The 1998–99 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 96th in the Football League. They finished in fourth place in the Football League First Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they were eliminated in the semi-final by Watford in a penalty shootout. Birmingham lost to Leicester City in the third round of the FA Cup and to Wimbledon in the third round of the Football League Cup.
Football League First Division
Match details
DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReport8 August 19981stPort ValeAW2–0Furlong 21', Adebola 68'10,465 Individual match reports are linked from this page.16 August 19981stCrystal PalaceHW3–1Adebola 12', O'Connor 29' pen., Forster 90'16,69922 August 19982ndSheffield UnitedAW2–0Adebola 55', Forster 81'17,52829 August 19984thBarnsleyHD0–019,82531 August 19985thBradford CityAL1–2Ndlovu 56'13,9108 September 19983rdBuryHW1–0Adebola 20'15,9355 September 19981stStockport CountyHW2–0Marsden 15', Hughes 67'16,42912 September 19982ndBolton WanderersAL1–3Rowett 40'19,63719 September 19983rdGrimsby TownHL0–117,56326 September 19987thNorwich CityAL0–216,58429 September 19985thPortsmouthAW1–0O'Connor 59 pen.11,8433 October 19984thTranmere RoversHD2–2M. Johnson 40', Ndlovu 72'17,18910 October 19983rdWatfordAD1–1Adebola 22'10,09617 October 19982ndCrewe AlexandraHW3–1Ndlovu 8', O'Connor 43' pen., Furlong 53'20,08720 October 19982ndSwindon TownHD1–1Marsden 58'19,48525 October 19982ndQueens Park RangersAW1–0Adebola 6'10,27231 October 19981stHuddersfield TownHD1–1Ndlovu 53'19,1707 November 19983rdWest Bromwich AlbionAW3–1Ndlovu 5', 34', Adebola 12'19,47214 November 19984thOxford UnitedHL0–118,21622 November 19988thWolverhampton WanderersAL1–3Furlong 21'23,03728 November 19984thBristol CityHW4–2M. Johnson 5', Ndlovu 11', Forster (2) 42', 72'17,5775 December 19987thIpswich TownAL0–115,90112 December 19984thOxford UnitedAW7–1Rowett (2) 16', 31', Furlong (2) 17', 43', Grainger 55', Ndlovu 72', Hughes 89'7,18919 December 19987thSunderlandHD0–022,09526 December 19984thSheffield UnitedHW1–0Furlong 20' pen.22,00528 December 19983rdBuryAW4–2Furlong (2) 32', 56', O'Connor 35', Adebola 74'7,0249 January 19992ndPort ValeHW1–0Furlong 25'18,63216 January 19994thBarnsleyAD0–017,11431 January 19994thBradford CityHW2–1Furlong (2) 45', 90' pen.19,2916 February 19995thCrystal PalaceAD1–1Furlong 50' pen.15,99613 February 19995thStockport CountyAL0–19,05621 February 19995thBolton WanderersHD0–026,05127 February 19995thGrimsby TownAW3–0Ndlovu 36', Adebola 85', Rowett 90'7,8072 March 19995thNorwich CityHD0–020,7496 March 19994thPortsmouthHW4–1Adebola (2) 26', 60', Forster 50', Hughes 84'20,6179 March 19994thTranmere RoversAW1–0M. Johnson 46'7,18413 March 19994thWest Bromwich AlbionHW4–0Adebola (2) 24', 62', Ndlovu 50', Grainger 88'29,06020 March 19994thHuddersfield TownAD1–1M. Johnson 47'14,6672 April 19994thCrewe AlexandraAD0–05,5825 April 19994thWatfordHL1–2Holdsworth 87'24,87710 April 19994thSwindon TownAW1–0Rowett 83'8,89617 April 19994thWolverhampton WanderersHL0–128,14320 April 19994thQueens Park RangersHW1–0Forinton 85'20,88824 April 19994thBristol CityAW2–1Grainger 48' pen., Ndlovu 70'15,8452 May 19994thIpswich TownHW1–0Furlong 60'27,6859 May 19994thSunderlandAL1–2Grainger 38'41,634
League table
Results summary
Play-offs
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportSemifinal 1st leg16 May 1999WatfordAL0–118,535Semifinal 2nd leg20 May 1999WatfordHW1–01–1 agg.Adebola 2'29,100Watford won 7–6 on penalties. Birmingham scorers: Grainger, Rowett, Bradbury, Hughes, Purse, Poole.
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportThird round2 January 1999Leicester CityAL2–4Robinson 35', Adebola 89'19,846
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportFirst round 1st leg11 August 1998MillwallHW2–0Adebola 70', M. Johnson 87'14,133First round 2nd leg19 August 1998MillwallAD1–13–1 agg.Adebola 45'4,478Second round 1st leg15 September 1998Macclesfield TownAW3–0Forster 66', Marsden 70', Rowett 89'2,275Second round 2nd leg22 September 1998Macclesfield TownHW6–09–0 agg.Ndlovu (2) 7', 19', Askey 37' o.g., Marsden 57', Rowett 66', M. Johnson 89'3,443Third round28 October 1998WimbledonHL1–2Marsden 34'11,845
Transfers
In DatePlayerClubFeeRef 13 August 1998 Gary Rowett Derby County £1m 10 December 1998 Simon Marsh Oxford United £250,000 4 February 1999 Graham Hyde Sheffield Wednesday Free 23 March 1999 David Holdsworth Sheffield United £1.25m
Out DatePlayerFeeJoinedRef 2 July 1998 Steve Bruce Sheffield United 23 October 1998 Steve Barnes Free Barnet 13 January 1999 Paul Tait Free Oxford United 1 February 1999 Chris Marsden £800,000 Southampton 22 June 1999 Nicky Forster £650,000 Reading
Loan in DatePlayerClubReturnRef 19 December 1998 Fumaça Catuense 27 January 1999 25 March 1999 Lee Bradbury Crystal Palace End of season
Appearances and goals
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupPlay-offsTotalDisciplineGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGKIan Bennett10000400014000GKKevin Poole36010102040000DFGary Ablett23 (3)010400028 (3)010DFJon Bass9 (2)00000009 (2)020DFSimon Charlton27 (1)000300030 (1)041DFJerry Gill300010004010DFMartin Grainger30 (10)40 (1)02 (1)02034 (12)4110DFDavid Holdsworth8 (1)000002010 (1)041DFMichael Johnson43 (3)410422050 (3)660DFSimon Marsh6 (1)01000007 (1)000DFDarren Purse11 (9)0002 (1)00 (1)013 (11)020DFSimon Rea000000000000DFGary Rowett42510422049750DFDarren Wassall0 (3)00000000 (3)000MFTony Hey000000000000MFChris Holland7 (6)0001 (4)01 (1)09 (11)000MFBryan Hughes20 (8)30 (1)01 (1)01022 (10)320DFGraham Hyde13000000013041MF Chris Marsden 20200530025540MFJon McCarthy35 (8)010502043 (8)060MFMartyn O'Connor35 (2)410402042 (2)470MFSteve Robinson20 (11)011201024 (11)110FWDele Adebola33 (6)1311421 (1)139 (7)1730FWLee Bradbury *6 (1)000001 (1)07 (2)010FWHoward Forinton0 (3)1001 (1)0001 (4)100FWNicky Forster8 (24)50 (1)02 (2)10010 (27)600FWPaul Furlong24 (5)1310102028 (5)1340FWAndrew Johnson0 (3)0000 (2)0000 (5)020FWPeter Ndlovu37 (6)1110421 (1)043 (7)1331
+ Players not included in matchday squadsNameMFSteve Barnes MFPaul Tait MFFumaça *
See also List of Birmingham City F.C. seasons
References General
Source for match dates, league positions and results: Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 432–33. Source for goal times: Source for transfers: Source for discipline: individual player pages linked from
Specific