2000–01 Manchester City F.C. season

Manchester City's return to the Premiership after a four-year exile was the result of back-to-back promotions from the Second Division. But perhaps the team's two-tier climb back to the top flight again had been a little too rapid because it became apparent after just a few games into the new season that Joe Royle's men would be struggling to hang on to their newly acquired top flight status. After their first ten games though, they were enjoying reasonably stable mid-table form with four wins and defeats each; however, after a 5–0 humbling at Arsenal, it all went wrong and only four wins were achieved during the remainder of the season. The team's relegation was confirmed by a defeat in the penultimate game of the season, and manager Royle, who had been the guiding hand that had brought the team so quickly back to the Premiership from the Second Division, was dismissed within days. Former England coach Kevin Keegan was appointed to replace Royle on a three-year contract and fans were given renewed hope of an immediate return to the elite. ==Team kit==

The team kit was produced by Le Coq Sportif and the shirt sponsor was Eidos Interactive. ==Historical league performance==

Prior to this season, the history of Manchester City's performance in the English football league hierarchy since the creation of the Premier League in 1992 is summarised by the following timeline chart – which commences with the last season (1991–92) of the old Football League First Division (from which the Premier League was formed). ImageSize = width:405 height:75 PlotArea = left:12 right:12 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/2000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992 Colors = id:fdm value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:plm value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.9) id:plr value:rgb(0.3,0.5,0.9) id:d1p value:rgb(0.8,0.7,0.7) id:d1p value:rgb(0.0,0.99,0.0) id:d1m value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:d1r value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.2) id:d2p value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.2) id:pro value:rgb(0.9,0.6,0.1) id:rel value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1) PlotData= bar:Position width:18 color:white align:center from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 Shift:(2,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(2,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(1,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(1,-4) text:17 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(1,-4) text:18 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(1,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(2,-4) text:22 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(1,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(2,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 color:fdm shift:(1,15) text: "First Div." from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1995 color:plm shift:(25,15) text: "Premier League" from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 color:plr shift:(0,0) from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 color:d1m shift:(20,15) text: "Division 1" from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 color:d1r shift:(0,0) from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 color:d2p shift:(0,15) text: "Div. 2" from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:d1p shift:(0,15) text: "Div. 1" ==Final league table==

;Results summary ;Results by round ==Results==

''Manchester City's score comes first'' Legend FA Premier League {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible {{football box collapsible FA Cup League Cup ==First-team squad==

:Squad at end of season Left club during season Reserve squad ==Statistics==

Appearances and goals Starting 11 :Considering starts in all competitions ==Transfers==

In • Alfie Haaland – Leeds United, 12 June, £2,500,000 • George Weah – Milan, 1 August, free • Paulo Wanchope – West Ham United, 8 August, £3,650,000 • Steve Howey – Newcastle United, 11 August, £2,000,000 (rising to £3,000,000 depending on appearances) • Paul Ritchie – Rangers, 21 August, £500,000 • Richard Dunne – Everton, 16 October, £3,000,000 • Laurent Charvet – Newcastle United, 25 October, £1,000,000 (rising to £1,500,000 depending on appearances) • Darren Huckerby – Leeds United, 29 December, £2,500,000 • Carlo Nash – Stockport County, 11 January, £100,000 • Andrei Kanchelskis – Rangers, 25 January, three-month loan • Egil Østenstad – Blackburn Rovers, 5 February, two-month loan Out • Craig Russell – St Johnstone, 11 July, free • Lee Peacock – Bristol City, 9 August, £600,000 • Jamie Pollock – Crystal Palace, 11 August, £75,000 • Robert Taylor – Wolverhampton Wanderers, 15 August, £1,550,000 • George Weah – released, 16 October (later joined Marseille on 18 October) • Nick Fenton – Notts County, 9 November, £150,000 • Gary Mason – Dunfermline Athletic, 15 December, free • Ian Bishop – Miami Fusion, 28 February, undisclosed • Lee Crooks – Barnsley, 2 March, undisclosed • Tommy Wright – Bolton Wanderers, 22 March, free • Gareth Taylor – Burnley, 22 March, loan • Chris Shuker – Macclesfield Town, 22 March, loan • Andy Morrison – Sheffield United, 22 March, loan • Lee Crooks – Northampton Town, December, loan • Daniel Allsopp – Notts County, December, £300,000 • Richard Jobson – Tranmere Rovers • Shaun Holmes – released • David Laycock – released • Chris Killen – Wrexham, loan • Danny Granville – Norwich City, October, loan • Terry Cooke – Sheffield Wednesday, loan ==References==