1998–99 Manchester City F.C. season

Manchester City were able to make an immediate return to Division One, thanks to a play-off final victory over Gillingham in a penalty shootout, having drawn level from 2-0 down with 89 minutes of normal time played. The dramatic victory ensured that City's first season in English football's third tier ended in promotion, bringing some success to the club after two relegations in three seasons.

Manchester City F.C.
1998–99 season
ManagerJoe Royle
Second Division3rd (promoted via playoffs)
FA CupThird round
League CupSecond round
Play-offsWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: Shaun Goater (17)
All: Shaun Goater (20)

Team kit

The team kit was produced by Kappa and the shirt sponsor was Brother.

The home shirt for the season was a slightly darker shade of blue than the traditional City sky blue known as 'Laser Blue'. While the home shirt was generally well received, it was the away kit that would take on a special significance to Manchester City fans. While the luminous yellow and navy blue stripes were peculiar, with the yellow in particular somewhat garish and never having even been worn before by City, the shirt took on a whole new meaning when it was worn for the 1999 Football League Second Division play-off Final. Although this game technically marked the lowest ever league finish in Manchester City's history, instead the incredible circumstances by which City were able to win - having conceded the first two goals of the game in the last ten minutes of normal time, before getting two goals of their own in injury time, and then winning a penalty shoot-out - in fact mark this game as one of the proudest moments of the club's history, with many fans describing the victory as feeling as good as winning a top division title, and probably being more important to the club's long-term future. The kit instantly went from being an average if slightly unusual shirt to being one of the most iconic symbols of the club's history. There have been frequent if uncoordinated calls for the shirt to be brought back as an away kit in a future season, though as yet the design has largely been forgotten by the club's successive kit manufacturers.

Second Division

City's first-ever season in the third tier got off to a bright start, the team losing only one of their first six matches and topping the table after a victory over fellow third tier newcomers Macclesfield Town. After that, however, City would only win three more league matches before Christmas, as the heavily-overhauled squad struggled to come together, with injuries only compounding the situation. The club would hit its lowest ebb after an embarrassing 2-1 loss to York City in their final pre-Christmas fixture, a result which left them 13th in the table and resulted in fans calling for the head of manager Joe Royle.

The board kept faith with Royle, however, and were rewarded with only two more losses all season, with the highlight of the season's second half being a 6-0 away win over Burnley. City's poor first half of the season, combined with the form of runaway leaders Fulham and second-placed Walsall meant that an automatic promotion challenge was never seriously on the cards, but they secured third place on the final day of the season, and also exacted revenge on York City for their earlier humiliation by thrashing the Minstermen 4-0, condemning them to relegation.

City faced off against Lancashire rivals Wigan Athletic in the first round of the play-offs, and a pair of tense matches ended with a 1-1 draw in the last-ever competitive fixture at Wigan's Springfield Park ground, followed by a 1-0 victory at Maine Road, setting the stage for a Wembley Stadium showdown with Gillingham.

The play-off final was goalless for 82 minutes, before the Gills struck a pair of late goals that looked to have ensured that City would be spending a second successive season in Division Two. However, City themselves then scored a dramatic pair of injury-time goals (the second of which came in the 95th minute) to take the match to extra time. No further goals resulted in the next half-hour, leading to a penalty shoot-out. The Gills were able to convert only one of their penalties, while City scored three, ensuring that they returned to Division One at the first time of asking.

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GS Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Fulham 46 31 8 7 79 32 79 101 Division Champions, promoted
2 Walsall 46 26 9 11 63 47 63 87 Promoted
3 Manchester City 46 22 16 8 69 33 69 82 Promoted through play-offs
4 Gillingham 46 22 14 10 75 44 75 80 Participated in play-offs
5 Preston North End 46 22 13 11 78 50 78 79
Source:
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Matches
8 August 1998 1Manchester City3–0BlackpoolManchester
Goater  26'
Bradbury  62'
Tskhadadze  76'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Graham Frankland
14 August 1998 2Fulham3–0Manchester CityLondon
Beardsley  21'
Lehmann  32', 38'		 Stadium: Craven Cottage
Referee: Mick Fletcher
22 August 1998 3Manchester City0–0WrexhamManchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Graham Laws
29 August 1998 4Notts County1–1Manchester CityNottingham
Hendon  71' (pen.) Goater  90' Stadium: Meadow Lane
Referee: Terry Heilbron
2 September 1998 5Manchester City3–1WalsallManchester
Goater  30', 71'
Dickov  74'		 Rammell  79' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: David Laws
8 September 1998 6Manchester City2–1BournemouthManchester
Allsopp  25'
Dickov  64'		 Fletcher  48' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Trevor Jones
12 September 1998 7Macclesfield Town0–1Manchester CityMacclesfield
Goater  86' Stadium: Moss Rose
Referee: Ken Leach
19 September 1998 8Manchester City1–1ChesterfieldManchester
Bradbury  36' Reeves  28' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: John Brandwood
26 September 1998 9Northampton Town2–2Manchester CityNorthampton
Peer  30'
Corazzin  64'		 Dickov  54'
Goater  88'		 Stadium: Sixfields Stadium
Referee: Clive Wilkes
29 September 1998 10Millwall1–1Manchester CityLondon
Harris  46' Bradbury  90' Stadium: The Den
Referee: Matt Messias
3 October 1998 11Manchester City2–2BurnleyManchester
Goater  8'
Allsopp  85'		 Payton  34'
Cooke  54'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Roger Furnandiz
12 October 1998 12Manchester City0–1Preston North EndManchester
Parkinson  71' (pen.) Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Mick Fletcher
17 October 1998 13Wigan Athletic0–1Manchester CityWigan
Goater  56' Stadium: Springfield Park
Referee: David Pugh
20 October 1998 14Lincoln City2–1Manchester CityLincoln
Battersby  4'
Austin  33'		 Holmes  83' (o.g.) Stadium: Sincil Bank
Referee: Paul Rejer
24 October 1998 15Manchester City0–1ReadingManchester
Williams  56' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Phil Richards
31 October 1998 16Manchester City2–1Colchester UnitedManchester
Horlock  49' (pen.)
Morrison  53'		 Dozzell  58' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Michael Pike
7 November 1998 17Oldham Athletic0–3Manchester CityOldham
Horlock  17', 31'
Morrison  69'		 Stadium: Boundary Park
Referee: Scott Mathieson
10 November 1998 18Wycombe Wanderers1–0Manchester CityHigh Wycombe
Simpson  34' Stadium: Adams Park
Referee: Paul Taylor
21 November 1998 19Manchester City0–0GillinghamManchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Gurnam Singh
28 November 1998 20Luton Town1–1Manchester CityLuton
Doherty  76' Morrison  29' Stadium: Kenilworth Road
Referee: Anthony Bates
12 December 1998 21Manchester City0–0Bristol RoversManchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Roy Pearson
19 December 1998 22York City2–1Manchester CityYork
Connelly  2'
Dawson  86'		 Russell  33' Stadium: Bootham Crescent
Referee: Bill Burns
26 December 1998 23Wrexham0–1Manchester CityWrexham
Wiekens  56' Stadium: Racecourse Ground
Referee: Trevor Jones
28 December 1998 24Manchester City2–1Stoke CityManchester
Dickov  67'
Taylor  85'		 Sigurðsson  31' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Alan Butler
9 January 1999 25Blackpool0–0Manchester CityBlackpool
Stadium: Bloomfield Road
Referee: David Laws
16 January 1999 26Manchester City3–0FulhamManchester
Goater  24'
Taylor  32'
Horlock  54'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Andy Hall
23 January 1999 27Walsall1–1Manchester CityWalsall
Watson  67' Pollock  74' Stadium: Bescot Stadium
Referee: Mick Pierce
29 January 1999 28Stoke City0–1Manchester CityStoke-on-Trent
Wiekens  20' Stadium: Britannia Stadium
Referee: Clive Wilkes
6 February 1999 29Manchester City3–0MillwallManchester
Dickov  61'
Cooke  71'
Horlock  75'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Terry Heilbron
13 February 1999 30Bournemouth0–0Manchester CityBournemouth
Stadium: Dean Court
Referee: Brian Coddington
20 February 1999 31Manchester City2–0Macclesfield TownManchester
Goater  14'
Taylor  67'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Alan Wiley
27 February 1999 32Chesterfield1–1Manchester CityChesterfield
Reeves  32' Crooks  51' Stadium: Saltergate
Referee: Graham Frankland
6 March 1999 33Manchester City0–0Northampton TownManchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Matt Messias
9 March 1999 34Burnley0–6Manchester CityBurnley
Horlock  17'
Morrison  41'
Goater  50', 59', 65'
Allsopp  82'		 Stadium: Turf Moor
Referee: John Kirkby
13 March 1999 35Manchester City1–2Oldham AthleticManchester
Taylor  79' Reid  27' (pen.)
Duxbury  56'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: John Brandwood
16 March 1999 36Manchester City2–1Notts CountyManchester
Brown  16'
Cooke  40'		 Stallard  72' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Mike Dean
20 March 1999 37Colchester United0–1Manchester CityColchester
Goater  55' Stadium: Layer Road
Referee: Rob Styles
27 March 1999 38Reading1–3Manchester CityReading
Scott  90' Cooke  31', 62'
Goater  54'		 Stadium: Madejski Stadium
Referee: Paul Rejer
3 April 1999 39Manchester City1–0Wigan AthleticManchester
Cooke  52' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Steve Baines
5 April 1999 40Preston North End1–1Manchester CityPreston
Basham  1' Brown  22' Stadium: Deepdale
Referee: Kevin Lynch
10 April 1999 41Manchester City4–0Lincoln CityManchester
Dickov  34', 45', 48'
Horlock  63'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Mark Warren
14 April 1999 42Manchester City2–0Luton TownManchester
Dickov  4'
Vaughan  10'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Phil Richards
17 April 1999 43Gillingham0–2Manchester CityGillingham
Cooke  31'
Horlock  64'		 Stadium: Priestfield Stadium
Referee: Rob Styles
24 April 1999 44Manchester City1–2Wycombe WanderersManchester
Goater  45' Baird  15'
Devine  30'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Mark Cowburn
1 May 1999 45Bristol Rovers2–2Manchester CityBristol
Roberts  83'
Cureton  88' (pen.)		 Goater  27'
Cooke  42'		 Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Referee: Steve Bennett
8 May 1999 46Manchester City4–0York CityManchester
Dickov  23'
Horlock  76'
Jeff Whitley  84'
Allsopp  88'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Andy D'Urso

Playoff semi-finals
15 May 1999 1Wigan Athletic1–1Manchester CityWigan
Barlow  1' Dickov  76' Stadium: Springfield Park
Referee: Alan Wiley
19 May 1999 2Manchester City1–0Wigan AthleticManchester
Goater  27' Stadium: Maine Road
Referee: Terry Heilbron

DOR

Playoff final
30 May 1999 Manchester City2–2, 3–1 pen.GillinghamLondon
15:00 Horlock  90'
Dickov  90+5'		 Asaba  82'
R. Taylor  87'		 Stadium: Wembley
Attendance: 76,935
Referee: Mark Halsey

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers
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