1998–99 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.
1998–99 season
Chairman	David Gold
Manager	Trevor Francis
Ground	St Andrew's
Division One	4th
Play-offs	Semi-final (eliminated by Watford)
FA Cup	Third round (eliminated by Leicester City)
League Cup	Third round (eliminated by Wimbledon)
Top goalscorer	League: Dele Adebola, Paul Furlong (13); All: Dele Adebola (17)
Highest home attendance	29,100 vs Watford, play-off semi-final, 20 May 1999
Lowest home attendance	3,443 vs Macclesfield Town, League Cup 2nd round, 22 September 1998
Average home league attendance	20,794
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 96th in the Football League. They finished in fourth place in the Football League First Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they were eliminated in the semi-final by Watford in a penalty shootout. Birmingham lost to Leicester City in the third round of the FA Cup and to Wimbledon in the third round of the Football League Cup.

Football League First Division

Match details

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
8 August 1998	1st	Port Vale	A	W	2–0	Furlong 21', Adebola 68'	10,465	^[2]
16 August 1998	1st	Crystal Palace	H	W	3–1	Adebola 12', O'Connor 29' pen., Forster 90'	16,699	^[2]
22 August 1998	2nd	Sheffield United	A	W	2–0	Adebola 55', Forster 81'	17,528	^[2]
29 August 1998	4th	Barnsley	H	D	0–0		19,825	^[2]
31 August 1998	5th	Bradford City	A	L	1–2	Ndlovu 56'	13,910	^[2]
8 September 1998	3rd	Bury	H	W	1–0	Adebola 20'	15,935	^[2]
5 September 1998	1st	Stockport County	H	W	2–0	Marsden 15', Hughes 67'	16,429	^[2]
12 September 1998	2nd	Bolton Wanderers	A	L	1–3	Rowett 40'	19,637	^[2]
19 September 1998	3rd	Grimsby Town	H	L	0–1		17,563	^[2]
26 September 1998	7th	Norwich City	A	L	0–2		16,584	^[2]
29 September 1998	5th	Portsmouth	A	W	1–0	O'Connor 59 pen.	11,843	^[2]
3 October 1998	4th	Tranmere Rovers	H	D	2–2	M. Johnson 40', Ndlovu 72'	17,189	^[2]
10 October 1998	3rd	Watford	A	D	1–1	Adebola 22'	10,096	^[2]
17 October 1998	2nd	Crewe Alexandra	H	W	3–1	Ndlovu 8', O'Connor 43' pen., Furlong 53'	20,087	^[2]
20 October 1998	2nd	Swindon Town	H	D	1–1	Marsden 58'	19,485	^[2]
25 October 1998	2nd	Queens Park Rangers	A	W	1–0	Adebola 6'	10,272	^[2]
31 October 1998	1st	Huddersfield Town	H	D	1–1	Ndlovu 53'	19,170	^[2]
7 November 1998	3rd	West Bromwich Albion	A	W	3–1	Ndlovu 5', 34', Adebola 12'	19,472	^[2]
14 November 1998	4th	Oxford United	H	L	0–1		18,216	^[2]
22 November 1998	8th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	L	1–3	Furlong 21'	23,037	^[2]
28 November 1998	4th	Bristol City	H	W	4–2	M. Johnson 5', Ndlovu 11', Forster (2) 42', 72'	17,577	^[2]
5 December 1998	7th	Ipswich Town	A	L	0–1		15,901	^[2]
12 December 1998	4th	Oxford United	A	W	7–1	Rowett (2) 16', 31', Furlong (2) 17', 43', Grainger 55', Ndlovu 72', Hughes 89'	7,189	^[2]
19 December 1998	7th	Sunderland	H	D	0–0		22,095	^[2]
26 December 1998	4th	Sheffield United	H	W	1–0	Furlong 20' pen.	22,005	^[2]
28 December 1998	3rd	Bury	A	W	4–2	Furlong (2) 32', 56', O'Connor 35', Adebola 74'	7,024	^[2]
9 January 1999	2nd	Port Vale	H	W	1–0	Furlong 25'	18,632	^[3]
16 January 1999	4th	Barnsley	A	D	0–0		17,114	^[2]
31 January 1999	4th	Bradford City	H	W	2–1	Furlong (2) 45', 90' pen.	19,291	^[2]
6 February 1999	5th	Crystal Palace	A	D	1–1	Furlong 50' pen.	15,996	^[2]
13 February 1999	5th	Stockport County	A	L	0–1		9,056	^[2]
21 February 1999	5th	Bolton Wanderers	H	D	0–0		26,051	^[2]
27 February 1999	5th	Grimsby Town	A	W	3–0	Ndlovu 36', Adebola 85', Rowett 90'	7,807	^[2]
2 March 1999	5th	Norwich City	H	D	0–0		20,749	^[2]
6 March 1999	4th	Portsmouth	H	W	4–1	Adebola (2) 26', 60', Forster 50', Hughes 84'	20,617	^[2]
9 March 1999	4th	Tranmere Rovers	A	W	1–0	M. Johnson 46'	7,184	^[2]
13 March 1999	4th	West Bromwich Albion	H	W	4–0	Adebola (2) 24', 62', Ndlovu 50', Grainger 88'	29,060	^[2]
20 March 1999	4th	Huddersfield Town	A	D	1–1	M. Johnson 47'	14,667	^[2]
2 April 1999	4th	Crewe Alexandra	A	D	0–0		5,582	^[2]
5 April 1999	4th	Watford	H	L	1–2	Holdsworth 87'	24,877	^[2]
10 April 1999	4th	Swindon Town	A	W	1–0	Rowett 83'	8,896	^[2]
17 April 1999	4th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	L	0–1		28,143	^[2]
20 April 1999	4th	Queens Park Rangers	H	W	1–0	Forinton 85'	20,888	^[2]
24 April 1999	4th	Bristol City	A	W	2–1	Grainger 48' pen., Ndlovu 70'	15,845	^[2]
2 May 1999	4th	Ipswich Town	H	W	1–0	Furlong 60'	27,685	^[2]
9 May 1999	4th	Sunderland	A	L	1–2	Grainger 38'	41,634	^[2]

League table (part)

Final Division One table (part)
Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
2nd	Bradford City	46	26	9	11	82	47	+35	87
3rd	Ipswich Town	46	26	8	12	69	32	+37	86
4th	Birmingham City	46	23	12	11	66	37	+29	81
5th	Watford	46	21	14	11	65	56	+9	77
6th	Bolton Wanderers	46	20	16	10	78	59	+19	76
Key	Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source	^[4]

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
46	23	12	11	66	37	+29	81	12	7	4	32	15	+17	11	5	7	34	22	+12

Source: ^[4]

Play-offs

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
Semifinal 1st leg	16 May 1999	Watford	A	L	0–1		18,535	^[2]
Semifinal 2nd leg	20 May 1999	Watford	H	W	1–0 1–1 agg.	Adebola 2'	29,100	^[2]
Watford won 7–6 on penalties. Birmingham scorers: Grainger, Rowett, Bradbury, Hughes, Purse, Poole.

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
Third round	2 January 1999	Leicester City	A	L	2–4	Robinson 35', Adebola 89'	19,846	^[2]

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
First round 1st leg	11 August 1998	Millwall	H	W	2–0	Adebola 70', M. Johnson 87'	14,133	^[2]
First round 2nd leg	19 August 1998	Millwall	A	D	1–1 3–1 agg.	Adebola 45'	4,478	^[2]
Second round 1st leg	15 September 1998	Macclesfield Town	A	W	3–0	Forster 66', Marsden 70', Rowett 89'	2,275
Second round 2nd leg	22 September 1998	Macclesfield Town	H	W	6–0 9–0 agg.	Ndlovu (2) 7', 19', Askey 37' o.g., Marsden 57', Rowett 66', M. Johnson 89'	3,443	^[2]
Third round	28 October 1998	Wimbledon	H	L	1–2	Marsden 34'	11,845	^[2]

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Club	Fee	Ref
13 August 1998	Gary Rowett	Derby County	£1m
10 December 1998	Simon Marsh	Oxford United	£250,000
4 February 1999	Graham Hyde	Sheffield Wednesday	Free	^[5]
23 March 1999	David Holdsworth	Sheffield United	£1.25m

Out

Date	Player	Fee	Joined	Ref
2 July 1998	Steve Bruce	c. £200,000	Sheffield United	^[6]
23 October 1998	Steve Barnes	Free	Barnet
13 January 1999	Paul Tait	Free	Oxford United	^[7]
1 February 1999	Chris Marsden	£800,000	Southampton
22 June 1999	Nicky Forster	£650,000	Reading	^[8]

Loan in

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
19 December 1998	Fumaça	Catuense	27 January 1999	^[9]
25 March 1999	Lee Bradbury	Crystal Palace	End of season	^[10]

Appearances and goals

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.

Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.

Players marked † left the club during the playing season.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Play-offs		Total		Discipline
Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	ENG	Ian Bennett	10	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	14	0	0	0
GK	ENG	Kevin Poole	36	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	40	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Gary Ablett	23 (3)	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	28 (3)	0	1	0
DF	ENG	Jon Bass	9 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9 (2)	0	2	0
DF	ENG	Simon Charlton	27 (1)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	30 (1)	0	4	1
DF	ENG	Jerry Gill	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	1	0
DF	ENG	Martin Grainger	30 (10)	4	0 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	2	0	34 (12)	4	11	0
DF	ENG	David Holdsworth	8 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	10 (1)	0	4	1
DF	JAM	Michael Johnson	43 (3)	4	1	0	4	2	2	0	50 (3)	6	6	0
DF	ENG	Simon Marsh	6 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7 (1)	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Darren Purse	11 (9)	0	0	0	2 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	13 (11)	0	2	0
DF	ENG	Simon Rea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Gary Rowett	42	5	1	0	4	2	2	0	49	7	5	0
DF	ENG	Darren Wassall	0 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (3)	0	0	0
MF	GER	Tony Hey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	ENG	Chris Holland	7 (6)	0	0	0	1 (4)	0	1 (1)	0	9 (11)	0	0	0
MF	ENG	Bryan Hughes	20 (8)	3	0 (1)	0	1 (1)	0	1	0	22 (10)	3	2	0
DF	ENG	Graham Hyde	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	4	1
MF	ENG	Chris Marsden †	20	2	0	0	5	3	0	0	25	5	4	0
MF	NIR	Jon McCarthy	35 (8)	0	1	0	5	0	2	0	43 (8)	0	6	0
MF	CAY	Martyn O'Connor	35 (2)	4	1	0	4	0	2	0	42 (2)	4	7	0
MF	ENG	Steve Robinson	20 (11)	0	1	1	2	0	1	0	24 (11)	1	1	0
FW	NGA	Dele Adebola	33 (6)	13	1	1	4	2	1 (1)	1	39 (7)	17	3	0
FW	ENG	Lee Bradbury *	6 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	7 (2)	0	1	0
FW	ENG	Howard Forinton	0 (3)	1	0	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	1 (4)	1	0	0
FW	ENG	Nicky Forster	8 (24)	5	0 (1)	0	2 (2)	1	0	0	10 (27)	6	0	0
FW	ENG	Paul Furlong	24 (5)	13	1	0	1	0	2	0	28 (5)	13	4	0
FW	ENG	Andrew Johnson	0 (3)	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	0	0	0 (5)	0	2	0
FW	ZIM	Peter Ndlovu	37 (6)	11	1	0	4	2	1 (1)	0	43 (7)	13	3	1

Players not included in matchday squads
Pos.	Nat.	Name
MF	ENG	Steve Barnes †
MF	ENG	Paul Tait †
MF	BRA	Fumaça *

References

General

Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
Source for match dates, league positions and results: "Birmingham City 1998–1999: Results". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 432–33.
Source for goal times: "Birmingham Results 1998/99". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
Source for transfers: "Birmingham Transfers 1998/99". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
Source for discipline: individual player pages linked from "Birmingham Squad details 1998/99". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

Specific

^ "English historical attendance and performance: Birmingham City". European Football Statistics. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az "Birmingham City Reports – 1998–1999". sportinglife.com. 365 Media Group. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Individual match reports are linked from this page.
^ "Blues do it hard way – again". Evening Mail. Birmingham. 11 January 1999. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Birmingham City 1998–1999 : English Division One Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
^ "Blues swoop for Owls ace". Birmingham City F.C. 4 February 1999. Archived from the original on 4 May 1999.
^ Tattum, Colin (2 July 1998). "Gold – we tried to keep Bruce". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
^ "One-time golden boy Tait closes Blues era". Birmingham Post. 14 January 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)
^ "Forster joins Reading in £650,000 move". Birmingham Evening Mail. 23 June 1999. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2011. (subscription required)
^ "Blues sign Brazil star". Birmingham Evening Mail. 19 December 1998. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)
"Blues drop Brazilian". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 January 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)
^ Milledge, Adrian (26 March 1999). "Loan star Bradbury signs up for promotion push". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)

[1] "English historical attendance and performance: Birmingham City". European Football Statistics. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.

[Reports-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az "Birmingham City Reports – 1998–1999". sportinglife.com. 365 Media Group. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Individual match reports are linked from this page.

[3] "Blues do it hard way – again". Evening Mail. Birmingham. 11 January 1999. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

[FinalTable-4] "Birmingham City 1998–1999 : English Division One Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 4 October 2011.

[5] "Blues swoop for Owls ace". Birmingham City F.C. 4 February 1999. Archived from the original on 4 May 1999.

[6] Tattum, Colin (2 July 1998). "Gold – we tried to keep Bruce". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

[7] "One-time golden boy Tait closes Blues era". Birmingham Post. 14 January 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)

[8] "Forster joins Reading in £650,000 move". Birmingham Evening Mail. 23 June 1999. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2011. (subscription required)

[9] "Blues sign Brazil star". Birmingham Evening Mail. 19 December 1998. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)
"Blues drop Brazilian". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 January 1999. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)

[10] Milledge, Adrian (26 March 1999). "Loan star Bradbury signs up for promotion push". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 13 June 2013. (subscription required)

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