Amazing haul of titles for United

Manchester United continued to dominate the English football scene and by the end of season 2000-01, they had claimed no fewer than seven championship crowns in nine seasons.

Alex Ferguson's team also finished runners-up in the years that Blackburn and Arsenal won the Premiership title.

Thanks to their success in 2001, United equalled the feat set by Liverpool (1976 to 1984), that of winning the championship seven times in nine years.

The Red Devils also matched the feats set by Huddersfield Town, Arsenal and Liverpool who retained the top-flight title for three years in a row. Yet, Sir Alex became the first manager to lead a team to three consecutive league titles. Huddersfield, Arsenal and Liverpool were not managed by the same man when they won three successive crowns.

By the end of season 2000-01, United had won the championship on 14 occasions and in the all-time winners list, the Mancunians had climbed to second spot behind Liverpool (18 times).

After playing nine league games in season 2000-01, United were already on top and never looked back. Eventually, they wrapped up the championship on April 14. In the New Year of 2001, bookmakers in the UK refused to take more bets on where the championship was heading for.

After crushing second-placed Arsenal 6-1 at Old Trafford in late February, United were home and dry. At the end of the season, the Gunners had to settle for the runners-up spot, 10 points behind. Liverpool finished third. In 2000-01, Liverpool won both domestic cups and the UEFA Cup and did the double on Manchester United.

That year, United only lasted until the fourth round in the FA Cup when West Ham shocked them with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford. In the Champions League, United bowed out to Bayern Munich in the last eight.

At the end of the season, Ferguson strengthened his squad when he signed Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron.

Transfers

Arsenal: Sylvain Wiltord from Bordeaux, Robert Pires from Marseille; Emanuel Petit to Barcelona.

Aston Villa: David Ginola from Tottenham, Juan Pablo Angel from River Plate; Ugo Ehiogu to Middlesbrough.

Bradford: Dan Petrescu from Chelsea, Ashley Ward from Blackburn Rovers; Andrew O'Brien to Newcastle.

Charlton: Claus Jensen from Bolton, Jonathan Johansson from Rangers; Carl Tiler to Portsmouth.

Chelsea: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink from Atletico Madrid, Jesper Gronkjaer from Ajax; Didier Deschamps to Valencia.

Coventry: David Thompson from Liverpool, Craig Bellamy from Norwich; Robbie Keane to Inter.

Derby: Georgi Kinkladze from Ajax, Danny Higginbotham from Manchester United; Mikkel Beck to Lille.

Everton: Alessandro Pistone from Newcastle, Thomas Gravesen from Hamburg; Don Hutchinson to Sunderland.

Ipswich: Herman Hreidarsson from Wimbledon, Martijn Reuser from Vitesse Arnhem; David Johnson to Nottingham Forest.

Leeds: Olivier Dacourt from Lens, Mark Viduka from Celtic; Darren Huckerby to Man. City.

Leicester: Gary Rowett from Birmingham, Ade Akinbiyi from Wolves; Neil Lennon to Celtic.

Liverpool: Nick Barmby from Everton, Jari Litmanen from Barcelona; Dominic Matteo to Leeds.

Manchester City: Richard Dunne from Everton, Paolo Wanchope from West Ham; Tommy Wright to Bolton.

Manchester United: Fabien Barthez from Monaco, Andy Goram from Motherwell; Massimo Taibi to Reggiana.

Middlesbrough: Joseph-Desire Job from Lens, Christian Karembeu from Real Madrid; Alun Armstrong to Ipswich.

Newcastle: Carl Cort from Wimbledon, Lomano LuaLua from Colchester; Steve Howey to Manchester City.

Southampton: Mark Draper from Aston Villa, Patrice Tano from Monaco; Patrick Colleter to Cannes.

Sunderland: Stanislav Varga from S. Bratislava, Emerson Thome from Chelsea; Chris Makin to Ipswich.

Tottenham: Sergei Rebrov from Dynamo Kiev, Ben Thatcher from Wimbledon; Peter Crouch to Queens Park Rangers.

West Ham: Frederic Kanoute from Lyon, Christian Dailly from Blackburn; Rio Ferdinand to Leeds.

Other Statistics

• During the 2000-01 Premiership campaign Parlour, Henry and Wiltord netted a hat-trick for Arsenal. Owen (twice) and Heskey did the same for Liverpool.

• Two players who scored four goals each in one league match were Hasselbaink, for Chelsea at home to Coventry (6-1), and Viduka, for Leeds against Liverpool (4-3).

• Bradford City were relegated on April 28.

• David O'Leary, of Leeds, won two managerial monthly awards in March and April. On the playing field, three Leeds players won the monthly gong − Smith (August), Robinson (November) and Keane (January).

• Manchester United made the double on seven teams: Bradford, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Everton, Leicester, Coventry and Middlesbrough. United were followed by Liverpool and Ipswich, both on six.

• Middlesbrough finished with most red cards, six: Crossley, Marinelli, Ehiogu, O'Neill, Stamps and Karembeu.

Individual awards

PFA Player of the Year: Teddy Sheringham (Man. United).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool).

Football Writers Footballer of the Year: Teddy Sheringham.

Manager of the Year: George Burley (Ipswich Town).

Premier League Player of the Year: Patrick Vieira (Arsenal).