2000–01 Preston North End F.C. season

Preston North End
2000–01 season
Chairman	Bryan Gray
Manager	David Moyes
Stadium	Deepdale
Division One	4th (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Runners-up
FA Cup	Third round
Worthington Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Macken (19); All: Macken (22)
Highest home attendance	17,335 vs Burnley
Lowest home attendance	12,632 vs Crewe Alexandra
Average home league attendance	14,617
	← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

During the 2000–01 English football season, Preston North End F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football.

Season summary

After being promoted to the First Division, Preston North End occupied the play-offs spots for most of the season and eventually finished fourth to qualify for the play-offs for promotion to the Premiership. After beating Birmingham City 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw on aggregate over two legs North End faced Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium. Bolton took a 17th-minute lead through Gareth Farrelly, and, despite Preston fighting for an equaliser, goals from Michael Ricketts and Ricardo Gardner in the 89th and 90th minutes ended Preston's hopes of a second successive promotion and a return to the top flight after an absence of over 50 years.^[2]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Blackburn Rovers (P)	46	26	13	7	76	39	+37	91	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Bolton Wanderers (O, P)	46	24	15	7	76	45	+31	87	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Preston North End	46	23	9	14	64	52	+12	78
5	Birmingham City	46	23	9	14	59	48	+11	78
6	West Bromwich Albion	46	21	11	14	60	52	+8	74

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Preston North End's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 August 2000	Grimsby Town	A	2-1	5,755	Appleton, Macken
19 August 2000	Sheffield United	H	3-0	13,948	Appleton, Macken 2
26 August 2000	Bolton Wanderers	A	0-2	19,954
28 August 2000	Wimbledon	H	1-1	13,519	Appleton
02 September 2000	Portsmouth	H	1-0	13,343	Basham
09 September 2000	Queens Park Rangers	A	0-0	11,092
12 September 2000	Birmingham City	A	1-3	16,464	Rankine
16 September 2000	Stockport County	H	1-1	12,735	McKenna
23 September 2000	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3-1	17,379	Alexander, Anderson, Walker (og)
30 September 2000	Crystal Palace	H	2-0	13,028	Macken, McKenna
14 October 2000	Tranmere Rovers	H	1-0	14,511	Basham
17 October 2000	Norwich City	H	1-0	13,002	Bjarki Gunnlaugsson
21 October 2000	Huddersfield Town	A	0-0	13,161
24 October 2000	Fulham	A	1-0	14,354	Appleton
27 October 2000	Barnsley	H	1-2	13,566	Macken
04 November 2000	Nottingham Forest	A	1-3	19,504	Macken
10 November 2000	Crewe Alexandra	H	2-1	12,632	Appleton, Rankine
18 November 2000	Watford	A	3-2	13,066	Macken, Rankine, Anderson
25 November 2000	West Bromwich Albion	A	1-3	20,043	Anderson
02 December 2000	Fulham	H	1-1	16,047	Jackson
09 December 2000	Burnley	H	2-1	17,355	Macken, Alexander
16 December 2000	Gillingham	A	0-4	8,198
23 December 2000	Grimsby Town	H	1-2	14,667	Macken
26 December 2000	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1-0	24,306	Anderson
30 December 2000	Sheffield United	A	2-3	22,316	Healy, Rankine
01 January 2001	Bolton Wanderers	H	0-2	15,863
10 January 2001	Blackburn Rovers	A	2-3	23,983	Macken, Healy
13 January 2001	Wimbledon	A	1-3	7,242	Robinson
03 February 2001	Portsmouth	A	1-0	13,331	Healy
10 February 2001	Queens Park Rangers	H	5-0	14,423	Macken 2, Brian McBride, Healy, Anderson
13 February 2001	Stockport County	A	1-0	7,590	Healy
20 February 2001	Birmingham City	H	0-2	14,864
24 February 2001	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2-0	14,379	McKenna, Macken
03 March 2001	Crystal Palace	A	2-0	15,160	Healy, Alexander
06 March 2001	Tranmere Rovers	A	1-1	10,335	Macken
14 March 2001	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2-0	15,457	McKenna, Cresswell
17 March 2001	Norwich City	A	2-1	16,282	Healy, Gregan
31 March 2001	Gillingham	H	0-0	13,550
06 April 2001	Burnley	A	0-3	16,591
10 April 2001	Huddersfield Town	H	0-0	15,185
14 April 2001	Nottingham Forest	H	1-1	16,842	Healy
16 April 2001	Barnsley	A	4-0	16,361	Macken, Anderson, McKenna, Cresswell
22 April 2001	Watford	H	3-2	14,071	Alexander, Macken 2
28 April 2001	Crewe Alexandra	A	3-1	9,451	Healy, Macken 2
02 May 2001	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-1	16,975
06 May 2001	West Bromwich Albion	H	2-1	16,226	Gregan, Alexander

Football League Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers
SF-1	13.05.2001	Birmingham City	A	0-1
SF-2	17.05.2001	Birmingham City	H	2-1 (Preston win on penalties)	David Healy, Mark Rankine
FN	28.05.2001	Bolton Wanderers	Neutral	0-3

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	06 January 2001	Stockport County	H	0-1	9,975

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1-1	22 August 2000	Shrewsbury Town	A	0-1	2,445
R1-2	05 September 2000	Shrewsbury Town	H	4-1	5,451	Macken 3, Alexander
R2-1	19 September 2000	Coventry City	H	1-3	10,770	Alexander
R2-2	27 September 2000	Coventry City	A	1-4	7,425	Mark Rankine

Squad statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Football League First Division		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	David Lucas	33	0	28+1	0	1	0	3	0
2	DF	SCO	Graham Alexander	38	7	34	5	0	0	4	2
3	DF	ENG	Dominic Ludden	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF	ENG	Ryan Kidd	17	0	13+2	0	1	0	0+1	0
5	DF	ENG	Michael Jackson	33	1	27+3	1	1	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	Sean Gregan	45	2	39+2	2	0	0	4	0
7	MF	ENG	Lee Cartwright	42	0	29+9	0	0+1	0	3	0
8	MF	ENG	Mark Rankine	48	5	43+1	4	1	0	2+1	1
9	FW	USA	Brian McBride (on loan from Columbus Crew)	11	1	8+1	1	1	0	1	0
10	FW	ENG	Steve Basham	17	0	11+2	0	0	0	4	0
11	FW	NIR	David Healy	23	9	19+3	9	1	0	0	0
12	DF	SCO	Derek Collins (on loan from Hibernian)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	NIR	Colin Murdock	41	0	33+4	0	0	0	4	0
15	DF	WAL	Rob Edwards	46	0	41+1	0	0	0	4	0
16	MF	ENG	Paul McKenna	47	5	43+1	5	1	0	2	0
17	FW	IRL	Jon Macken	41	22	37+1	19	0+1	0	2	3
19	FW	ISL	Bjarki Gunnlaugsson	19	1	5+14	1	0	0	0	0
20	MF	NIR	Paul Morgan	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
21	GK	FIN	Tepi Moilanen	17	0	17	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	ENG	Adam Eaton	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
23	FW	NIR	Mark Wright	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	NIR	Steve Robinson	25	1	6+16	1	0	0	3	0
25	FW	ENG	Richard Cresswell	11	2	5+6	2	0	0	0	0
28	MF	IRL	Brian Barry-Murphy	18	0	2+12	0	1	0	1+2	0
29	FW	ENG	Joe O'Neill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	IRL	Kelham O'Hanlon	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	SCO	Iain Anderson	33	6	19+12	6	0	0	2	0
32	DF	SCO	David Moyes (player-manager)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF	ENG	John Bailey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	MF	IRL	Michael Keane	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
44	GK	ENG	Andy Lonergan	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Out on Loan:
26	MF	IRL	Stuart King	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Player who left during the season:
11	MF	ENG	David Eyres	7	0	5	0	0	0	0+2	0
12	DF	ENG	Gary Parkinson	12	0	11	0	1	0	0	0
18	MF	ENG	Michael Appleton	28	5	25+1	5	1	0	1	0
25	FW	NED	Erik Meijer (on loan from Liverpool)	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0

References

↑ "I was asked to join Fergie at Man United but instead I stayed at Preston North End". Lancashire Evening Post. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
↑ Powter, David (2002). 25 Seasons At Deepdale - The Complete Record 1977-78 to 2001-02. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books Limited. p. 38. ISBN 1-86223-070-6.
↑ "Preston North End 1999-2000 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

[1] "I was asked to join Fergie at Man United but instead I stayed at Preston North End". Lancashire Evening Post. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2025.

[Powter-2002b-2] Powter, David (2002). 25 Seasons At Deepdale - The Complete Record 1977-78 to 2001-02. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books Limited. p. 38. ISBN 1-86223-070-6.

[3] "Preston North End 1999-2000 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

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