1999–2000 Southampton F.C. Season

The 1999–2000 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 99th season of competitive football, their 30th (and 22nd consecutive) in the top flight of English football, and their eighth in the FA Premier League. After securing their Premier League survival on the final day of the previous season, the Saints fared slightly better in 1999–2000 as the club finished 15th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone. Outside the league, they reached the fourth round of both the FA Cup and the League Cup. 1999–2000 was Southampton's last season to feature Dave Jones as manager – he was suspended in January 2000 whilst facing charges of child abuse in a previous job, with Glenn Hoddle taking his place temporarily. Although the case against Jones was dismissed, Hoddle remained in charge after the season ended.

After barely retaining their top-flight status the year before, Southampton made two key signings in the summer of 1999, bringing in centre-back Dean Richards and midfielder Trond Egil Soltvedt. They also re-signed striker Kevin Davies, who returned from Blackburn Rovers in exchange for Egil Østenstad, the previous season's top scorer. Other new arrivals throughout the season included Portuguese winger Luís Boa Morte, Norwegian midfielder Jo Tessem, Latvian midfielder Imants Bleidelis, and Moroccan defender Tahar El Khalej. The club picked up regular victories throughout the campaign, remaining clear of the bottom three of the league table for the whole year. Their form was slightly better under Hoddle when he took over as manager, with their FA Premier League status for 2000–01 confirmed with five games left to play.

Outside the league, Southampton improved on their previous season's performances in both the FA Cup and the League Cup. In the former, the Saints made it past First Division promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town in the third round with a slender 1–0 victory. They were knocked out in the fourth round by the same scoreline at the hands of Aston Villa, who would end the season in the top six of the FA Premier League. In the League Cup, Southampton beat Manchester City in the second round, winning the second leg 4–3 after extra time following a goalless first leg. In the third round, they beat FA Premier League high-flyers Liverpool 2–1, thanks to a last-minute goal from Trond Egil Soltvedt. They were eliminated in the fourth round by Aston Villa, who beat the Saints 4–0 just over a month before also eliminating them from the FA Cup.

Southampton used 29 players during the 1999–2000 season and had 15 different goalscorers. Latvian striker Marians Pahars finished as the club's top goalscorer for the first time, scoring 13 goals in the FA Premier League – more than twice as many as the second-highest scorer, Kevin Davies, on six league goals. Dean Richards made the most appearances for the side during his first of two seasons at the club, playing in 40 of the team's 44 fixtures across all competitions, and was named Southampton F.C. Player of the Season at the end of the campaign. The average league attendance at The Dell during 1999–2000 was 15,132. The highest attendance was 15,257 against West Ham United in February (Hoddle's first game in charge) and the lowest was 10,960 against Manchester City in the League Cup in September.

Background and transfers

Having spent much of the previous season on loan at the club, in the summer of 1999 striker Steve Basham left Southampton to join Preston North End in the Second Division for a fee of £200,000. Danish goalkeeper Michael Stensgaard, who had joined from Copenhagen just seven months earlier, returned to his former club having failed to make an appearance for the Saints. The club's sole signings prior to the start of the league season were defenders Bruno Leal and Dean Richards, who arrived from Portuguese side Sporting and First Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively, on free transfers. The day after the second game in the league, Southampton signed Norwegian attacking midfielder Trond Egil Soltvedt from Coventry City for £300,000. He was followed just under a week later by striker Kevin Davies, who returned to the club having left for Blackburn Rovers the previous summer for a Saints record fee of £7.5 million; in exchange, Southampton's 1998–99 top scorer Egil Østenstad moved to the recently relegated Rovers. Ken Monkou left on the same day to join second-flight side Huddersfield Town on a free transfer, while Portuguese winger Luís Boa Morte arrived from Arsenal for a fee of £500,000 a week later.

Changes to the squad continued throughout much of the season. During September, the club sent Kevin Gibbens, Garry Monk, Andy Williams and Shayne Bradley all out on loans – all but Bradley to Stockport County, Bradley to Exeter City. Williams' loan was made permanent at the beginning of October. That same month, John Beresford was loaned out to Birmingham City, while Scott Marshall was loaned out – and eventually sold, for £250,000 – to Brentford. In November, Richard Dryden was sent out on loan to Stoke City, where he would spend much of the rest of the season over two separate spells. Also in November, the club made their sixth signing of the season when they brought in Norwegian midfielder Jo Tessem from Molde, against whom they'd played in pre-season, for £600,000. December saw the £50,000 sale of Scott Hiley to local rivals Portsmouth, as well as the cancellation of a season-long loan deal for Portuguese centre-back Marco Almeida, who had made just one substitute appearance for the club since arriving in July.

In January, striker David Hirst was forced to retire from professional football due to a knee injury he had picked up during the 1998–99 pre-season period. He subsequently joined Sheffield-based non-league side Brunsmeer Athletic. The next month, following extended negotiations to secure a work permit, Latvian winger Imants Bleidelis joined from Skonto – the same club from which the Saints signed Marians Pahars a year earlier – for £600,000. In March, striker Mark Hughes was offloaded to Everton on a free transfer after a disappointing 20-month stay at the club which delivered only two goals. Moroccan centre-back Tahar El Khalej joined from Benfica the same month, as did free midfielder Paul Hughes, who had played under Hoddle at Chelsea. Dryden started his second loan spell at Stoke City just before the transfer deadline, remaining until the end of the season.

Players transferred in

Players transferred out

Players loaned in

Players loaned out

Pre-season friendlies

Ahead of the 1999–2000 season, Southampton played seven pre-season friendlies. In the first two, the club faced Isthmian League side Aldershot Town and Conference side Kingstonian on the same day in July, winning 3–2 and 2–1, respectively. A few days later, they faced three local sides as part of a short Norwegian tour, winning 3–1 against Førde, drawing 1–1 with Molde, and losing 1–3 to Viking. Another defeat in Europe, 0–1 at Belgian side Lierse, was followed by a 3–0 win over Second Division side Reading, with Matt Le Tissier and Egil Østenstad (two) on the scoresheet for the visitors.

FA Premier League

For the first time since the 1988–89 season, Southampton won their opening league fixture at the start of the 1999–2000 campaign, beating Coventry City 1–0 at Highfield Road thanks to a late goal from the previous season's top scorer, Egil Østenstad. They lost their first home game 0–3 to Leeds United four days later, with Michael Bridges scoring a hat-trick. This was followed by a second win from three when the Saints beat Newcastle United 4–2 at home, with second-half goals from Hassan Kachloul (two), Marians Pahars and Mark Hughes sending the South Coast side to 6th in the league table. Following the sale of Østenstad to Blackburn Rovers in exchange for the return of Kevin Davies, Southampton lost 1–4 at Everton but beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–0 at home to see out August. The side sat 9th in the table at the end of the month.

The club's form dipped dramatically starting in September, when they lost 2–3 at Middlesbrough and 0–1 at home to Arsenal. In the first game, new winger Luís Boa Morte was sent off in his debut for the club, after which the hosts overturned Southampton's 2–1 lead to make the most of the advantage; in the second, the tie was decided by Thierry Henry's first league goal for the Gunners, scored when he beat another debutant, loanee Marco Almeida, who was ultimately making his only appearance for the club. Two 3–3 draws followed, against defending league champions Manchester United at Old Trafford and at home to Derby County, the latter of which saw the Saints "carelessly surrender" the win by conceding twice late on. The winless run continued through October, as Southampton lost 1–2 at Leicester City, before sacrificing another four points from winning positions when they drew 1–1 with both Liverpool and Wimbledon. A first win in eight games, a late 1–0 victory over Aston Villa, ensured that the side held their position at 14th place in the table.

Southampton saw out 1999 with another poor run of form, failing to pick up a win in their last seven games of the calendar year. The only point they picked up during this period was in a goalless draw at home to Coventry City at the beginning of December. The first two games after the win over Aston Villa saw the Saints ending with ten men and conceding late goals – in a home tie against Tottenham Hotspur, they conceded in the 81st minute before Claus Lundekvam was sent off in the penultimate minute; and in an away trip to Leeds United, they saw Patrick Colleter dismissed in the 88th minute before conceding the only goal of the game in the 90th. Other defeats were faced at the hands of two sides recently promoted to the Premier League, as the Saints lost 0–2 at Sunderland and 2–3 at Watford. Against the third promoted side, Bradford City, Southampton won 1–0 at The Dell in their opening game of 2000, which helped them stay clear of the relegation zone at the Bantams' expense.

After picking up their first win in two months over Bradford City, Southampton faced their joint-heaviest defeat of the season at Newcastle United, who were just one place above them in the table at the time. Trailing 0–2 within three minutes, the Saints conceded two own goals courtesy of Richard Dryden and Garry Monk either side of half time to complete a 0–5 thrashing at St James' Park. This was followed by a 2–0 home win over Everton, who had been unbeaten in eight games. The win marked the last match to feature Dave Jones as manager, who was given a one-year leave of absence and replaced by Glenn Hoddle on 28 January. Jones' future with the club had been in doubt since the beginning of the season, when he had first been charged with offences against children allegedly committed during his time working in a children's home after his retirement from playing. In a statement about the change in manager, Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe assured fans that Jones had not been fired, but instead given a year away to "concentrate fully on his defence and the clearing of his name". Jones was ultimately cleared of all allegations in December 2000, although he did not return to Southampton and had his contract "paid up" by the club.

Hoddle's first two games as Southampton manager saw the club picking up their first consecutive wins of the campaign, following the Everton victory with a 2–1 win over West Ham United and a 1–0 win over bottom-placed Sheffield Wednesday. The side began to flounder again, however, with defeats at Arsenal and West Ham flanking a 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough which left the club 16th in the league table. This was followed by the club's joint-heaviest defeat of the campaign and their second game in successive seasons conceding seven goals, when they lost 2–7 to Tottenham Hotspur. The game started well for the Saints, with Jo Tessem opening the scoring in the 26th minute, although it was quickly 1–1 thanks to a Dean Richards own goal; debutant Tahar El Khalej put the visitors ahead again 12 minutes before half-time, but by the break it was 4–2 to Spurs when Darren Anderton, Chris Armstrong and Steffen Iversen all scored in quick succession. In the second half, Armstrong doubled his tally and Iversen completed a hat-trick.

Now just four points clear of the relegation zone, the Saints picked up a 2–0 win over Aston Villa and gained a point at 4th-place Chelsea to move up to 15th in the table, eight points clear of the bottom three, where they would remain for the remainder of the season. They continued to pick up points against fellow strugglers, beating Bradford City 2–1 thanks to a goal from Pahars within 30 seconds of coming on as a substitute, and winning 2–0 against bottom-placed Watford. A poor run of results at the end of April saw Southampton lose 1–3 at home to Manchester United (who secured their second consecutive league title as a result), 0–2 at Derby County (who were just one place below the Saints), and 1–2 at home to Leicester City (in which Richards was sent off in the final minute). The club had already secured its Premier League status for another season, but picked up four points from their last two games to secure their 15th-place finish, drawing 0–0 with Liverpool at Anfield before beating Wimbledon 2–0 on the final day, in which Wayne Bridge scored his first senior goal.

List of match results

Final league table

Results by matchday

FA Cup

Southampton entered the 1999–2000 FA Cup in the third round against First Division side Ipswich Town, who were tipped for – and ultimately achieved – promotion to the FA Premier League at the end of the season. Both sides had chances to open the scoring early on, but it was the visiting Saints who broke the deadlock just before half-time when Dean Richards headed in a free kick from Jo Tessem to put his side 1–0 up. After the break, Southampton continued to enjoy the majority of chances, with Richards coming close to doubling their lead on 65 minutes when he headed in from a corner, but hit the crossbar. Advancing to the fourth round, the Saints faced league rivals Aston Villa, who had knocked them out of the League Cup with a 4–0 thrashing just over a month before. In a game described by club historians as a "dismal afternoon", the Saints struggled to gain any momentum in the tie and conceded the only goal of the game after 20 minutes, when centre-back Gareth Southgate headed in a Paul Merson free kick.

League Cup

Southampton entered the 1999–2000 League Cup in the second round, drawn against Manchester City, who were on their way to automatic promotion back to the FA Premier League as First Division runners-up. After a goalless first leg at Maine Road, the Saints edged through the return leg 4–3 after extra time. After Paul Dickov put City 1–0 up within ten minutes, Jason Dodd equalised five minutes later from the penalty spot following a foul on Trond Egil Soltvedt. Either side of the half-time break, Matt Oakley made it 2–1 and then 3–1, before a late brace from Shaun Goater forced an extra 30 minutes. Just after the restart, Dean Richards scored from a Matt Le Tissier corner to send the hosts through. In the third round, Southampton hosted Liverpool, beating the Reds 2–1 thanks to a last-minute winner from Soltvedt after second-half goals from Michael Owen and Richards. Another FA Premier League side, Aston Villa, hosted the Saints in the fourth round, less than a month after the South Coast side had beaten them 1–0 at Villa Park in the league. Fortunes were dramatically reversed in the cup, however, as Villa won 4–0 thanks to goals from Steve Watson, Julian Joachim and Dion Dublin (two).

Player details

Southampton used 29 players during the 1999–2000 season, 15 of whom scored during the campaign. Seven players made their debut appearances for the club, including six of their ten first team signings ( Marco Almeida, Luís Boa Morte, Tahar El Khalej, Dean Richards, Trond Egil Soltvedt, and Jo Tessem) and one signing from the previous season (Dani Rodrigues). Three of these – Almeida, Boa Morte, and Rodrigues – also made their last appearances for the Saints during the campaign, as did mid-season departees Scott Hiley, Mark Hughes, Egil Østenstad, plus three players sold the following season ( Shayne Bradley, Richard Dryden, and Patrick Colleter), and one forced to retire the next season ( John Beresford). New centre-back Richards made the most appearances for Southampton during the season, playing in 40 of the side's 44 games across all three competitions. Marians Pahars, who made the second-most appearances on 38 in all competitions, finished as the club's top goalscorer in his first full season at the club, with 13 goals in the league. Richards won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award for the 1999–2000 season.

Squad statistics

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

References

Bibliography

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External links

Southampton F.C. official website

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Southampton F.C. seasons
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