The 1999–2000 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 86th competitive season, eighth consecutive season in the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and 94th year as a club.

Season summary

After a very good third-place finish last season, Chelsea qualified for the Champions League third qualifying round, and were expected to go one better and win the title. France captain Didier Deschamps was signed for £3 million from

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

to add even more quality and experience to a Chelsea midfield that already boasted Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo and Gustavo Poyet. Blackburn Rovers striker

Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundit ...

was also signed for £10 million, but he proved to be a flop with only one league goal all season, which came in a 5-0 drubbing of Man Utd at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. His strike partner, Gianfranco Zola, had a poor league season by his standard, scoring just four goals, but he made up for that by again setting up many more goals for the team. Chelsea opened the season with 4–0 win over newly promoted Sunderland with Gus Poyet scoring a stunning scissors kick goal. Zola, in contrast to his average league form, made Europe sit up and notice as he led Chelsea's Champions league debut appearance in the group stage. Chelsea were drawn against AC Milan, Hertha Berlin and Galatasary with their first game being against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea topped Group H with 11 points after some standout performances, particularly an impressive 5–0 win in Turkey and two creditable draws home and away with AC Milan. Zola scored a spectacular free kick in a 3–1 win over

F.C. Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea were eliminated in the second leg at the Nou Camp. On the Premier league front,

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currently ...

's side finished a solid fifth place in the final table but were too inconsistent to mount anything like a title challenge. Chelsea won their fourth cup in four seasons with a 1–0 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

at Wembley, after

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

dropped the ball from a Chelsea corner allowing Di Matteo to score. Chelsea had the last cup final triumph at the old Wembley stadium before it was rebuilt. Gus Poyet was key during Chelsea's FA cup run, scoring a hat trick against

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

at Boothferry Park in a 6–1 win and netting twice against Newcastle at Wembley. On 26 December 1999, in their 1–2 away win over Southampton, Chelsea became the first team in the Football League history to field a starting eleven without an English player. The squad was made up of: Ed de Goey,

Albert Ferrer Albert Ferrer Llopis (; born 6 June 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back, and was also a coach. Having represented local team Barcelona for almost a decade, he went on to appear for England's Chelsea until his retir ...

Franck Leboeuf Franck Alain James Leboeuf (born 22 January 1968), typically anglicised as Frank Leboeuf, is a French actor, sports commentator and former international footballer who played as a centre-back. With the French national team, Leboeuf won the 199 ...

Emerson Thome Emerson Augusto Thome (born 30 March 1972), also known as Paredão, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a central defender. Career He first came to England towards the end of the 1997–98 season when moving to Sheffield Wednesday fr ...

Celestine Babayaro Celestine Boyd Jonto Hycieth Babayaro (born 29 August 1978) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or a midfielder. Babayaro spent the majority of his career playing in the Premier League, mainly for Chelsea from ...

, Deschamps, Dan Petrescu, Di Matteo, Poyet,

Gabriele Ambrosetti Gabriele Ambrosetti (born 7 August 1973) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a winger. Playing career Born in Varese, Ambrosetti made his professional debut with his hometown club, and later played for several Ita ...

and Tore André Flo.

Final league table

;Results summary ;Results by round

Results

FA Premier League

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

First group stage

Second group stage

Quarter-finals

Football League Cup

FA Cup

First team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Statistics

Statistics taken from. Squad details and shirt numbers from and.

Transfers

In

* Didier Deschamps –

, 13 June, £3,000,000 * Mario Melchiot – Ajax, 14 June, free *

– Blackburn Rovers, 5 July, £10,000,000 *

Jes Høgh Jes Høgh (; born 7 May 1966) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played 57 matches and scored 1 goal for the Denmark national team, and Høgh represented Denmark at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as well as th ...

– Fenerbahçe, 8 July, £300,000 *

– Vicenza, 13 August, £3,500,000 *

Stuart Reddington Stuart Reddington (born 21 February 1978) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of Lincoln United. He played as a defender and was notably contracted to Premier League side Chelsea, but fail ...

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since thei ...

, 26 August, £75,000 *

– Sheffield Wednesday, 23 December, £2,500,000 * George Weah – Milan 11 January, Loan

Out

* Brian Laudrup - Ajax, 14 June, £2,000,000 * Dmitri Kharine –

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, 22 June, free *

Eddie Newton Edward John Ikem Newton (born 13 December 1971) is an English football manager and former professional Association football, footballer. As a player, he was a defensive midfielder from 1990 until 2001 notably for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea where ...

– Birmingham City, 2 July, free *

Andy Myers Andrew John Myers (born 3 November 1973) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is a loan player technical coach at Premier League club Chelsea. As a player, he was a defender notably in the Premier League with C ...

–

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, 8 July, £800,000 *

Michael Duberry Michael Wayne Duberry (born 14 October 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He started his career with Premier League side Chelsea, and also played in the top flight for Leeds United and Reading, and i ...

– Leeds United, 9 July, £4,500,000 * Steve Hampshire - Dunfermline Athletic, 7 January, free *

Bjarne Goldbæk Bjarne Goldbæk (born 6 October 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer and current sports pundit for Eurosport. An attacking midfielder, he played for a number of foreign clubs, including Chelsea and Fulham in England and several clubs ...

–

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, 15 January, £650,000 *

Joe Sheerin Joe Sheerin (born 8 November 1977 in Hammersmith, London) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Premier League for Chelsea and in the Football League for AFC Bournemouth. Career Sheerin began his career as a trainee wit ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

, 26 February, free * Paul Hughes - Southampton, 23 March, free

References

External links

Chelsea FC Official Website

Chelsea FC on Soccerbase

Chelsea FC on BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 Chelsea F.C. season Chelsea F.C. seasons Chelsea