1999–2000 Ipswich Town F.C. season

During the 1999–2000 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the Football League First Division.

Ipswich Town

1999–2000 season
Chairman	David Sheepshanks
Manager	George Burley
Stadium	Portman Road
First Division	3rd (promoted via play-offs)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Play-offs	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: David Johnson (22) All: David Johnson (23)
Highest home attendance	21,908 (vs Walsall, 7 May 2000, First Division)
Lowest home attendance	14,383 (vs Southampton, 13 Dec 1999, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance	18,524
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Season summary

Ipswich finished the season in third place in the First Division, missing out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premiership and instead took part in the play-offs for the fourth year running, to determine the third promoted team.^[1] Ipswich finished two points behind Manchester City (who were promoted in second place) and four behind league winners Charlton Athletic.

On the final day of the league season Ipswich played Walsall, and won 2–0 with two goals from Ipswich's top scorer David Johnson, who finished the season with 22 goals. At one point, after his first goal, second place Manchester City were trailing to Blackburn, meaning that Ipswich would qualify for promotion automatically.^[2] However, this only lasted nine minutes, with City eventually scoring four goals to win the match and secure promotion.^[3]

In the play-off semi-finals, Ipswich faced sixth-placed Bolton Wanderers, who had beaten them in the semi-final the previous year.^[2] After a 2–2 draw in the first leg away at the Reebok Stadium, Ipswich won 5–3 at Portman Road, winning 7–5 on aggregate.^[4][5][6]

In the play-off final, the last domestic competitive fixture at Wembley Stadium before the stadium was redeveloped,^[7] Ipswich played fourth-placed Barnsley, beating them 4–2 and finally securing their return to the Premiership after an absence of five years.^[8]

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Richard Wright 2 DF  NED Fabian Wilnis 3 DF  ENG Jamie Clapham 4 DF  FRA Jean-Manuel Thetis 5 DF  ENG Tony Mowbray 6 DF  ENG Mark Venus 7 MF  ENG Mick Stockwell 8 MF  IRL Matt Holland (captain) 9 FW  JAM David Johnson 10 FW  ENG James Scowcroft 11 MF  NIR Jim Magilton

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 FW  ENG Richard Naylor 13 GK  ENG Mike Salmon 14 MF  ENG Jermaine Wright 15 MF  NED Marco Holster 17 DF  ENG Wayne Brown 24 DF  ENG John McGreal 25 DF  ENG Gary Croft 27 FW  ENG Marcus Stewart 29 GK  IRL Keith Branagan 30 MF  NED Martijn Reuser (on loan from Ajax) 32 FW  SWE Jonas Axeldal

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  ENG Adam Tanner (to Peterborough United) 19 FW  ENG Neil Midgley (on loan to Kidderminster Harriers) 23 FW  NIR Sean Friars (on loan to Portadown)

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 DF  ENG Michael Clegg (loan return to Manchester United) 31 GK  NED Sieb Dijkstra (released)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  ENG Titus Bramble 20 FW  ENG Richard Logan 21 MF  ENG John Kennedy

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  SCO Stuart Niven 26 GK  ENG James Pullen – MF  FRA Patrice Maurel (on loan from Toulouse)

Pre-season

Ipswich traveled to Scandinavia for pre-season prior to the 1999–2000 season, playing friendlies against Swedish sides Gefle IF and GIF Sundsvall.^[9]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20 July 1999	St Albans City	A	3–0	Unknown	Friars, Naylor, Niven
22 July 1999	Gefle IF	A	3–2	Unknown	Stockwell, Scowcroft, Midgley
24 July 1999	GIF Sundsvall	A	1–1	Unknown	Johnson
27 July 1999	Peterborough United	A	1–0	Unknown	Johnson
31 July 1999	FC Twente	H	1–2	Unknown	Scowcroft

Competitions

Football League First Division

League table

Main article: 1999–2000 Football League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Charlton Athletic (C, P)	46	27	10	9	79	45	+34	91	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Manchester City (P)	46	26	11	9	78	40	+38	89
3	Ipswich Town (O, P)	46	25	12	9	71	42	+29	87	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Barnsley	46	24	10	12	88	67	+21	82
5	Birmingham City	46	22	11	13	65	44	+21	77

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Ipswich Town's score comes first

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 August 1999	Nottingham Forest	H	3-1	20,830	Naylor, Johnson, Scowcroft
15 August 1999	Swindon Town	A	4-1	6,195	Johnson (2), Naylor (2)
21 August 1999	Bolton Wanderers	H	1-0	17,696	Johnson
28 August 1999	Sheffield United	A	2-2	12,455	Scowcroft, Johnson
30 August 1999	Barnsley	H	6-1	18,037	Johnson (2), Venus, Naylor, Scowcroft, Magilton
11 September 1999	Portsmouth	A	1-1	16,034	Scowcroft
18 September 1999	Birmingham City	H	0-1	19,758
26 September 1999	Manchester City	H	2-1	19,406	Johnson, Croft
2 October 1999	Grimsby Town	A	1-2	6,531	Magilton
16 October 1999	Queens Park Rangers	H	1-4	17,544	Holland
19 October 1999	Charlton Athletic	H	4-2	17,940	Scowcroft, Venus, Johnson, Stockwell
23 October 1999	Walsall	A	1-0	6,526	Naylor
27 October 1999	Manchester City	A	0-1	32,799
30 October 1999	Grimsby Town	H	2-0	16,617	Clapham, Naylor
2 November 1999	Huddersfield Town	A	1-3	12,093	Holland
6 November 1999	Blackburn Rovers	A	2-2	18,512	Holland, Mowbray
12 November 1999	Tranmere Rovers	H	0-0	14,514
21 November 1999	Norwich City	A	0-0	19,948
24 November 1999	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1-0	15,731	Scowcroft
27 November 1999	Crewe Alexandra	H	2-1	15,211	Johnson (2)
5 December 1999	Nottingham Forest	A	1-0	15,724	Holland
7 December 1999	Crystal Palace	A	2-2	13,176	Holland, Johnson
18 December 1999	West Bromwich Albion	H	3-1	14,712	Johnson, Scowcroft, Midgley
26 December 1999	Fulham	A	0-0	17,255
28 December 1999	Stockport County	H	1-0	20,671	Scowcroft
3 January 2000	Port Vale	A	2-1	6,908	Holland, Scowcroft
15 January 2000	Swindon Town	H	3-0	17,326	Stockwell, Naylor (2)
22 January 2000	Bolton Wanderers	A	1-1	11,924	Holland
29 January 2000	Sheffield United	H	1-1	17,350	Johnson (pen)
5 February 2000	Barnsley	A	2-0	17,601	Scowcroft, Stewart
12 February 2000	Huddersfield Town	H	2-1	21,233	Scowcroft, Stewart
19 February 2000	Crewe Alexandra	A	2-1	6,393	Clapham, Wright
27 February 2000	Birmingham City	A	1-1	20,493	Johnson
4 March 2000	Portsmouth	H	0-1	20,305
7 March 2000	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-0	18,871
11 March 2000	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1-2	22,652	Scowcroft
19 March 2000	Norwich City	H	0-2	21,760
22 March 2000	Tranmere Rovers	A	2-0	6,933	Holland, Johnson
25 March 2000	Fulham	H	1-0	20,168	Reuser
4 April 2000	West Browich Albion	A	1-1	12,536	Holland
8 April 2000	Port Vale	H	3-0	19,663	Scowcroft, Johnson, Holland
15 April 2000	Stockport County	A	1-0	8,501	Johnson
22 April 2000	Queens Park Rangers	A	1-3	14,920	Magilton (pen)
25 April 2000	Crystal Palace	H	1-0	18,798	Johnson
29 April 2000	Charlton Athletic	A	3-1	20,043	Magilton, Johnson, Reuser
7 May 2000	Walsall	H	2-0	21,908	Johnson (2)

First Division play-offs

Main article: 2000 Football League play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	14 May 2000	Bolton Wanderers	A	2-2	18,814	Stewart (2)
SF 2nd Leg	17 May 2000	Bolton Wanderers	H	5-3 (won 7–5 on agg)	21,543	Magilton (3), Clapham (pen), Reuser
Final	29 May 2000	Barnsley	Wembley Stadium	4-2	73,427	Mowbray, Naylor, Stewart, Reuser

FA Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	13 December 1999	Southampton	H	0-1	14,383

League Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	11 August 1999	Brentford	A	2-0		Johnson, Clapham
R1 2nd Leg	24 August 1999	Brentford	H	2-0 (won 4–0 on agg)		Scowcroft, Clapham
R2 1st Leg	14 September 1999	Crewe Alexandra	A	1-2		Venus
R2 2nd Leg	21 September 1999	Crewe Alexandra	H	1-1 (lost 2–3 on agg)		Scowcroft

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Ref
14 July 1999	GK	Mike Salmon	Charlton Athletic	Free transfer	[10]
21 July 1999	MF	Jermaine Wright	Crewe Alexandra	£500,000	[11]
5 August 1999	DF	John McGreal	Tranmere Rovers	£650,000	[12]
23 August 1999	FW	Jonas Axeldal	Calcio Foggia	Free transfer	[13]
21 September 1999	DF	Gary Croft	Blackburn Rovers	£540,000	[14]
29 September 1999	GK	James Pullen	Heybridge Swifts	Free transfer	[15]
11 November 1999	GK	Sieb Dijkstra	Dundee United	Free transfer	[16]
1 February 2000	FW	Marcus Stewart	Huddersfield Town	£2,750,000	[17]
22 March 2000	GK	Keith Branagan	Bolton Wanderers	Free transfer	[18]

Loans in

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
8 February 2000	MF	Patrice Maurel	Toulouse	30 June 2000	[19]
16 February 2000	DF	Michael Clegg	Manchester United	10 March 2000	[20]
23 March 2000	MF	Martijn Reuser	Ajax	30 June 2000	[21]

Transfers out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Ref
3 June 1999	DF	David Theobald	Brentford	Free transfer	[22]
1 July 1999	GK	Lee Bracey	Hull City	Free transfer	[23]
1 July 1999	DF	Jason Cundy	Portsmouth	Free transfer	[24]
1 July 1999	MF	Bobby Petta	Celtic	Free transfer	[25]
14 July 1999	MF	Kieron Dyer	Newcastle United	£6,000,000	[26]
16 November 1999	GK	Sieb Dijkstra	Free agent	Released	[16]
23 March 2000	MF	Adam Tanner	Peterborough United	Free transfer	[27]
23 March 2000	MF	Chris Keeble	Colchester United	Free transfer	[28]

Loans out

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
23 September 1999	FW	Neil Midgley	Luton Town	23 November 1999	[29]
30 December 1999	DF	Titus Bramble	Colchester United	30 January 2000	[30]
18 March 2000	FW	Sean Friars	Portadown	18 May 2000	[31]
30 March 2000	FW	Neil Midgley	Kidderminster Harriers	8 May 2000	[29]

Squad statistics

All statistics updated as of end of season

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright	53	0	46	0	1	0	4	0	2	0
Defenders
2	DF	NED	Fabian Wilnis	40	0	35	0	1	0	1+1	0	1+1	0
3	DF	ENG	Jamie Clapham	54	5	46	2	1	0	4	2	3	1
4	DF	FRA	Jean-Manuel Thetis	20	0	16	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
5	DF	ENG	Tony Mowbray	40	2	36	1	0	0	1	0	3	1
6	DF	ENG	Mark Venus	34	3	28	2	0	0	3	1	3	0
17	DF	ENG	Wayne Brown	30	0	25	0	1	0	2	0	1+1	0
24	DF	ENG	John McGreal	38	1	34	0	1	0	0	0	3	1
25	DF	ENG	Gary Croft	24	1	21	1	0	0	0	0	2+1	0
28	DF	ENG	Michael Clegg	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF	ENG	Mick Stockwell	42	2	35	2	1	0	3+1	0	2	0
8	MF	IRL	Matt Holland	54	10	46	10	1	0	4	0	3	0
11	MF	NIR	Jim Magilton	46	7	39	4	1	0	3	0	3	3
14	MF	ENG	Jermaine Wright	39	1	34	1	0+1	0	3	0	1	0
30	MF	NED	Martijn Reuser	11	4	2+6	2	0	0	0	0	0+3	2
Forwards
9	FW	JAM	David Johnson	52	23	44	22	1	0	4	1	3	0
10	FW	ENG	James Scowcroft	50	15	43	13	1	0	4	2	2	0
12	FW	ENG	Richard Naylor	43	9	36	8	0+1	0	3+1	0	0+2	1
19	FW	ENG	Neil Midgley	4	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	ENG	Richard Logan	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW	NIR	Sean Friars	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	FW	ENG	Marcus Stewart	13	5	9+1	2	0	0	0	0	3	3
32	FW	SWE	Jonas Axeldal	20	0	1+15	0	0+1	0	0+3	0	0	0

Last updated: end of season
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	First Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Play-offs	Total
9	FW		David Johnson	22	0	1	0	23
10	FW		James Scowcroft	13	0	2	0	15
17	DF		Wayne Brown	13	0	0	0	13
8	MF		Matt Holland	10	0	0	0	10
12	FW		Richard Naylor	8	0	0	1	9
11	MF		Jim Magilton	4	0	0	3	7
3	DF		Jamie Clapham	2	0	2	1	5
27	FW		Marcus Stewart	2	0	0	3	5
30	MF		Martijn Reuser	2	0	0	2	4
6	DF		Mark Venus	2	0	1	0	3
5	DF		Tony Mowbray	1	0	0	1	2
7	MF		Mick Stockwell	2	0	0	0	2
14	MF		Jermaine Wright	1	0	0	0	1
19	FW		Neil Midgely	1	0	0	0	1
24	DF		John McGreal	0	0	0	1	1
25	DF		Gary Croft	1	0	0	0	1
Total				84	0	6	12	102

Clean sheets

No.	Nat	Player	First Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Play-offs	Total
1		Richard Wright	18	0	2	0	20
Total			18	0	2	0	20

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs		Total
2	DF		Fabian Wilnis	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
3	DF		Jamie Clapham	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF		Jean-Manuel Thetis	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
5	DF		Tony Mowbray	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
6	DF		Mark Venus	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
9	FW		David Johnson	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
10	FW		James Scowcroft	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
11	MF		Jim Magilton	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	1
12	FW		Richard Naylor	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
14	MF		Jermaine Wright	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
17	DF		Wayne Brown	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
24	DF		John McGreal	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
25	DF		Gary Croft	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
28	DF		Michael Clegg	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total				50	3	0	0	1	0	2	0	53	3

Awards

Player awards

Award	Player	Ref
Player of the Year	James Scowcroft	[32]

PFA First Division Team of the Year

Player	Ref
Richard Wright	[33]
Marcus Stewart	[34]