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| August 1998 Rumours of a planned breakaway European League, involving Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal plus more than a dozen top European clubs, saw UEFA issue an ultimatum threatening expulsion of those clubs from Euro competition. The Premier League kicked off regardless and reigning champions Arsenal made a start that got worse before it got better. Despite opening with a home win over the previous season’s First Division champions Nottingham Forest the next two fixtures in August were draws, at Liverpool and at home to promoted Charlton Athletic. Manchester United fared little better drawing both of their opening fixtures, at home to Leicester City and at West Ham. Of the three Premiership ‘new boys’ Charlton made the most promising start. The team that came up behind Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough, via the play-offs, opened with a goalless draw at Newcastle before celebrating the return of top flight football to The Valley, for the first time since 1947, with a thumping of Southampton that took The Addicks to the top of the Premier League. Clive Mendonca was the hero of the day with the season’s first hat-trick, inside 25 second-half minutes. It was a third consecutive August defeat for The Saints who slumped to the bottom of the table as a consequence. Other notable scores of the opening month were, Sheffield Wednesday’s 3–0 win at Tottenham, with goals from Peter Atherton, Paulo DiCanio and Andy Hinchcliffe. Aston Villa took seven points from a possible nine with a 0–0 draw at Everton followed by a 3–1 home win over ’Boro, then a 1–0 win at Sheffield Wednesday, thanks to Joachim’s second goal in consecutive matches, that took them into second place. August saw the first managerial casualty when Kenny Dalglish was sacked by Newcastle United, just two games into the season, after 19 months in charge. It then got worse for The Magpies when they slumped to 16th in the table, their lowest position in the campaign, following a 4–1 home drubbing, by Liverpool, Dalglish’s old club, in front of new manager Ruud Gullit. Michael Owen netted the Premiership’s second hat-trick of the season, 10 minutes faster than Clive Mendonca, completing his first half ‘triple’ in just a quarter of an hour. |
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The
above article is an extract from The Breedon Book of Premiership Records by Brian Beard. For details of this essential addition to the bookshelves of any football fan click HERE. |
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