2000–01 Everton F.C. season

During the 2000–01 season, Everton competed in the FA Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Football League Cup.

Everton F.C.

2000–01 season
Chairman	Philip Carter
Manager	Walter Smith
FA Premier League	16th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Campbell (9) All: Kevin Campbell (10)
Highest home attendance	40,260 vs Liverpool (16 April 2001, FA Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	24,491 vs Southampton (14 October 2000, FA Premier League)
Average home league attendance	33,945
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

Season summary

When Walter Smith was appointed as Everton manager three years ago, he was intent on reversing the decline which had turned Everton from title winners to relegation battlers in barely a decade. Three years on, they are still in the FA Premier League, but have played some of the most unremarkable football ever seen at this level and have frustrated fans who have spent the last five seasons living in fear of relegation.

The 2000–01 season saw a major step back for Everton and the club once again fell into a relegation battle, not helped by long-term injuries to several key players. Even the arrival of Paul Gascoigne made little difference to the side, with the iconic Geordie performing like a thin shadow of his former self. In the early stages the club had looked to be heading for another season of mid-table safety, but a terrible run of form in December and January plunged them into a relegation battle that they remained embroiled in for the rest of the season, ultimately not securing safety until they beat already-relegated Bradford City in their third-to-last match. This season saw them finish 16th – their lowest finish under Smith's management. The cups offered no respite, with the club suffering a humiliating fourth-round FA Cup exit to Merseyside neighbours Tranmere Rovers, who were struggling at the foot of Division One.

In March 2000 American cable television provider NTL approached the club with a view to purchasing a 9.9% stake in the club. Everton expected to announce a deal before the beginning of the 2000–01 season,^[1] but by October 2000 any chance of an agreement had disappeared leaving Everton with financial difficulties and forced to sell first team players, including Youth Academy products Francis Jeffers and Michael Ball, to balance the books – the board had already spent £18.4 million on purchasing new players including bringing back Duncan Ferguson, on the basis that an agreement was in place.^[2] Around the same time Paul Gregg had been negotiating a deal with United News and Media but this never came to completion.

Final league table

Main article: 2000–01 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Middlesbrough	38	9	15	14	44	44	0	42
15	West Ham United	38	10	12	16	45	50	−5	42
16	Everton	38	11	9	18	45	59	−14	42
17	Derby County	38	10	12	16	37	59	−22	42
18	Manchester City (R)	38	8	10	20	41	65	−24	34	Relegation to the Football League First Division

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	11	9	18	45	59	−14	42	6	8	5	29	27	+2	5	1	13	16	32	−16

Source: 2000–01 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Round	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
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	W	D	L	W	L	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	D	W	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	D
Position	19	7	7	10	7	10	11	13	17	12	14	15	14	12	11	13	14	14	14	14	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	15	14	15	15	16	14	15	16

Source: 11v11.com: 2000–01 Everton results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Everton's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 August 2000	Leeds United	A	0–2	40,010
23 August 2000	Charlton Athletic	H	3–0	36,300	Jeffers, Ferguson (2)
26 August 2000	Derby County	H	2–2	34,840	Jeffers, Gravesen
5 September 2000	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–3	35,316	Jeffers, Nyarko
9 September 2000	Middlesbrough	A	2–1	30,885	Jeffers (2)
16 September 2000	Manchester United	H	1–3	38,541	Gravesen
24 September 2000	Leicester City	A	1–1	18,084	Unsworth
30 September 2000	Ipswich Town	H	0–3	32,597
14 October 2000	Southampton	H	1–1	24,491	Ball
21 October 2000	Newcastle United	A	1–0	51,625	Campbell
29 October 2000	Liverpool	A	1–3	44,718	Campbell
5 November 2000	Aston Villa	H	0–1	27,370
11 November 2000	Bradford City	A	1–0	17,276	Naysmith
18 November 2000	Arsenal	H	2–0	33,106	Cadamarteri, Campbell
25 November 2000	Chelsea	H	2–1	33,516	Cadamarteri, Campbell
4 December 2000	Sunderland	A	0–2	46,372
9 December 2000	Manchester City	A	0–5	34,516
16 December 2000	West Ham United	H	1–1	31,260	Cadamarteri
23 December 2000	Charlton Athletic	A	0–1	20,042
26 December 2000	Coventry City	H	1–2	35,704	Gemmill
1 January 2001	Derby County	A	0–1	27,358
13 January 2001	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0	32,290
20 January 2001	Coventry City	A	3–1	19,174	Gemmill, Cadamarteri, Campbell
31 January 2001	Middlesbrough	H	2–2	34,244	Naysmith, Tal
3 February 2001	Manchester United	A	0–1	67,528
7 February 2001	Leeds United	H	2–2	34,224	Ferguson, Campbell
10 February 2001	Leicester City	H	2–1	30,407	Jeffers, Campbell
24 February 2001	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	22,220
3 March 2001	Newcastle United	H	1–1	35,779	Unsworth
17 March 2001	Southampton	A	0–1	15,251
31 March 2001	West Ham United	A	2–0	26,044	Unsworth (pen), Alexandersson
8 April 2001	Manchester City	H	3–1	36,561	Ferguson, Ball, Weir
14 April 2001	Aston Villa	A	1–2	31,272	Unsworth
16 April 2001	Liverpool	H	2–3	40,260	Ferguson, Unsworth (pen)
21 April 2001	Arsenal	A	1–4	38,029	Campbell
28 April 2001	Bradford City	H	2–1	34,256	Ferguson, Alexandersson
5 May 2001	Chelsea	A	1–2	35,196	Campbell
19 May 2001	Sunderland	H	2–2	37,444	Tal, Ball

FA Cup

Main article: 2000–01 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 2001	Watford	A	2–1	15,645	S Hughes, S Watson
R4	27 January 2001	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–3	39,207

League Cup

Main article: 2000–01 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	20 September 2000	Bristol Rovers	H	1–1	25,564	Campbell
R2 2nd Leg	27 September 2000	Bristol Rovers	A	1–1 (lost 2–4 on pens)	11,045	Jeffers

Squad

^[4] 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 Paul Gerrard 2 DF  ENG Steve Watson 3 DF  ITA Alessandro Pistone 4 DF  SCO Richard Gough (captain) 5 DF  SCO David Weir 6 DF  ENG David Unsworth 7 MF  SWE Niclas Alexandersson 8 MF  GHA Alex Nyarko 9 FW  ENG Kevin Campbell 10 MF  ENG Stephen Hughes 11 MF  WAL Mark Pembridge 12 DF  ENG Michael Ball 13 GK  ENG Steve Simonsen 14 FW  ENG Francis Jeffers 15 DF  SCO Gary Naysmith 16 MF  DEN Thomas Gravesen

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  SCO Scot Gemmill 18 MF  ENG Paul Gascoigne 19 FW  USA Joe-Max Moore 20 DF  SCO Alec Cleland 21 FW  ENG Danny Cadamarteri 22 DF  ENG Dave Watson (captain) 24 FW  SCO Duncan Ferguson 25 DF  DEN Peter Degn 26 FW  ENG Phil Jevons 28 DF  POR Abel Xavier 29 MF  ENG Kevin McLeod 30 DF  ENG Peter Clarke 31 MF  ENG Leon Osman 32 DF  ENG Tony Hibbert 33 MF  ISR Idan Tal 35 GK  NOR Thomas Myhre

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 15 DF  IRL Richard Dunne (to Manchester City) 23 FW  WAL Mark Hughes (to Blackburn Rovers)

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  ENG Jamie Milligan (to Blackpool)

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 — GK  ENG Andy Pettinger — DF  ENG Anthony Gerrard — DF  ENG Sean O'Hanlon — DF  ENG George Pilkington — DF  WAL Michael Price — DF  WAL Ryan Valentine — MF  AUS David Carney — MF  ENG Sean Doherty

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Tom Kearney — MF  IRL John Lester — MF  ENG Matt McKay — MF  ENG Steven Schumacher — MF  ENG Keith Southern — FW  ENG Nick Chadwick — FW  ENG Wayne Rooney — FW  ENG Michael Symes

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Notes
30 June 2000	DF	Alessandro Pistone	Newcastle United	£3,000,000	[5]
1 July 2000	GK	Andy Pettinger	Scunthorpe United	£45,000
4 July 2000	DF	Steve Watson	Aston Villa	£2,500,000	[6]
13 July 2000	MF	Alex Nyarko	RC Lens	£4,500,000	[7]
17 July 2000	MF	Paul Gascoigne	Middlesbrough	Free transfer	[8]
19 July 2000	MF	Niclas Alexandersson	Sheffield Wednesday	£2,500,000	[9]
24 July 2000	MF	Thomas Gravesen	Hamburg	£2,500,000	[10]
17 August 2000	FW	Duncan Ferguson	Newcastle United	£3,750,000	[11]
17 October 2000	DF	Gary Naysmith	Hearts	£1,500,000	[12]
17 October 2000	MF	Idan Tal	Maccabi Petah Tikva	£700,000	[13]

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Notes
9 June 2000	GK	Dean Delany	Port Vale	Free transfer
15 June 2000	DF	Carl Regan	Barnsley	Free transfer
13 July 2000	MF	Mitch Ward	Barnsley	£200,000
14 July 2000	MF	Don Hutchison	Sunderland	£2,500,000
14 July 2000	MF	John Collins	Fulham	£2,000,000
18 July 2000	MF	Nick Barmby	Liverpool	£6,000,000	[14]
16 October 2000	DF	Richard Dunne	Manchester City	£3,000,000	[15]
24 October 2000	MF	Mark Hughes	Blackburn Rovers	Free transfer	[16]
21 March 2001	MF	Jamie Milligan	Blackpool	Free transfer

Transfers in: £20,995,000

Transfers out: £13,700,000

Total spending: £7,295,000

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[17][18]

• GK: #1, Paul Gerrard, 34
• RB: #2, Steve Watson, 38
• CB: #5, David Weir, 39
• CB: #6, David Unsworth, 20
• LB: #12, Michael Ball, 32
• RM: #7, Niclas Alexandersson, 20
• CM: #16, Thomas Gravesen, 33
• LM: #11, Mark Pembridge, 22
• CM: #17, Scot Gemmill, 26
• CF: #9, Kevin Campbell, 29
• CF: #14, Francis Jeffers, 12 (#8, Alex Nyarko, has 21 starts as a central midfielder)