1998–99 Football League
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1998–99 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th completed season of
The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
.
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
were crowned First Division champions with 105 points, then a record, having lost just three games all season, to prove right the many pundits who tipped them for
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
. The two other promotion places were secured by two of the division's least fancied sides—runners-up
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
(back in the top division for the first time in 77 years) and playoff winners
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
(who had won their second successive promotion during Graham Taylor's second spell as manager). Bury,
Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...
and
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
occupied the three relegation places in the First Division. Oxford's dismal season was mainly down to £10 million debts which were putting the club in real danger of closure, and had also resulted in the suspension of construction of their new stadium near the Blackbird Leys estate.
Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...
completed his spell as
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
manager before taking the
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
job by guiding the Cottagers to the Second Division championship with a staggering 101 points. Following them up were runners-up
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
and playoff winners
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
. Going down were
York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...
,
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
, Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town. Narrowly avoiding the drop to the Third Division were
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
, who just five years earlier had been a Premiership side who came within a whisker of reaching the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
final.
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
,
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
,
Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
and Scunthorpe United occupied the four promotion places in the Third Division. Carlisle United kept their league status in remarkable fashion. They entered the final game of the season in bottom place, and with 90 minutes on the clock in their home game against Plymouth Argyle they were drawing 1–1 and needed a win to stay up. The referee then allowed 4 minutes of stoppage time and with just seconds to go,
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
Jimmy Glass came upfield and scored from a rebounded corner to preserve his club's place in the league which had been held since 1928.
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
, who had only joined the league in 1987, were relegated instead. Glass, 25, had been signed on loan from
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
after the transfer line because an injury crisis had left Carlisle without a goalkeeper for the final few games of the season.


First Division

One season after missing out on promotion in a dramatic playoff final defeat, Sunderland clinched a place in the Premier League after a brilliant season which saw them achieve an English league record of 105 points and clinch the Division One title for the second time in four seasons. Bradford City, in their first full season under the management of Paul Jewell, were the surprise package in Division One this season, finishing runners-up to reach the Premier League and return to the top flight of English football for the first time since 1922. In the playoffs, Watford won at Wembley for the first time in their history, beating Bolton Wanderers 20 to secure a second successive promotion and end their 11-year absence from the top flight. Birmingham City and Ipswich Town were the beaten semi-finalists in the playoffs. Wolves manager
Mark McGhee Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. A former forward, McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and had spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, ...
was sacked in early November after a disappointing first three months of the season, with his assistant
Colin Lee Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard. Playing career Lee began his football career w ...
being appointed manager after a successful interim spell in charge, but Wolves were beaten to a playoff place on the last day of the season. Their local rivals West Bromwich Albion finished 12th but their striker Lee Hughes, in only his second season in league football, finished as the highest scorer in all four divisions with 31 Division One strikes. New Crystal Palace owner Mark Goldberg's dream to turn the
Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...
club into a major force quickly turned into a nightmare as he found himself unable to prevent the club from being crippled by debt, and the team failed to deliver the goods on the pitch.
Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...
stood down as manager in January, handing over the reins to director of football Steve Coppell, who took charge as manager for the fourth time in 15 years. Coppell guided the Eagles to a 14th place finish in the final table. Bristol City's return to Division One ended in relegation after just one season as they finished bottom of the table, joined on the final day by Oxford United and Bury.


Play-offs


First Division results


First Division maps


Second Division

One season after falling in the Division Two playoffs, Fulham established themselves as the pace-setters in the division this season and finished as runaway champions with 101 points. Manager
Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...
accepted the FA's offer to take charge of the England team in February, but remained in charge at
Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...
until the end of the season before handing over the reins to
Paul Bracewell Paul William Bracewell (born 19 July 1962) is an English former professional association football, football player and manager. Bracewell played as a midfielder. He was a member of the Everton F.C., Everton side that won the League title in 19 ...
, leaving Fulham with just one more promotion to win before achieving their goal of a place in the Premier League. The final promotion place was secured by Manchester City, playing in the third tier for the first time in their history. A frustrating first few months of the season mounted the pressure on manager Joe Royle, but the
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...
board kept faith in him and rewarded by an upturn in form which saw them finish third in the final table. After overcoming another
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
club, Wigan Athletic, in the playoff semi-finals, City took on Gillingham in the Wembley final but looked to have surrendered promotion to the
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
side who were still 2–0 up with 90 minutes on the clock. Then came two goals in added time which forced extra time, with City winning on penalties and sealing an instant return to Division One. In their final season at Springfield Park, the one time home of the long-defunct Wigan Borough and their own home since formation in 1932, Wigan Athletic clinched the Football League Trophy, some compensation for their subsequent failure in the Division Two playoffs. The other losing semi-finalists in the playoffs were Preston North End, who managed to retain the services of their highly-rated new manager David Moyes despite interest from
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, who were looking to appoint a new assistant manager halfway through the season. Stoke City, who had frequently led Division Two in the first half of the season, looked all set to return to Division One at the first time of asking, before a slump in the second half of the season dragged them down to seventh in the final table - not even enough for a playoff place. Manager Brian Little left after just one season in charge and was succeeded by Gary Megson. There was similar disappointment for Reading, also newly relegated from Division One, who could only manage a 10th place finish in their first season at the new
Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (), currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in EFL League One. It also provides the ...
. Newly promoted Macclesfield Town and Lincoln City went straight back down to Division Three, and were joined by Northampton Town (playoff finalists the previous season) and a York City side who had rarely been out of the relegation battle during the previous three seasons and finally ran out of luck following the sale of top scorer Richard Cresswell to
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
in March. Relegation also brought about the end of Alan Little's reign at
Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...
after more than six years at the helm. Oldham Athletic had a lucky escape from relegation in their first season under player-manager Andy Ritchie, with the man whose goals had helped them reach the top flight eight years earlier was faced with the challenge of keeping them out of the league's fourth tier.


Play-offs


Second Division maps


Third Division

Brentford achieved an instant return to Division Two under new chairman-manager Ron Noades, who took them to the Division Three title with 85 points. Cambridge United finally won promotion from Division Three at the fourth time of asking, clinching promotion as runners-up after three successive mid table finishes. The final automatic promotion place was sealed by Cardiff City, who enjoyed a big improvement in form to finish third just 12 months after finishing 21st. Scunthorpe United triumphed over Leyton Orient 1-0 in the playoff final to clinch the fourth and final promotion place, and ending their lengthy spell in the league's fourth tier. A dramatic final day brought one of the most memorable moments of the season in the battle to stay in the Football League. An injury crisis had forced Carlisle United to bring in Swindon Town goalkeeper Jimmy Glass on loan after the transfer deadline. They went into their final game of the season needing to beat Plymouth Argyle at Brunton Park to stay in the Football League, but the score was still 1–1 with 90 minutes showing on the clock. With only seconds of extra time remaining, Glass ran the full length of the pitch when Carlisle won a corner to fire in a late winner to keep Carlisle in the league and relegate Scarborough.


Play-offs


Third Division maps


See also

* 1998-99 in English football *
1998 in association football The following are the association football events of the year 1998 throughout the world. Events *1998 FIFA World Cup – France wins 3–0 over Brazil in Saint-Denis, France, winning their first cup. More than one million delirious fans jamme ...
*
1999 in association football The following are the association football events of the year 1999 throughout the world. Events *Manchester United F.C., Manchester United won the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, UEFA Champions League, 1999 FA Cup Final, FA Cup and 1998–99 ...


References

The tables above are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found a
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
website, with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Football League 1998-99 1998-99 2