The 2001-2002 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.

Events

Dario reaches managerial milestone

On November 20 2001, Dario Gradi took charge of his 1,000 competitive game in charge of Crewe Alexandra in Division One. Gradi had arrived at Crewe in June 1983, and he reached this landmark just four months into a season which had already seen a total of more than 20 managerial changes in the Premiership, Division One, Division Two and Division Three. Crewe ended the season by being relegated to Division Two but the club's directors showed no intention of parting company with the longest-serving manager at any Football League club.

Wimbledon get go-ahead for Milton Keynes move

Just after the end of the Division one season, a three-man panel of The Football Association gave permission for Wimbledon F.C. to move from their historic South London home to Milton Keynes. The move sparked outrage among Wimbledon supporters, who formed their own club - AFC Wimbledon - in response to the controversial plans of chairman Charles Koppel.

Arsenal cruise to title glory

In one of the most closely-fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal cruised to title glory at the end of an outstanding season. They won their final 13 Premiership fixtures, scored in all 38 Premiership games and were unbeaten on their Premiership travels. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the season when they beat defending champions Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Four days earlier they had also won the F.A Cup with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium.

Albion and Birmingham back in the big time

West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, who had both been outside the top division since 1986, were finally promoted back to the top division with Albion as Division One runners-up and Birmingham as playoff winners. In an ironic twist, Albion had overtaken near neighbours Wolves in the race for the run for second place by winning seven of their final nine league games. Birmingham's triumph was sealed by a penalty-shoot out win over Norwich at the Millennium Stadium. They followed Manchester City, managed by Kevin Keegan, into the Premiership.

Sir Alex puts off his retirement

Sir Alex Ferguson announced in February that he would be postponing his retirement as Manchester United manager by at least three more seasons after he signed a new contract as manager. The news came just after United completed an impressive revival in the Premiership which saw them rise from ninth to first in the space of two months.

On 8th December, United stood ninth in the Premiership - 11 points behind Liverpool, who had a game in hand - and had lost six of their seven previous games. Even a UEFA Cup place was now looking beyond reach. But a nine-match winning run saw United cruise to the top of the Premiership and they were soon challenging a three-horse race with Liverpool and Arsenal. They remained in the title race until the penultimate game of the season, when they lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal and surrendered the title crown to their opponents.

United's failure was largely put down to the inability to find a suitable replacement for Jaap Stam, the brilliant Dutch central defender who had been sold to Lazio for £16.25million just after the start of the season. Another disappointment was the failure of Juan Sebastian Veron, at £28.1million the most expensive player ever to sign for an English club, to live up to his hefty price tag. On a positive note, Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy lived up to his £19million price tag by scoring 34 goals in all competitions during his first season at Old Trafford.

After the season was over, rumours began to circulate that Sir Alex was about to break the English transfer record once again and bring in Leeds United central defender Rio Ferdinand, in hope that his side would return to their winning ways in 2002-03.....

ITV Digital crisis plunges league clubs into turmoil

The collapse of debt-ridden ITV Digital in May 2002 plunged many Football League clubs into turmoil. The likes of Bradford City, Nottingham Forest, Watford, Barnsley, Lincoln City and Port Vale filed for administration, fearful that the drastic loss of revenue would put them out of business.

Of all the troubled clubs, Bradford City's situation was the most precarious. The West Yorkshire club had debts of £36million and had failed to meet a deadline for a takeover deal. It seemed inevitable that the Bantams, who had gone into liquidation in 1983, would endure a total collapse and lose their place in the Football League. Their only hope was for the Football League to ignore their financial plight and allow them a place in Division One for the 2002-03 season....

Ipswich fall from grace

A year after qualifying for the UEFA Cup and earning George Burley the Manager of the Year award, Ipswich Town dropped back into Division One. The Suffolk side had looked doomed by Christmas after winning just one of their first 18 Premiership games. Then came a turnaround in form which saw them win seven out of eight fixtures and climb to 12th place, suggesting that they were safe. But another decline set in, and this time Ipswich were unable to halt it. Their relegation was confirmed with a 5-0 defeat away to runners-up Liverpool on the final day of the season.

Joining Ipswich in Division One would be already doomed Derby County and Leicester City, both going down after six seasons in the Premiership - the last of which had seen three different men take charge of the team.

Successful managers

Arsene Wenger guided Arsenal to the Premiership title and F.A Cup double for the second time in five seasons.

Bobby Robson, 69, earned a knighthood just weeks after his Newcastle side finished fourth in the Premiership and qualified for the Champions League.

Graeme Souness marked Blackburn's return to the Premiership with a tenth-place finish in the league as well as glory in the League Cup.

Kevin Keegan won the Division One title with Manchester City to return them to the Premiership at the first time of asking.

Gary Megson's two-year revival of West Bromwich Albion was completed with a long-awaited return to the top flight of English football. Just weeks later, they were joined in the Premiership with rivals Birmingham City - who had triumphed in the playoffs under the management of Steve Bruce.

Peter Taylor's only season as Brighton manager was a great success as they topped Division Two and claimed a second successive promotion.

Alan Pardew finally made the most of Reading's impressive resources as they won promotion to Division One.

Joe Kinnear began to reverse Luton Town's decline by guiding them to promotion to Division Two.

Steve Cotterill gave Cheltenham Town their third promotion in six seasons after they won the Division Three playoffs.

Successful players

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored more than 30 goals in all competitions during his first season with Manchester United.

Thierry Henry's 24 Premiership goals were a major factor in Arsenal's double glory.

Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole were an instrumental half of Arsenal's defence in their glorious season.

Shaun Goater's frequent goalscoring helped Manchester City win promotion to the Premiership.

Alan Shearer had another season of high scoring to get Newcastle United into the Premiership's top five for the first time since 1997.

Andy Cole scored the winning goal for Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup final just weeks after his move from Manchester United.

Darren Carter, 18, scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out after extra time to end Birmingham City's 16-year exile from the top flight of English football.

Dean Sturridge scored 23 Division One goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who narrowly missed out on regaining the top division place they had last occupied in 1984.

Bobby Zamora's prolific goalscoring took Brighton & Hove Albion to the Division Two title and secured their second successive promotion.

Honours

Tables

FA Premier League

Arsenal, who scored in all 38 Premiership games, were unbeaten on their travels and won their final 13 games of the season, clinched the Premiership title to end Manchester United's bid for a unique fourth successive title. Liverpool clinched second place to condemn Manchester United to their first finish outside the top two since 1991 - which was ironically the last year of Liverpool's 10-year run of top-two finishes!

Tottenham Hotspur were expected to excel under new manager Glenn Hoddle, but a League Cup final defeat and a ninth place Premiership finish were not enough for even a UEFA Cup place. League Cup winners Blackburn Rovers achieved a 10th place finish and qualified for Europe for only the fourth time in their history.

Premiership newcomers Fulham spent more than £30million on new players before the start of the season, but finished a disappointing 13th in the final table - just months after chairman Mohammed al Fayed had boasted that his team could win the league title in their first top division season for more than 30 years.

2001-02 was the first Premiership season where all three newly promoted teams avoided relegation.

First to go down were Leicester City, whose run of bad form continued into the new season and failed to stop despite the efforts of three different managers. Next were Leicester's local rivals Derby County, who also had three managers in the season. The last team to drop were Ipswich Town, who had qualified for the UEFA Cup just 12 months earlier.

P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1. Arsenal 38 12 4 3 42 25 14 5 0 37 11 +43 87
2. Liverpool 38 12 5 2 33 14 12 3 4 34 16 +37 80
3. Manchester United 38 11 2 6 40 17 13 3 3 47 28 +42 77
4. Newcastle United 38 12 3 4 40 23 9 5 5 34 29 +22 71
5. Leeds United 38 9 6 4 31 21 9 6 4 22 16 +16 66
6. Chelsea 38 11 4 4 43 21 6 9 4 23 17 +28 64
7. West Ham United 38 12 4 3 32 14 3 4 12 16 43 -9 53
8. Aston Villa 38 8 7 4 22 17 4 7 8 24 30 -1 50
9. Tottenham Hotspur 38 10 4 5 32 24 4 4 11 17 29 -4 50
10. Blackburn Rovers 38 8 6 5 33 20 4 4 11 22 31 +4 46
11. Southampton 38 7 5 7 23 22 5 4 10 23 32 -8 45
12. Middlesbrough 38 7 5 7 23 26 5 4 10 12 21 -12 45
13. Fulham 38 7 7 5 21 16 3 7 9 15 28 -8 44
14. Charlton Athletic 38 5 6 8 23 30 5 8 6 15 19 -11 44
15. Everton 38 8 4 7 26 23 3 6 10 19 34 -12 43
16. Bolton Wanderers 38 5 7 7 20 31 4 6 9 24 31 -18 40
17. Sunderland 38 7 7 5 18 16 3 3 13 11 35 -22 40
18. Ipswich Town 38 6 4 9 20 24 3 5 11 21 40 -23 36
19. Derby County 38 5 4 10 20 26 3 2 14 13 37 -30 30
20. Leicester City 38 3 7 9 15 34 2 6 11 15 30 -34 28

Blue bold text = To enter the UEFA Champions League at the first round stage

Blue normal text = To enter the Champions League at the qualifier stage

Red text = Relegated to Division One

Football League Division One

P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1. Manchester City 46 19 3 1 63 19 12 3 8 45 33 +56 99
2. West Bromwich Albion 46 15 4 4 36 11 12 4 7 25 18 +32 89
3. Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 13 4 6 33 18 12 7 4 43 25 +33 86
4. Millwall 46 15 3 5 43 22 7 8 8 26 26 +21 77
5. Birmingham City 46 14 4 5 44 20 7 9 7 26 29 +21 76
6. Norwich City 46 15 6 2 36 16 7 3 13 24 35 +9 75
7. Burnley 46 11 7 5 39 29 10 5 8 31 33 +8 75
8. Preston North End 46 13 7 3 45 21 7 5 11 26 38 +12 72
9. Wimbledon 46 9 8 6 30 22 9 5 9 33 35 +6 67
10. Crystal Palace 46 13 3 7 42 22 7 3 13 28 40 +8 66
11. Coventry City 46 12 4 7 33 19 8 2 13 26 34 +6 66
12. Gillingham 46 12 5 6 38 26 6 5 12 26 41 -3 64
13. Sheffield United 46 8 8 7 34 30 7 7 9 19 24 -1 60
14. Watford 46 10 5 8 38 30 6 6 11 24 26 +6 59
15. Bradford City 46 10 1 12 41 39 5 9 9 28 37 -7 55
16. Nottingham Forest 46 7 11 5 26 21 5 7 11 24 30 -1 54
17. Portsmouth 46 9 6 8 36 31 4 8 11 24 41 -12 53
18. Walsall 46 10 6 7 29 27 3 6 14 22 44 -20 51
19. Grimsby Town 46 9 7 7 34 28 3 7 13 16 44 -22 50
20. Sheffield Wednesday 46 6 7 10 28 37 6 7 10 21 34 -22 50
21. Rotherham United 46 7 13 3 32 29 3 6 14 20 37 -14 49
22. Crewe Alexandra 46 8 8 7 23 32 4 5 14 24 44 -29 49
23. Barnsley 46 9 9 5 37 33 2 6 15 22 53 -27 48
24. Stockport County 46 5 1 17 19 44 1 7 15 23 58 -60 26

Blue text = Promoted to The Premiership

Green text = Losing play-off candidates

Red text = Relegated to Division Two

Football League Division Two

P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1. Brighton & Hove Albion 46 17 5 1 42 16 8 10 5 24 26 +24 90
2. Reading 46 12 7 4 36 20 11 8 4 34 23 +27 84
3. Brentford 46 17 5 1 48 12 7 6 10 29 31 +34 83
4. Cardiff City 46 12 8 3 39 25 11 6 6 36 25 +25 83
5. Stoke City 46 16 4 3 43 12 7 7 9 24 28 +27 80
6. Huddersfield Town 46 13 7 3 35 19 8 8 7 30 28 +18 78
7. Bristol City 46 13 6 4 38 21 8 4 11 30 32 +15 73
8. Queens Park Rangers 46 11 10 2 35 18 8 4 11 25 31 +11 71
9. Oldham Athletic 46 14 6 3 47 27 4 10 9 30 38 +12 70
10. Wigan Athletic 46 9 6 8 36 23 7 10 6 30 28 +15 64
11. Wycombe Wanderers 46 13 5 5 38 26 4 8 11 20 38 -6 64
12. Tranmere Rovers 46 10 9 4 39 19 6 6 11 24 41 +3 63
13. Swindon Town 46 10 7 6 26 21 5 7 11 20 35 -10 59
14. Port Vale 46 11 6 6 35 24 5 4 14 16 38 -11 58
15. Colchester United 46 9 6 6 35 33 6 6 11 30 43 -11 57
16. Blackpool 46 8 9 6 39 31 6 5 12 27 38 -3 56
17. Peterborough United 46 11 5 7 46 26 4 5 14 18 33 -5 55
18. Chesterfield 46 9 3 11 35 36 4 10 9 18 29 -12 52
19. Notts County 46 8 7 8 28 29 5 4 14 31 42 -12 50
20. Northampton Town 46 9 4 10 30 33 5 3 15 24 46 -25 49
21. A.F.C. Bournemouth 46 9 4 10 36 33 1 10 12 20 38 -15 44
22. Bury 46 6 9 8 26 32 5 2 16 17 43 -32 44
23. Wrexham 46 7 7 9 29 32 4 3 16 27 57 -33 43
24. Cambridge United 46 7 7 9 29 34 0 6 17 18 59 -46 34

Football League Division Three

P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1. Plymouth Argyle 46 19 2 2 41 11 12 7 4 30 17 +43 102
2. Luton Town 46 15 5 3 50 18 15 2 6 46 30 +48 97
3. Mansfield Town 46 17 3 3 49 24 7 4 12 23 36 +12 79
4. Cheltenham Town 46 11 11 1 40 20 10 4 9 26 29 +17 78
5. Rochdale 46 13 8 2 41 22 8 7 8 24 30 +13 78
6. Rushden & Diamonds 46 14 5 4 40 20 6 8 9 29 33 +15 73
7. Hartlepool United 46 12 6 5 53 23 8 5 10 21 25 +26 71
8. Scunthorpe United 46 14 5 4 43 22 5 9 9 31 34 +18 71
9. Shrewsbury Town 46 13 4 6 36 19 7 6 10 28 34 +11 70
10. Kidderminster Harriers 46 13 6 4 35 17 6 3 14 21 30 +9 66
11. Hull City 46 12 6 5 38 18 4 7 12 19 33 +6 61
12. Southend United 46 12 5 6 36 22 3 8 12 15 32 -3 58
13. Macclesfield Town 46 7 7 9 23 25 8 6 9 18 27 -11 58
14. York City 46 11 5 7 26 20 5 4 14 28 47 -13 57
15. Darlington 46 11 6 6 37 25 4 5 14 23 46 -11 56
16. Exeter City 46 7 9 7 25 32 7 4 12 23 41 -25 55
17. Carlisle United 46 11 5 7 31 21 1 11 11 18 35 -7 52
18. Leyton Orient 46 10 7 6 37 25 3 6 14 18 46 -16 52
19. Torquay United 46 8 6 9 27 31 4 9 10 19 32 -17 51
20. Swansea City 46 7 8 8 26 26 6 4 13 27 51 -24 51
21. Oxford United 46 8 7 8 34 28 3 7 13 19 34 -9 47
22. Lincoln City 46 8 4 11 25 27 2 12 9 19 35 -18 46
23. Bristol Rovers 46 8 7 8 28 28 3 5 15 12 32 -20 45
24. Halifax Town 46 5 9 9 24 28 3 3 17 15 56 -45 36

European qualifiers

UEFA Champions League

Group phase

*Arsenal
*Liverpool

Qualifying round

*Manchester United
*Newcastle United

UEFA Cup

*Chelsea (FA Cup finalist; winners Arsenal qualified for Champions League)
*Blackburn Rovers (League Cup)
*Leeds United
*Fulham (via Intertoto Cup)
*Ipswich Town (Fair Play entry)

Promoted teams

From Division One to The Premier League:
:Manchester City
:West Bromwich Albion
:Birmingham City

From Division Two to Division One:
:Brighton & Hove Albion
:Reading
:Stoke City

From Division Three to Division Two:
:Plymouth Argyle
:Luton Town
:Mansfield Town
:Cheltenham Town

From The Football Conference to Division Three:
:Boston United

Relegated teams

From The Premier League to Division One:
:Ipswich Town
:Derby County
:Leicester City

From Division One to Division Two:
:Crewe Alexandra
:Barnsley
:Stockport County

From Division Two to Division Three:
:A.F.C. Bournemouth
:Bury
:Wrexham
:Cambridge United

From Division Three to The Football Conference:
:Halifax Town

Transfer deals

*1 August 2001 - Christian Ziege from Liverpool to Spurs, £4m
*2 August 2001 - John Hartson from Coventry City to Celtic, £6.5m
*3 August 2001 - Fabrizio Ravanelli from Lazio to Derby County, free
*9 August 2001 - Jon Harley from Chelsea to Fulham, £3.5m
*9 August 2001 - Lee Hughes from West Bromwich Albion to Coventry City, £5m
*10 August 2001 - Laurent Robert from Paris Saint-Germain to Newcastle United, £10.5m
*10 August 2001 - Edwin van der Sar from Juventus to Fulham, £7m
*10 August 2001 - Boudewijn Zenden from Barcelona to Chelsea, £7.5m
*14 August 2001 - Steed Malbranque from Lyon to Fulham, £5m
*16 August 2001 - Kasey Keller from Rayo Vallecano to Spurs, free
*24 August 2001 - Bosko Balaban from Dinamo Zagreb to Aston Villa, £6m
*31 August 2001 - Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord to Liverpool, £4.85m
*31 August 2001 - Don Hutchison from Sunderland to West Ham, £5m
*31 August 2001 - Chris Kirkland from Coventry City to Liverpool, £6m
*3 September 2001 - Laurent Blanc from Internazionale to Manchester United, free
*3 September 2001 - Steve Marlet from Lyon to Fulham, £13.5m
*14 September 2001 - Tomas Repka from Fiorentina to West Ham United, £5.5m
*24 September 2001 - Dean Richards from Southampton to Spurs, £8.1m
*19 October 2001 - Seth Johnson from Derby County to Leeds United, £7m
*30 November 2001 - Robbie Fowler from Liverpool to Leeds United, £11m
*7 December 2001 - Claudio Reyna from Rangers to Sunderland, £4.5m
*24 December 2001 - Milan Baroš from Banik Ostrava to Liverpool
*29 December 2001 - Andy Cole from Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers, £7.5m
*23 January 2002 - Diego Forlán from Independiente to Manchester United, £7.5
*30 January 2002 - Abel Xavier from Everton to Liverpool, £800,000
*8 February 2002 - Jermaine Jenas from Nottingham Forest to Newcastle United, £5m
*18 February 2002 - Kolo Touré from ASEC Mimosas to Arsenal, undisclosed
*6 March 2002 - Jon Macken from Preston North End to Manchester City, £4m
*18 March 2002 - Paul Gascoigne from Everton to Burnley, free
*28 March 2002 - Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa, £4m
*18 April 2002 - Jamie Redknapp from Liverpool to Spurs, free

For subsequent transfer deals see 2002-03 in English football.

Managerial changes

August
* August 3 2001 - Roy Evans and Neil Ruddock take over at Swindon Town, replacing Andy King (sacked August 1)

September
* September 13 - Colin Addison takes over at Swansea City, replacing John Hollins (sacked September 12)

October
* October 8 - Dennis Smith takes over at Wrexham, replacing Brian Flynn
* October 8 - Colin Todd takes over at Derby County, replacing Jim Smith (resigned same day)
* October 10 - Dave Bassett takes over at Leicester City, replacing Peter Taylor (sacked September 30)
* October 10 - Coach Gary Brazil takes over at Notts County, replacing Jocky Scott (sacked October 10)
* October 12 - Alan Little takes over at Halifax Town, replacing Paul Bracewell (resigned August 30)
* October 15 - Paul Brush takes over at Leyton Orient, replacing Tommy Taylor
* October 16 - Roland Nilsson takes over at Coventry City, replacing Gordon Strachan (resigned September 10)
* October 17 - Peter Taylor takes over at Brighton & Hove Albion
* October 22 - Gordon Strachan takes over at Southampton, replacing Stuart Gray (sacked October 21)
* October 22 - Caretaker manager Rob Newman takes over at Southend United, replacing David Webb (resigned October 9)
* October 25 - Kevin Broadhurst takes over at Northampton Town, replacing Kevin Wilson (sacked September 26)
* October 25 - Tommy Taylor takes over at Darlington until the end of the season, replacing Gary Bennett (resigned October 24)
* October 30 - John Cornforth takes over at Exeter City, replacing Noel Blake (sacked September 23)

November
* November 6 - Carlton Palmer takes over at Stockport County, replacing Andy Kilner (sacked October 29)
* November 7 - Mick Wadsworth takes over at Oldham Athletic
* November 8 - David Moss takes over at Macclesfield Town
* November 9 - Steve Parkin takes over at Barnsley, replacing Nigel Spackman (sacked October 25)
* November 14 - Terry Yorath takes over at Sheffield Wednesday, replacing Peter Shreeves (left October 17)
* November 30 - Trevor Francis takes over at Crystal Palace, replacing Steve Bruce (resigned November 2)
* November 30 - Ian Atkins takes over at Oxford United, replacing Mark Wright (resigned)

December
* December 11 - John Hollins takes over at Rochdale, replacing Steve Parkin
* December 12 - Steve Bruce takes over at Birmingham City, replacing Trevor Francis (left October 15)
* December 22 - Andy King is reappointed at Swindon Town, replacing Roy Evans (resigned as Director of Football December 20)
* December 28 - Garry Thompson takes over at Bristol Rovers for the second time, replacing Gerry Francis (resigned December 24)
* December 28 - Paul Groves takes over at Grimsby Town, replacing Lennie Lawrence (resigned)

January
* January 1 - Nicky Law takes over at Bradford City, replacing Jim Jefferies (resigned December 24)
* January 6 - John Taylor takes over at Cambridge United, replacing John Beck (resigned November 22)
* January 7 - Billy Dearden takes over at Notts County, replacing Gary Brazil (steps back down to coach)
* January 9 - Assistant manager Stuart Watkiss takes over at Mansfield Town, replacing Billy Dearden (resigned January 6)
* January 23 - Colin Lee takes over at Walsall, replacing Ray Graydon (sacked January 22)
* January 30 - John Gregory takes over at Derby County, replacing Colin Todd (sacked January 14 after just 98 days as manager)

February
* February 5 - Non-executive director Graham Taylor takes over as manager at Aston Villa, replacing John Gregory (resigned January 24)
* February 18 - Director of Football Lennie Lawrence takes over as manager at Cardiff City, replacing Alan Cork (resigned)
* February 22 - Dave Rushbury takes over at Chesterfield, replacing Nicky Law (resigned January 1)

March
* March 14 - David Moyes takes over at Everton, replacing Walter Smith (left March 12)
* March 25 - Director of Football Harry Redknapp takes over at Portsmouth, replacing Graham Rix (sacked)

April
* April 4 - Micky Adams takes over at Leicester City, replacing Dave Bassett (becomes Director of Football)
* April 4 - Jan Mølby takes over at Hull City, replacing Brian Little (left February 27)
* April 24 - Gary McAllister takes over at Coventry City, replacing Roland Nilsson (sacked April 16)
* April 25 - Ray Graydon takes over at Bristol Rovers, replacing Garry Thompson (sacked April 9)
* April 25 - Ian Britton takes over at Kidderminster Harriers, replacing Jan Molby (resigned April 4)
* April 29 - Craig Brown takes over at Preston North End, replacing David Moyes (left March 14)

May
* May 5 - Caretaker Keith Alexander takes over at Lincoln City, replacing Alan Buckley (left April 25)
* May 9 - Leroy Rosenior takes over at Torquay United, replacing Roy McFarland (sacked April 23)
* May 27 - Steve Cotterill takes over at Stoke City, replacing Gudjon Thordarson (sacked May 16)
* May 29 - Paul Simpson takes over at Rochdale, replacing John Hollins (sacked May 13)
* May 30 - Coach Graham Allner takes over at Cheltenham Town, replacing Steve Cotterill (resigned May 16)
* May 31 - Coach Iain Dowie takes over at Oldham Athletic, replacing Mick Wadsworth (sacked)

June
* June - Stuart Murdoch takes over at Wimbledon, replacing Terry Burton (left April 25)
* June 28 - Assistant Wally Downes takes over at Brentford, replacing Steve Coppell (resigned June 6)

July
* July 1 - Mick Wadsworth takes over at Huddersfield Town, replacing Lou Macari
* July 11 - Ray Lewington takes over at Watford, replacing Gianluca Vialli
* July - Chris Wilder takes over at Halifax Town, replacing caretaker Neil Redfearn (resigned May 23), who replaced Alan Little (left April 8)

* July 15 - Youth director Martin Hinshelwood takes over at Brighton & Hove Albion, replacing Peter Taylor (resigned April 29)
* July - Terry Venables takes over at Leeds United, replacing David O'Leary (sacked June 27)

Deaths

* Aaron Flahavan, 25, Portsmouth goalkeeper who had played 93 first-team games since 1996, died in a car crash in west Hampshire just before the start of the season.

* Les Sealey, 43, who kept goal for Manchester United in their 1990 F.A Cup and 1991 Cup Winners Cup triumphs, died of a heart attack in north London. He had also played for Coventry City, Luton Town, Aston Villa, Birmingham City (on loan), Blackpool and West Ham United, and at the time of his death had been working for West Ham United as goalkeeping coach.

* Tom Staniforth, 20, Sheffield Wednesday defender, collapsed and died on a night out in York. He was a promising young defender for the club and a son of former footballer Gordon Staniforth.

* Brian Moore, 69, former BBC Radio and ITV commentator, died of cancer three years after retiring from football commentary.

* Bertie Mee, 80, Arsenal double-winning manager 1970-71, died after a long illness. He also guided Arsenal to European Fairs Cup glory, achieved one year before the double triumph. From 1976 to 1986 he was assistant manager to Graham Taylor at Watford, and remained at the club as a director until his retirement in 1991.

* Ken Aston, 86, World Cup referee who created the red and yellow cards system.

* Jeff Astle, 59, West Bromwich Albion and England striker, died suddenly in Burton-upon-Trent. He is best remembered for his appearances on the T.V series 'Fantasy Football' and for scoring Albion's winning goal against Everton in the 1968 F.A Cup final.

* Sir Walter Winterbottom, 88, the first England manager. Managed England from 1946 until 1962, when he made way for Alf Ramsey.

* Kenneth Wolstenholme, 81, BBC television commentator, who famously commentated England's 1966 World Cup triumph and is best remembered for saying 'They think it's all over... it is now' when Geoff Hurst scored England's last-minute winner.

* Ray Wood, 71, Manchester United and England goalkeeper, who was a survivor of the Munich Air Disaster and won two league championship medals.