1999-2000: Third Place - The High Point, And We Didn’t Know What Was Coming Next

Overview

Leeds United finished third in the Premier League in 1999-2000.

At the time, it felt like another step in an upward climb. Looking back, it was something more significant: the highest league finish Leeds would achieve for at least the next quarter of a century.

The O'Leary years gather momentum

David O'Leary's Leeds were building quickly. A young, energetic side mixed established names with a new generation of players and entered the season after finishing an excellent fourth in 1998-99.

This time they went one better.

Leeds finished third with 21 wins, six draws, 11 defeats and 69 points, behind Manchester United and Arsenal. They scored 58 league goals and conceded 43.

Michael Bridges leads the scoring

Michael Bridges was the leading league scorer with 19 goals and finished with 21 across all competitions. Nigel Martyn was a rock, and played all 38 Premier League matches.

It was a squad filled with players who would become central to the Leeds story of the era.

Europe as well as the league

The Premier League campaign was only part of it.

Leeds also made the UEFA Cup semi-finals, eventually losing 4-2 on aggregate to Galatasaray in awful circumstances. The run included 12 European matches and added a genuine continental dimension to a season already full of excitement.

Third place and Champions League qualification

The league finish secured qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

At the time, it looked like the natural next step: Leeds had returned to the top end of English football with three seasons in the top five in a row, and now appeared ready to test themselves among Europe's elite.

And they did.

The following season Leeds finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the Champions League semi-finals, making 1999-2000 the beginning of one of the most memorable modern European periods in the club's history.

The high point we didn't know was coming

That's what makes 1999-2000 such an interesting season to look back on.

Nobody watching Leeds finish third could know that this would ultimately remain the club's highest Premier League finish for the next 25 years - and the third-highest finish of the previous 26 years (92 and 74 the only better-placed seasons).

Truly a high watermark. But at the time, it didn't feel like a peak.

It felt like the beginning…

Why 1999-2000 belongs in Leeds United history

Third in England. 69 points. A UEFA Cup semi-final. Champions League qualification. A young side entering its prime - Woodgate, Bowyer, Kewell, Bakke, Bridges, and Alan Smith.

The numbers alone make it one of the greatest league seasons in modern Leeds history.

The hindsight makes it even more fascinating.