| Club: | Coventry City |
| Season: | 2000–01 |
| Manager: | Gordon Strachan |
| Chairman: | Bryan Richardson |
| Stadium: | Highfield Road |
| League: | Premiership |
| League Result: | 19th (relegated) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Fourth round |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Fourth round |
| League Topscorer: | Bellamy/Hartson/Hadji (6) |
| Season Topscorer: | Bellamy (8) |
| Highest Attendance: | 23,063 vs Liverpool (28 Apr 2001, Premier League) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 7,425 vs Preston North End (27 Sep 2000, League Cup) |
| Average Attendance: | 20,535 |
| Pattern B1: | _3whitestripes |
| Pattern Sh1: | _blanksides2 |
| Pattern So1: | _sky_blue_on_top |
| Leftarm1: | 00FFFF |
| Body1: | 00FFFF |
| Rightarm1: | 00FFFF |
| Shorts1: | 00FFFF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Pattern B2: | _skycollar |
| Pattern Sh2: | _lightblue stripes |
| Pattern So2: | _sky_blue_on_top |
| Leftarm2: | 000000 |
| Body2: | 000000 |
| Rightarm2: | 000000 |
| Shorts2: | 000000 |
| Socks2: | FFFFFF |
| Prevseason: | 1999–2000 |
| Nextseason: | 2001–02 |
During the 2000–01 English football season, Coventry City F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was their 34th consecutive season in the top division, but this season saw the club relegated and they have not been in the top flight since.
Coventry City's season started promisingly. Despite an opening-day 3–1 home defeat to Middlesbrough, this was followed by back-to-back away victories at Southampton and Manchester City, which was the first time they had won an away league game since April 1999 and the first time they had won back-to-back away league games since February 1998. However, this burst of form instantly evaporated and by December 2000, Coventry had dropped into the relegation zone after obtaining only one more win (a 2–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur) and 6 points from 13 matches. With the exception of three rounds, all of which were before January 2001, Coventry would ultimately stay there for the rest of the season. After 34 years in the top flight and 10 close shaves with relegation, their luck finally ran out and they were relegated to the First Division after a 3–2 away defeat at Aston Villa on 5 May 2001. It was the first time they had suffered relegation since 1958, when they were relegated to Division Four - then the fourth tier of English football.[1] Much optimism followed Coventry's relegation with everyone at the club working hard to attain promotion at the first attempt. These hopes were boosted with the signing of prolific striker Lee Hughes from local rivals West Bromwich Albion.[2]
In the FA Cup, Coventry won 2–0 away at Swindon Town in the third round, but were eliminated by Manchester City after a 1–0 defeat at Maine Road. Their League Cup campaign began with the club convincingly beating Preston North End 7–2 on aggregate in the second round (in which they won both legs), before defeating Southampton away for the second time in the season. However, this cup run came to an end after a 2–1 defeat by Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
See main article: 2000–01 FA Premier League.
Coventry City's score comes first[3]
| Win | Draw | Loss |
See main article: 2000–01 FA Cup.
| R3 | 6 January 2001 | Swindon Town | A | 2–0 | 14,445 | Bellamy, Hadji | |
| R4 | 27 January 2001 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 24,637 |
See main article: 2000–01 Football League Cup.
| R2 1st Leg | 19 September 2000 | Preston North End | A | 3–1 | 10,770 | Zúñiga, Hall, Strachan (pen) | |
| R2 2nd Leg | 27 September 2000 | Preston North End | H | 4–1 (won 7–2 on agg) | 7,425 | Aloisi (3, 1 pen), Eustace | |
| R3 | 1 November 2000 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | 11,809 | Eustace | |
| R4 | 28 November 2000 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 19,563 | Bellamy (pen) |
The following players were contracted to Coventry, but did not appear for the first team this season.
| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 July 2000 | FW | Jay Bothroyd | Arsenal | £1,000,000 | [6] | |
| 2 August 2000 | MF | David Thompson | Liverpool | £2,500,000 | [7] | |
| 16 August 2000 | FW | Craig Bellamy | Norwich City | £6,500,000 | [8] | |
| 6 September 2000 | FW |  Jairo Martínez | Motagua | Signed | [9] | |
| 19 October 2000 | MF | Iván Guerrero | Motagua | Signed | ||
| 1 December 2000 | MF |  Lee Carsley | Blackburn Rovers | £2,500,000 | [10] | |
| 22 December 2000 | MF |  Andreas Dahl | IFK Hässleholm | £300,000 | ||
| 8 February 2001 | FW | John Hartson | Wimbledon | Signed | [11] |
| Date | Pos | Name | To | Fee | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 June 2000 | FW | Chukki Eribenne | Bournemouth | Free transfer | ||
| 28 June 2000 | DF | David Burrows | Birmingham City | Free transfer | ||
| 1 July 2000 | MF | Gary McAllister | Liverpool | Free transfer | [12] | |
| 5 July 2000 | DF | Ian Brightwell | Walsall | Free transfer | ||
| 6 July 2000 | DF | Mark Burrows | Exeter City | Free transfer | ||
| 30 July 2000 | FW | Robbie Keane |  Inter Milan | £13,000,000 | [13] | |
| 31 July 2000 | FW | Noel Whelan | Middlesbrough | £2,000,000 | [14] | |
| 12 January 2001 | MF | Daire Doyle | Kidderminster Harriers | Free transfer | ||
| 13 February 2001 | DF | Colin Hendry | Bolton Wanderers | £250,000 | [15] | |
| 15 February 2001 | FW |  Cédric Roussel | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £1,500,000 | [16] |
Transfers in: £12,800,000
Transfers out: £16,750,000
Total spending: £3,950,000
|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred or loaned out during the season|-