team, to go over there and play so well and win 3–1. We took great support over to France and they enjoyed their day. Yeah, I think that was special. That was a real good day for me and West Ham's history."

Frank Lampard was West Ham's top European goalscorer with four in ten games. He was ever-present in West Ham's European campaign, along with Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio and captain Steve Lomas.

After making only one substitute appearance in West Ham's first Intertoto Cup game, Ian Wright was loaned to Nottingham Forest. Later in the season he signed a permanent deal at Celtic.

On 15 December 1999, West Ham played a League Cup quarter-final game against Aston Villa. The game went to extra time and a reserve player, Emmanuel Omoyinmi, was brought on as a substitute for Paulo Wanchope in the 113th minute. Unknown to Redknapp, Omoyinmi had previously played in the competition for Gillingham, where he had spent time on loan earlier in the season, and was thus ineligible to play. Although the Hammers won the game on penalties, the game was replayed after the Football League upheld a complaint by Villa. West Ham lost the replay 3–1. The error eventually led to the resignations of the club secretary Graham Mackrell and the football secretary Alison Dowd: "Whatever happens, I'm responsible for administration here at West Ham United. The buck does stop with me," said Mackrell.

26 March 2000 saw West Ham meet Wimbledon. The Hammers had only beaten the Dons at home twice in the previous ten meetings between the clubs. The 9th minute of the game saw Di Canio score what would become the BBC's "Goal of the Season" with an airborne volley. Frédéric Kanouté doubled West Ham's lead in the 59th minute, before Wimbledon pulled one back after 75 minutes with a 25-yard volley from former Hammer Michael Hughes.

West Ham's heaviest defeat of the season came on 1 April when they were demolished by table-toppers and eventual champions Manchester United. Wanchope opened the scoring in the 11th minute but Manchester United proceeded to score seven, including a Paul Scholes hat-trick.

This sparked West Ham into a run of three straight wins, culminating with their biggest win of the season on 22 April, when they beat Coventry City 5–0. Di Canio scored in the 48th and 67th minutes, with the other goals coming from Michael Carrick, Javier Margas and Kanouté.

The Boleyn Ground saw its largest attendance of the season (26,044) on the last day against Leeds United. The game ended 0–0, and West Ham finished 9th in the Premier League, putting them in the top nine for the third consecutive season. Redknapp said after the Leeds game: "It's been a good season again. People don't realise that West Ham have only finished in the top ten 14 times in its entire history and this is only the second time that we've done it three years running."

Di Canio was the season's leading scorer with 17 goals in all competitions. Sinclair made the most appearances with 49 in all competitions.

Final league table

Results summary

Results West Ham United's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 7 August 1999 Tottenham HotspurH1–026,010Lampard 16 August 1999 Aston VillaA2–226,250Southgate (own goal), Sinclair 21 August 1999 Leicester CityH2–123,631Wanchope, Di Canio 28 August 1999 Bradford CityA3–017,926Di Canio, Sinclair, Wanchope 11 September 1999 WatfordH1–025,310Di Canio 19 September 1999 EvertonA0–135,154 25 September 1999 Coventry CityA0–119,993 3 October 1999 ArsenalH2–126,009Di Canio (2) 17 October 1999 MiddlesbroughA0–231,862 24 October 1999 SunderlandH1–126,022Sinclair 27 October 1999 LiverpoolA0–144,012 30 October 1999 Leeds UnitedA0–140,190 7 November 1999 ChelseaA0–034,935 21 November 1999 Sheffield WednesdayH4–323,015Wanchope, Di Canio (pen), Foé, Lampard 27 November 1999 LiverpoolH1–026,043Sinclair 6 December 1999 Tottenham HotspurA0–036,233 18 December 1999 Manchester UnitedH2–426,037Di Canio (2) 26 December 1999 WimbledonA2–221,180Sinclair, Lampard 28 December 1999 Derby CountyH1–124,998Di Canio 3 January 2000 Newcastle UnitedA2–236,314Lampard, Štimac 15 January 2000 Aston VillaH1–124,237Di Canio 22 January 2000 Leicester CityA3–119,019Wanchope (2), Di Canio 5 February 2000 SouthamptonA1–215,257Lampard 12 February 2000 Bradford CityH5–425,417Sinclair, Moncur, Di Canio (pen), Cole, Lampard 26 February 2000 EvertonH0–426,025 4 March 2000 WatfordA2–118,619Lomas, Wanchope 8 March 2000 SouthamptonH2–023,484Wanchope, Sinclair 11 March 2000 Sheffield WednesdayA1–321,147Lampard 18 March 2000 ChelseaH0–026,041 26 March 2000 WimbledonH2–120,050Di Canio, Kanouté 1 April 2000 Manchester UnitedA1–761,611Wanchope 12 April 2000 Newcastle UnitedH2–125,817Wanchope (2) 15 April 2000 Derby CountyA2–131,202Wanchope (2) 22 April 2000 Coventry CityH5–024,719Carrick, Margas, Di Canio (2), Kanouté 29 April 2000 MiddlesbroughH0–125,472 2 May 2000 ArsenalA1–238,093Di Canio 6 May 2000 SunderlandA0–141,684 14 May 2000 Leeds UnitedH0–026,044

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR311 December 1999 Tranmere RoversA0–113,629

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR313 October 1999 AFC BournemouthH2–022,067Keller, LampardR430 November 1999 Birmingham CityA3–217,728Lomas, Kitson, ColeR511 January 2000 Aston VillaH1–3 25,592Lampard NOTE: This match was a replay after West Ham were ordered to replay the match after fielding an ineligible player in the original tieLeague order replay – independent.co.uk

Intertoto Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersRefereeR3 1st leg17 July 1999 JokeritH1–011,098KitsonMiroslav Liba (Czech Republic)R3 2nd leg24 July 1999 JokeritA1–1 (won 2–1 on agg)7,667LampardValentin Ivanov (Russia)SF 1st leg28 July 1999 HeerenveenH1–07,485LampardEdgar Steinborn (Germany)SF 2nd leg4 August 1999 HeerenveenA1–0 (won 2–0 on agg)13,500WanchopePascal Garibian (France)F 1st leg10 August 1999 MetzH0–125,372Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain)F 2nd leg24 August 1999 MetzA3–1 (won 3–2 on agg)19,599Sinclair, Lampard, WanchopeHellmut Krug (Germany)

UEFA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersRefereeR1 1st leg16 September 1999 OsijekH3–025,331Wanchope, Di Canio, LampardPaulo Paraty (Portugal)R1 2nd leg30 September 1999 OsijekA3–1 (won 6–1 on agg)15,000Kitson, Ruddock, FoéJack van Hulten (Netherlands)R2 1st leg21 October 1999 Steaua BucureștiA0–212,550Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)R2 2nd leg4 November 1999 Steaua BucureștiH0–0 (lost 0–2 on agg)24,514Lubomír Puček (Czech Republic)

First-team squad Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Reserve squad The following players did not make a first-team appearance this season.

Statistics No.PlayerPositionEuro appsEuro glsLge appsLge glsFAC appsFAC glsLC appsLC glsDate signedPrevious club1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup second leg winning team1Shaka HislopGK92213July 1998Newcastle United8Trevor SinclairRWB10136712+1January 1998Queens Park Rangers4Steve PottsCB7+116+111May 1984Academy11Steve Lomas (captain)CB10251121March 1997Manchester City15Rio FerdinandCB93313November 1995Academy7Marc KellerLWB6+119+42+11July 1998Karlsruher SC13Marc-Vivien FoéCM5+1125113January 1999Lens16John MoncurCM5+120+21June 1994Swindon Town18Frank LampardCM104347132July 1995Academy10Paolo Di Canio(Hammer of the Year)CF10129+11613January 1999Sheffield Wednesday12Paulo WanchopeCF7+1333+2120+12July 1999Derby CountySubstitute26Joe ColeM2+317+5112+11July 1997AcademyOther players5Igor ŠtimacCB22412August 1999Derby County20Scott MintoLWB515+311January 1999Benfica6Neil RuddockCB5112+312+1July 1998Liverpool30Javier MargasCB2+115+311July 1998Universidad Católica22Craig ForrestGK19+2July 1995Ipswich Town9Paul KitsonCF3+524+60+10+21February 1997Newcastle UnitedOther players14Frédéric KanoutéF82May 2000Lyon3Stuart PearceCB8July 1999Newcastle United21Michael CarrickCM0+14+41July 1998Academy32Stephen BywaterGK3+120 February 1998Rochdale29Ian FeuerGK3February 2000Cardiff City2Gary CharlesRB2+21October 1999Benfica2Rob JonesRB1July 1999Liverpool28Saša IlićGK1February 2000Charlton Athletic19Ian Pearce CB1+11September 1997Blackburn Rovers38Adam NewtonCD0+10+2December 1997Academy17Stan LazaridisLW0+1September 1995West Adelaide14Ian WrightCF0+1August 1998Arsenal35Shaun ByrneLWB0+1July 1998Academy

Transfers Signings for the 1999–2000 season included full-backs Gary Charles, for £1.2 million from Benfica, and 37-year-old former England International Stuart Pearce, who signed from Newcastle United on a free transfer. Also arriving was Croatian Igor Štimac, for £600,000, who followed his Derby County teammate Paulo Wanchope to Upton Park. West Ham had already spent £3.5 million the previous month to bring in the lanky Costa Rican.

All of these transfers had been funded by the £5.75 million sale of Eyal Berkovic to Celtic, and Stan Lazaridis' £1.9 million departure to Birmingham City. West Ham had only spent £300,000 for Lazaridis four years earlier.

Harry Redknapp had tried to bring Slaven Bilić back from Everton but the player failed a medical.

In Gary Charles – Benfica, £1,200,000 Stuart Pearce – Newcastle United, free Igor Štimac – Derby County, £600,000 Paulo Wanchope – Derby County, £3,500,000

Out Eyal Berkovic – Celtic, £5,750,000 Stan Lazaridis – Birmingham City, £1,900,000

References