# 2000–01 Sheffield United F.C. season

During the 2000–01 English football season, Sheffield United competed in the First Division.

## Season summary

Neil Warnock's first full season saw the Blades flirting with the play-off places following pockets of good runs. A victory over rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough was a highlight, but the Blades fell away from the play-off race to finish in 10th position.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Wimbledon | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 71 | 50 | +21 | 69 |
| 9 | Watford | 46 | 20 | 9 | 17 | 76 | 67 | +9 | 69 |
| 10 | Sheffield United | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 68 |
| 11 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 20 | 8 | 18 | 55 | 53 | +2 | 68 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 55 |

## Results

Sheffield United's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 August 2000 | Portsmouth | H | 2–0 | 15,816 | Devlin (pen), Primus (own goal) |
| 19 August 2000 | Preston North End | A | 0–3 | 13,948 | |
| 26 August 2000 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–0 | 12,074 | Bent (2) |
| 28 August 2000 | Watford | A | 1–4 | 12,675 | Quinn |
| 9 September 2000 | Birmingham City | A | 0–1 | 21,943 | |
| 12 September 2000 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–0 | 14,853 | |
| 15 September 2000 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–0 | 10,816 | Kelly, Devlin |
| 23 September 2000 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–0 | 17,521 | Bent |
| 30 September 2000 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 13,803 | Murphy |
| 14 October 2000 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–0 | 12,921 | Santos |
| 17 October 2000 | Huddersfield Town | H | 3–0 | 14,062 | Kelly (2), Devlin |
| 21 October 2000 | Norwich City | A | 2–4 | 15,504 | Kelly, Brown |
| 24 October 2000 | Stockport County | H | 1–0 | 13,542 | Murphy |
| 28 October 2000 | Wimbledon | A | 0–0 | 7,327 | |
| 4 November 2000 | Gillingham | H | 1–2 | 14,028 | D'Jaffo |
| 11 November 2000 | Burnley | A | 0–2 | 16,635 | |
| 18 November 2000 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–2 | 12,861 | Santos, Bent (2) |
| 21 November 2000 | Fulham | H | 1–1 | 16,041 | D'Jaffo |
| 25 November 2000 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 14,962 | Sandford |
| 29 November 2000 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–2 | 17,089 | |
| 2 December 2000 | Stockport County | A | 2–0 | 6,460 | Devlin, Quinn (pen) |
| 9 December 2000 | Barnsley | A | 0–0 | 16,780 | |
| 16 December 2000 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–1 | 25,156 | Ford (pen) |
| 23 December 2000 | Portsmouth | A | 0–0 | 13,606 | |
| 26 December 2000 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–0 | 22,281 | Ford (pen), Kelly |
| 30 December 2000 | Preston North End | H | 3–2 | 22,316 | Ford (pen), Kelly, Thomas |
| 1 January 2001 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–1 | 8,474 | |
| 13 January 2001 | Watford | H | 0–1 | 17,551 | |
| 20 January 2001 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–2 | 16,778 | Peschisolido |
| 4 February 2001 | Fulham | A | 1–1 | 12,480 | D'Jaffo |
| 10 February 2001 | Birmingham City | H | 3–1 | 19,313 | Murphy, Devlin (pen), Peschisolido |
| 20 February 2001 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 20,282 | D'Jaffo |
| 24 February 2001 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | 18,924 | Suffo |
| 3 March 2001 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 3–1 | 11,024 | Murphy, Santos (2) |
| 6 March 2001 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 0–1 | 6,909 | |
| 10 March 2001 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–3 | 25,673 | Murphy |
| 17 March 2001 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–2 | 13,918 | Asaba |
| 1 April 2001 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–1 | 38,433 | D'Jaffo, Asaba |
| 4 April 2001 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–1 | 26,276 | Ndlovu |
| 7 April 2001 | Barnsley | H | 1–2 | 22,811 | Asaba |
| 10 April 2001 | Norwich City | H | 1–1 | 16,072 | Roberts (own goal) |
| 14 April 2001 | Gillingham | A | 1–4 | 9,502 | Ndlovu |
| 17 April 2001 | Wimbledon | H | 0–1 | 14,527 | |
| 21 April 2001 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–0 | 6,983 | Ndlovu |
| 28 April 2001 | Burnley | H | 2–0 | 20,013 | Ndlovu, Asaba |
| 6 May 2001 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–0 | 14,836 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 2001 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | 14,158 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 1st Leg | 22 August 2000 | Lincoln City | H | 6–1 | 4,152 | Bent (3), Devlin (pen), Kelly, Brown (own goal) |
| R1 2nd Leg | 5 September 2000 | Lincoln City | A | 0–1 (won 6–2 on agg) | 1,379 | |
| R2 1st Leg | 19 September 2000 | Colchester United | H | 3–0 | 3,531 | Devlin, Clark (own goal), Kelly |
| R2 2nd Leg | 27 September 2000 | Colchester United | A | 1–0 (won 4–0 on agg) | 1,981 | Devlin |
| R3 | 1 November 2000 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 32,283 | Brown |

## Players
### 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 | Simon Tracey |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Rob Kozluk |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Lee Sandford |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Shaun Murphy |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Keith Curle |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Michael Brown |
| 8 | FW | ZIM | Peter Ndlovu |
| 9 | FW | WAL | James Thomas (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Paul Devlin |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Bobby Ford |
| 12 | FW | FRA | Laurent D'Jaffo |
| 13 | GK | AUS | Frank Talia |
| 14 | MF | FRA | Georges Santos |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Andy Woodward |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Carl Asaba |
| 18 | DF | BEL | Davy Gysbrechts |
| 19 | FW | CMR | Patrick Suffo |
| 20 | MF | POR | Bruno Ribeiro |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Phil Jagielka |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | IRL | David Kelly |
| 23 | DF | SCO | Andy Morrison (on loan from Manchester City) |
| 24 | DF | SUR | Gus Uhlenbeek |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Ben Doane |
| 26 | FW | NIR | Andy Smith |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Adam Burley |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Rob Ullathorne |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Darren Bullock (on loan from Bury) |
| 31 | DF | FRA | Jean-Manuel Thetis |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Michael Tonge |
| 33 | MF | ENG | Ian Hamilton |
| 35 | MF | IRL | Colin Cryan |
| 36 | MF | ENG | Nick Montgomery |
| 37 | DF | IRL | John Hayden |
| 38 | FW | ENG | Mark Ward |
| 39 | MF | ENG | Michael Anderson |
| 41 | FW | ENG | Tyrone Thompson |
| 43 | MF | CMR | Kingsley Mbome |
| 45 | GK | ENG | Kevin Blackwell |

### 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 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Wayne Quinn (to Newcastle United) |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Curtis Woodhouse (to Birmingham City) |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Marcus Bent (to Blackburn Rovers) |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Matt Duke (to Burton Albion) |
| 16 | FW | CAN | Paul Peschisolido (on loan from Fulham) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | FW | ENG | Jon Newby (on loan from Liverpool) |
| 34 | DF | FRA | Nicolas Weber (on loan from Le Havre) |
| 38 | MF | IRL | Richie Lopez (to Northampton Town) |
| 40 | DF | ENG | Steve Spencer (released) |
| 42 | DF | ENG | Paul Dempsey (to Northampton Town) |