During the 2000–01 English football season, Preston North End F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football.

Season summary After being promoted to the First Division, Preston North End occupied the play-offs spots for most of the season and eventually finished fourth to qualify for the play-offs for promotion to the Premiership. After beating Birmingham City 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw on aggregate over two legs North End faced Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium. Bolton took a 17th-minute lead through Gareth Farrelly, and, despite Preston fighting for an equaliser, goals from Michael Ricketts and Ricardo Gardner in the 89th and 90th minutes ended Preston's hopes of a second successive promotion and a return to the top flight after an absence of over 40 years.

Final league table

Results Preston North End's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers12 August 2000 Grimsby Town A 2-1 5,755 Appleton, Macken19 August 2000 Sheffield United H 3-0 13,948 Appleton, Macken 226 August 2000 Bolton Wanderers A 0-2 19,954 28 August 2000 Wimbledon H 1-1 13,519 Appleton02 September 2000 Portsmouth H 1-0 13,343 Basham09 September 2000 Queens Park Rangers A 0-0 11,092 12 September 2000 Birmingham City A 1-3 16,464 Rankine16 September 2000 Stockport County H 1-1 12,735 McKenna23 September 2000 Sheffield Wednesday A 3-1 17,379 Alexander, Anderson, Walker (og)30 September 2000 Crystal Palace H 2-0 13,028 Macken, McKenna14 October 2000 Tranmere Rovers H 1-0 14,511 Basham17 October 2000 Norwich City H 1-0 13,002 Bjarki Gunnlaugsson21 October 2000 Huddersfield Town A 0-0 13,161 24 October 2000 Fulham A 1-0 14,354 Appleton 27 October 2000 Barnsley H 1-2 13,566 Macken 04 November 2000 Nottingham Forest A 1-3 19,504 Macken 10 November 2000 Crewe Alexandra H 2-1 12,632 Appleton, Rankine 18 November 2000 Watford A 3-2 13,066 Macken, Rankine, Anderson 25 November 2000 West Bromwich Albion A 1-3 20,043 Anderson 02 December 2000 Fulham H 1-1 16,047 Jackson 09 December 2000 Burnley H 2-1 17,355 Macken, Alexander 16 December 2000 Gillingham A 0-4 8,198 23 December 2000 Grimsby Town H 1-2 14,667 Macken 26 December 2000 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1-0 24,306 Anderson 30 December 2000 Sheffield United A 2-3 22,316 Healy, Rankine01 January 2001 Bolton Wanderers H 0-2 15,863 10 January 2001 Blackburn Rovers A 2-3 23,983 Macken, Healy 13 January 2001 Wimbledon A 1-3 7,242 Robinson 03 February 2001 Portsmouth A 1-0 13,331 Healy 10 February 2001 Queens Park Rangers H 5-0 14,423 Macken 2, Brian McBride, Healy, Anderson 13 February 2001 Stockport County A 1-0 7,590 Healy 20 February 2001 Birmingham City H 0-2 14,864 24 February 2001 Sheffield Wednesday H 2-0 14,379 McKenna, Macken 03 March 2001 Crystal Palace A 2-0 15,160 Healy, Alexander 06 March 2001 Tranmere Rovers A 1-1 10,335 Macken 14 March 2001 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2-0 15,457 McKenna, Cresswell 17 March 2001 Norwich City A 2-1 16,282 Healy, Gregan 31 March 2001 Gillingham H 0-0 13,550 06 April 2001 Burnley A 0-3 16,591 10 April 2001 Huddersfield Town H 0-0 15,185 14 April 2001 Nottingham Forest H 1-1 16,842 Healy 16 April 2001 Barnsley A 4-0 16,361 Macken, Anderson, McKenna, Cresswell 22 April 2001 Watford H 3-2 14,071 Alexander, Macken 2 28 April 2001 Crewe Alexandra A 3-1 9,451 Healy, Macken 2 02 May 2001 Blackburn Rovers H 0-1 16,975 06 May 2001 West Bromwich Albion H 2-1 16,226 Gregan, Alexander

Football League Playoffs

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers SF-1 13.05.2001 Birmingham City A 0-1 SF-2 17.05.2001 Birmingham City H 2-1 (Preston win on penalties) David Healy, Mark Rankine FN 28.05.2001 Bolton Wanderers Neutral 0-3

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers R3 06 January 2001 Stockport County H 0-1 9,975

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers R1-1 22 August 2000 Shrewsbury Town A 0-1 2,445 R1-2 05 September 2000 Shrewsbury Town H 4-1 5,451 Macken 3, Alexander R2-1 19 September 2000 Coventry City H 1-3 10,770 Alexander R2-2 27 September 2000 Coventry City A 1-4 7,425 Mark Rankine

Squad statistics

|colspan=14|Out on Loan:

|colspan=14|Player who left during the season:

References