The 1998–99 season was Manchester City's first season in the third tier of English football.

The club made an immediate return to Division One, after a play-off final victory over Gillingham in a penalty shootout, having scored two goals in added time to turn around a 2–0 scoreline with 89 minutes of normal time played. The dramatic victory ensured that City's first season in English football's third tier ended in promotion, bringing some success to the club after two relegations in three seasons.

Team kit The team kit was produced by Kappa and the shirt sponsor was Brother.

The home shirt for the season was a darker shade of blue than the traditional City blue known as 'Laser Blue', but was still generally well received. However, the away kit was quite peculiar with bright yellow and navy blue stripes, and had never been worn by City previously. After this away kit was worn for the 1999 Football League Second Division play-off final, it took on a special significance for fans. Although this game technically marked the lowest ever league finish in Manchester City's history, conceding the first two goals of the game in the last ten minutes of normal time, followed by two goals by City in injury time and winning a penalty shoot-out, created an incredible win for City and became one of the proudest moments of the club's history.

As a result, the kit instantly went from being an average if slightly unusual shirt to being a symbol of the club's history. There have been frequent if uncoordinated calls for the shirt to be brought back as an away kit in future seasons, though as yet the design has largely been forgotten by the club's successive kit manufacturers. However, the 2024–25 away kit that is designed by Puma had brought back the yellow and navy blue stripes kit based on that season's away kit to commemorate 25 years since the Play-off final victory.

Season summary City's first-ever season in the third tier got off to a bright start, with the team losing only one of their first six matches and topping the table after a victory over fellow third tier newcomers Macclesfield Town. After that, however, City would only win three more league matches before Christmas, as the heavily overhauled squad struggled to come together, with injuries only compounding the situation. The club would hit its lowest ebb after an embarrassing 2–1 loss to York City in their final pre-Christmas fixture, a result which left them 12th in the table and led to fans calling for Royle's sacking.

The board kept faith with Royle, however, and were rewarded with only two more losses all season, with the highlights of the season's second half being a 3–0 win against league leaders Fulham, a 6–0 away win over Burnley, and a 4–0 win over Lincoln City, who had beaten City earlier in the season. City's poor first half of the season, combined with the form of runaway leaders Fulham and second-placed Walsall meant that an automatic promotion challenge was never seriously on the cards, but they secured third place on the final day of the season, and also exacted revenge on York City for their earlier humiliation by thrashing the Minstermen 4–0, condemning them to relegation.

City faced off against Lancashire rivals Wigan Athletic in the first round of the play-offs, and a pair of tense matches ended with a 1–1 draw in the last competitive fixture at Wigan's Springfield Park ground, followed by a 1–0 victory at Maine Road, setting the stage for a Wembley Stadium showdown with Gillingham.

The play-off final was goalless for 82 minutes, before the Gills struck a pair of late goals that looked to have ensured that City would be spending a second successive season in Division Two. However, City themselves then scored a dramatic pair of injury-time goals (the second of which came in the 95th minute) to take the match to extra time. No further goals resulted in the next half-hour, leading to a penalty shoot-out. The Gills were able to convert only one of their penalties, while City scored three, ensuring that they returned to Division One at the first time of asking.

In the FA Cup, City beat Halifax Town first, then Darlington in a replay with an extra time winner, before losing to Wimbledon by a single goal. In the League Cup, City played very well against Notts County and won the second leg 7–1, but in the next round Derby County eliminated City by a single goal at Maine Road after a draw in the first leg.

Competitions

Second Division

League table

Results summary

Matches

Playoffs

Semi-finals

Final

FA Cup

Matches

League Cup

First round

Second round

Squad

Goalkeepers Nicky Weaver Tommy Wright

Defenders Lee Crooks Richard Edghill Nick Fenton Richard Jobson Andy Morrison Murtaz Shelia Danny Tiatto Kakhaber Tskhadadze Tony Vaughan Gerard Wiekens

Midfielders Ian Bishop Michael Brown Terry Cooke Neil Heaney Gary Mason Jamie Pollock Jeff Whitley Jim Whitley Kevin Horlock

Attackers Daniel Allsopp Lee Bradbury Michael Branch Paul Dickov Shaun Goater Chris Greenacre Mark Robins Craig Russell

References

External links