1999–2000 Watford F.C. season

During the 1999–2000 English football season, Watford F.C. competed in the FA Premier League, after being promoted twice first from the Second Division two seasons ago and the First Division last season.

Watford

1999–2000 season
Chairman	Elton John
Manager	Graham Taylor
Stadium	Vicarage Road
FA Premier League	20th (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	Helguson (6)
Highest home attendance	21,590 vs. Sunderland, 27 November 1999
Lowest home attendance	6,628 vs. Wigan Athletic, 14 September 1999
Average home league attendance	18,544
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Season summary

Watford managed some encouraging early results, including victories over Liverpool and Chelsea, suggesting that experienced manager Graham Taylor might be able to keep the club in the Premier League against all expectations. However, after the victory against Chelsea on 18 September, Watford only managed three more wins all season, and it soon became obvious that this campaign was a bridge too far after two successive promotions. The club were eventually relegated with the then-lowest points total in Premier League history, although observers widely predicted that Taylor would at least stabilise the club in Division One again, and maybe even get the club to make an immediate return to the Premiership.

Final league table

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
16	Derby County	38	9	11	18	44	57	−13	38
17	Bradford City	38	9	9	20	38	68	−30	36	Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round
18	Wimbledon (R)	38	7	12	19	46	74	−28	33	Relegation to the Football League First Division
19	Sheffield Wednesday (R)	38	8	7	23	38	70	−32	31
20	Watford (R)	38	6	6	26	35	77	−42	24

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	6	6	26	35	77	−42	24	5	4	10	24	31	−7	1	2	16	11	46	−35

Source: Statto

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Result	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	W
Position	13	19	14	9	11	15	15	14	14	15	16	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20

Source: Statto.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Watford's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 August 1999	Wimbledon	H	2–3	15,511	Kennedy (pen), Ngonge
10 August 1999	Sunderland	A	0–2	40,630
14 August 1999	Liverpool	A	1–0	44,174	Mooney
21 August 1999	Bradford City	H	1–0	15,564	Mooney
24 August 1999	Aston Villa	H	0–1	19,161
30 August 1999	Leicester City	A	0–1	17,920
11 September 1999	West Ham United	A	0–1	25,310
18 September 1999	Chelsea	H	1–0	21,144	Smart
25 September 1999	Arsenal	A	0–1	38,127
3 October 1999	Leeds United	H	1–2	19,677	Williams
16 October 1999	Manchester United	A	1–4	55,188	Johnson
24 October 1999	Middlesbrough	H	1–3	16,081	Smith
31 October 1999	Coventry City	A	0–4	21,700
6 November 1999	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–2	21,658	Ngonge, Page
20 November 1999	Newcastle United	H	1–1	19,539	Ngonge
27 November 1999	Sunderland	H	2–3	21,590	Ngonge, Johnson (pen)
4 December 1999	Wimbledon	A	0–5	14,021
18 December 1999	Everton	H	1–3	17,346	Ngonge
26 December 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–4	36,089
28 December 1999	Southampton	H	3–2	18,459	Perpetuini, Gravelaine (2)
3 January 2000	Derby County	A	0–2	28,072
15 January 2000	Liverpool	H	2–3	21,367	Johnson, Helguson
22 January 2000	Bradford City	A	2–3	16,864	Hyde, Helguson
5 February 2000	Aston Villa	A	0–4	27,647
12 February 2000	Leicester City	H	1–1	16,814	Wooter
26 February 2000	Chelsea	A	1–2	34,928	Smart
4 March 2000	West Ham United	H	1–2	18,619	Helguson
11 March 2000	Newcastle United	A	0–1	36,433
18 March 2000	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–0	15,840	Smart
25 March 2000	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1	20,050	Smart
1 April 2000	Everton	A	2–4	31,960	Smart, Hyde
8 April 2000	Derby County	H	0–0	16,579
15 April 2000	Southampton	A	0–2	15,252
23 April 2000	Arsenal	H	2–3	19,670	Helguson, Hyde
29 April 2000	Manchester United	H	2–3	20,250	Helguson, Smith
3 May 2000	Leeds United	A	1–3	36,324	Foley
6 May 2000	Middlesbrough	A	1–1	32,930	Ward
14 May 2000	Coventry City	H	1–0	18,977	Helguson

FA Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	11 December 1999	Birmingham City	H	0–1	8,144

League Cup

Main article: 1999–2000 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	14 September 1999	Wigan Athletic	H	2–0	6,628	Easton, Hyde
R2 2nd Leg	21 September 1999	Wigan Athletic	A	1–3 (won on away goals)	5,006	Kennedy
R3	13 October 1999	Middlesbrough	A	0–1	8,843

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2][3]

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 Alec Chamberlain 2 DF  ENG Des Lyttle 3 DF  NIR Peter Kennedy 4 DF  WAL Rob Page (captain) 5 DF  ENG Steve Palmer 6 DF  ENG Paul Robinson 7 FW  COD Michel Ngonge[notes 1] 8 MF  ENG Micah Hyde[notes 2] 9 FW  ENG Tommy Mooney 10 MF  AUS Richard Johnson 11 FW  ENG Nick Wright 12 FW  SCO Allan Smart 13 GK  ENG Chris Day 14 MF  NED Nordin Wooter[notes 3] 15 FW  ENG Gifton Noel-Williams 16 DF  ENG Nigel Gibbs

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  ENG Tommy Smith 19 MF  ENG Clint Easton 20 MF  ISL Jóhann Guðmundsson 23 DF  ENG Darren Ward 24 MF  FRA Alexandre Bonnot 25 MF  BEL Adrian Bakalli 26 DF  ENG David Perpetuini 27 DF  ENG James Panayi 31 FW  ENG Steve Brooker 32 DF  NIR Mark Williams[notes 4] 33 FW  IRL Dominic Foley 34 GK  AUT Herwig Walker 35 MF  SCO Charlie Miller 36 DF  ENG Neil Cox 37 FW  ISL Heiðar Helguson

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 18 DF  NGA Benedict Iroha (retired) 21 DF  ENG Keith Millen (to Bristol City) 21 MF  FRA Xavier Gravelaine (to Le Havre)

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 DF  ENG Colin Miles (to Greenock Morton) 42 MF  ENG Stuart Slater (to Carlton SC)

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 22 DF  ENG Dean Yates 29 MF  ENG Lee Johnson 30 MF  ENG Lee Cook 38 DF  ENG Jerel Ifil

No. Pos. Nation Player 39 MF  ENG Matthew Langston 40 MF  ENG Gary Fisken 41 MF  ENG Danny Grieves 43 FW  ENG David Warner

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
7 July 1999	DF	Mark Williams	Chesterfield	Free
8 July 1999	DF	Des Lyttle	Nottingham Forest	Free
9 July 1999	FW	Dominic Foley	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free
1 August 1999	MF	Alexandre Bonnot	Angers	Free
6 August 1999	GK	Herwig Walker	Vorwärts Steyr	Free
13 September 1999	MF	Nordin Wooter	Real Zaragoza	£950,000
29 September 1999	MF	Charlie Miller	Rangers	£450,000
1 November 1999	MF	Lee Cook	Aylesbury	Free
4 November 1999	DF	Neil Cox	Bolton Wanderers	£500,000
9 November 1999	MF	Xavier Gravelaine	Paris Saint-Germain	Free
2 January 2000	FW	David Warner	Brook House	Free
11 January 2000	FW	Heiðar Helguson	Lillestrøm	£1,500,000

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
22 June 1999	MF	Tony Daley	Walsall	Free transfer
6 July 1999	DF	Darren Bazeley	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free
6 August 1999	DF	Alon Hazan	F.C. Ashdod	Free
18 August 1999	MF	Stuart Slater	Carlton SC	Free
11 November 1999	DF	Keith Millen	Bristol City	£35,000
29 January 2000	MF	Xavier Gravelaine	Le Havre	£300,000
5 February 2000	DF	Colin Miles	Greenock Morton	Free

Transfers in: £3,400,000

Transfers out: £335,000

Total spending: £3,065,000

Statistics

Appearances

As of 14 May 2000

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain	31	0	27	0	1	0	3	0
2	DF	ENG	Des Lyttle	12	0	11	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	NIR	Peter Kennedy	21	2	17+1	1	0	0	3	1
4	DF	WAL	Rob Page	40	1	36	1	1	0	3	0
5	DF	ENG	Steve Palmer	42	0	38	0	1	0	3	0
6	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson	36	0	29+3	0	1	0	3	0
7	FW	COD	Michel Ngonge	27	5	16+7	5	1	0	2+1	0
8	MF	ENG	Micah Hyde	38	4	33+1	3	1	0	3	1
9	FW	ENG	Tommy Mooney	13	2	8+4	2	0	0	1	0
10	MF	AUS	Richard Johnson	25	3	20+3	3	1	0	1	0
11	FW	ENG	Nick Wright	6	0	1+3	0	1	0	1	0
12	FW	SCO	Allan Smart	16	5	13+1	5	0	0	1+1	0
13	GK	ENG	Chris Day	11	0	11	0	0	0	0	0
14	FW	NED	Nordin Wooter	22	1	16+4	1	1	0	1	0
15	FW	ENG	Gifton Noel-Williams	3	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0
16	DF	ENG	Nigel Gibbs	20	0	11+6	0	0+1	0	2	0
17	FW	ENG	Tommy Smith	23	2	13+9	2	0	0	0+1	0
19	MF	ENG	Clint Easton	19	1	13+4	0	0	0	1+1	1
20	MF	ISL	Johann Gudmundsson	11	0	1+8	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
21	MF	FRA	Xavier Gravelaine	7	2	7	2	0	0	0	0
23	DF	ENG	Darren Ward	9	1	7+2	1	0	0	0	0
24	MF	FRA	Alex Bonnot	12	0	7+5	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	BEL	Adrian Bakalli	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
26	DF	ENG	David Perpetuini	13	1	12+1	1	0	0	0	0
27	DF	ENG	James Panayi	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
31	FW	ENG	Steve Brooker	2	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0
32	MF	NIR	Mark Williams	24	1	20+2	1	0	0	2	0
33	FW	IRL	Dominic Foley	13	1	5+7	1	0	0	0+1	0
35	MF	SCO	Charlie Miller	16	0	9+5	0	1	0	1	0
36	DF	ENG	Neil Cox	22	0	20+1	0	1	0	0	0
37	FW	ISL	Heidar Helguson	16	6	14+2	6	0	0	0	0

• Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions

Considering a 5-3-2 formation

• GK: #1, Alec Chamberlain, 31
• RWB: #36, Neil Cox, 21
• CB: #5, Steve Palmer, 42
• CB: #4, Rob Page, 40
• CB: #32, Mark Williams, 22
• LWB: #6, Paul Robinson, 33
• CM: #8, Micah Hyde, 37
• CM: #10, Richard Johnson, 22
• CM: #3, Peter Kennedy, 20
• CF: #7, Michel Ngonge, 19
• CF: #14, Nordin Wooter, 18