2000–01 Celtic F.C. season

Review and events

Management

Following the departure of John Barnes in February 2000, Martin O'Neill was appointed as manager of Celtic in June 2000. Kenny Dalglish, who was director of football at Celtic, left the club soon after. John Robertson and Steve Walford followed O'Neill from Leicester City to be assistant manager and coach.

League campaign

Celtic started their league campaign by going undefeated in 16 games until a heavy defeat to Rangers in November 2000. They lost only two more games, both in May after the league title had been secured. They won the Scottish Premier League with a victory over St Mirren in April, receiving the trophy two weeks later after a 1–0 home win over Hearts,

Striker Henrik Larsson scored 53 goals to set a new Scottish scoring record for a single season.

Key games were:

• Dundee United 1-2 Celtic (30 July) - The opening game of the season which set the standard for the rest of the season
• Celtic 6-2 Rangers (27 August) - The biggest win over rivals Rangers since the Scottish League Cup Final in 1957
• Aberdeen 1-1 Celtic (1 October) - An eight-match winning start to the season ended at Aberdeen but a late equaliser secured a point for Celtic
• Hibernian 0-0 Celtic (29 November) - Celtic ground out a draw after a heavy defeat to Rangers the previous week threatened to derail their season
• Dundee 1-2 Celtic (10 December) - Celtic snatched all the points with a last minute winner despite being out-played for much of the match
• Celtic 1-0 Rangers (11 February) - A narrow win for Celtic was enough to prevent Rangers from resurrecting their title challenge
• Rangers 0-3 Celtic (29 April) - Celtic's first win at Ibrox for six and a half years

Cup competitions

Celtic beat Raith Rovers, Hearts and Rangers on the way to the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park in March 2001. They won the trophy, beating Kilmarnock 3-0 through a second-half hat-trick by Henrik Larsson despite going down to ten men after Chris Sutton was sent off.

In the Scottish Cup, Celtic beat Stranraer, Dunfermline after a replay, Hearts and Dundee United to reach the final in May 2001, where they beat Hibernian 3–0 with a goal from Jackie McNamara and two goals from Henrik Larsson to complete a domestic treble.

European campaign

Celtic had qualified for the UEFA Cup and began their campaign with an 11-0 aggregate win over Jeunesse Esch from Luxembourg in August 2000. A Chris Sutton goal in extra-time in the away leg was enough to see Celtic through the next round 3–2 on aggregate against HJK Helsinki the following month. They were knocked out in the third round of the competition by Girondins de Bordeaux 2–3 on aggregate despite dominating the second leg in Bordeaux.

Competition overview

Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2000–01 Scottish Premier League

Sutton Johnson Juanjo Larsson
Moravčík Petrov Lambert Larsson Dodds Burchill Larsson Larsson Thompson McCulloch
Brannan Valgaeren
McNamara Larsson
Moravčík Moravčík
Larsson
Mjällby
Petrov Flo
de Boer
Amoruso
Mols Larsson
Johnson Agathe Vega
Smith
Larsson Sutton
Petrov Larsson Larsson
Lennon Larsson Mjällby Larsson Larsson
Stubbs
Moravčík

League Cup

Main article: 2000–01 Scottish League Cup

• Sutton
• Johnson
• Thompson
• Cameron
• Crainey
• Smith
• Healy
• Moravčík
• McNamara
• Sutton
• Larsson

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2000–01 Scottish Cup

McNamara
Knox Moravčík Nicholson Larsson McNamara Larsson

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2000–01 UEFA Cup

Qualifying round

Main article: 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying round

• Moravčík
• Larsson
• Lambert
• Burchill
• Berkovic
• Riseth
• Petrov

First round

Main article: 2000–01 UEFA Cup first round

Second round

Main article: 2000–01 UEFA Cup second round

Statistics

Appearances and goals

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition |} NB: Players with a zero in every column only appeared as unused substitutes

Team statistics

League table

Transfers

In

Out

• Expenditure: £19,900,000
• Income: £7,000,000
• Total loss/gain: £12,900,000

References

References

1. (18 March 2001). "Celtic clinch Cup with Larsson treble". BBC Sport.
2. (23 April 2001). "Parkhead parties again". BBC Sport.
3. (26 May 2001). "Celtic lift cup to complete Treble". BBC Sport.
4. (10 February 2000). "Barnes forced out". BBC Sport.
5. (1 June 2000). "O'Neill unveiled as Celtic boss". BBC Sport.
6. (30 June 2000). "Dalglish saddened by sacking". BBC Sport.
7. (24 August 2000). "Trio reunited at Celtic". BBC Sport.
8. (7 April 2001). "Celtic recapture league title". BBC Sport.
9. Colin Moffatt. (6 April 2002). "Celtic then and now". BBC Sport.
10. (15 April 2001). "Larsson becomes a 49-goal legend". BBC Sport.
11. (7 April 2001). "The games that won the title". BBC Sport.
12. (24 August 2000). "Celtic hit a magnificent seven". BBC Sport.
13. (28 September 2000). "Sutton is Celtic's saviour". BBC Sport.
14. (9 November 2000). "Uefa Cup agony for Celtic". BBC Sport.
15. (11 July 2000). "O'Neill secures Sutton". BBC Sport.
16. (28 July 2000). "Joos boost for Celtic". BBC Sport.
17. (1 September 2000). "Celtic complete double transfer". BBC Sport.
18. (18 October 2000). "Douglas completes £1.2m Celtic move". BBC Sport.
19. (7 December 2000). "Life after Lennon". BBC Sport.
20. (16 December 2000). "I'M HERE TO WIN THE LEAGUE: Ramon's vow as ties up Celtic deal". Daily Record.
21. (21 July 2000). "Viduka permit granted". BBC Sport.
22. (1 August 2000). "Sutton will make fans forget Viduka says Combe: Dundee United keeper predicts Celtic's record signing can be bigger threat to defences than Aussie striker". The Herald.
23. (19 September 2000). "I'd welcome back Rafael". Daily Record.
24. (23 September 2000). "Hibs' route fraught with danger as Pars look for the points; Burchill loan deal is best for both him and Celtic". The Herald.
25. (30 September 2000). "Sharp-shooters duel at Brechin". The Herald.
26. (8 November 2000). "Riseth leaves for Munich on loan". BBC Sport.
27. (9 February 2001). "SFA could whistle up foreign legion: Official does not rule out overseas referee for Old Firm games". The Herald.
28. (21 February 2001). "Burley lures Burchill to Ipswich with three-month loan deal". The Herald.
29. (3 March 2001). "Thistle to turn up the heat on rivals". The Herald.
30. (21 March 2001). "Malcolm escapes trial by video". The Herald.