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The 1998-1999 season was the 119th season of competitive football in England.
Overview
Premier League
Manchester United overcame close competition from Arsenal and Chelsea to win their fifth Premiership title in seven seasons thanks to the comeback of Roy Keane after his long-term injury and a transfer raid totalling nearly £30million which netted Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke, Parma winger Jesper Blomqvist and PSV defender Jaap Stam. They went on to win a unique treble of the Premiership title, FA Cup and European Cup, which gained manager Alex Ferguson a knighthood.Nottingham Forest went down to Division One just one season after winning promotion. They had started the season terribly after manager Dave Bassett was sacked and Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk went AWOL. Experienced Ron Atkinson was brought in on a temporary contract but could not stave off relegation. Joining Forest in the Premiership drop zone were Blackburn Rovers (Premiership champions just four years earlier) and Charlton Athletic. Southampton were the lucky team to avoid relegation on the last day of the season, and their remarkable survival also signalled the go-ahead for a new stadium which would be in use for the 2001-02 season.
Division One
Sunderland were crowned Division One champions with 105 points, then a record, having lost just three games all season, to prove right the many pundits who tipped them for promotion. The two other promotion places were secured by two of the division's least fancied sides - runners-up Bradford City (back in the top division for the first time in nearly 80 years) and playoff winners Watford (who had won their second successive promotion during Graham Taylor's second spell as manager).Bury, Oxford United and Bristol City occupied the three relegation places in Division One. Oxford's dismal season was mainly down to £10 million debts which were putting the club in real danger of closure, and had also resulted in the suspension of construction of their new stadium near the Blackbird Leys estate.
Division Two
Kevin Keegan completed his spell as Fulham manager before taking the England job by guiding the Cottagers to the Division Two championship with a staggering 101 points. Following them up were runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Manchester City.Going down were York City, Northampton Town, Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town. Narrowly avoiding the drop to Division Three were Oldham Athletic, who just a few seasons earlier had been a Premiership side who came within a whisker of reaching the FA Cup final.
Division Three
Brentford, Cambridge United, Cardiff City and Scunthorpe United occupied the four promotion places in Division Three.Carlisle United kept their league status in remarkable fashion. They entered the final game of the season in bottom place, and with 90 minutes on the clock in their home game against Plymouth Argyle they were drawing 1-1 and needed a win to stay up. The referee then allowed 4 minutes of stoppage time and with just seconds to go, goalkeeper Jimmy Glass came upfield and scored from a rebounded corner to preserve his club's place in the league which had been held since 1928. Scarborough, who had only joined the league in 1987, were relegated instead. Glass, 25, had been signed on loan from Swindon Town after the transfer line because an injury crisis had left Carlisle without a goalkeeper for the final few games of the season.
FA Cup
Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 to secure their third double triumph in six seasons and completed the second part of their treble glory.League Cup
Tottenham Hotspur finally had something to shout about as their new manager George Graham guided them to League Cup glory at the expense of Leicester City.Successful players
Tottenham's classy French midfielder David Ginola was voted PFA Player of the Year and FWA Player of the Year after helping his employers win the League Cup.
19-year-old Arsenal and France striker Nicolas Anelka was voted PFA Young Player of the Year after his exciting form almost saw his employers repeat their double triumph of the previous season.
Despite having his first-team opportunities limited by the arrival of Dwight Yorke, 33-year-old Teddy Sheringham was able to get into the Manchester United line-up for the FA Cup final to score one of his side's two goals. Four days later he scored an injury time equaliser in the European Cup final followed two minutes later by a last-gasp winner scored by Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who had maintained his reputation as a top class goalscorer despite being included as a substitute for most of United's games during the season.
David Seaman proved himself as (statistically) the most successful manager in English league history after conceding just 17 league goals in a season with Arsenal.
Kevin Phillips had another prolific season with Sunderland, who won promotion to the Premiership as Division One champions.
Successful managers
Alex Ferguson was knighted after guiding Manchester United to a unique treble of the Premiership title, FA Cup and European Cup.
George Graham gave Tottenham their first good season for almost a decade by guiding them to League Cup glory.
Peter Reid took Sunderland into the Premiership as Division One champions on 105 points.
Paul Jewell ended Bradford City's 77-year wait for a return to the top division.
Graham Taylor took Watford into the Premiership as they won the Division One playoffs and secured their second successive promotion.
Biggest rise
Bradford City finished as Division One runners-up and reached the Premiership to end a 77-year absence from the top flight.
Biggest fall
Blackburn Rovers were relegated to Division One just four years after being Premiership champions. They crossed paths with Bradford City, who had narrowly avoided the Division Two drop zone during Blackburn's championship season.
Events
Ferguson knighted after United's treble glory
Manchester United finally justified their claim of being the greatest football club in the world when they completed a unique treble of the Premiership title, F.A Cup and European Cup.
Part one of United's treble was completed when they beat Tottenham 2-1 on the last day of the season to ensure that Arsenal did not retain the Premiership title. A week later they completed the second part of the treble with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the F.A Cup final.
United's treble dream looked dead on 26th May as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes in the European Cup final at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium, with Bayern Munich leading 1-0. Referee Periluigi Collina allowed 4 minutes of stoppage time and within the first minute substitute Teddy Sheringham forced an equaliser and an enormous wave of relief flooded among the United fans. Sheringham's goal looked to have forced extra time, but with the last kick of the game Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer scored a winner and United fans and players went wild. Alex Ferguson later questioned whether the spirit of Sir Matt Busby, who would have turned 90 on the day of the triumph, had influenced the outcome of the game.
On 12th June, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition for his services to football - making him the seventh knight of English football and the third knight to be associated with Manchester United, the others being Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton.and also the shitest team ever to play in football alex suked viallis dik hes a waste man.
Hoddle ousted
On 2nd February, the F.A terminated Glenn Hoddle's contract as England manager after he appeared in The Times newspaper and suggested that disabled people were being punished for sins in previous lives. His comments had sparked outrage amongst the disabled community to such an extent that the F.A felt they had no option but to sack him.
The hunt began for his successor. A month later, former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan agreed to take charge of the England team but stayed on as Fulham manager until the end of the season in order to oversee their Division Two title glory.
New arrivals in Premiership
A year after their dramatic playoff final defeat to Charlton Athletic in a penalty shoot-out, Peter Reid's Sunderland returned to the Premiership after winning the Division One championship with a record 105 points. Sunderland, who had moved into their classy new home - the Stadium of Light - two years earlier, were most people's favourites for promotion to the top flight. But the other two promoted teams were perhaps the most unlikely bet that anyone could have made.
Bradford City, managed by 34-year-old Paul Jewell, had been outside the top division since 1922. Their only claim to fame had been an F.A Cup triumph in 1911. But the inexperienced Jewell surprised all the observers by putting together a strong Bradford side who cruised to second place in Division One and booked their place in the Premiership.
The third and final place in the Premiership went to playoff winners Watford, managed by Graham Taylor for the second time (he had previously been in charge from 1976 until 1987). Taylor had finally achieved some success the previous year in form of the Division Two championship, having endured a torrid time with England and then Wolves. But the playoff triumph of 1999 was more than even Taylor could have expected just a few months earlier.
Glass's last gasp goal keeps Carlisle in league
Carlisle United went into the final game of the 1998-99 Division Three campaign knowing that they had to beat Plymouth Argyle to hang on to the Football League place they had held since 1928. In April, an injury crisis had forced Carlisle to bring in goalkeeper Jimmy Glass on loan from Swindon and the Football League gave permission for the transfer to go ahead despite the transfer deadline having already passed.
With 90 minutes on the clock for Carlisle's home fixture against Plymouth, the referee allowed 3 minutes of stoppage time which gave the Cumbrians hope of survival.
10 seconds before the end of stoppage time, Jimmy Glass ran upfield after a corner was given and slammed the ball into the back of the net to keep Carlisle in the league and send Scarborough down to the Conference.
Blackburn go down
Blackburn Rovers, Premiership champions in 1995, were relegated from the Premiership in 1999 with a side which had been rendered of almost all of its title winning players. Roy Hodgson had arrived as manager in 1997 and achieved UEFA Cup qualification in his first season as manager, only to be sacked the following November as Blackburn found themselves caught up in a relegation battle. Manchester United's successful assistant manager Bryan Kidd was brought in as his successor, and for a while things were looking up. But Blackburn's relegation fight was finally lost after they drew 0-0 at home to Manchester United in the penultimate game of the season. Chairman Jack Walker was now faced with finding the funds to build a side that could win promotion back to the Premiership, 12 months after he handed an open cheque book to Roy Hodgson in hope of winning the Premiership.
Deaths
- Jackie Blanchflower, 65, was a Manchester United and Northern Ireland centre-half during the 1950s. He suffered a fractured pelvis in the Munich air disaster of 1958 and retired from football following medical advice a year later. He was the younger brother of former Tottenham Hotspur captain Danny Blanchflower (1926-1993).
- Dennis Viollet, 65, was another former Manchester United player (centre-forward) and Munich air disaster survivor. He continued playing after the tragedy and remained on United's payroll until he joined Stoke City in 1962. At the time of his death from cancer, he was living in the United States of America.
- Sir Alf Ramsey, 79, managed England to their finest moment - World Cup glory in 1966. Had played for Tottenham and England during the postwar years and had proved himself as a club manager by winning the league title for Ipswich Town in 1962 - at the end of their first season as a top division club. Remained at the helm with England until 1974, and later had a brief spell as manager of Birmingham City.
- Arthur Mann, 51, began his footballing career at Hearts before moving south of the border to play for Manchester City and later Notts County, Shrewsbury Town, Mansfield Town and finally non-league Kettering Town. Was later assistant manager to Alan Buckley at Grimsby Town (1989-1994) and later West Bromwich Albion (1994-1997). Died in an accident at a scrapyard in Birmingham.
- John McGrath, 60, was manager of Preston North End when they won promotion to the Third Division in 1987. As a player he was centre-half for clubs including Newcastle United and Southampton.
- John Osborne, who died of cancer aged 57, kept goal for West Bromwich Albion in their 1968 F.A Cup triumph. He began his career with Chesterfield and after reaching the pinnacle of his career with Albion he wound up with Walsall.
"1998-99 in English football"