The 1998–99 season was the 100th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. During that season, they played in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.
The season began with Mark McGhee as manager but he left "by mutual agreement" on 5 November after a run of two victories from fourteen games; the team having begun with four consecutive league wins. Upon McGhee's departure his assistant Colin Lee was placed in charge of the team and, after taking ten points from a possible twelve, he was handed the post for the remainder of the season.
The team finished in seventh place, one position short of the play-offs. Results on the final day, including their own, failed to go in their favour and so they missed out on a chance of promotion to the Premier League. Nonetheless, following the final match, the Wolves board announced that Colin Lee was to be given a permanent contract as manager.
Results
Pre-season
Football League First Division
A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1998–99 season. Each team played every other team twice: once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.
The provisional fixture list was released on 15 June 1998, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.
Final table Team 5 Watford 46 21 14 11 65 56 +9 77 6 Bolton Wanderers 46 20 16 10 78 59 +19 76 7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 19 16 11 64 43 +21 73 8 Sheffield United 46 18 13 15 71 66 +5 67 Source: Statto.com
Results summary
Results by round
FA Cup
League Cup
Players
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Transfers
In DatePlayerFromFee5 August 1998 Fernando Gómez ValenciaFree13 November 1998 Robert Niestroj Fortuna Düsseldorf£500,00013 January 1999 Håvard Flo Werder Bremen£700,00025 March 1999 Darren MiddletonAston VillaFree25 March 1999 Andy TurnerCrystal PalaceFree
Out DatePlayerToFeeJune 1998 Tony DaleyReleasedFreeJune 1998 Don GoodmanReleasedFreeJune 1998 Dariusz KubickiReleasedFreeJune 1998 Richard LeadbeaterReleasedFreeJune 1998 Hans SegersReleasedFreeJune 1998 Robbie SlaterReleasedFreeJune 1998 Chris WestwoodReleasedFree6 August 1998 Dougie FreedmanNottingham Forest£950,0006 August 1998 Jason RobertsBristol Rovers£250,00010 August 1998 Steve ClaridgePortsmouth£200,00011 September 1998 Mixu Paatelainen Hibernian£75,0001 October 1998 Steve FroggattCoventry City£1.9 million27 January 1999 Glen CrowePlymouth ArgyleFree
Loans in Start datePlayerFromEnd date20 August 1998 David Connolly FeyenoordEnd of season2 November 1998 Guy WhittinghamSheffield Wednesday28 December 199825 March 1999 Jørgen NielsenLiverpoolEnd of season
Loans out Start datePlayerToEnd date1 August 1998 Glen CroweExeter City26 September 199818 September 1998 Paul SimpsonWalsall5 October 19988 December 1998 Dominic FoleyNotts County31 December 199811 December 1998 Paul SimpsonWalsall11 January 199926 January 1999 Darren Ferguson Sparta Rotterdam26 April 19994 February 1999 Dominic Foley Ethnikos Piraeus24 March 1999
Kit The season brought a new home kit as the design returned to a plain gold shirt with black collar. The away kit, a white away shirt with a dark green collar and dark green shorts, was retained from the previous season. Both were manufactured by Puma and sponsored by Goodyear.
References