# 2000–01 Ipswich Town F.C. season

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
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.

## Competitions
### FA Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 |
| 4 | Leeds United | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 68 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Ipswich Town | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 66 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Chelsea | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 68 | 45 | +23 | 61 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Sunderland | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 57 | |
* 1 2 Since Liverpool won the League Cup and qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place went to fifth-placed Ipswich Town. Since both FA Cup finalists, Liverpool and Arsenal, qualified for the Champions League, the berth in the UEFA Cup went to sixth-placed Chelsea. Both Ipswich and Chelsea were the highest-ranked team not already qualified for a European competition.

##### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | W | L | L | W | D | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | D | W | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | W | D |
| Position | 18 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |

#### Matches

Ipswich Town's season results  Win  Draw  Loss  Upcoming fixture

### Football League Cup
## Transfers
### Transfers in

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

### Loans in

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

### Transfers out

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

### Loans out

| Date from | Pos | Name | From | Date until |
| 25 August 2000 | DF | Jean-Manuel Thetis | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 12 September 2000 |
| 25 January 2001 | FW | Richard Logan | Cambridge United | 25 February 2001 |
| 9 February 2001 | DF | Steven Moffat | Chelmsford City | 7 March 2001 |
| 2 March 2001 | DF | Amir Karić | Crystal Palace | 15 March 2001 |
| 20 March 2001 | DF | Wayne Brown | Queens Park Rangers | 7 May 2001 |
    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 | Total | FA Premier League | FA Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Richard Wright | 44 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | NED | Fabian Wilnis | 37 | 2 | 27+2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | John McGreal | 34 | 1 | 25+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 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 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Jamie Clapham | 44 | 3 | 28+7 | 2 | 0+2 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 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 |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Marcus Stewart | 41 | 21 | 33+1 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | James Scowcroft | 43 | 6 | 22+12 | 4 | 1+1 | 0 | 5+2 | 2 |
| 21 | GK | IRL | Keith Branagan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Mark Venus | 29 | 4 | 23+2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 34 | FW | ENG | Alun Armstrong | 23 | 8 | 15+6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | NED | Martijn Reuser | 34 | 6 | 13+13 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | ENG | Chris Makin | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Gary Croft | 13 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | ENG | Richard Naylor | 16 | 2 | 5+8 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | SCO | Mark Burchill | 7 | 1 | 2+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | John Scales | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | SVN | Amir Karić | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | NED | Nabil Abidallah | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Richard Logan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 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 |
* Source: Competitions

### 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 | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | 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 | Total | Total | 13 | 1 | 2 | 16 |

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Name | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | 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 | Total | Total | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 39 | 2 |

### Starting 11

    Considering starts in all competitions
| No. | Pos. | Name | MS | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Richard Wright | 44 | |
| 2 | RB | Fabian Wilnis | 34 | |
| 19 | CB | Titus Bramble | 29 | Mark Venus has 27 starts |
| 4 | CB | John McGreal | 31 | |
| 32 | LB | Hermann Hreiðarsson | 44 | |
| 14 | RM | Jermaine Wright | 42 | |
| 8 | CM | Matt Holland | 46 | |
| 7 | CM | Jim Magilton | 39 | |
| 3 | LM | Jamie Clapham | 35 | |
| 11 | CF | Marcus Stewart | 38 | |
| 10 | CF | James Scowcroft | 28 | |
* 4–4–2 Formation
* Wright
* Wilnis
* Bramble
* McGreal
* Hreiðarsson
* Holland(C)
* Clapham
* Magilton
* Wright
* Stewart
* Scowcroft

## Awards
### Player of the Year

| Player | Ref |
| Marcus Stewart | |

### Premier League Manager of the Month

| Month | Player | Ref |
| November | George Burley | |

### Premier League Manager of the Year

| Player | Ref |
| George Burley | |

### LMA Manager of the Year

| Player | Ref |
| George Burley | |