A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Season | 1998–99 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Sunderland |
| Promoted | Bradford City Watford |
| Relegated | Scarborough |
| New Club in League | Halifax Town |
← 1997–98 | |
The 1998–99 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th completed season of The Football League.
Sunderland 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. The two other promotion places were secured by two of the division's least fancied sides — runners-up Bradford City (back in the top division for the first time in 77 years) and playoff winners Watford (who had won their second successive promotion during Graham Taylor's second spell as manager).
Bury, Oxford United and Bristol City 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 completed his spell as Fulham manager before taking the England job by guiding the Cottagers to the Second Division championship with a staggering 101 points. Following them up were runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Manchester City.
Going down were York City, Northampton Town, Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town. Narrowly avoiding the drop to the Third Division were Oldham Athletic, who just five years earlier had been a Premiership side who came within a whisker of reaching the FA Cup final.
Brentford, Cambridge United, Cardiff City 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 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, who had only joined the league in 1987, were relegated instead. Glass, 25, had been signed on loan from Swindon Town after the transfer line because an injury crisis had left Carlisle without a goalkeeper for the final few games of the season.
First Division
| Season | 1998–99 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Sunderland |
| Promoted | Sunderland Bradford City Watford |
| Relegated | Bury Oxford United Bristol City |
| Matches played | 552 |
| Goals scored | 1,455 (2.64 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Lee Hughes (31 goals)[1] |
← 1997–98 | |
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 2-0 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 was sacked in early November after a disappointing first three months of the season, with his assistant Colin Lee 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 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 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.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunderland (C, P) | 46 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 91 | 28 | +63 | 105 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Bradford City (P) | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 82 | 47 | +35 | 87 | |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 69 | 32 | +37 | 86 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 4 | Birmingham City | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 81 | |
| 5 | Watford (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 65 | 56 | +9 | 77 | |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 78 | 59 | +19 | 76 | |
| 7 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 73 | |
| 8 | Sheffield United | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 71 | 66 | +5 | 67 | |
| 9 | Norwich City | 46 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 62 | 61 | +1 | 62 | |
| 10 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 62 | 71 | −9 | 61 | |
| 11 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 61 | |
| 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 69 | 76 | −7 | 59 | |
| 13 | Barnsley | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 59 | |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 58 | 71 | −13 | 58 | |
| 15 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 12 | 20 | 14 | 63 | 61 | +2 | 56 | |
| 16 | Stockport County | 46 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 53 | |
| 17 | Swindon Town | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 59 | 81 | −22 | 50 | |
| 18 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 54 | 78 | −24 | 48 | |
| 19 | Portsmouth | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 57 | 73 | −16 | 47 | |
| 20 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 52 | 61 | −9 | 47 | |
| 21 | Port Vale | 46 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 45 | 75 | −30 | 47 | |
| 22 | Bury (R) | 46 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 35 | 60 | −25 | 47 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 23 | Oxford United (R) | 46 | 10 | 14 | 22 | 48 | 71 | −23 | 44 | |
| 24 | Bristol City (R) | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 57 | 80 | −23 | 42 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Play-offs
| Semifinals 1st leg – May 16th; 2nd leg – May 19th/20th, 1999 | Final at Wembley May 31st, 1999 | ||||||||||
| 3rd | Ipswich Town | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| 6th | Bolton Wanderers[notes 1] | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| 5th | Watford | 2 | |||||||||
| 6th | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | |||||||||
| 4th | Birmingham City | 0 | 1 | 1 (6) | |||||||
| 5th | Watford (pen.) | 1 | 0 | 1 (7) | |||||||
- ^ Bolton Wanderers the first round of the play-offs against Ipswich Town on away goals after extra time.