1999–2000 Leeds United A.F.C. season

After a promising previous season good times looked to be on the horizon for David O'Leary and his young team in his first full season in charge, even after losing their previous season's top scorer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to Spanish side Athletico Madrid, O'Leary added more young quality to his squad, defenders Michel Dubbery and Danny Mills were signed from Chelsea and Charlton respectively, Midfielders Erik Bakke, Jason Wilcox also joined along with striker Michel Bridges. Leeds had a tough start in the league, wins over Southampton and Sunderland were each followed with losses to Liverpool and Manchester Utd but a 2–1 win at Tottenham saw Leeds begin a record of 10 straight wins at home and in the UEFA Cup and see Leeds storm to the top of the Premiership with new striker Michael Bridges and Harry Kewell scoring regularly, but in the new year star players Lee Bowyer and Johnathan Woodgate were involved in an off the pitch incident in Leeds city centre a saga which was to hamper the club for the next few years. Defeats to Manchester Utd and Liverpool saw Leeds lose ground in the title race, however, Leeds were progressing well in the UEFA cup and were soon into the semi final against Turkish side Galatasary. Again, an off the field incident in which 2 Leeds supporters were stabbed to death in clashes before the game would hamper the club for the next few years, the deaths clearly affected Leeds on the pitch that night and lost the first-leg of the tie 2–0. A 2–2 draw in the home leg meant Leeds were knocked out of the UEFA cup. Domestically, 4 consecutive league defeats almost ended hopes of finishing in the top 3 but Leeds did recover to secure a record 3rd-place finish on the last day of the season qualifying for next seasons Champions league, Leeds had challenged Manchester Utd for the Premiership title for half the season and had reached the semi final of the UEFA cup with one of the smallest and youngest squads in the Premiership, more would be expected of Leeds next season.

Results summary

Results by round

Squad at end of season[3]

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 Nigel Martyn 2 DF  IRL Gary Kelly 3 DF  IRL Ian Harte 4 DF  NOR Alf-Inge Håland 5 DF  RSA Lucas Radebe 6 DF  ENG Jonathan Woodgate 7 MF  SCO David Hopkin 8 FW  ENG Michael Bridges 10 FW  AUS Harry Kewell 11 MF  ENG Lee Bowyer 12 FW  ENG Darren Huckerby

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 GK  ENG Paul Robinson 14 MF  IRL Stephen McPhail[4] 16 MF  ENG Jason Wilcox 17 FW  ENG Alan Smith 18 DF  ENG Danny Mills 19 MF  NOR Eirik Bakke 20 MF  WAL Matt Jones 21 DF  AUT Martin Hiden 22 DF  ENG Michael Duberry 23 MF  ENG David Batty

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 15 MF  POR Bruno Ribeiro (to Sheffield United) 16 DF  ENG Danny Granville (to Manchester City) 28 DF  ENG Paul Shepherd (to Ayr United)

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 MF  ENG Mark Jackson (to Scunthorpe United) 31 MF  NOR Tommy Knarvik (to Brann)

The following players did not appear for the first team this 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 24 DF  NZL Danny Hay 25 DF  SCO David Robertson 26 GK  AUS Danny Milosevic 27 DF  IRL Alan Maybury 30 DF  NED Robert Molenaar 32 FW  ENG Neil Ross 33 MF  NIR Wesley Boyle 34 MF  ENG Kevin Dixon 35 FW  ENG Lee Matthews 36 GK  ENG Shaun Allaway 37 FW  ENG Tony Hackworth 38 DF  IRL Damian Lynch 39 DF  ENG Gareth Evans 40 MF  NIR Simon Watson 41 MF  NIR Brian Lagen

No. Pos. Nation Player 42 DF  WAL Kevin Evans 43 FW  NIR Warren Feeney — DF  ENG Jason Lanns — DF  ENG Frazer Richardson — DF  IRL Alan Martin — DF  AUS Shane Cansdell-Sherriff — MF  ENG Jamie McMaster — MF  ENG Harpal Singh — FW  ENG Craig Farrell — FW  ENG Caleb Folan

(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)[5]

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Nigel Martyn	38	0	3	0	2	0	12	0	55	0	2	0
2	DF	Gary Kelly	28+3	0	3	0	2	0	11	0	44+3	0	7	0
3	DF	Ian Harte	33	6	3	1	1	0	12	1	49	8	11	1
4	MF	Alf-Inge Håland	7+6	0	0	0	0	0	5+1	1	12+7	5	5	0
5	DF	Lucas Radebe	31	0	2	0	2	0	11	2	46	2	6	1
6	DF	Jonathan Woodgate	32+2	1	3	0	2	0	10	0	47+2	1	1	0
7	MF	David Hopkin	10+4	1	0	0	1	0	2+1	0	13+5	1	1	0
8	FW	Michael Bridges	32+2	19	1+1	0	2	0	12	2	47+3	21	9	0
10	FW	Harry Kewell	36	10	3	2	2	0	12	5	53	17	7	1
11	MF	Lee Bowyer	31+2	5	3	1	1	0	11	5	46+2	11	19	0
12	FW	Darren Huckerby	9+24	2	3	0	0+1	0	1+8	1	11+35	3	0	0
14	MF	Stephen McPhail	23+1	2	0	0	1+1	0	9	0	36+2	2	0	0
16	MF	Jason Wilcox	15+5	3	2	0	0	0	3+1	1	20+6	4	3	0
17	FW	Alan Smith	20+6	4	2+1	1	1	0	2+6	1	25+13	6	10	1
18	DF	Danny Mills	16+1	1	0+1	0	1	1	2	0	19+2	2	5	0
19	MF	Eirik Bakke	24+5	2	3	4	2	0	9+1	2	38+6	8	7	0
20	MF	Matt Jones	5+6	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	3+2	0	8+10	0	3	0
21	DF	Martin Hiden	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
22	DF	Michael Duberry	12+1	1	1	0	0+1	0	1	0	14+2	1	4	1
23	MF	David Batty	16	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	22	0	4	0