During the 1998–99 English football season, Nottingham Forest F.C. competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary Nottingham Forest's campaign back in the FA Premier League got off to a fairly good start in the first three games in the season, losing narrowly 2-1 at Arsenal and winning the other two against Coventry City and at Southampton; however, it would be 19 games until their next victory and they went on a very poor run of only one win in 25 league games - in addition to two wins in 32 games - and winning their final three games did not matter as they were already relegated. Pierre Van Hooijdonk, top scorer in Forest's promotion-winning 1997-98 campaign, went AWOL before the start of the season following the sale of strike partner Kevin Campbell and it appeared that he would never play for the club again. He returned in October, but Forest were already deep in relegation trouble and it was too late to save manager Dave Bassett's job. Ron Atkinson made what appeared to be his final return to management, but was unable to save Forest from relegation in bottom place - the third time in seven years that they had endured this fate. With just 7 wins and 30 points all season, they had never really looked like beating the drop, due to embarrassing results like the 1-8 defeat at home to Manchester United. A win at Goodison Park was the highlight of Atkinson's ill-fated tenure, along with a three-match winning run at the end of the season, albeit after they had already been relegated, that at least saw them avoid going down with the lowest points total since the formation of the Premier League. This marked the first instance since the 1927-28 season that the winner of England's second tier finished bottom in their subsequent season in the top-flight.

When Atkinson's contract was not renewed, Brian Little, Glenn Hoddle and Roy Evans were just some of the many high profile names linked with the manager's job, but in the end it was 33-year-old former England captain David Platt who took on the role as player-manager.

Final league table

Results summary

Results by round

Results Nottingham Forest's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 August 1998 ArsenalA1–238,064Thomas 22 August 1998 Coventry CityH1–022,546Stone 29 August 1998 SouthamptonA2–114,942Darcheville, Stone 8 September 1998 EvertonH0–225,610 12 September 1998 ChelseaA1–234,809Darcheville 19 September 1998 West Ham UnitedH0–026,463 26 September 1998 Newcastle UnitedA0–236,760 3 October 1998 Charlton AthleticH0–122,661 17 October 1998 Leeds UnitedH1–123,911Stone 24 October 1998 LiverpoolA1–544,595Freedman 1 November 1998 MiddlesbroughA1–134,223Harewood 7 November 1998 WimbledonH0–121,362 16 November 1998 Derby CountyH2–224,014Freedman, van Hooijdonk 21 November 1998 Tottenham HotspurA0–235,832 28 November 1998 Aston VillaH2–225,753Bart-Williams, Freedman 7 December 1998 Sheffield WednesdayA2–319,321Bonalair, van Hooijdonk 12 December 1998 Leicester CityA1–320,891van Hooijdonk 19 December 1998 Blackburn RoversH2–222,013Chettle (pen), Freedman 26 December 1998 Manchester UnitedA0–355,216 28 December 1998 SouthamptonH1–123,456Chettle (pen) 9 January 1999 Coventry CityA0–417,172 16 January 1999 ArsenalH0–126,021 30 January 1999 EvertonA1–034,175van Hooijdonk 6 February 1999 Manchester UnitedH1–830,025Rogers 13 February 1999 West Ham UnitedA1–225,458Hjelde 20 February 1999 ChelseaH1–326,351van Hooijdonk 27 February 1999 Charlton AthleticA0–020,007 10 March 1999 Newcastle UnitedH1–222,852Freedman 13 March 1999 WimbledonA3–112,149Rogers, Freedman, Shipperley 20 March 1999 MiddlesbroughH1–221,468Freedman 3 April 1999 Leeds UnitedA1–339,645Rogers 5 April 1999 LiverpoolH2–228,374Freedman, van Hooijdonk 10 April 1999 Derby CountyA0–132,217 17 April 1999 Tottenham HotspurH0–125,181 24 April 1999 Aston VillaA0–234,492 1 May 1999 Sheffield WednesdayH2–020,480Porfírio, Rogers 8 May 1999 Blackburn RoversA2–124,565Freedman, Bart-Williams 16 May 1999 Leicester CityH1–025,353Bart-Williams

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR32 January 1999 PortsmouthH0–110,092

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg15 September 1998 Leyton OrientA5–14,906Johnson, Freedman (2), Stone, HarewoodR2 2nd Leg22 September 1998 Leyton OrientH0–0 (won 5-1 on agg)6,382R327 October 1998 Cambridge UnitedH3–3 (won 4-3 on pens)9,192Freedman, Armstrong, HarewoodR411 November 1998 Manchester UnitedA1–237,237Stone

First-team squad Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards (Starting appearances + substitute appearances) No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK Dave Beasant2601030300102DF Matthieu Louis-Jean15+10102+1018+20413DF Alan Rogers3440040384904MF Nigel Quashie12+400+102014+50405DF Steve Chettle32+22103036+22816DF Jon-Olav Hjelde16+11102019+11407MF Steve Stone2631032305508MF Scot Gemmill18+20102021+22309FW Neil Shipperley12+81100013+811010MF Andy Johnson25+30102128+317011MF Chris Bart-Williams20+43102023+433012DF Chris Doig1+1000001+130013GK Mark Crossley120201+1013+100014FW Dougie Freedman20+119104325+11122015DF Craig Armstrong20+20004124+213015DF Richard Gough700000703116MF Geoff Thomas510000511017MF Thierry Bonalair24+41000024+415118MF Ian Woan0+2000000+201019FW Jean-Claude Darcheville14+22001+2015+424020MF Glyn Hodges3+2000003+211020MF Carlton Palmer13000001303122DF Des Lyttle5+50101+107+601023DF Andy Dawson000010100023FW Bernard Allou0+2000000+200024DF Christian Edwards7+5000007+501025DF Jesper Mattsson5+1000005+101026DF Steve Melton100000100027FW Andy Gray3+500+102+105+700029FW Marlon Harewood11+1210+102+2213+1536030MF John Harkes300000301031MF Hugo Porfirio3+6100003+614032DF Ståle Stensaas6+1000006+101040FW Pierre Van Hooijdonk19+26000+1019+3651

Starting 11 Considering starts in all competitions GK: #1, Dave Beasant, 30 RB: #17, Thierry Bonalair, 27 CB: #15, Craig Armstrong, 24 CB: #5, Steve Chettle, 36 LB: #3, Alan Rogers, 38 RM: #7, Steve Stone, 30 CM: #11, Chris Bart-Williams, 23 CM: #10, Andy Johnson, 28 LM: #8, Scot Gemmill, 21 CF: #14, Dougie Freedman, 25 CF: #40, Pierre van Hooijdonk, 19

Transfers

In Date Pos. Name From Fee1 August 1998FW Dougie Freedman Wolverhampton Wanderers£950,00021 August 1998MF Nigel Quashie Queens Park Rangers£2,500,00029 August 1998FW Andy Gray Leeds United£200,00021 September 1998FW Neil Shipperley Crystal Palace£1,500,00010 December 1998DF Jesper Mattsson Halmstad£300,00019 January 1999MF Carlton Palmer Southampton£1,100,000

Out Date Pos. Name To Fee6 June 1998MF John Finnigan Lincoln CityFree transfer29 July 1998FW Kevin Campbell Trabzonspor£2,500,0001 August 1998FW Ian Thomas-Moore Stockport County£800,00018 August 1998DF Colin Cooper Middlesbrough£2,500,00016 October 1998DF Stuart Thom Oldham Athletic£45,00020 February 1999DF Craig Armstrong Huddersfield Town£750,0005 March 1999MF Chris Allen Port ValeFree transfer11 March 1999MF Steve Stone Aston Villa£5,500,00019 March 1999DF Andy Dawson Scunthorpe United£50,00025 March 1999MF Scot Gemmill EvertonNominal

Transfers in: £6,550,000 Transfers out: £12,145,000 Total spending: £5,595,000

Staff PositionStaffChairman Nigel Wray (until 13 April) Eric Barnes (from 13 April)Chief executive Philip SoarDirector Irving ScholarFirst-team managers Dave Bassett (until 5 January) Ron Atkinson (from 11 January)Assistant managers Micky Adams (until 11 January) Peter Shreeves (from 11 January)First-team Coach Liam O'KaneGoalkeeping coach Mike KellyReserve Team Coach Ian McParlandHead Academy Coach Nick MarshallPhysiotherapists John Haselden Gary Fleming

References