1998–99 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, Crewe Alexandra F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, their 76th in the English Football League.

Crewe Alexandra
1998–99 season
ChairmanJohn Bowler
ManagerDario Gradi
StadiumGresty Road
First Division18th
FA CupThird round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Little (10)
All: Little (12)
Average home league attendance5,269

Season summary

In the 1998–99 season, Crewe had a disastrous first half of the campaign which saw them almost midway point at the bottom of the table with just 2 wins from 22 league games and 11 points from safety. Even though they managed to get another couple of wins together; by 20 February, Crewe were still bottom and 11 points from safety with 14 league matches remaining and their First Division status was in severe danger of being lost. From then on against the odds, Crewe went on a superb run of just 3 defeats from their remaining 14 league games, winning 7 of them on their way to completing the great escape, the key result being a 3–1 win against Portsmouth which saved them from the drop.

Final league table
Main article: 1998–99 Football League § First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
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
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Fulham (C, P) 46 31 8 7 79 32 +47 101 Promotion to the First Division
2 Walsall (P) 46 26 9 11 63 47 +16 87
3 Manchester City (O, P) 46 22 16 8 69 33 +36 82 Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4 Gillingham 46 22 14 10 75 44 +31 80
5 Preston North End 46 22 13 11 78 50 +28 79
6 Wigan Athletic 46 22 10 14 75 48 +27 76
7 Bournemouth 46 21 13 12 63 41 +22 76
8 Stoke City 46 21 6 19 59 63 −4 69
9 Chesterfield 46 17 13 16 46 44 +2 64
10 Millwall 46 17 11 18 52 59 −7 62
11 Reading 46 16 13 17 54 63 −9 61
12 Luton Town 46 16 10 20 51 60 −9 58
13 Bristol Rovers 46 13 17 16 65 56 +9 56
14 Blackpool 46 14 14 18 44 54 −10 56
15 Burnley 46 13 16 17 54 73 −19 55
16 Notts County 46 14 12 20 52 61 −9 54
17 Wrexham 46 13 14 19 43 62 −19 53
18 Colchester United 46 12 16 18 52 70 −18 52
19 Wycombe Wanderers 46 13 12 21 52 58 −6 51
20 Oldham Athletic 46 14 9 23 48 66 −18 51
21 York City (R) 46 13 11 22 56 80 −24 50 Relegation to the Third Division
22 Northampton Town (R) 46 10 18 18 43 57 −14 48
23 Lincoln City (R) 46 13 7 26 42 74 −32 46
24 Macclesfield Town (R) 46 11 10 25 43 63 −20 43
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Crewe Alexandra's score comes first[1]

Legend
Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
8 August 1998Norwich CityA1–215,016Rivers
15 August 1998BarnsleyH3–15,289Smith (pen), Lightfoot (2)
22 August 1998BuryA0–15,073
28 August 1998Bradford CityH2–15,759Lunt, Collins
31 August 1998Sheffield UnitedA1–315,922Jack
8 September 1998Crystal PalaceH0–14,977
12 September 1998Stockport CountyA1–17,302J Wright
19 September 1998Bolton WanderersH4–45,744Little, Charnock, Rivers, Smith
26 September 1998Bristol CityA2–59,810Anthrobus (2)
29 September 1998Grimsby TownA1–15,024Rivers
3 October 1998Wolverhampton WanderersH0–05,759
17 October 1998Birmingham CityA1–320,087Johnson
20 October 1998Port ValeA0–18,205
24 October 1998Tranmere RoversH1–45,080Little
31 October 1998Oxford UnitedA1–15,607Little
3 November 1998SunderlandH1–45,361Little
7 November 1998Swindon TownH0–24,489
14 November 1998Queens Park RangersH0–25,001
21 November 1998WatfordA2–49,405Jack, Little
28 November 1998Ipswich TownH0–35,165
5 December 1998PortsmouthA0–29,800
8 December 1998West Bromwich AlbionH1–15,007Anthrobus
12 December 1998Queens Park RangersA1–011,296J Wright
19 December 1998Huddersfield TownH1–25,102Jack
26 December 1998BuryH3–15,333Little, Rivers, J Wright
28 December 1998SunderlandA0–241,433
9 January 1999Norwich CityH3–24,782Street (2), Rivers
16 January 1999Bradford CityA1–412,595Little
30 January 1999Sheffield UnitedH1–25,243Jack
6 February 1999BarnsleyA2–215,377Jack (2)
13 February 1999Crystal PalaceA1–114,823Walton
20 February 1999Stockport CountyH0–25,473
27 February 1999Bolton WanderersA3–119,437Johnson, Jack (2)
13 March 1999Swindon TownA2–17,434Jack, Charnock
16 March 1999Grimsby TownH0–04,855
20 March 1999Oxford UnitedH3–14,791Murphy, Little, Smith (pen)
26 March 1999Tranmere RoversA0–39,359
30 March 1999Wolverhampton WanderersA0–324,197
2 April 1999Birmingham CityH0–05,582
5 April 1999West Bromwich AlbionA5–112,308D Wright, J Wright (2), Johnson, Rivers
10 April 1999Port ValeH0–05,606
17 April 1999WatfordH0–15,461
24 April 1999Ipswich TownA2–120,845Rivers, Macauley
27 April 1999Bristol CityH1–05,579Johnson
1 May 1999PortsmouthH3–15,759Little (2), Smith
9 May 1999Huddersfield TownA0–015,105

FA Cup
Main article: 1998–99 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R32 January 1999Oxford UnitedH1–34,207Johnson

League Cup
Main article: 1998–99 Football League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 1st Leg11 August 1998Oldham AthleticA2–33,766Little (2)
R1 2nd Leg18 August 1998Oldham AthleticH2–0 (won 4–3 on agg)3,428Jack (2)
R2 1st Leg16 September 1998Bristol CityA1–13,082Rivers
R2 2nd Leg22 September 1998Bristol CityH2–0 (won 3–1 on agg)3,089Rivers (2)
R328 October 1998Blackburn RoversH0–15,403

Squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
- GK Australia AUS Jason Kearton
- DF England ENG Shaun Smith
- DF England ENG Dave Walton
- DF England ENG Marcus Bignot
- DF England ENG David Wright
- MF England ENG Jermaine Wright
- MF England ENG Phil Charnock
- MF England ENG Mark Rivers
- FW Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VIN Rodney Jack
- FW England ENG Colin Little
- FW England ENG Steve Anthrobus
- DF England ENG Chris Lightfoot
- MF England ENG Danny Murphy (on loan from Liverpool)
No. Pos. Nation Player
- GK England ENG Kevin Welsby
- DF England ENG Lee Unsworth
- DF England ENG Steve Macauley
- MF England ENG Kenny Lunt
- MF England ENG Kevin Street
- MF England ENG Jamie Collins
- DF England ENG Mark Foran
- FW England ENG Mike Newell
- FW Wales WAL Peter Smith
- DF England ENG Stephen Foster
- FW England ENG Rob Hulse
- DF England ENG John Pemberton
- FW England ENG Andy Lovelock

Left club during the season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
- DF England ENG Matt Wicks (to Peterborough United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF England ENG Seth Johnson (to Derby County)

References
  1. "Crewe Alexandra 1998-1999 Results - statto.com". statto.com. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  2. "All Crewe Alexandra players: 1999". 11v11.com. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.