| Premiership | 11th |
| UEFA Cup | R3 |
| FA Cup | SF |
| League Cup | R3 |
| Attendance | 36,312 |
| Chairman | F Shepherd |
| Manager | R Gullit > B Robson |
| Coach | S Clarke/J Carver/M Wadsworth |
| Captain | A Shearer |
| Top Scorer | A Shearer (30) |
As with the previous summer the manager was allowed to spend a lot of money with Goma, Dumas, Dyer and Marcellino, costing £17 million and much was expected of Ruud's reshaped squad.
Three defeats and a draw in the first four games sent United to the bottom. Then when United lost to Sunderland at home with Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson confined to bench duty until it was too late Shepherd persuaded another manager to "resign".
This time he got the man that he originally wanted to replace Keegan: Bobby Robson. It was a shrewd move as not only did he bring vast experience he also carried the goodwill of a returning hero.
United lost to Chelsea in his first match, but an 8-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in his first home game infused the side with belief. Although it was a long road back, United only lost 8 more games all season and - mainly due to their excellent form at St James' - they clambered back up to 11th.
With the coffers empty and ground redevelopment underway there was precious little money available for new players and Bobby spent wisely with the addition of the experienced Kevin Gallagher and Helder.
Wembley was reached for the third year in succession although United only got as far as the semis this time. United unluckily lost to Chelsea despite having most of the play. At least some pride had been restored.
In the UEFA Cup United beat CSKA Sofia and FC Zurich before succumbing to Roma.
Birmingham beat the Magpies at the first time of asking in the League Cup.
Kit images copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission
| 07/8 | H | Aston Villa | L | 0-1 | ||
| 09/8 | A | Tottenham | L | 1-3 | ||
| 15/8 | A | Southampton | L | 2-4 | ||
| 21/8 | H | Wimbledon | D | 3-3 | ||
| 25/8 | H | Sunderland | L | 1-2 | ||
| 30/8 | A | Man Utd | L | 1-5 | ||
| 11/9 | A | Chelsea | L | 0-1 | ||
| 19/9 | H | Sheff Wed | W | 8-0 | ||
| 25/9 | A | Leeds | L | 2-3 | ||
| 03/10 | H | Middlesbrough | W | 2-1 | ||
| 16/10 | A | Coventry | L | 1-4 | ||
| 25/10 | H | Derby | W | 2-0 | ||
| 30/10 | A | Arsenal | D | 0-0 | ||
| 07/11 | H | Everton | D | 1-1 | ||
| 20/11 | A | Watford | D | 1-1 | ||
| 28/11 | H | Tottenham | W | 2-1 | ||
| 04/12 | A | Aston Villa | W | 1-0 | ||
| 18/12 | A | Bradford | L | 0-2 | ||
| 26/12 | H | Liverpool | D | 2-2 | ||
| 28/12 | A | Leicester | W | 2-1 | ||
| 03/1 | H | WHU | D | 2-2 | ||
| 16/1 | H | Southampton | W | 5-0 | ||
| 22/1 | A | Wimbledon | L | 0-2 | ||
| 05/2 | A | Sunderland | D | 2-2 | ||
| 12/2 | H | Man Utd | W | 3-0 | ||
| 26/2 | A | Sheff Wed | W | 2-0 | ||
| 04/3 | H | Chelsea | L | 0-1 | ||
| 11/3 | H | Watford | W | 1-0 | ||
| 19/3 | A | Everton | W | 2-0 | ||
| 25/3 | A | Liverpool | L | 1-2 | ||
| 01/4 | H | Bradford | W | 2-0 | ||
| 12/4 | A | WHU | L | 1-2 | ||
| 15/4 | H | Leicester | L | 0-2 | ||
| 23/4 | H | Leeds Utd | D | 2-2 | ||
| 29/4 | H | Coventry | W | 2-0 | ||
| 02/5 | A | Middlesbrough | D | 2-2 | ||
| 06/5 | A | Derby | D | 0-0 | ||
| 14/5 | H | Arsenal | W | 4-2 |
| W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
| 01 | Man United | 28 | 7 | 3 | 97 | 45 | 91 |
| 02 | Arsenal | 22 | 7 | 9 | 73 | 43 | 73 |
| 03 | Leeds | 21 | 6 | 11 | 58 | 43 | 69 |
| 04 | Liverpool | 19 | 10 | 9 | 51 | 30 | 67 |
| 05 | Chelsea | 18 | 11 | 9 | 53 | 34 | 65 |
| 06 | Aston Villa | 15 | 13 | 10 | 46 | 35 | 58 |
| 07 | Sunderland | 16 | 10 | 12 | 57 | 56 | 58 |
| 08 | Leicester | 16 | 7 | 15 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| 09 | West Ham | 15 | 10 | 13 | 52 | 53 | 55 |
| 10 | Tottenham | 15 | 8 | 15 | 57 | 49 | 53 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 14 | 10 | 14 | 63 | 54 | 52 |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 14 | 10 | 14 | 46 | 52 | 52 |
| 13 | Everton | 12 | 14 | 12 | 59 | 49 | 50 |
| 14 | Coventry | 12 | 8 | 18 | 47 | 54 | 44 |
| 15 | Southampton | 12 | 8 | 18 | 45 | 62 | 44 |
| 16 | Derby | 9 | 11 | 18 | 44 | 57 | 38 |
| 17 | Bradford | 9 | 9 | 20 | 38 | 68 | 36 |
| 18 | Wimbledon | 7 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 74 | 33 |
| 19 | Shef Wed | 8 | 7 | 23 | 38 | 70 | 31 |
| 20 | Watford | 6 | 6 | 26 | 35 | 77 | 24 |
| R1 L1 | 16/9 | A | CSKA Sofiya | W | 2-0 | ||
| R1 L2 | 30/9 | H | CSKA Sofiya | D | 2-2 | ||
| R2 L1 | 21/10 | A | FC Zürich | W | 2-1 | ||
| R2 L2 | 04/11 | H | FC Zürich | W | 3-1 | ||
| R3 L1 | 25/11 | A | AS Roma | L | 0-1 | ||
| R3 L2 | 09/12 | H | AS Roma | D | 0-0 |
| R3 | 12/12 | A | Tottenham | D | 1-1 | ||
| R3r | 22/12 | H | Tottenham | W | 6-1 | ||
| R4 | 08/1 | H | Sheffield Utd | W | 4-1 | ||
| R5 | 31/1 | A | Blackburn | W | 2-1 | ||
| QF | 20/2 | A | Tranmere | W | 3-2 | ||
| SF | 09/4 | N | Chelsea | L | 1-2 |
| R2 | 12/10 | A | Birmingham | L | 0-2 |
| Player | A | S | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barton W | 45 | 1 | |
| Beharall D | 0 | 2 | |
| Charvet L | 4 | 1 | |
| Dabizas N | 42 | 0 | 6 |
| Domi D | 25 | 11 | 4 |
| Dumas F | 7 | 0 | |
| Dyer K | 35 | 4 | 4 |
| Ferguson D | 25 | 7 | 10 |
| Fumaca | 1 | 5 | |
| Gallacher K | 19 | 6 | 3 |
| Gavilan D | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Given S | 16 | 1 | |
| Glass S | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| Goma A | 17 | 0 | |
| Griffin A | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Hamilton D | 0 | 1 | |
| Harper S | 29 | 0 | |
| Helder R | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Howey S | 8 | 2 | |
| Hughes A | 27 | 7 | 2 |
| Karelse J | 3 | 0 | |
| Ketsbaia Ti | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| Lee R | 41 | 0 | 1 |
| Marcelino El | 13 | 2 | |
| Maric S | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| McClen J | 3 | 9 | |
| Pistone A | 20 | 1 | 1 |
| Robinson P | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| Serrant C | 2 | 1 | |
| Shearer A | 49 | 1 | 30 |
| Solano N | 39 | 1 | 4 |
| Speed G | 49 | 0 | 13 |
| Wright T | 3 | 0 |
Total number of games: 51
Total number of players used: 33
| Name | Date | Age | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumas Franck | 06/99 | 31 | Monaco | £500,000 |
| Dyer Kieron | 07/99 | 21 | Ipswich | £7m |
| Goma Alain | 07/99 | 26 | PSG | £4.75m |
| Marcelno E | 07/99 | 27 | Real Mallorca | £5.07m |
| Karelse John | 08/99 | 29 | NAC Breda | £750,000 |
| Fumaca | 09/99 | 23 | ||
| Gallagher Kevin | 10/99 | 32 | Blackburn Rovers | £700,000 |
| Gavilan Diego | 02/00 | 19 | Cerro Portento | £2m |
| Bassedas Christian | 05/00 | 27 | Velez Sarsfield | £3.5m |
K Dyer
A Goma
E Marcelino
| Name | Date | Age | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalglish Paul | 06/99 | 22 | Norwich City | £300,000 |
| Albert Phillipe | 07/99 | 31 | RSC Charleroi | £600,000 |
| Hamann Dietmar | 07/99 | 25 | Liverpool | £7.5m |
| Andersson Andreas | 08/99 | 25 | AIK Solna | £2m |
| Georgiadis George | 08/99 | 27 | PAOK Salonika | £300,000 |
| Pearce Stuart | 08/99 | 37 | West Ham | Free |
| Dumas Franck | 01/00 | 32 | Marseille | £1.25m |
| Fumaca | 05/00 | 24 |
D Hamann
P Albert
A Andersson
| Name | Club | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wright Tommy | Man. City | 08/99 | 10/99 |
| Helder Thomas | Deportivo La Coruna | 11/99 | 05/00 |
| Name | Club | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brady Gary | Norwich | 07/99 | 05/00 |
| Coppinger James | Hartlepool | 07/99 | 05/00 |
| Hamilton Des | Norwich | 07/99 | 05/00 |