# 1999–2000 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

This page documents Huddersfield Town's 1999–2000 season.
Following the sacking of Peter Jackson at the end of the previous season, owner Barry Rubery hired Steve Bruce as his replacement, and Huddersfield finished in 8th place in Division One that season, just 2 points outside the play-offs. This season also saw Town beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup.

## Squad at the start of the 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 | BEL | Nico Vaesen |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Steve Jenkins |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Jamie Vincent |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Craig Armstrong |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Chris Lucketti |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Kevin Gray |
| 7 | MF | GRE | Giorgos Donis |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Kenny Irons |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Marcus Stewart |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Scott Sellars |
| 11 | FW | SUR | Clyde Wijnhard |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Ben Thornley |
| 13 | GK | WAL | Martyn Margetson |
| 14 | MF | WAL | Barry Horne |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Rob Edwards |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Simon Baldry |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Darren Edmondson |
| 19 | MF | ENG | David Beresford |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Wayne Allison |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Jon Dyson |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Chris Beech |
| 37 | DF | ENG | Steve Baker (on loan from Middlesbrough) |

## Review

Rubery and managing director Ian Ayre talked up the side's chances of promotion, pointing to the acquisition of the high-profile Steve Bruce as a clear indication of their ambition. More serious investment brought the likes of Clyde Wijnhard, Chris Lucketti, Giorgos Donis, Scott Sellars, Kenny Irons, Ken Monkou and Dean Gorré to the club. The Terriers tore up the Division for the first few months playing attractive attacking football in the 7–1 annihilation of Crystal Palace (their best league result for 20 years), plus notable wins over rivals Ipswich Town, recently relegated Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest. During October and November, Town won 6 games in a row, a best for 17 years. In early October, the side even scored a famous 1–0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup and were widely considered to be 'the best Town side in 30 years'. They lost to fellow Premier League side Wimbledon in the next round.
By Christmas time, Town were top of the table, but the loss of key defenders Steve Jenkins, Chris Lucketti, Ken Monkou and David May (who only made one appearance for Town because of injury) all suffered injuries at the wrong time. At the turn of the year, with the side suffering a blip in form, manager Bruce accepted the BBC's offer to cover previous club Manchester United's involvement in the much-derided FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. With Town's form suffering, his popularity with the club's supporters plummeted. A run of 2 wins in 13 games didn't help things much either. Also during that run star striker Marcus Stewart was surprisingly sold to fellow 1st Division side Ipswich Town for a record fee of £2.75million. Less than a month later, he scored Ipswich's winning goal in a 2-1 win between the sides at Portman Road. Town signed Sheffield United's striker Martin Smith. Following that dreadful run Town went on a run of 6 games unbeaten, which saw Town on the verge of a play-off place with 4 games left.
After losing 3-0 at home to fellow play-off contenders Bolton Wanderers, they beat relegated Port Vale, meaning Town would get a play-off spot by winning their last 2 games at home to Stockport County and away to Fulham at Craven Cottage, but instead they lost them 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. In the end, if they won either of those last 2 games they would have got a play-off place.

## Squad at the end of the 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 | BEL | Nico Vaesen |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Steve Jenkins |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Jamie Vincent |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Craig Armstrong |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Chris Lucketti |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Kevin Gray |
| 7 | MF | GRE | Giorgos Donis |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Kenny Irons |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Martin Smith |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Scott Sellars |
| 11 | FW | SUR | Clyde Wijnhard |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Ben Thornley |
| 13 | GK | WAL | Martyn Margetson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Alun Armstrong (on loan from Middlesbrough) |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Rob Edwards |
| 16 | FW | GRN | Delroy Facey |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Simon Baldry |
| 18 | FW | SCO | Chris Hay |
| 19 | MF | ENG | David Beresford |
| 20 | DF | IRL | Thomas Heary |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Jon Dyson |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Chris Beech |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Chris Holland |
| 38 | DF | SUR | Ken Monkou |
| 39 | FW | THA | Kiatisuk Senamuang |
| 40 | MF | SUR | Dean Gorré |

## Results
### Division One

| Date | Opponents | Home/ Away | Result F - A | Scorers | Attendance | Position |
| 7 August 1999 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1 - 3 | Wijnhard [65] | 13,642 | 21st |
| 13 August 1999 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 3 - 2 | Grayson [26 (og)], Stewart [51], Edwards [90] | 13,670 | 7th |
| 21 August 1999 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0 - 1 | | 6,728 | 18th |
| 28 August 1999 | Crystal Palace | H | 7 - 1 | Beech [18], Wijnhard [25, 60, 64], Irons [36], Stewart [47, 74] | 10,656 | 7th |
| 30 August 1999 | Portsmouth | A | 0 - 0 | | 13,105 | 7th |
| 11 September 1999 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1 - 0 | Stewart [60 (pen)] | 20,385 | 5th |
| 18 September 1999 | Norwich City | H | 1 - 0 | Wijnhard [51] | 12,823 | 4th |
| 25 September 1999 | Barnsley | A | 2 - 4 | Monkou [19], Stewart [71] | 17,765 | 6th |
| 2 October 1999 | Sheffield United | H | 4 - 1 | Beech [14], Wijnhard [28], Stewart [57, 90] | 14,238 | 6th |
| 9 October 1999 | Port Vale | H | 2 - 2 | Stewart [2 (pen)], Irons [30] | 11,885 | 6th |
| 16 October 1999 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0 - 1 | | 16,603 | 7th |
| 19 October 1999 | Stockport County | A | 1 - 1 | Sellars [89] | 7,305 | 8th |
| 23 October 1999 | Fulham | H | 1 - 1 | Wijnhard [75] | 13,350 | 8th |
| 26 October 1999 | Barnsley | H | 2 - 1 | Wijnhard [13], Baldry [89] | 15,764 | 5th |
| 30 October 1999 | Sheffield United | A | 1 - 0 | Dyson [51] | 14,928 | 5th |
| 2 November 1999 | Ipswich Town | H | 3 - 1 | Dyson [37], Beech [48], Stewart [57] | 12,093 | 3rd |
| 6 November 1999 | Swindon Town | H | 4 - 0 | Beech [9], Thornley [35], Gorré [57, 63] | 11,891 | 3rd |
| 14 November 1999 | Nottingham Forest | A | 3 - 1 | Wijnhard [22, 63], Gray [34] | 15,258 | 3rd |
| 20 November 1999 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1 - 0 | Gorré [55] | 14,244 | 2nd |
| 23 November 1999 | Walsall | A | 0 - 2 | | 5,860 | 3rd |
| 27 November 1999 | Manchester City | A | 1 - 0 | Beech [51] | 32,936 | 2nd |
| 4 December 1999 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1 - 0 | Wijnhard [31] | 13,027 | 1st |
| 18 December 1999 | Grimsby Town | H | 3 - 1 | Wijnhard [6, 25], Stewart [63] | 14,065 | 1st |
| 26 December 1999 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1 - 1 | Beech [47] | 8,106 | 2nd |
| 28 December 1999 | Charlton Athletic | H | 1 - 2 | Stewart [80] | 17,415 | 2nd |
| 3 January 2000 | Birmingham City | A | 0 - 1 | | 19,958 | 5th |
| 15 January 2000 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0 - 2 | | 21,420 | 5th |
| 22 January 2000 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1 - 0 | Stewart [12] | 12,653 | 5th |
| 29 January 2000 | Crystal Palace | A | 2 - 2 | Stewart [34, 41] | 14,290 | 5th |
| 5 February 2000 | Portsmouth | H | 0 - 1 | | 12,753 | 5th |
| 12 February 2000 | Ipswich Town | A | 1 - 2 | Gorré [56] | 21,233 | 5th |
| 18 February 2000 | Manchester City | H | 1 - 1 | Wijnhard [32] | 18,173 | 5th |
| 26 February 2000 | Norwich City | A | 1 - 1 | Vincent [65] | 16,464 | 5th |
| 4 March 2000 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2 - 0 | Smith [20, 34] | 17,214 | 6th |
| 7 March 2000 | Swindon Town | A | 0 - 2 | | 4,701 | 6th |
| 11 March 2000 | Walsall | H | 1 - 1 | Smith [78] | 12,424 | 6th |
| 18 March 2000 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1 - 0 | Smith [22] | 15,484 | 6th |
| 21 March 2000 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2 - 1 | Beech [27], Holland [56] | 12,893 | 6th |
| 25 March 2000 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 3 - 0 | Gray [14], Beech [53, 79] | 14,014 | 5th |
| 1 April 2000 | Grimsby Town | A | 0 - 0 | | 6,993 | 6th |
| 8 April 2000 | Birmingham City | H | 0 - 0 | | 16,961 | 6th |
| 14 April 2000 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1 - 0 | Wijnhard [25] | 19,739 | 5th |
| 22 April 2000 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0 - 3 | | 16,404 | 6th |
| 24 April 2000 | Port Vale | A | 2 - 1 | Vincent [8], Irons [54 (pen)] | 5,828 | 6th |
| 29 April 2000 | Stockport County | H | 0 - 2 | | 14,046 | 6th |
| 7 May 2000 | Fulham | A | 0 - 3 | | 13,728 | 8th |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | Home/ Away | Result F - A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 12 December 1999 | Third round | Liverpool | H | 0–2 | | 23,678 |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | Home/ Away | Result F - A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 10 August 1999 | First round first Leg | Scunthorpe United | A | 2–0 | Lucketti [41], Beech [80] | 3,398 |
| 24 August 1999 | First round second Leg | Scunthorpe United | H | 0–0 | | 4,345 Huddersfield won 2–0 on aggregate |
| 14 September 1999 | Second round first Leg | Notts County | H | 2–1 | Wijnhard [17], Stewart [58] | 6,900 |
| 21 September 1999 | Second round second Leg | Notts County | A | 2–2 | Irons [19], Gorré [30] | 4,414 Huddersfield won 4–3 on aggregate |
| 13 October 1999 | Third round | Chelsea | A | 1–0 | Irons [77] | 20,008 |
| 30 November 1999 | Fourth round | Wimbledon | H | 1–2 (aet: 90 mins: 1–1) | Sellars [40] | 13,312 |

## Appearances and goals

| Squad No. | Name | Nation | Position | League Apps | League Goals | FA Cup Apps | FA Cup Goals | League Cup Apps | League Cup Goals | Total Apps | Total Goals |
| 1 | Nico Vaesen | Belgium | GK | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| 2 | Steve Jenkins | Wales | DF | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 3 | Jamie Vincent | England | DF | 33 (3) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 35 (5) | 2 |
| 4 | Craig Armstrong | England | MF | 37 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 (1) | 0 | 43 (3) | 0 |
| 5 | Chris Lucketti | England | DF | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| 6 | Kevin Gray | England | DF | 16 (2) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 (2) | 2 |
| 7 | Giorgos Donis | Greece | MF | 10 (10) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 13 (12) | 0 |
| 8 | Kenny Irons | England | MF | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 5 |
| 9 | Martin Smith | England | FW | 10 (2) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 (2) | 4 |
| 9 | Marcus Stewart | England | FW | 29 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 15 |
| 10 | Scott Sellars | England | MF | 23 (11) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 (1) | 1 | 25 (12) | 2 |
| 11 | Clyde Wijnhard | Suriname | FW | 45 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 52 | 16 |
| 12 | Ben Thornley | England | MF | 16 (12) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 21 (12) | 1 |
| 14 | Alun Armstrong | England | FW | 4 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (3) | 0 |
| 14 | Barry Horne | Wales | MF | 6 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 (8) | 0 |
| 15 | Rob Edwards | England | MF | 1 (8) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 (8) | 1 |
| 16 | Delroy Facey | Grenada | FW | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 |
| 17 | Simon Baldry | England | MF | 5 (14) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 5 (16) | 1 |
| 18 | Darren Edmondson | England | DF | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (3) | 0 |
| 18 | Chris Hay | Scotland | FW | 2 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (5) | 0 |
| 19 | David Beresford | England | MF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| 20 | Wayne Allison | England | FW | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 |
| 20 | Thomas Heary | Republic of Ireland | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Jon Dyson | England | DF | 22 (6) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 24 (8) | 2 |
| 22 | Chris Beech | England | MF | 34 (1) | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 38 (1) | 10 |
| 23 | Chris Holland | England | MF | 16 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 (1) | 1 |
| 24 | Danny Schofield | England | MF | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 |
| 34 | Michael Senior | England | MF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| 35 | David May | England | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | Kwami Hodouto | Togo | DF | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 |
| 36 | Michel Ngonge | Belgium | FW | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 |
| 37 | Steve Baker | England | DF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 38 | Ken Monkou | Suriname | DF | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| 40 | Dean Gorré | Suriname | MF | 26 (2) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 30 (2) | 5 |