1998–99 Middlesbrough F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, Middlesbrough competed in the FA Premier League.

Middlesbrough F.C.

1998–99 season
Chairman	Steve Gibson
Manager	Bryan Robson
Stadium	Riverside Stadium
FA Premier League	9th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Hamilton Ricard (15) All: Hamilton Ricard (18)
Highest home attendance	34,687 (vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 20 February)
Lowest home attendance	11,531 (vs. Wycombe Wanderers, 16 September)
Average home league attendance	34,386
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Season summary

Middlesbrough were the only newly promoted side to avoid relegation in 1998–99. They attained an impressive ninth-place finish in the final table - too high for relegation, but not quite high enough for a UEFA Cup place; they even rose as high as fourth by Christmas after a surprise 3–2 win at Old Trafford against champions Manchester United but they drew 15 games throughout the league season which ultimately prevented them from finishing any higher. Still, it was their highest finish for more than 20 years and a step in the right direction for manager Bryan Robson – who had come close to European qualification (via the cup competitions) in the previous two campaigns.

Final league table

Main article: 1998–99 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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	38	11	14	13	47	50	−3	47	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[a]

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	12	15	11	48	54	−6	51	7	9	3	25	18	+7	5	6	8	23	36	−13

Source: 1998-99 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	L	D	W	W	D	L	W	W	D	D	D	D	W	D	D	W	W	L	L	D	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	L
Position	12	17	17	12	6	6	12	3	3	4	4	4	7	6	7	7	4	4	6	8	9	9	10	10	11	11	13	12	11	11	9	8	7	7	7	7	9	9

Source: 11v11.com: 1998-99 Middlesbrough results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Middlesbrough's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 August 1998	Leeds United	H	0–0	34,162
23 August 1998	Aston Villa	A	1–3	29,559	Beck
29 August 1998	Derby County	H	1–1	34,121	Ricard
9 September 1998	Leicester City	A	1–0	20,635	Gascoigne
13 September 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	A	3–0	30,437	Ricard (2), Kinder
19 September 1998	Everton	H	2–2	34,563	Ricard (2)
26 September 1998	Chelsea	A	0–2	34,811
3 October 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	H	4–0	34,163	Beck (2), Ricard, Gascoigne
17 October 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–1	34,413	Ricard (pen), Fleming
24 October 1998	Wimbledon	A	2–2	14,114	Mustoe, Ricard
1 November 1998	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	34,223	Deane
7 November 1998	Southampton	A	3–3	15,202	Gascoigne, Lundekvam (own goal), Festa
15 November 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	20,043	Stamp
21 November 1998	Coventry City	H	2–0	34,293	Gordon, Ricard
29 November 1998	Arsenal	A	1–1	38,075	Deane
6 December 1998	Newcastle United	H	2–2	34,629	Townsend, Cooper
12 December 1998	West Ham United	H	1–0	34,623	Deane
19 December 1998	Manchester United	A	3–2	55,152	Ricard, Gordon, Deane
26 December 1998	Liverpool	H	1–3	34,626	Deane
28 December 1998	Derby County	A	1–2	32,726	Beck
9 January 1999	Aston Villa	H	0–0	34,643
16 January 1999	Leeds United	A	0–2	37,473
30 January 1999	Leicester City	H	0–0	34,631
6 February 1999	Liverpool	A	1–3	44,384	Stamp
17 February 1999	Everton	A	0–5	31,606
20 February 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0	34,687
27 February 1999	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–3	24,534	Mustoe
14 March 1999	Southampton	H	3–0	33,387	Beck, Ricard, Vickers
20 March 1999	Nottingham Forest	A	2–1	21,468	Ricard, Deane
3 April 1999	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–0	27,482
5 April 1999	Wimbledon	H	3–1	33,999	Ricard (2), Festa
10 April 1999	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	34,529	Ricard, Mustoe
14 April 1999	Chelsea	H	0–0	34,406
17 April 1999	Coventry City	A	2–1	19,231	Kinder, Gordon
24 April 1999	Arsenal	H	1–6	34,630	Armstrong
1 May 1999	Newcastle United	A	1–1	36,552	Mustoe
9 May 1999	Manchester United	H	0–1	34,665
16 May 1999	West Ham United	A	0–4	25,902

FA Cup

Main article: 1998–99 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1999	Manchester United	A	1–3	52,232	Townsend

League Cup

Main article: 1998–99 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	16 September 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2–0	11,531	Ricard, Festa
R2 2nd Leg	22 September 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–1 (won 3–1 on agg)	5,698	Ricard
R3	28 October 1998	Everton	H	2–3	20,748	Summerbell, Ricard

Squad

^[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS Mark Schwarzer 2 DF  IRL Curtis Fleming 3 DF  ENG Dean Gordon 4 DF  ENG Steve Vickers 5 DF  ITA Gianluca Festa 6 DF  ENG Gary Pallister 7 MF  ENG Robbie Mustoe 8 MF  ENG Paul Gascoigne 9 FW  ITA Marco Branca 10 FW  ENG Brian Deane 11 MF  IRL Alan Moore 13 GK  ENG Marlon Beresford 14 MF  ENG Phil Stamp 15 MF  ENG Neil Maddison 16 MF  IRL Andy Townsend[note 1] (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  SVK Vladimír Kinder 18 FW  ENG Andy Campbell 19 FW  COL Hamilton Ricard 20 FW  ENG Alun Armstrong 21 DF  ENG Craig Harrison 22 MF  ENG Mark Summerbell 23 MF  IRL Keith O'Neill 24 DF  ENG Steve Baker 25 GK  ENG Ben Roberts 27 MF  ENG Anthony Ormerod 28 DF  SCO Robbie Stockdale 29 DF  ENG Colin Cooper 30 MF  IRL Micky Cummins 31 DF  IRL Jason Gavin

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 10 MF  ENG Paul Merson (to Aston Villa) 12 FW  DEN Mikkel Beck (to Derby) 23 DF  WAL Clayton Blackmore (to Barnsley)

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  ARG Gustavo Lombardi (on loan from River Plate) — FW  ENG Kris Trevor (to Gateshead)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player - GK  AUS Brad Jones - DF  ENG Christian Hanson - MF  ENG Richard Kell - MF  IRL Ronnie O'Brien

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF  IRL John O'Loughlin - MF  ENG Andrew Swalwell - MF  ENG Steve Walklate - FW  ENG Paul Connor

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

(Starting appearances + substitute appearances)

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Mark Schwarzer	34	0	1	0	0	0	35	0	1	0
2	DF	Curtis Fleming	12+2	1	1	0	1	0	14+2	1	2	0
3	DF	Dean Gordon	38	3	1	0	2	0	41	3	3	0
4	DF	Steve Vickers	30+1	1	0	0	3	0	33+1	1	5	0
5	DF	Gianluca Festa	25	2	0	0	2	1	27	3	9	0
6	DF	Gary Pallister	26	0	1	0	0	0	27	0	5	0
7	MF	Robbie Mustoe	32+1	4	1	0	1	0	34+1	4	8	1
8	MF	Paul Gascoigne	25+1	3	1	0	2	0	28+1	3	13	0
9	FW	Marco Branca	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
10	FW	Brian Deane	24+2	6	1	0	0+1	0	25+3	6	3	0
10	MF	Paul Merson	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
11	MF	Alan Moore	3+1	0	0	0	1	0	4+1	0	0	0
12	FW	Mikkel Beck	13+14	5	0+1	0	2	0	15+15	5	2	0
13	GK	Marlon Beresford	4	0	0	0	3	0	7	0	0	0
14	MF	Phil Stamp	5+11	2	0+1	0	3	0	8+12	2	1	1
15	MF	Neil Maddison	10+10	0	1	0	1	0	12+10	0	1	0
16	MF	Andy Townsend	35	1	1	1	1	0	37	2	10	0
17	DF	Vladimír Kinder	0+5	2	0	0	1	0	1+5	2	1	0
18	FW	Andy Campbell	1+7	0	0	0	1+2	0	2+9	0	1	0
19	FW	Hamilton Ricard	32+4	15	1	0	3	3	36+4	18	6	0
20	FW	Alun Armstrong	0+6	1	0	0	0	0	0+6	1	0	0
21	DF	Craig Harrison	3+1	0	0	0	1+1	0	4+2	0	0	0
22	MF	Mark Summerbell	7+4	0	0	0	0+2	1	7+6	1	4	0
23	DF	Clayton Blackmore	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
23	MF	Keith O'Neill	4+2	0	0	0	0	0	4+2	0	2	0
24	DF	Steve Baker	1+1	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0
27	MF	Anthony Ormerod	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0
28	DF	Robbie Stockdale	17+2	0	0	0	3	0	20+2	0	4	0
29	DF	Colin Cooper	32+1	1	1	0	1	0	34+1	1	5	0
30	MF	Micky Cummins	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
31	DF	Jason Gavin	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
6 July 1998	DF	Dean Gordon	Crystal Palace	£900,000
6 July 1998	DF	Gary Pallister	Manchester United	£2,500,000
18 August 1998	DF	Colin Cooper	Nottingham Forest	£2,500,000
12 October 1998	FW	Brian Deane	Benfica	£3,000,000
18 March 1999	MF	Keith O'Neill	Norwich City	£700,000

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 July 1998	DF	Craig Liddle	Darlington	Free transfer
8 September 1998	MF	Paul Merson	Aston Villa	£6,750,000
25 February 1999	DF	Clayton Blackmore	Barnsley	Free transfer
25 March 1999	FW	Mikkel Beck	Derby County	£500,000
25 March 1999	FW	Kris Trevor	Gateshead	Free transfer
20 May 1999	FW	Paul Connor	Stoke City	Free transfer

Transfers in: £9,600,000

Transfers out: £7,250,000

Total spending: £2,350,000

Notes

1. Townsend was born in England.