The 1998–99 season was Blackburn Rovers' seventh season in the Premier League, and their seventh consecutive season in the top division of English football.

Season summary

Four years earlier, Blackburn Rovers were Premiership champions. Just one year earlier, they had qualified for the UEFA Cup. They were among some people's outsiders for a title challenge. But it all went wrong for Rovers, who were soon in the depth of a relegation battle. Manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...

paid with his job in November.

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

assistant

Brian Kidd Brian Kidd (born 29 May 1949) is an English football coach and former player, who was most recently assistant coach of Manchester City, alongside manager Pep Guardiola. Kidd was also assistant to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson from 199 ...

was named as his replacement, but he was unable to steer Rovers to safety and their relegation was confirmed in the penultimate game of the season. They were condemned to a place in

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, but managed to hold on to many key players and approached the new season as most people's favourites for an immediate return to the elite.

Final league table

;Results summary ;Results by round

Results

''Blackburn Rovers' score comes first''

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

UEFA Cup

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Statistics

Appearances and goals

, - ! 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 out during the season

Starting 11

:''Considering starts in all competitions'' * GK: #13,

John Filan John Richard Filan (born 8 February 1970) is an Australian football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1989 until 2008 and notably played in the Premier League for Coventry City where he was a specialist ...

, 32 * RB: #2,

Jeff Kenna Jeffrey Jude Kenna (born 27 August 1970) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1989 until 2009, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City. He was ...

, 29 * CB: #5,

Darren Peacock Darren Peacock (born 3 February 1968) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a centre-back who made nearly 400 league appearances. He notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, ...

, 34 * CB: #6, Stéphane Henchoz, 41 * LB: #3, Callum Davidson, 39 * RM: #19,

Damien Johnson Damien Michael Johnson (born 18 November 1978) is a Northern Irish football coach and former international player. Sincce 2019 he has been first team technical coach & head of player development at Blackburn Rovers. He began his career with P ...

, 17 (#23, Christian Dailly, has 18 starts) * CM: #4, Tim Sherwood, 23 * CM: #11, Jason Wilcox, 33 * LM: #12,

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his prof ...

, 25 * CF: #9,

Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundit ...

, 20 * CF: #32,

Ashley Ward Ashley Ward (born 24 November 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having come through the Manchester City academy, he notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Derby County, Barnsley, ...

, 19

Top scorers

5 * Kevin Gallacher 5 *

4 * Jason Wilcox 4 * Tim Sherwood 4 *

Nathan Blake Nathan Blake (born 27 January 1972) is a Welsh former professional footballer, pundit and television presenter. He notably played in the Premier League for Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He al ...

Transfers

In

Out

:Transfers in: £36,250,000 :Transfers out: £11,675,000 :Total spending: £24,750,000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season Blackburn Rovers F.C. seasons Blackburn Rovers