The final season of the century – one to forget for the Black Country clubs
Wolves, Albion and Walsall finish the 1900s with a collective whimper
Season 19992000 Part One
THE last season of the 20th century was not a great one for any of our local teams, certainly not for Albion, who finished fourth from bottom of Division One.
Nor was it for Walsall, who came home one place below the Baggies and were relegated.
As for Wolves, they ended the campaign in 7th place, also in Division One – 17 points
behind the champions Charlton Athletic, 15 short of second-placed Manchester City and 13 adrift of Ipswich Town, who were third.
In fact they missed out on a play-off spot by just two points – a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their old nemesis Bolton Wanderers in their penultimate
game did the damage!
Albion, who had three managers during the course of the seson – Denis Smith, Brian Little and Gary Megson – gained seven ‘vital’ points from their last three League games to stay up – beating Grimsby Town 2-1, drawing 0-0 with QPR and defeating champions Charlton
2-0.
Their overall record for the campaign was played 46, won 10, drew 19 and lost 17, scoring 43 goals while conceding 60 for a points tally of 49.
The Baggies’ worst run came between late November and early March when they won only one of 16 League games
The Baggies’ worst run came in winter when they won only one of sixteen league games
(1-0 versus Crewe Alexandra at home) and came crashing down the table. Thankfully the team recovered under boss Megson and gained enough points late on to survive the drop, but it was a close call.
Albion’s best win in terms of goals scored, was that of 3-2 at home to Ipwich, while their heaviest defeat was a right old 6-0 thumping at Sheffield United. They also drew 4-4 in a ding-dong home battle with Bolton in midapril.
Lee Hughes (12 goals) was Albion’s top League scorer.
Wolves’ seasonal record was played 46, won 21, drew 11 and lost 14, goals for 64, against 48, for a points tally of 74. They did not have a real bad spell – their worst run coming right at the start of the season when they failed to win in eight games after starting off with a
confident 1-0 victory away at Manchester City. A 4-0 home win over Tranmere Rovers was Wolves’ best of the season, while their heaviest loss was also at the hands of Sheffield United when they went down 3-0 in late September. Ade Akinbiyi, who was signed from Bristol City by manager Colin Lee for a club record fee of £3.5 million, top-scored with 16 goals, including strikes in both games against the Baggies. Walsall in truth had an awful season. They won 11 of their 46 League games, drawing 13 and losing 22. Their goal count was just 43 with 77 conceded, realising a points total of 46. Striker Michael Ricketts finished up as top scorer for the Saddlers with 11 goals.