1998-99 in English football

The Football League 1998-99

Statistics of The Football League in season 1998/1999.

Overview

First Division

Sunderland were crowned Division One 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 Division One. 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.

Second Division

Kevin Keegan completed his spell as Fulham manager before taking the England job by guiding the Cottagers to the Division Two 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 Division Three were Oldham Athletic, who just five years earlier had been a Premiership side who came within a whisker of reaching the FA Cup final.

Third Division

Brentford, Cambridge United, Cardiff City and Scunthorpe United occupied the four promotion places in Division Three.

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.

League Standings

First Division

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Sunderland	46	31	12	3	91	28	105
2.	Bradford City	46	26	9	11	82	47	87
3.	Ipswich Town	46	26	8	12	69	32	86
4.	Birmingham City	46	23	12	11	66	37	81
5.	Watford	46	21	14	11	65	56	77
6.	Bolton Wanderers	46	20	16	10	78	59	76
7.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	19	16	11	64	43	73
8.	Sheffield United	46	18	13	15	71	66	67
9.	Norwich City	46	15	17	14	62	61	62
10.	Huddersfield Town	46	15	16	15	62	71	61
11.	Grimsby Town	46	17	10	19	40	52	61
12.	West Bromwich Albion	46	16	11	19	69	76	59
13.	Barnsley	46	14	17	15	59	56	59
14.	Crystal Palace	46	14	16	16	58	71	58
15.	Tranmere Rovers	46	12	20	14	63	61	56
16.	Stockport County	46	12	17	17	49	60	53
17.	Swindon Town	46	13	11	22	59	81	50
18.	Crewe Alexandra	46	12	12	22	54	78	48
19.	Portsmouth	46	11	14	21	57	73	47
20.	Queens Park Rangers	46	12	11	23	52	61	47
21.	Port Vale	46	13	8	25	45	75	47
22.	Bury	46	10	17	19	35	60	47
23.	Oxford United	46	10	14	22	48	71	44
24.	Bristol City	46	9	15	22	57	80	42

Key
Promoted to the Premier League
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Two

Second Division

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Fulham	46	31	8	7	79	32	101
2.	Walsall	46	26	9	11	63	47	87
3.	Manchester City	46	22	16	8	69	33	82
4.	Gillingham	46	22	14	10	75	44	80
5.	Preston North End	46	22	13	11	78	50	79
6.	Wigan Athletic	46	22	10	14	75	48	76
7.	A.F.C. Bournemouth	46	21	13	12	63	41	76
8.	Stoke City	46	21	6	19	59	63	69
9.	Chesterfield	46	17	13	16	46	44	64
10.	Millwall	46	17	11	18	52	59	62
11.	Reading	46	16	13	17	54	63	61
12.	Luton Town	46	16	10	20	51	60	58
13.	Bristol Rovers	46	13	17	16	65	56	56
14.	Blackpool	46	14	14	18	44	54	56
15.	Burnley	46	13	16	17	54	73	55
16.	Notts County	46	14	12	20	52	61	54
17.	Wrexham	46	13	14	19	43	62	53
18.	Colchester United	46	12	16	18	52	70	52
19.	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	12	21	52	58	51
20.	Oldham Athletic	46	14	9	23	48	66	51
21.	York City	46	13	11	22	56	80	50
22.	Northampton Town	46	10	18	18	43	57	48
23.	Lincoln City	46	13	7	26	42	74	46
24.	Macclesfield Town	46	11	10	25	43	63	43

Key
Promoted to Division 1
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division 3

Third Division

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Brentford	46	26	7	13	79	56	85
2.	Cambridge United	46	23	12	11	78	48	81
3.	Cardiff City	46	22	14	10	60	39	80
4.	Scunthorpe United	46	22	8	16	69	58	74
5.	Rotherham United	46	20	13	13	79	61	73
6.	Leyton Orient	46	19	15	12	68	59	72
7.	Swansea City	46	19	14	13	56	48	71
8.	Mansfield Town	46	19	10	17	60	58	67
9.	Peterborough United	46	18	12	16	72	56	66
10.	Halifax Town	46	17	15	14	58	56	66
11.	Darlington	46	18	11	17	69	58	65
12.	Exeter City	46	17	12	17	47	40	63
13.	Plymouth Argyle	46	17	10	19	58	54	61
14.	Chester City	46	13	18	15	57	66	57
15.	Shrewsbury Town	46	14	14	18	52	63	56
16.	Barnet	46	14	13	19	54	61	55
17.	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	16	7	23	49	66	55
18.	Southend United	46	14	12	20	52	58	54
19.	Rochdale	46	13	15	18	42	55	54
20.	Torquay United	46	12	17	17	47	58	53
21.	Hull City	46	14	11	21	44	62	53
22.	Hartlepool United	46	13	12	21	52	65	51
23.	Carlisle United	46	11	16	19	43	53	49
24.	Scarborough	46	14	6	26	50	77	48