The 1998–99 English football season was

Derby County F.C. Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

's third consecutive season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Season summary

Derby's second tilt at European football was made in the 1998–99 season, the Rams peaking in 2nd place after 6 games with a 2–0 home win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, eventually finishing one place better off in 8th. They reached the FA Cup Quarter finals for the third time in seven years, losing out only to late

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and ...

goal in a 0–1 away defeat to Arsenal, and recorded some memorable victories, including a league double over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

2–1 at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

and 3–2 at

Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are both ...

and a 1–0 win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the teams' first ever meeting at Pride Park. Derby County were a club on the up; Pride Park's capacity was expanded (32,913 fans attended the 3–2 victory over

) and Derby's players were getting noticed – five had represented their countries at the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, and

Christian Dailly Christian Eduard Dailly (born 23 October 1973) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Dailly started his professional career as a teenager, playing as a forward (association football), st ...

was sold to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

for £5.35m, comfortably the highest fee Derby had ever received. The key departure, however, was

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...

– Smith's number two since he had taken the Derby managerial position 3 years earlier – who departed in February 1999 to become

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

's assistant at

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 ...

, winning

the treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

in his first 3 months at Old Trafford. The 1998–99 season was Jim Smith's Derby County peak, as the financial demands of Premier League football began to catch up with them.

Final league table

;Results summary ;Results by round

Results

''Derby County's score comes first''

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

Players

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Transfers

In

Out

:Transfers in: £5,350,000 :Transfers out: £10,825,000 :Total spending: £5,475,000

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

:''(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)''

Starting 11

:''Considering starts in all competitions'' * GK: #1,

Russell Hoult Russell Hoult (born 22 November 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He notably spent time playing in the Premier League and played for Leicester City, Derby County and West Bromwich ...

, 26 * RB: #3, Stefan Schnoor, 25 * CB: #17,

Spencer Prior Spencer Justin Prior (born 22 April 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He is the manager of Papua New Guinea women's national football team. As a player, he was a central defender who notably played in the ...

, 39 * CB: #2,

Horacio Carbonari Horacio Angel Carbonari (born 2 May 1974) is a Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was nicknamed "Bazooka" due to his powerful free-kicks. Career Rosario Central Born in Santa Teresa, a town in the southern en ...

, 32 * LB: #16,

Jacob Laursen Jacob Thaysen-Laursen (born 6 October 1971) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Laursen most notably played for English club Derby County and won the Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg IF and Copenhag ...

, 44 * CM: #18,

Lee Carsley Lee Kevin Carsley (born 28 February 1974) is a former professional footballer who is head coach of England U21. In a playing career lasting 17 years, he is best remembered for his spells as a midfielder in the Premier League and Football Leagu ...

, 27 * CM: #4,

Darryl Powell Darryl Anthony Powell (born 15 November 1971) is a sports agent and former professional association football, footballer who made more than 350 appearances in the Football League and Premier League and played international football for the Jamai ...

, 34 * CM: #14,

Lars Bohinen Lars Roar Bohinen (born 8 September 1969) is a Norwegian football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1986 until 2005, notably playing in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers an ...

, 32 * RF: #20,

Stefano Eranio Stefano Eranio (; born 29 December 1966) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Throughout his career, Eranio played mainly as a right winger; he is mostly remembered for having played for Italian clubs A.C. Mila ...

, 24 (

Rory Delap Rory John Delap (born 6 July 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he made 11 appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team. Delap started his career at Carlisle United and impressed en ...

has 24 starts as a right midfielder) * CF: #8,

Dean Sturridge Dean Constantine Sturridge (born 26 July 1973) is an English former professional footballer and football commentator for beIN Sports. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby County, Leicester City and ...

, 30 * LF: #9,

Paulo Wanchope Paulo César Wanchope Watson (; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer As a player he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby Cou ...

, 37

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Derby County F.C. season Derby County F.C. seasons

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...