1998–99 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City

1998–99 season
Chairman	John Elsom
Manager	Martin O'Neill
Stadium	Filbert Street
Premiership	10th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Runners up
Player of the Year	Tony Cottee
Top goalscorer	League: Cottee (10) All: Cottee (16)
Highest home attendance	22,091 vs Manchester United (16 Jan 1999, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	13,480 vs Chesterfield (16 Sep 1998, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	20,469
Home colours Away colours
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

During the 1998–99 English football season, Leicester City competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

Leicester City repeated the previous season's 10th place in the Premiership, earning Martin O'Neill more credit for achieving strong finishes on a relatively limited budget. But the club's best chance of a UEFA Cup place was blown in late March when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Worthington Cup final.^[1] At least City fans had the satisfaction of holding on to the highly rated O'Neill, who had seemed certain to desert the club for Leeds United early in the season.^[2]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	22	13	3	80	37	+43	79	1999–2000 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Arsenal	38	22	12	4	59	17	+42	78
3	Chelsea	38	20	15	3	57	30	+27	75	1999–2000 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4	Leeds United	38	18	13	7	62	34	+28	67	1999–2000 UEFA Cup First round
5	West Ham United	38	16	9	13	46	53	−7	57	1999 UEFA 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	38	11	14	13	47	50	−3	47	1999–2000 UEFA Cup First round ^1
12	Sheffield Wednesday	38	13	7	18	41	42	−1	46
13	Newcastle United	38	11	13	14	48	54	−6	46	1999–2000 UEFA Cup First round ^2
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	Relegation to 1999–2000 Football League 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

Updated to games played on 16 May 1999.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
² As Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, their UEFA Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Newcastle United, the losing finalists.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

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	13	13	40	46	−6	49	7	6	6	25	25	0	5	7	7	15	21	−6

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	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	D	W	L	L	D	L	D	W	W	D	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	L	W	D	D	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	W	D	D	D	W	W	L	L	W	L
Position	4	2	8	13	14	17	17	16	11	11	7	6	9	12	13	12	8	11	10	10	10	12	12	13	14	14	14	13	13	14	13	13	12	11	11	11	10	10

Source: 11v11.com: 1998-99 Leicester City results
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Leicester City's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 August 1998	Manchester United	A	2–2	55,052	Heskey, Cottee
22 August 1998	Everton	H	2–0	21,037	Cottee, Izzet
29 August 1998	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1	22,544
9 September 1998	Middlesbrough	H	0–1	20,635
12 September 1998	Arsenal	H	1–1	21,628	Heskey
19 September 1998	Derby County	A	0–2	26,738
27 September 1998	Wimbledon	H	1–1	17,725	Elliott
3 October 1998	Leeds United	A	1–0	32,606	Cottee
19 October 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	20,787	Heskey, Izzet
24 October 1998	Aston Villa	A	1–1	39,241	Cottee
31 October 1998	Liverpool	H	1–0	21,837	Cottee
7 November 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	0–0	20,021
14 November 1998	West Ham United	A	2–3	6,190	Izzet, Lampard (own goal)
21 November 1998	Chelsea	H	2–4	21,401	Izzet, Guppy
28 November 1998	Coventry City	A	1–1	19,894	Heskey
5 December 1998	Southampton	H	2–0	18,423	Heskey, Walsh
12 December 1998	Nottingham Forest	H	3–1	20,891	Heskey, Elliott (pen), Guppy
19 December 1998	Newcastle United	A	0–1	36,718
26 December 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–0	33,513	Cottee
28 December 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–1	21,083	Walsh
9 January 1999	Everton	A	0–0	32,792
16 January 1999	Manchester United	H	2–6	22,091	Zagorakis, Walsh
30 January 1999	Middlesbrough	A	0–0	34,631
6 February 1999	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0–2	20,113
20 February 1999	Arsenal	A	0–5	38,069
1 March 1999	Leeds United	H	1–2	18,101	Cottee
6 March 1999	Wimbledon	A	1–0	11,801	Guppy
13 March 1999	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	20,220	Lennon
3 April 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–0	35,415	Elliott, Cottee
6 April 1999	Aston Villa	H	2–2	20,652	Savage, Cottee
10 April 1999	West Ham United	H	0–0	20,402
18 April 1999	Chelsea	A	2–2	34,535	Duberry (own goal), Guppy
21 April 1999	Liverpool	A	1–0	36,019	Marshall
24 April 1999	Coventry City	H	1–0	20,224	Marshall
1 May 1999	Southampton	A	1–2	15,228	Marshall
5 May 1999	Derby County	H	1–2	20,535	Sinclair
8 May 1999	Newcastle United	H	2–0	21,125	Izzet, Cottee
16 May 1999	Nottingham Forest	A	0–1	25,353

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	2 January 1999	Birmingham City	H	4–2	19,846	Sinclair, Ullathorne, Cottee, Guppy
R4	23 January 1999	Coventry City	H	0–3	21,207

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	16 September 1998	Chesterfield	H	3–0	13,480	Heskey (2), Taggart
R2 2nd Leg	22 September 1998	Chesterfield	A	3–1 (won 6-1 on agg)	4,565	Heskey, Fenton, Wilson
R3	27 October 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	2–1	19,671	Cottee (2)
R4	11 November 1998	Leeds United	H	2–1	20,161	Izzet, Parker
QF	2 December 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–0	19,442	Lennon
SF 1st Leg	26 January 1999	Sunderland	A	2–1	38,332	Cottee (2)
SF 2nd Leg	17 February 1999	Sunderland	H	1–1 (won 3-2 on agg)	21,231	Cottee
F	21 March 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	N	0–1	77,892

Squad

^[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Kasey Keller 3 DF Frank Sinclair 4 DF Gerry Taggart 5 DF Steve Walsh (captain) 6 MF Muzzy Izzet 7 MF Neil Lennon 8 MF Scott Taylor 9 FW Emile Heskey 10 MF Garry Parker 11 MF Steve Guppy 13 FW Arnar Gunnlaugsson 14 MF Robbie Savage 15 DF Pontus Kåmark 16 MF Stuart Campbell

No. Position Player 17 MF Charlie Miller (on loan from Rangers) 18 DF Matt Elliott 19 DF Robert Ullathorne 20 FW Ian Marshall 21 FW Graham Fenton 22 GK Pegguy Arphexad 24 MF Andrew Impey 25 MF Stuart Wilson 27 FW Tony Cottee 28 DF Steve Wenlock 29 MF Stefan Oakes 30 GK Ian Andrews 37 MF Theodoros Zagorakis

Left club during season

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

No. Position Player 17 DF Spencer Prior (to Derby County)

No. Position Player 23 MF Sam McMahon (to Cambridge United)

Reserve squad

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

No. Position Player - GK John Hodges - DF Jon Ashton - DF Guy Branston - DF Tommy Goodwin

No. Position Player - MF Tim McCann - FW Lawrie Dudfield - FW Lee Tomlin

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	Kasey Keller	36	0	2	0	7	0	45	0	2	0
3	DF	Frank Sinclair	30+1	1	2	1	6	0	38+1	2	13	1
4	DF	Gerry Taggart	9+6	0	1+1	0	5+1	1	15+8	1	3	0
5	DF	Steve Walsh	17+5	3	1	0	5	0	23+5	3	2	0
6	MF	Muzzy Izzet	31	5	2	0	5	1	38	5	3	0
7	MF	Neil Lennon	37	1	2	0	8	1	47	2	6	0
9	FW	Emile Heskey	29+1	6	2	0	8	3	39+1	9	3	0
10	MF	Garry Parker	2+5	0	0+2	0	3+1	1	5+8	1	0	0
11	MF	Steve Guppy	38	4	2	1	8	0	48	5	4	0
13	FW	Arnar Gunnlaugsson	5+4	0	0	0	0	0	5+4	0	1	0
14	MF	Robbie Savage	29+5	1	0	0	5+2	0	34+7	0	4	0
15	DF	Pontus Kåmark	15+4	0	0	0	1+1	0	16+5	0	0	0
16	MF	Stuart Campbell	1+11	0	1	0	1+1	0	3+12	0	1	0
17	MF	Charlie Miller	1+3	0	0	0	0	0	1+3	0	0	0
18	DF	Matt Elliott	37	3	2	0	8	0	47	3	9	0
19	DF	Robert Ullathorne	25	0	2	1	7+1	0	34+1	1	4	0
20	FW	Ian Marshall	6+4	3	0+1	0	0+1	0	6+6	3	0	0
21	FW	Graham Fenton	3+6	0	0	0	1+1	1	4+7	1	0	0
22	GK	Pegguy Arphexad	2+2	0	0	0	1	0	3+2	0	0	0
24	MF	Andrew Impey	17+1	0	1	0	0	0	18+1	0	0	0
25	MF	Stuart Wilson	1+8	0	0	0	1+4	1	2+12	1	0	0
27	FW	Tony Cottee	29+2	10	1	1	5	5	35+2	16	2	0
29	MF	Stefan Oakes	2+1	0	0	0	0	0	2+1	0	0	0
37	MF	Theodoros Zagorakis	16+3	1	1+1	0	3+2	0	20+6	1	4	0

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[5]

No. Pos Nat Name MS Notes 1 GK Kasey Keller 45 3 CB Frank Sinclair 38 18 CB Matt Elliott 47 19 CB Rob Ullathorne 34 37 DM Theodoros Zagorakis 20 Steve Walsh has 23 starts 7 DM Neil Lennon 47 6 RM Muzzy Izzet 38 14 AM Robbie Savage 34 11 LM Steve Guppy 48 27 CF Tony Cottee 35 9 CF Emile Heskey 39 Transfers In Date Pos. Name From Fee 16 July 1998 DF Gerry Taggart Bolton Wanderers Free transfer 13 August 1998 DF Frank Sinclair Chelsea £2,000,000 24 November 1998 MF Andrew Impey West Ham United £1,600,000 5 February 1999 FW Arnar Gunnlaugsson Bolton Wanderers £2,000,000 Out Date Pos. Name To Fee 19 June 1998 DF Julian Watts Bristol City Free transfer 3 July 1998 FW Graham Jaffa Dunfermline Athletic Signed 21 August 1998 DF Spencer Prior Derby County £700,000 1 February 1999 MF Sam McMahon Cambridge United Free transfer Transfers in: £5,600,000 Transfers out: £700,000 Total spending: £4,900,000 References "Nielsen nicks it for Spurs". BBC Sport. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 9 February 2012. "O'Neill to stay with Leicester". BBC Sport. 25 October 1998. Retrieved 9 February 2012. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/leicester-city/1998-1999/results http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1998-1999/faprem/leicester.htm http://www.11v11.com/teams/leicester-city/tab/players/season/1999