Matchday Memories: On This Day 2000 – See Strachan’s Sky Blues Tame The Toffees (Ta Gary Mac)

Gordon the Gaffer

On this day (15th March) in 2000, the first year of the new millennium, Sky Blue ‘gaffer’ (now CCFPA member) Gordon Strachan was leading his team in the Premier League and hoping the Sky Blues would find a way against Everton at Highfield Road to end their four match goal drought involving four straight defeats. Both teams had had to deal with a long injury list and the Sky Blues had quite a number of experienced heads in their ranks.

The City team included two Swedes, two Moroccans, a Peruvian, a Belgian, an Irishman and two Scotsmen! Welshman Mark Hughes made his debut for Walter Smith‘s ‘Toffees’. The purgatory ended after eight hours and 83 minutes of play when, one of the older contingent, Gary McAllister popped up with the only goal of the game with only four minutes to go! Funnily enough Gary had also scored the Sky Blue goal in their 1-1 draw at Goodison the previous October.

Gary in the Sky Blue

The 18,513 crowd and CCFC players were greatly relieved to have turned the corner with this vital and deserved 1-0 win in a game filled with anxiety.  The game saw City move to fourteenth in the table against the team six places higher and spurred the Sky Blues on to their best win of the season three days later beating Bradford City by four clear goals.  Future Sky Blue (and now CCFPA member) Stephen Hughes (2004-08) was in the Toffees’ side that day.

Thanks to former Association committee member Dean Nelson you can see Gary Mac’s goal, the Sky Blues first in over 400 minutes of football. Just click on the image below:-

Strachan’s multinational Sky Blues that day lined up as follows (current CCFPA players underlined):-

Magnus Hedman, Tomas Gustaffson (aka Antonelius), David Burrows, John Eustace (sub. Ysrael Zuniga -81), Colin Hendry, Richard Shaw, Youssef Chippo, Gary McAllister, Cedric Roussel, Noel Whelan and Moustapha Hadji

Walter Smith‘s Toffees side  took the field with the following players:-

Paul Gerrard, Richard Dunne, John Collins, Abel Xavier, Richard Gough, David Weir, Nick Barmby (sub. Scott Gemmill -81), Stephen Hughes (sub. David Unsworth -70), Mark Hughes, Joe-Max Moore (sub. Danny Cadamarteri -66) and Mark Pembridge                       Referee:- Mark Halsey

CCFC 1999-2000

CCFC finished the 1999-2000 Premier League season in fourteenth place with Everton tucked in just one place (but six points) above them. Wimbledon, Sheffield Wednesday and bottom club Watford lost their Premier League status.

Champions Manchester United were streets ahead (eighteen points) of runners up Arsenal.

Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images.