# 2000–01 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

During the 2000–01 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

## Season summary

John Benson left after the end of the previous season, and former Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch was appointed in his place. Rioch had Wigan challenging for a play-off place but left in February; Wigan claimed that Rioch resigned, but Rioch insisted that he had been sacked. Former Manchester United player Steve Bruce took over and cemented Wigan's place in the top six, but they were knocked out of the play-offs by Reading in the semi-finals. Bruce then left to take charge of First Division Crystal Palace. Former Wigan striker Paul Jewell, who had previously led Bradford City to promotion to the Premier League but had failed to replicate the feat with Sheffield Wednesday, was appointed as his replacement.
Defender Arjan de Zeeuw was named Wigan's player of the season.

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Player | Position | From | Fee | Date |
| 10 | Lee Ashcroft | FW | Grimsby Town | £350,000 | 4 August 2000 |
| 19 | Stefan Bidstrup | MF | Lyngby | £450,000 | November 2000 |
| 20 | Ferdino Hernandez | DF | AZ Alkmaar | Free | November 2000 |
| 20 | Ged Brannan | MF | Motherwell | £175,000 | 16 February 2001 |
| 37 | Steve McMillan | DF | Motherwell | £550,000 | 2 March 2001 |
| 38 | Lee McCulloch | FW | Motherwell | £750,000 | 2 March 2001 |

### Out

| No. | Player | Position | To | Fee | Date |
| 33 | Kevin Pilkington | GK | Mansfield Town | Free | September 2000 |
| 20 | Andy Porter | MF | Chester City | Free | October 2000 |
| 32 | Neil Redfearn | MF | Halifax Town | Free | 15 March 2001 |
| 2 | Carl Bradshaw | DF | Scunthorpe United | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 5 | Stuart Balmer | DF | Oldham Athletic | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 11 | Gino Padula | MF | Queens Park Rangers | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 15 | Gareth Griffiths | DF | Rochdale | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 16 | Roberto Martínez | MF | Motherwell | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 22 | Darren Sheridan | MF | Oldham Athletic | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 23 | Andrew Morris | MF | | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 28 | Francis McMahon | DF | | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 36 | Peter Beagrie | MF | Scunthorpe United | Released | 21 May 2001 |
| 19 | Stefan Bidstrup | MF | AaB | Contract terminated | 22 May 2001 |

### Loans in

| No. | Player | Pos | From | Date | Duration |
| 33 | Alex O'Reilly | GK | West Ham United | November 2000 | One month |
| 29 | Keith Gillespie | MF | Blackburn Rovers | 2 December 2000 | One month |
| 33 | Andy Marriott | GK | Sunderland | 1 January 2001 | Two months |
| 32 | Paul Dalglish | FW | Norwich City | 22 March 2001 | End of season |
| 33 | Raffaele Nuzzo | GK | Reggiana | March 2001 | End of season |

### Loans out

| No. | Player | Pos | To | Date | Duration | Notes |
| 24 | Paul Mitchell | DF | Halifax Town | 22 March 2001 | End of season | |

## League
### Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first
Legend
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 12 August 2000 | Swansea City | A | 0–0 | 8,391 | |
| 2 | 19 August 2000 | Luton Town | H | 2–1 | 6,518 | McGibbon, Liddell |
| 3 | 26 August 2000 | Wrexham | A | 3–1 | 5,271 | Liddell, Haworth, de Zeeuw |
| 4 | 2 September 2000 | Walsall | A | 0–2 | 7,156 | |
| 5 | 9 September 2000 | Colchester United | H | 3–1 | 5,782 | Haworth (3) |
| 6 | 12 September 2000 | Peterborough United | H | 1–0 | 4,798 | Kilford |
| 7 | 16 September 2000 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–0 | 8,109 | |
| 8 | 23 September 2000 | Northampton Town | H | 2–1 | 6,294 | Haworth, Liddell |
| 9 | 30 September 2000 | Swindon Town | A | 2–2 | 4,895 | Haworth, Green |
| 10 | 6 October 2000 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 7,021 | Bradshaw |
| 11 | 14 October 2000 | Notts County | A | 2–2 | 4,567 | Roberts, Redfearn (pen) |
| 12 | 17 October 2000 | Bournemouth | A | 0–0 | 3,035 | |
| 13 | 21 October 2000 | Port Vale | H | 1–0 | 6,275 | Liddell |
| 14 | 24 October 2000 | Oxford United | A | 2–0 | 4,030 | Green, Liddell |
| 15 | 28 October 2000 | Bury | H | 1–0 | 6,622 | Kilford |
| 16 | 4 November 2000 | Rotherham United | A | 1–1 | 6,192 | Griffiths |
| 17 | 7 November 2000 | Millwall | H | 1–0 | 5,822 | Liddell |
| 18 | 11 November 2000 | Cambridge United | H | 2–1 | 6,537 | Roberts, Wanless (own goal) |
| 19 | 25 November 2000 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 12,708 | Carey (own goal) |
| 20 | 2 December 2000 | Brentford | A | 2–2 | 4,144 | Ashcroft (2) |
| 21 | 16 December 2000 | Wycombe Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 5,779 | Haworth, Roberts |
| 22 | 23 December 2000 | Stoke City | H | 1–1 | 8,957 | Gunnarsson (own goal) |
| 23 | 26 December 2000 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 7,750 | Haworth |
| 24 | 30 December 2000 | Luton Town | A | 2–0 | 5,332 | Haworth, Bidstrup |
| 25 | 1 January 2001 | Wrexham | H | 0–0 | 6,515 | |
| 26 | 6 January 2001 | Swansea City | H | 2–0 | 5,571 | Liddell (2) |
| 27 | 13 January 2001 | Millwall | A | 1–3 | 15,317 | Roberts |
| 28 | 20 January 2001 | Oldham Athletic | H | 3–1 | 8,274 | Ashcroft, Redfearn (2) |
| 29 | 27 January 2001 | Stoke City | A | 0–2 | 16,859 | |
| 30 | 2 February 2001 | Walsall | H | 1–1 | 9,586 | Ashcroft |
| 31 | 10 February 2001 | Colchester United | A | 2–0 | 3,275 | Bidstrup, Liddell |
| 32 | 17 February 2001 | Bristol Rovers | H | 0–0 | 7,271 | |
| 33 | 20 February 2001 | Peterborough United | A | 0–2 | 4,111 | |
| 34 | 24 February 2001 | Northampton Town | A | 0–1 | 5,571 | |
| 35 | 3 March 2001 | Swindon Town | H | 0–0 | 6,563 | |
| 36 | 6 March 2001 | Notts County | H | 1–1 | 5,021 | Bradshaw (pen) |
| 37 | 9 March 2001 | Reading | A | 0–1 | 12,307 | |
| 38 | 17 March 2001 | Bournemouth | H | 1–1 | 5,878 | McGibbon |
| 39 | 24 March 2001 | Port Vale | A | 0–0 | 5,017 | |
| 40 | 31 March 2001 | Wycombe Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 4,939 | McCulloch, Beagrie |
| 41 | 7 April 2001 | Brentford | H | 1–3 | 6,502 | Haworth |
| 42 | 14 April 2001 | Oxford United | H | 3–2 | 5,322 | Haworth, Ashcroft (pen), McCulloch |
| 43 | 16 April 2001 | Bury | A | 1–0 | 4,915 | Balmer |
| 44 | 21 April 2001 | Rotherham United | H | 0–2 | 8,836 | |
| 45 | 28 April 2001 | Cambridge United | A | 2–1 | 4,776 | McCulloch, Bradshaw (pen) |
| 46 | 5 May 2001 | Bristol City | H | 0–0 | 10,048 | |

### Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Walsall (O, P) | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 79 | 50 | +29 | 81 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 5 | Stoke City | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 74 | 49 | +25 | 77 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 6 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 19 | 18 | 9 | 53 | 42 | +11 | 75 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 79 | 55 | +24 | 73 | |
| 8 | Notts County | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 62 | 66 | −4 | 69 | |

### Second Division play-offs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| Semi-final (1st leg) | 13 May 2001 | Reading | H | 0–0 | 12,638 | |
| Semi-final (2nd leg) | 16 May 2001 | Reading | A | 1–2 | 22,034 | Nicholls |
| Wigan lost 1–2 on aggregate ||||||||

## Cups
### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| First | 18 November 2000 | Dorchester Town | H | 3–1 | 3,883 | Roberts, Bidstrup, McIvor (own goal) |
| Second | 12 December 2000 | Notts County | H | 1–1 | 3,886 | Ashcroft |
| Second (replay) | 19 December 2000 | Notts County | A | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 3,349 | Kilford |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| First (1st leg) | 22 August 2000 | Scunthorpe United | H | 1–0 | 2,725 | Roberts |
| First (2nd leg) | 5 September 2000 | Scunthorpe United | A | 4–1 | 2,062 | Sharp, Kilford, Haworth, Liddell |
| Wigan won 5–1 on aggregate ||||||||
| Second (1st leg) | 19 September 2000 | Wimbledon | A | 0–0 | 1,941 | |
| Second (2nd leg) | 26 September 2000 | Wimbledon | H | 1–2 | 5,387 | Haworth |
| Wigan lost 1–2 on aggregate ||||||||

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Notes |
| First (Northern) | 9 January 2001 | Oldham Athletic | A | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | 2,551 | McLaughlin, McLoughlin (2) | |
| Second (Northern) | 30 January 2001 | Walsall | A | 1–2 | 3,436 | Padula | |

## Squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NIR | Roy Carroll |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Carl Bradshaw |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Kevin Sharp |
| 4 | DF | NIR | Pat McGibbon |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Stuart Balmer |
| 6 | DF | NED | Arjan de Zeeuw |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Andy Liddell |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Kevin Nicholls |
| 9 | FW | WAL | Simon Haworth |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Lee Ashcroft |
| 11 | DF | ARG | Gino Padula |
| 12 | FW | WAL | Neil Roberts |
| 13 | GK | SCO | Derek Stillie |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Scott Green |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Gareth Griffiths |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Roberto Martínez |
| 17 | DF | IRL | Hugh Dickson |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Ian Kilford |
| 19 | MF | DEN | Stefan Bidstrup |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | ENG | Ged Brannan |
| 21 | MF | SCO | Brian McLaughlin |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Darren Sheridan |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Andrew Morris |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Paul Mitchell |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Tom Spearitt |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Ian Johnson |
| 27 | GK | ENG | Lee Ellis |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Francis McMahon |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Joel Johnson |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Ben Kay |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Craig Cunningham |
| 32 | FW | SCO | Paul Dalglish (on loan from Norwich City) |
| 33 | GK | ITA | Raffaele Nuzzo (on loan from Reggina) |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Alan McLoughlin |
| 35 | MF | ENG | Gary Rae |
| 36 | MF | ENG | Peter Beagrie |
| 37 | DF | SCO | Steve McMillan |
| 38 | FW | SCO | Lee McCulloch |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | ANT | Ferdino Hernandez (released) |
| 29 | MF | NIR | Keith Gillespie (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Neil Redfearn (to Halifax Town) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 33 | GK | ENG | Kevin Pilkington (to Mansfield Town) |
| 33 | GK | ENG | Alex O'Reilly (on loan from West Ham United) |
| 33 | GK | WAL | Andy Marriott (on loan from Sunderland) |