| Premier League 1998-99 | ||
| ||
| Season information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Winners | Manchester United | |
| Relegated | Charlton Athletic Blackburn Rovers Nottingham Forest | |
| Domestic cup winners | ||
| FA Cup | Manchester United | |
| Worthington Cup | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| Charity Shield | Arsenal | |
| Continental cup qualifiers | ||
| Champions League | Arsenal Manchester United | |
| UEFA Cup | Leeds United | |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Tottenham Hotspur Newcastle United | |
| Season statistics | ||
| Goals scored | 963 | |
| Average | 2.53 | |
| Top goalscorer | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Michael Owen (18) Dwight Yorke | |
← 1997-98
|
1999-00 →
| |
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 unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. They secured their fifth league championship in seven seasons after 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.
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.
Promotion and relegation[]
Start of season[]
Teams promoted from the First Division 1997-98
- Nottingham Forest (Champions)
- Middlesbrough (Runners-up)
- Charlton Athletic (Playoff winners)
End of season[]
Teams relegated to the First Division 1999-00
Final league table[]
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United (C) (Q) | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 80 | 37 | +43 | 79 | Champions League First group stage |
| 2 | Arsenal (Q) | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 59 | 17 | +42 | 78 | |
| 3 | Chelsea (Q) | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 75 | Champions League Third qualifying round |
| 4 | Leeds United (Q) | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 62 | 34 | +28 | 67 | UEFA Cup First round |
| 5 | West Ham United (Q) | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 53 | -7 | 57 | Intertoto Cup Third round |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 55 | |
| 7 | Liverpool | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 49 | +19 | 54 | |
| 8 | Derby County | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 52 | |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 48 | 54 | -6 | 51 | |
| 10 | Leicester City | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 40 | 46 | -6 | 49 | |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur (Q) | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 47 | UEFA Cup First round |
| 12 | Sheffield Wednesday | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 46 | |
| 13 | Newcastle United (Q) | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48 | 54 | -6 | 46 | UEFA Cup First round |
| 14 | Everton | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 47 | -5 | 43 | |
| 15 | Coventry City | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 51 | -12 | 42 | |
| 16 | Wimbledon | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 42 | |
| 17 | Southampton | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 41 | |
| 18 | Charlton Athletic (R) | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 41 | 56 | -15 | 36 | Relegated to the First Division |
| 19 | Blackburn Rovers (R) | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 38 | 52 | -14 | 35 | |
| 20 | Nottingham Forest (R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 35 | 69 | -34 | 30 |
Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
| Premier League 1998-99 Winners |
|---|
| Manchester United 5th Premier League title 12th English title |
Top goalscorers[]
| Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | 18 | Leeds United |
| Michael Owen | Liverpool | |
| Dwight Yorke | Manchester United | |
| Nicolas Anelka | 16 | Arsenal |
| Andrew Cole | Manchester United |
External links[]
Premier League seasons 
|
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