Huddersfield Town's 1998–99 campaign was Town's full season with

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

at the helm. At the end of the season, Town finished a respectable 10th place, but within a day of the end of the season, owner Barry Rubery sacked Peter Jackson to the shock of just about every Huddersfield Town fan.

Squad at the start of the season

Review

Among the summer transfers brought in by manager

was Belgian goalkeeper

Nico Vaesen Nico-Jos Theodoor Vaesen (born 28 September 1969) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He retired from football shortly after joining Lierse, but returned to the game in 2008 with K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel for one season whe ...

, who was sent off on his debut after just 9

minute The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a nega ...

s against

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, but after that made some exceptional performances in the Town net, which helped Town reach top spot in September and October. During that time, Town played

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, which at the time saw a record 20,241 at a match at the

McAlpine Stadium MacAlpine, McAlpine, MacAlpin or McAlpin is a Scottish surname. It may refer to: People * The Scottish House of Alpin * Its claimed descendants, the Siol Alpin and/or Clan McAlpin(e) * Kenneth MacAlpin, founder of said dynasty * His brother and ...

. (That would be eclipsed by the 21,629 that saw Town play Derby County in the FA Cup 5th round in February.) Jackson recruited winger

Ben Thornley Benjamin Lindsay Thornley (born 21 April 1975) is an English former professional footballer and sports commentator. As a player, he was a winger who notably played in the Premier League for Manchester United, although making nine league appea ...

(a popular loan signing under Horton) from

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 ...

and in September, they beat Tranmere Rovers to top the early Division 1 table, thanks chiefly to the goalscoring prowess of Stewart and Allison. Even though Town were top of the table, their away form was very mediocre at best. This was probably proven by their 7–1 loss to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in November (They were 6–0 down at half-time and to make matters worse the game was shown on Sky Sports!) Town did however have a good run in the FA Cup which culminated in a 5th-round match against Premier League side Derby County. They eventually lost 3–1 in the replay at Pride Park. The team attracted the attention of local businessman Barry Rubery and, after protracted takeover talks, he took over the running of the club promising significant investment as the club sought Premiership status. The takeover rumours had a negative effect on the side and they fell away from the promotion race despite Jackson investing in the likes of Craig Armstrong and Jamie Vincent. A play-off place eventually faded following a horrible end to the season, which saw them win only one of their last 11 matches, although that was a 3–2 win against local rivals

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

at Valley Parade. Jackson was hoping to mount a promotion challenge the following season, but he was suddenly sacked after the end of the season and replaced by former Manchester United captain

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

, whose first season in management with Sheffield United had brought little success. Jackson declined the role of academy director.

Squad at the end of the season

Results

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 ...

FA Cup

League Cup

Appearances and goals

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Season 1998-99 1998-99 Hudd