The 1998–99 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. Manchester United won a treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. They secured their fifth league title in seven seasons after outlasting Arsenal and Chelsea in a closely fought title race, losing just three league games all season.
The season was also the 100th season of top flight football in England, not counting years lost to the two World Wars. Of the original clubs in the first Football League season, only Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County and Everton were present for this season.
Arsenal failed to retain their title, despite having the same points tally as last season 78 points, but had at one point looked as though they were on the brink of winning the title, after beating fellow rivals Tottenham Hotspur, while Manchester United had drawn against Liverpool, 2–2. However, Manchester United pushed on and took advantage of Arsenal's 1–0 defeat at Leeds United in the penultimate match of the season and despite going 1–0 down against Tottenham on the final day, came back to win 2–1 and clinch the title. Should they have failed to win, Arsenal would have been crowned champions once more.
Chelsea, looking to build on a fourth-placed finish the previous season, were flying for much of the season and were in a good position to claim a first league title in 44 years. The Blues were second at Christmas and went top on Boxing Day. A loss at Highbury at the start of February was just a second in the league all season, and kept Chelsea in second place, just a point off the summit. Eventually, three draws in April against winnable opposition (mid-table sides Middlesbrough and Leicester City, and relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday) ended up costing Chelsea a first Premiership crown. Had they won these, Chelseae likely would have been champions. Chelsea had to settle for third place, earning a maiden Champions League appearance.
To achieve their success, the Manchester United playing squad had been altered substantially during the close season. A total of more than £28 million had been spent on Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam and Jesper Blomqvist, while several older players left the club; Gary Pallister returned to Middlesbrough after nine years for £2.5 million, while Brian McClair returned to Motherwell on a free transfer. In December, however, McClair was back in the Premier League as Brian Kidd's assistant at Blackburn Rovers.
Season summary At the end of 1998–99, the Premiership would have three Champions League places. Manchester United as well as runners-up Arsenal and third placed Chelsea would be playing in the following season's Champions League. There would only be one automatic UEFA Cup place from the league – taken by fourth-placed Leeds United. Fifth-placed West Ham United qualified for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup after achieving their highest league finish since 1986 as they continued to make progress under Harry Redknapp, outperforming several "bigger" clubs with greater resources. Also qualifying were Newcastle United via the 1998–99 FA Cup final, and Tottenham Hotspur via the League Cup.
Manchester United regained the title from Arsenal on the final day of the season, and had faced competition from Chelsea until the final stages of the season, while Aston Villa had led the table for much of the first half of the season before finishing sixth.
Bottom of the Premiership in the final table came Nottingham Forest, who suffered their third relegation in seven seasons. After winning two of their opening three matches, a club record winless run of 19 matches left them firmly rooted to the bottom. Another notable low during the season saw an 8-1 defeat at home to Manchester United, by which point Dave Bassett had been replaced by Ron Atkinson, who was unable to spark a revival in fortunes and their relegation back to the First Division was confirmed with three games remaining. Forest ultimately would not return to the top flight for another 23 years.
Second from bottom came Blackburn Rovers, who just four seasons earlier had been Premiership champions. Like Forest, a change of manager, with Roy Hodgson being replaced by Brian Kidd just before Christmas failed to have the desired outcome, a goalless draw at home to Manchester United in their penultimate game of the season sealing their fate. The final relegation place went to Charlton Athletic, who went down at the end of their first spell in the top flight for nine seasons following a 1-0 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday on the final day. The only newly promoted club to survive was Middlesbrough, who finished in ninth place - their highest final position for more than 20 years.
None of the teams relegated from the Premiership the previous season regained their top division status in 1999, although First Division champions Sunderland regained their Premiership place after a two-year exile. The other two relegation places went to long-term absentees from the top division. Playoff winners Watford regained their top division place after an absence of 11 years, but runners-up Bradford had been outside of the top division for 77 years. These two promotion winners surprised the observers more than any other Division One side during 1998–99, but were widely expected to struggle in the top flight.
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough (both teams sealing an immediate return to the top flight after a single season), and Charlton Athletic (playing in the top flight after an eight-year absence). This was also Charlton Athletic's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Crystal Palace, with all three relegated teams returning to the First Division after a single season in the top flight.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium 38,419Aston VillaBirminghamVilla Park 42,573Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park 31,367Charlton AthleticLondon The Valley 20,043ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge 42,055Coventry CityCoventryHighfield Road 23,489Derby CountyDerbyPride Park Stadium 33,597EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park 40,569Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road 40,242Leicester CityLeicesterFilbert Street 22,000LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield 45,522Manchester UnitedManchesterOld Trafford 68,174 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 30,000Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park 52,387Nottingham ForestWest BridgfordCity Ground 30,445Sheffield WednesdaySheffieldHillsborough Stadium 39,732SouthamptonSouthamptonThe Dell 15,200Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane 36,240West Ham UnitedLondon Boleyn Ground 35,647WimbledonLondon Selhurst Park 26,074
Personnel and kits (as of 16 May 1999) Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal Arsène Wenger Tony AdamsNikeJVCAston Villa John Gregory Gareth SouthgateReebokLDV VansBlackburn Rovers Brian Kidd Garry FlitcroftUhlsportCISCharlton Athletic Alan Curbishley Mark KinsellaLe Coq SportifMesh ComputersChelsea Gianluca Vialli Dennis WiseUmbroAutoglassCoventry City Gordon Strachan Gary McAllisterLe Coq SportifSubaruDerby County Jim Smith Igor ŠtimacPumaEDSEverton Walter Smith Dave WatsonUmbroOne2OneLeeds United David O'Leary Lucas RadebePumaPackard BellLeicester City Martin O'Neill Steve WalshFox LeisureWalkersLiverpool Gérard Houllier Paul InceReebokCarlsbergManchester United Alex Ferguson Roy KeaneUmbroSharpMiddlesbrough Bryan Robson Andy TownsendErreàCellnetNewcastle United Ruud Gullit Alan ShearerAdidasNewcastle Brown AleNottingham Forest Ron Atkinson Steve ChettleUmbroPinnacle InsuranceSheffield Wednesday Danny Wilson Peter AthertonPumaSandersonSouthampton Dave Jones Matt Le TissierPonySandersonTottenham Hotspur George Graham Sol CampbellPonyHewlett-PackardWest Ham United Harry Redknapp Steve LomasPonyDr. MartensWimbledon Terry Burton Mick Harford (caretaker) Robbie EarleLottoElonex
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Sheffield Wednesday Ron Atkinson End of caretaker spell 17 May 1998 Pre-season Danny Wilson 6 July 1998 Everton Howard Kendall Resigned 1 July 1998 Walter Smith 1 July 1998 Liverpool Roy Evans (sole charge) N/A Roy Evans Gérard Houllier (co-managers) Newcastle United Kenny Dalglish Sacked 27 August 1998 13th Ruud Gullit 27 August 1998 Tottenham Hotspur Christian Gross 5 September 1998 14th David Pleat Chris Hughton (co-caretakers) 7 September 1998 David Pleat Chris Hughton End of caretaker spell 1 October 1998 13th George Graham 1 October 1998 Leeds United George Graham Signed by Tottenham 7th David O'Leary Liverpool Roy Evans (as co-manager) Resigned 12 November 1998 11th Gérard Houllier (taking sole charge) 12 November 1998 Blackburn Rovers Roy Hodgson Sacked 21 November 1998 20th Tony Parkes (caretaker) 21 November 1998 Tony Parkes End of caretaker spell 4 December 1998 Brian Kidd 4 December 1998 Nottingham Forest Dave Bassett Sacked 5 January 1999 Ron Atkinson (caretaker) 5 January 1999 Wimbledon Joe Kinnear Illness 3 March 1999 6th Terry Burton Mick Harford (co-caretakers) 3 March 1999
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Jimmy Floyd HasselbainkLeeds United18 Michael OwenLiverpool Dwight YorkeManchester United4 Nicolas AnelkaArsenal17 Andy ColeManchester United6 Hámilton RicardMiddlesbrough157 Dion DublinAston Villa14 Robbie FowlerLiverpool Julian JoachimAston Villa Alan ShearerNewcastle United
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref Charlton Athletic Southampton 5–0 (H) Liverpool Newcastle United 4–1 (A) 4 Liverpool Nottingham Forest 5–1 (H) Aston Villa Leicester City 4–1 (A) Liverpool Aston Villa 4–2 (A) Tottenham Hotspur Everton 4–1 (H) Coventry City Nottingham Forest 4–0 (H) P Liverpool Southampton 7–1 (H) Manchester United Leicester City 6–2 (A) 4 Manchester United Nottingham Forest 8–1 (A) Arsenal Leicester City 5–0 (H) Everton West Ham United 6–0 (H) Note: 4 Player scored 4 goals; P Player scored a perfect hat-trick; Player scored hat-trick as a substitute; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists 1 Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 13 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Leeds United 3 David Beckham Manchester United 11 Eyal Berkovic West Ham United Steve Guppy Leicester City Dwight Yorke Manchester United 7 David Ginola Tottenham Hotspur 10 8 Darren Anderton Tottenham Hotspur 9 Harry Kewell Leeds United 10 James Beattie Southampton 7
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Alan CurbishleyCharlton Athletic Michael OwenLiverpoolSeptember John GregoryAston Villa Alan ShearerNewcastle UnitedOctober Martin O'NeillLeicester City Roy KeaneManchester UnitedNovember Harry RedknappWest Ham United Dion DublinAston VillaDecember Brian KiddBlackburn Rovers David GinolaTottenham HotspurJanuary Alex FergusonManchester United Dwight YorkeManchester UnitedFebruary Alan CurbishleyCharlton Athletic Nicolas AnelkaArsenalMarch David O'LearyLeeds United Ray ParlourArsenalApril Alex FergusonManchester United Kevin CampbellEverton
Annual awards
Award Winner Club Premier League Manager of the Season Alex Ferguson Manchester United Premier League Player of the Season Dwight Yorke Manchester United PFA Players' Player of the Year David Ginola Tottenham Hotspur PFA Young Player of the Year Nicolas Anelka Arsenal FWA Footballer of the Year David Ginola Tottenham Hotspur