The 1998–99 FA Cup (known as the AXA-sponsored FA Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th season of the FA Cup. The title defenders were Arsenal, who were eliminated in a semi-final replay by eventual winners Manchester United, who beat Newcastle United 2–0 in the final at the old Wembley Stadium. The goals were scored by Teddy Sheringham after 11 minutes, less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute for Roy Keane, and Paul Scholes on 53 minutes. It was the second leg of a historic treble for Manchester United; having already won the Premier League title the previous weekend, they went on to win the Champions League the following Wednesday.
Calendar Round Initial matches New entries Clubs Preliminary round 5 September 1998 172 558 → 472 First round qualifying 19 September 1998 206 472 → 326 Second round qualifying 3 October 1998 66 326 → 220 Third round qualifying 17 October 1998 22 220 → 156 Fourth round qualifying 31 October 1998 none 156 → 124 First round proper 14 November 1998 48 124 → 84 Second round proper 5 December 1998 none 84 → 64 Third round proper 2 January 1999 44 64 → 32 Fourth round proper 23 January 1999 none 32 → 16 Fifth round proper 13 February 1999 none 16 → 8 Sixth round proper 6 March 1999 none 8 → 4 Semi-finals 11 April 1999 none 4 → 2 Final 22 May 1999 none 2 → 1
Qualifying rounds Following the reformatting of the qualifying rounds for this season, all participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition at various preliminary stages of the tournament to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Runcorn, West Auckland Town, Tamworth, Leigh RMI, Southport, Lancaster City, Telford United, Doncaster Rovers, Burton Albion, Gresley Rovers, Hednesford Town, Emley, Bedlington Terriers, Woking, Kingstonian, Enfield, Hayes, Stevenage Borough, Ford United, Hendon, Slough Town, Worcester City, Basingstoke Town, Camberley Town, Welling United, Boreham Wood, Rushden & Diamonds, Kidderminster Harriers, Yeovil Town, Salisbury City, Dulwich Hamlet and Cheltenham Town.
Bedlington Terriers, Ford United and Camberley Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time (although Terriers were emulating the achievement of predecessor club Bedlington United in 1926-27). Of the others, Tamworth had not featured in the first round since 1990-91, Worcester City had not done so since 1987-88, Leigh RMI had not done so since 1982-83 (when the club was still based in Horwich), Lancaster City had not done so since 1972-73, West Auckland Town since 1961-62 and Dulwich Hamlet since 1948-49. Additionally, Emley was appearing in the first round for the last time before relocating to Wakefield in 2000.
First round proper The first round featured the 32 non-league teams from the qualifying rounds and the 48 teams from the third and fourth tiers of the Football League. Ford United and Camberley Town, from the Isthmian League Third Division at Step 9 of English football, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
The matches were played on 14 November 1998. There were ten replays, with three ties requiring a penalty shoot-out to settle.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Enfield (6)2–2York City (3)14 November 1998ReplayYork City (3)2–1Enfield (6)24 November 19982Darlington (4)3–2Burnley (3)17 November 19983Bedlington Terriers (8)4–1Colchester United (3)14 November 19984Preston North End (3)3–0Ford United (9)14 November 19985Yeovil Town (5)2–2West Auckland Town (8)14 November 1998ReplayWest Auckland Town (8)1–1Yeovil Town (5)24 November 1998Yeovil Town won 5–3 on penalties6Reading (3)0–1Stoke City (3)14 November 19987Walsall (3)1–0Gresley Rovers (6)14 November 19988Woking (5)0–1Scunthorpe United (4)14 November 19989Boreham Wood (6)2–3Luton Town (3)15 November 199810Macclesfield Town (3)2–2Slough Town (6)14 November 1998ReplaySlough Town (6)1–1Macclesfield Town (3)24 November 1998Macclesfield Town won 9–8 on penalties11Scarborough (4)1–1Rochdale (4)14 November 1998ReplayRochdale (4)2–0Scarborough (4)24 November 199812Wrexham (3)1–0Peterborough United (4)14 November 199813Hednesford Town (5)3–1Barnet (4)14 November 199814Wycombe Wanderers (3)1–0Chesterfield (3)14 November 199815Manchester City (3)3–0Halifax Town (4)13 November 199816Fulham (3)1–1Leigh RMI (6)15 November 1998ReplayLeigh RMI (6)0–2Fulham (3)24 November 199817Brentford (4)5–0Camberley Town (9)14 November 199818Bristol Rovers (3)3–0Welling United (5)14 November 199819Northampton Town (3)2–1Lancaster City (6)14 November 199820Plymouth Argyle (4)0–0Kidderminster Harriers (5)14 November 1998ReplayKidderminster Harriers (5)0–0Plymouth Argyle (4)1 December 1998Plymouth Argyle won 5–4 on penalties21Oldham Athletic (3)2–0Gillingham (3)14 November 199822Worcester City (6)0–1Torquay United (4)14 November 199823Southend United (4)0–1Doncaster Rovers (5)14 November 199824Mansfield Town (4)2–1Hayes (5)14 November 199825Cardiff City (4)6–0Chester City (4)14 November 199826Cheltenham Town (5)0–1Lincoln City (3)14 November 199827Kingstonian (5)1–0Burton Albion (6)14 November 199828Dulwich Hamlet (6)0–1Southport (5)14 November 199829Runcorn (6)1–1Stevenage Borough (5)14 November 1998ReplayStevenage Borough (5)2–0Runcorn (6)23 November 199830Wigan Athletic (3)4–3Blackpool (3)14 November 199831Tamworth (6)2–2Exeter City (4)14 November 1998ReplayExeter City (4)4–1Tamworth (6)24 November 199832Leyton Orient (4)4–2Brighton & Hove Albion (4)14 November 199833Hendon (6)0–0Notts County (3)15 November 1998ReplayNotts County (3)3–0Hendon (6)1 December 199834Basingstoke Town (6)1–2AFC Bournemouth (3)14 November 199835Telford United (5)0–2Cambridge United (4)14 November 199836Swansea City (4)3–0Millwall (3)13 November 199837Emley (6)1–1Rotherham United (4)15 November 1998ReplayRotherham United (4)3–1Emley (6)24 November 199838Hartlepool United (4)2–1Carlisle United (4)14 November 199839Rushden & Diamonds (5)1–0Shrewsbury Town (4)14 November 199840Salisbury City (6)0–2Hull City (4)14 November 1998
Second round proper The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were scheduled to be played on 5 December 1998, with eight replays and two penalty shoot-outs required, each of which featured a team who won on penalties in the previous round.
Step 8 side Bedlington Terriers, from the Northern League First Division, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw courtesy of their stunning upset victory over Second Division (Step 3) strugglers Colchester United in the previous round.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Darlington (4)1–1Manchester City (3)4 December 1998ReplayManchester City (3)1–0Darlington (4)15 December 19982Preston North End (3)2–0Walsall (3)5 December 19983Rochdale (4)0–0Rotherham United (4)5 December 1998ReplayRotherham United (4)4–0Rochdale (4)15 December 19984Yeovil Town (5)2–0Northampton Town (3)5 December 19985Notts County (3)1–1Wigan Athletic (3)5 December 1998ReplayWigan Athletic (3)0–0Notts County (3)15 December 1998Notts County won 4–2 on penalties6Macclesfield Town (3)4–1Cambridge United (4)5 December 19987Lincoln City (3)4–1Stevenage Borough (5)5 December 19988Luton Town (3)1–2Hull City (4)5 December 19989Doncaster Rovers (5)0–0Rushden & Diamonds (5)5 December 1998ReplayRushden & Diamonds (5)4–2Doncaster Rovers (5)15 December 199810Wrexham (3)2–1York City (3)5 December 199811Wycombe Wanderers (3)1–1Plymouth Argyle (4)5 December 1998ReplayPlymouth Argyle (4)3–2Wycombe Wanderers (3)15 December 199812Fulham (3)4–2Hartlepool United (4)5 December 199813Oldham Athletic (3)1–1Brentford (4)5 December 1998ReplayBrentford (4)2–2Oldham Athletic (3)15 December 1998Oldham Athletic won 4–2 on penalties14Exeter City (4)2–2Bristol Rovers (3)5 December 1998ReplayBristol Rovers (3)5–0Exeter City (4)15 December 199815Scunthorpe United (4)2–0Bedlington Terriers (8)5 December 199816Mansfield Town (4)1–2Southport (5)5 December 199817Cardiff City (4)3–1Hednesford Town (5)5 December 199818Kingstonian (5)0–0Leyton Orient (4)6 December 1998ReplayLeyton Orient (4)2–1Kingstonian (5)15 December 199819Torquay United (4)0–1AFC Bournemouth (3)5 December 199820Swansea City (4)1–0Stoke City (3)5 December 1998
Third round proper The third round of the season's FA Cup was scheduled for 2 January 1999. This round marked the point at which the teams in the two highest divisions in the English league system, the Premier League and the Football League First Division entered the competition. The round featured three teams from the Football Conference at Step 5 who were the last non-league clubs left in the tournament: Yeovil Town, Southport and Rushden & Diamonds.
There were six replays, with none of these games requiring a penalty shoot-out.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1AFC Bournemouth (3)1–0West Bromwich Albion (2)2 January 19992Bristol City (2)0–2Everton (1)2 January 19993Bury (2)0–3Stockport County (2)2 January 19994Preston North End (3)2–4Arsenal (1)4 January 19995Southampton (1)1–1Fulham (3)2 January 1999ReplayFulham (3)1–0Southampton (1)13 January 19996Leicester City (1)4–2Birmingham City (2)2 January 19997Nottingham Forest (1)0–1Portsmouth (2)2 January 19998Blackburn Rovers (1)2–0Charlton Athletic (1)2 January 19999Aston Villa (1)3–0Hull City (4)2 January 199910Sheffield Wednesday (1)4–1Norwich City (2)3 January 199911Bolton Wanderers (2)1–2Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)2 January 199912Crewe Alexandra (2)1–3Oxford United (2)2 January 199913Lincoln City (3)0–1Sunderland (2)2 January 199914Swindon Town (2)0–0Barnsley (2)2 January 1999ReplayBarnsley (2)3–1Swindon Town (2)19 January 199915Wrexham (3)4–3Scunthorpe United (4)2 January 199916Sheffield United (2)1–1Notts County (3)2 January 1999ReplayNotts County (3)3–4Sheffield United (2)23 January 199917Tranmere Rovers (2)0–1Ipswich Town (2)2 January 199918Newcastle United (1)2–1Crystal Palace (2)2 January 199919Tottenham Hotspur (1)5–2Watford (2)2 January 199920Queens Park Rangers (2)0–1Huddersfield Town (2)2 January 199921Coventry City (1)7–0Macclesfield Town (3)2 January 199922West Ham United (1)1–1Swansea City (4)2 January 1999ReplaySwansea City (4)1–0West Ham United (1)13 January 199923Manchester United (1)3–1Middlesbrough (1)3 January 199924Plymouth Argyle (4)0–3Derby County (1)2 January 199925Bradford City (2)2–1Grimsby Town (2)2 January 199926Oldham Athletic (3)0–2Chelsea (1)2 January 199927Wimbledon (1)1–0Manchester City (3)2 January 199928Cardiff City (4)1–1Yeovil Town (5)2 January 1999ReplayYeovil Town (5)1–2Cardiff City (4)12 January 199929Port Vale (2)0–3Liverpool (1)3 January 199930Southport (5)0–2Leyton Orient (4)2 January 199931Rotherham United (4)0–1Bristol Rovers (3)2 January 199932Rushden & Diamonds (5)0–0Leeds United (1)2 January 1999ReplayLeeds United (1)3–1Rushden & Diamonds (5)13 January 1999
Fourth round proper The fourth-round ties were played with the thirty-two winners of the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for 23 January 1999. There were three replays. Third Division sides Cardiff City and Leyton Orient were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.