The Story of a Premiership Season

April 1999

Leeds secure their seventh consecutive Premiership victory to keep Nottingham Forest bottom and David O’Leary earns his first Manager of the Month award, for March, and his team’s run equals Don Revie’s record, set 26 years ago. Tony Cottee scores his 200th career League goal as Leicester win at Spurs. Derby County lose a seven-goal thriller at Pride Park, in which Gary Speed nets a hat-trick.

Robbie Fowler ‘invites’ more misery as he mimics ‘coke-snorting’ along the byeline and nets two goals in the Merseyside derby win over Everton. He apologises the next day but trouble looms and he is fined a record £32,000 by the FA and given a four-match ban. It gets worse as the Liverpool striker receives a further two-match suspension for ‘distasteful gestures’ towards Graham La Saux, in February. Liverpool fine Fowler heavily and give him a formal warning. La Saux gets a one-match ban and a £5,000 fine for his elbow on Fowler in that same match.

Arsenal are held by Blackburn and Martin Keown and Keith Gillespie are sent off. Chelsea beat Wimbledon to keep up the pressure on the top two while Aston Villa end their miserable 11 match run without a win by beating Southampton, a reverse that keeps The Saints 19th and praying for a miracle. Nottingham Forest lose to an 85th minute Derby goal, stay bottom and have Pierre Van Hoijdonk sent off. No joy, either for Charlton, who drop closer to the relegation zone with a defeat at ’Boro.

Another sign of changing times when the list of six nominees for the PFA Player of the Year Award contains just one Englishman, David Beckham. Dennis Bergkamp, Dwight Yorke, Roy Keane, Emmanuel Petit, and David Ginola complete the list.

Manchester United retain pole position with a win over Sheffield Wednesday while Arsenal savage Wimbledon with a four-goals in 10 minute burst that closes the gap to a point. Meanwhile the cracks begin to show in Chelsea’s title challenge as they squander a 2–0 lead, conceding twice in last eight minutes to Leicester. Coach Vialla admits tactical errors he feels have cost them the title.

Meanwhile Arsenal just steam on and register their best away win since 1954 when they demolish Middlesbrough to go top. United can only muster a draw at Leeds, the day after, and remain second.

At the other end of the table Charlton crash to Everton and stay 18th. Southampton take a point at Derby but remain 19th and Forest’s third consecutive reverse leaves them holding up the rest, as they have since before Christmas. But, despite gifting goals to Liverpool, Blackburn stay outside the drop zone.

Another portent of money worries to come when figures show that 75 percent of Premier League clubs paid out in excess of half of their income on wages, with Chelsea’s wage bill topping the chart at nearly £30 million.

Alex Ferguson ends the month with his second Manager of the Month Award for the season, a record eighth such award for the Scot.

Story of a Premiership Season - April 1999

Story of a Premiership Season -
April 1999