1999–2000 Chelsea F.C. season

Season summary

After a very good third-place finish last season, Chelsea qualified for the Champions League third qualifying round, and were expected to go one better and win the title. France captain Didier Deschamps was signed for £3 million from Juventus to add even more quality and experience to a Chelsea midfield that already boasted Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo and Gustavo Poyet. Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton was also signed for £10 million, but he proved to be a flop with only one league goal all season, which came in a 5-0 drubbing of Man Utd at Stamford Bridge. His strike partner, Gianfranco Zola, had a poor league season by his standard, scoring just four goals, but he made up for that by again setting up many more goals for the team. Chelsea opened the season with 4–0 win over newly promoted Sunderland with Gus Poyet scoring a stunning scissors kick goal. Zola, in contrast to his average league form, made Europe sit up and notice as he led Chelsea's Champions league debut appearance in the group stage. Chelsea were drawn against AC Milan, Hertha Berlin and Galatasary with their first game being against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea topped Group H with 11 points after some standout performances, particularly an impressive 5–0 win in Turkey and two creditable draws home and away with AC Milan.

Zola scored a spectacular free kick in a 3–1 win over F.C. Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea were eliminated in the second leg at the Nou Camp. On the Premier league front, Gianluca Vialli's side finished a solid fifth place in the final table but were too inconsistent to mount anything like a title challenge. Chelsea won their fourth cup in four seasons with a 1–0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley, after David James dropped the ball from a Chelsea corner allowing Di Matteo to score. Chelsea had the last cup final triumph at the old Wembley stadium before it was rebuilt. Gus Poyet was key during Chelsea's FA cup run, scoring a hat trick against Hull at Boothferry Park in a 6–1 win and netting twice against Newcastle at Wembley.

On 26 December 1999, in their 1–2 away win over Southampton, Chelsea became the first team in the Football League history to field a starting eleven without an English player. The squad was made up of: Ed de Goey, Albert Ferrer, Franck Leboeuf, Emerson Thome, Celestine Babayaro, Deschamps, Dan Petrescu, Di Matteo, Poyet, Gabriele Ambrosetti and Tore André Flo.

Final league table

Main article: 1999–2000 FA Premier League

;Results summary

;Results by round

Results

FA Premier League

Zola Flo Izzet F. Sinclair Sutton Berg Morris Wise Petrescu Delap Phillips Flo Morris Keane Weah Morris Harley Zola Solskjær Zola Di Matteo Poyet Di Matteo Flo

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

Poyet Sutton

First group stage

Zola Wise Ambrosetti Ferrer

Second group stage

Flo Wise Flo Mihajlović

Quarter-finals

Flo Figo Dani Kluivert

Football League Cup

FA Cup

First team squad

:Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Statistics

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Statistics taken from. Squad details and shirt numbers from and.

Transfers

In

• FRA Didier Deschamps – ITA Juventus, 13 June, £3,000,000
• NED Mario Melchiot – NED Ajax, 14 June, free
• ENG Chris Sutton – ENG Blackburn Rovers, 5 July, £10,000,000
• DEN Jes Høgh – TUR Fenerbahçe, 8 July, £300,000
• ITA Gabriele Ambrosetti – ITA Vicenza, 13 August, £3,500,000
• ENG Stuart Reddington - ENG Lincoln United, 26 August, £75,000
• BRA Emerson Thome – ENG Sheffield Wednesday, 23 December, £2,500,000
• LBR George Weah – ITA Milan 11 January, Loan

Out

• DEN Brian Laudrup - NED Ajax, 14 June, £2,000,000
• RUS Dmitri Kharine – SCO Celtic, 22 June, free
• ENG Eddie Newton – ENG Birmingham City, 2 July, free
• ENG Andy Myers – ENG Bradford City, 8 July, £800,000
• ENG Michael Duberry – ENG Leeds United, 9 July, £4,500,000
• SCO Steve Hampshire - SCO Dunfermline Athletic, 7 January, free
• DEN Bjarne Goldbæk – ENG Fulham, 15 January, £650,000
• ENG Joe Sheerin - ENG AFC Bournemouth, 26 February, free
• ENG Paul Hughes - ENG Southampton, 23 March, free

References

References

1. (20 May 2000). "Chelsea claim FA Cup glory". BBC News.
2. "FootballSquads - Chelsea - 1999/00".
3. "Chelsea players: UEFA Champions League 2000".
4. "Chelsea players: FA Cup 2000".
5. "Chelsea players: Worthington Cup 2000".
6. "Chelsea 1999 / 2000 _ Squad - Zanziball.it".
7. "Chelsea FC 1999-00".
8. (5 July 1999). "Chelsea seal £10m Sutton deal". BBC.
9. (13 August 1999). "Chelsea tie up Ambrosetti deal". BBC News.
10. (23 December 1999). "Blues swoop for Owls star". BBC News.