2000–01 Ipswich Town F.C. season

Ipswich Town

2000–01 season
Chairman	David Sheepshanks
Manager	George Burley
Stadium	Portman Road
Premier League	5th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Marcus Stewart (19) All: Marcus Stewart (21)
Highest home attendance	25,004 (vs Manchester City, 7 May 2001, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	13,008 (vs Millwall, 26 September 2000, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	22,524
Home colours Away colours
← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

The 2000–01 season was the 122nd season of competitive association football and fourth season in the Premier League played by Ipswich Town, an English football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Their third-place finish in the Football League First Division in 1999–2000 season and victory in the play-off finals secured Ipswich Town a place in the Premier League. The season covers the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001.

Season summary

Tipped by many to go straight back down to Division One after winning promotion, Ipswich quickly wowed the Premiership with an unlikely challenge among the top six. For much of the season, it looked like they would finish in the top three and qualify for the European Cup for the first time in nearly 40 years. In the end, a 2–1 defeat at Charlton Athletic ended such hopes with two games left and they finished fifth, just four points adrift of second-placed Arsenal and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since 1982. Manager George Burley was then voted "Manager of the Year" by his colleagues.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. 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  ENG John McGreal 6 DF  ENG Mark Venus 7 MF  NIR Jim Magilton 8 MF  IRL Matt Holland (captain) 10 FW  ENG James Scowcroft 11 FW  ENG Marcus Stewart 12 FW  ENG Richard Naylor 14 MF  ENG Jermaine Wright

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ENG John Scales 16 DF  ENG Gary Croft 19 DF  ENG Titus Bramble 21 GK  IRL Keith Branagan 30 MF  NED Martijn Reuser 32 DF  ISL Hermann Hreiðarsson 33 DF  SVN Amir Karić 34 FW  ENG Alun Armstrong 35 FW  SCO Mark Burchill (on loan from Celtic) 36 DF  ENG Chris Makin

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 FW  JAM David Johnson (to Nottingham Forest) 17 DF  ENG Wayne Brown (on loan to Queens Park Rangers) 18 DF  FRA Jean-Manuel Thetis (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  SCO Stuart Niven (to Barnet) 24 FW  ENG Neil Midgley (to Barnet)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 GK  ENG Mike Salmon 20 FW  ENG Richard Logan 23 FW  NIR Sean Friars 25 MF  ENG Ashley Nicholls 26 GK  ENG James Pullen 27 FW  NED Guillermo Graaven 28 MF  NED Nabil Abidallah

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 DF  RSA Justin Miller 31 DF  SCO Stephen Moffatt — DF  ENG Lee Beevers — MF  ENG Matt Bloomfield — MF  ENG Matthew Robinson — MF  ENG Ian Westlake — FW  ENG Darren Bent

Pre-season

Ipswich spent time on a pre-season tour of the Baltic states during the club's pre-season preparations for the 2000–01 season, playing friendly matches against Finnish side Vaasan Palloseura, Estonian side FC Flora and Latvian side Riga.^[2]

Competitions

FA Premier League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Liverpool	38	20	9	9	71	39	+32	69	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round[a]
4	Leeds United	38	20	8	10	64	43	+21	68	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[a]
5	Ipswich Town	38	20	6	12	57	42	+15	66
6	Chelsea	38	17	10	11	68	45	+23	61
7	Sunderland	38	15	12	11	46	41	+5	57

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	20	6	12	57	42	+15	66	11	5	3	31	15	+16	9	1	9	26	27	−1

Results by round

Matches

Ipswich Town's season results^[3]

August

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Ref
23 June 2000	MF	Martijn Reuser	Ajax	£1,000,000	[4]
5 July 2000	DF	John Scales	Tottenham Hotspur	Free transfer	[5]
8 July 2000	MF	Nabil Abidallah	Ajax	Free transfer	[6]
8 July 2000	FW	Guillermo Graaven	Ajax	Free transfer	[6]
18 August 2000	DF	Hermann Hreiðarsson	Wimbledon	£4,000,000	[7]
18 September 2000	DF	Amir Karić	NK Maribor	£700,000	[8]
7 December 2000	FW	Alun Armstrong	Middlesbrough	£500,000	[9]
7 March 2001	DF	Chris Makin	Sunderland	£1,250,000	[10]

Loans in

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
20 February 2001	FW	Mark Burchill	Celtic	30 June 2001	[11]

Transfers out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Ref
1 June 2000	MF	Marco Holster	Go Ahead Eagles	Free transfer	[12]
1 July 2000	MF	John Kennedy	Free agent	Released	[13]
23 July 2000	MF	Mick Stockwell	Colchester United	Free transfer	[14]
22 August 2000	FW	Jonas Axeldal	Cambridge United	Free transfer	[15]
29 September 2000	MF	Stuart Niven	Barnet	Free transfer	[16]
4 January 2001	DF	Jean-Manuel Thetis	Free agent	Mutual consent	[17]
12 January 2001	FW	David Johnson	Nottingham Forest	£3,500,000	[18]
22 March 2001	MF	Neil Midgley	Barnet	Free transfer	[16]

Loans out

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
25 August 2000	DF	Jean-Manuel Thetis	Wolverhampton Wanderers	12 September 2000	[19]
25 January 2001	FW	Richard Logan	Cambridge United	25 February 2001	[20]
9 February 2001	DF	Steven Moffat	Chelmsford City	7 March 2001	[21]
2 March 2001	DF	Amir Karić	Crystal Palace	15 March 2001	[22]
20 March 2001	DF	Wayne Brown	Queens Park Rangers	7 May 2001	[23]

Transfers in: £6,950,000

Transfers out: £3,500,000

Total spending: £3,450,000

Squad statistics

All statistics updated as of end of season

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright	44	0	36	0	2	0	6	0
21	GK	IRL	Keith Branagan	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	NED	Fabian Wilnis	37	2	27+2	2	2	0	5+1	0
3	DF	ENG	Jamie Clapham	44	3	28+7	2	0+2	0	7	1
4	DF	ENG	John McGreal	34	1	25+3	1	1	0	5	0
6	DF	ENG	Mark Venus	29	4	23+2	3	1	0	3	1
15	DF	ENG	John Scales	4	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
16	DF	ENG	Gary Croft	13	0	6+2	0	1	0	3+1	0
19	DF	ENG	Titus Bramble	33	3	23+3	1	2	0	4+1	2
32	DF	ISL	Hermann Hreiðarsson	45	1	35+1	1	2	0	7	0
33	DF	SVN	Amir Karić	3	0	0	0	0	0	0+3	0
36	DF	ENG	Chris Makin	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF	NIR	Jim Magilton	41	2	32+1	1	1+1	0	6	1
8	MF	IRL	Matt Holland	47	5	38	3	2	0	6+1	2
14	MF	ENG	Jermaine Wright	46	3	35+2	2	2	1	5+2	0
28	MF	NED	Nabil Abidallah	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	NED	Martijn Reuser	34	6	13+13	6	1	0	3+4	0
Forwards
10	FW	ENG	James Scowcroft	43	6	22+12	4	1+1	0	5+2	2
11	FW	ENG	Marcus Stewart	41	21	33+1	19	2	1	3+2	1
12	FW	ENG	Richard Naylor	16	2	5+8	2	0+1	0	1+1	0
20	FW	ENG	Richard Logan	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
34	FW	ENG	Alun Armstrong	23	8	15+6	7	2	1	0	0
35	FW	SCO	Mark Burchill	7	1	2+5	1	0	0	0	0
Players transferred/loaned out during the season
9	FW	JAM	David Johnson	19	3	6+8	0	0	0	5	3
17	DF	ENG	Wayne Brown	4	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
11	FW		Marcus Stewart	19	1	1	21
34	FW		Alun Armstrong	7	1	0	8
10	FW		James Scowcroft	4	0	2	6
30	MF		Martijn Reuser	6	0	0	6
8	MF		Matt Holland	3	0	2	5
6	DF		Mark Venus	3	0	1	4
3	MF		Jamie Clapham	2	0	1	3
9	FW		David Johnson	0	0	3	3
14	MF		Jermaine Wright	2	1	0	3
19	DF		Titus Bramble	1	0	2	3
2	DF		Fabian Wilnis	2	0	0	2
7	MF		Jim Magilton	1	0	1	2
12	FW		Richard Naylor	2	0	0	2
4	DF		John McGreal	1	0	0	1
32	DF		Hermann Hreiðarsson	1	0	0	1
35	FW		Mark Burchill	1	0	0	1
Own goal				2	0	0	2
Total				57	3	13	73

Clean sheets

Number	Nation	Name	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		Richard Wright	12	1	2	15
21		Keith Branagan	1	0	0	1
Total			13	1	2	16

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
2	DF	Fabian Wilnis	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
3	MF	Jamie Clapham	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF	John McGreal	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	1
6	DF	Mark Venus	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
7	MF	Jim Magilton	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
11	FW	Marcus Stewart	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
12	FW	Richard Naylor	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
14	MF	Jermaine Wright	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
15	DF	John Scales	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
16	DF	Gary Croft	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
19	DF	Titus Bramble	6	0	1	0	1	0	8	0
30	MF	Martijn Reuser	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
32	DF	Hermann Hreiðarsson	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
33	DF	Amir Karić	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
36	DF	Chris Makin	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total			31	2	2	0	6	0	39	2

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[24]

Awards

Player of the Year

Player	Ref
Marcus Stewart	[25]

Premier League Manager of the Month

Month	Player	Ref
November	George Burley	[26]

Premier League Manager of the Year

Player	Ref
George Burley	[26]

LMA Manager of the Year

Player	Ref
George Burley	[27]

References