1998–99 Aston Villa F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, Aston Villa competed in the Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). The season was Villa's eighth in the Premier League, and their eleventh consecutive season in the top division of English football.

Season summary

The early-season sale of Dwight Yorke to Manchester United^[1] seemed to rule out Villa's chances of challenging for a place in Europe, but new signings Dion Dublin and Paul Merson soon revitalised the attack and the team spent much of the first half of the season at the top of the Premiership. Eventually, the challenge from Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea proved to be too strong, and Villa's season capitulated. The team finally finished sixth, thus missing out on a European place.

Final league table

Results summary

Results by round

Results

Aston Villa's results^[2]

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[3][4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Mark Bosnich 3 DF Alan Wright 4 DF Gareth Southgate 5 DF Ugo Ehiogu 6 DF Steve Watson 7 MF Ian Taylor 8 MF Mark Draper 9 FW Stan Collymore 10 FW Paul Merson 11 MF Alan Thompson 12 FW Julian Joachim 13 GK Michael Oakes 14 FW Dion Dublin

No. Position Player 15 DF Gareth Barry 16 MF Simon Grayson 17 MF Lee Hendrie 18 MF Fabio Ferraresi 20 MF Riccardo Scimeca 21 FW Darren Byfield[notes 1] 22 FW Darius Vassell 24 DF Mark Delaney 26 MF Steve Stone 28 DF Tommy Jaszczun 30 GK Adam Rachel 32 DF Aaron Lescott 34 DF Colin Calderwood

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Gary Charles (to Benfica) 6 DF David Unsworth (to Everton) 10 FW Dwight Yorke (to Manchester United)

No. Position Player 24 DF Lee Collins (to Stoke City) 26 DF Ben Petty (to Stoke City)

Reserve squad

The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 23 DF David Hughes 25 FW Alan Lee 29 FW Richard Walker 31 DF Jlloyd Samuel[notes 2] 39 GK Peter Enckelman

No. Position Player DF Reuben Hazell MF Russell Latapy (on trial from Boavista) FW Darren Middleton FW Neil Tarrant[notes 3]

Youth team

The following players spent most of the season playing for the U-17 and U-19 teams, but may have also appeared for the reserves.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 27 FW Michael Standing 40 GK Matthew Ghent GK Boaz Myhill[notes 4] GK Michael Price DF David Andrewartha DF Jonathan Bewers DF Michael Blackwood DF Calum Davenport DF Rob Edwards[notes 5] DF Liam Folds DF Danny Haynes DF Leon Hylton DF Danny Jackman DF Karl Johnson DF Jamie Kearns DF Liam Ridgewell DF Martin Ridley DF Gary McSeveney MF Ryan Amoo MF David Berks MF Jamie Edwards MF David Harding MF Adam Marsh MF Alexis Nicolas[notes 6] MF Jamie Pawley MF Luke Prince MF Jay Smith MF Michael Standing MF Gregory Walters MF Gavin Melaugh

No. Position Player MF David Curtolo FW DJ Campbell FW Mark DeBolla FW Stephen Evans FW Lee McGuire FW Andrew Marfell FW Stefan Moore FW Jamie Smith (on trial from Gloucester City) FW Graham Evans FW Brian Mulholland FW Isaac N'Kubi[notes 7] GK Neil Barnes DF Wesley Meacham DF Andrew Wells MF Jamie Cunnington MF Craig McCarthy (on trial from Bashley) Liam Bell Matthew Brooker Danny Cox Gary Davies Ben Jackson Declan McArthy Peter McConnell Jonathan Rhule Mark Richards Matthew Roberts Lawrence Shannon Adam Smith Dean Smith

Other players

The following players did not play for any Villa team this season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Nikki Bull GK Marcus Hahnemann (on trial from Colorado Rapids) DF Stuart Thornley DF Leslie Hines (to Kidderminster Harriers) MF Alex Meredith MF Nathan Pulisciano MF Kalle Lindgren (on trial from Landskrona BoIS)

No. Position Player FW Tom Poston (on trial to Norwich City) FW Bhaichung Bhutia (on trial from East Bengal) MF Mark Rollins Jordan Ryan Abdul Sadique Martin Tranter

Transfers

In

#	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
11	MF	Alan Thompson	Bolton Wanderers	£4,500,000	June 1998
18	MF	Fabio Ferraresi	Cesena	Free	June 1998
6	FW	David Unsworth	West Ham United	£3,000,000	June 1998
10	MF	Paul Merson	Middlesbrough	£6,750,000	September 1998
2	DF	Steve Watson	Newcastle United	£4,000,000	October 1998
9	FW	Dion Dublin	Coventry City	£5,750,000	November 1998
39	GK	Peter Enckelman	TPS Turku	£200,000	February 1999
24	DF	Mark Delaney	Cardiff City	£250,000	March 1999
26	MF	Steve Stone	Nottingham Forest	£5,500,000	March 1999
34	DF	Colin Calderwood	Tottenham Hotspur	£225,000	March 1999
14	FW	Neil Tarrant	Ross County	£250,000	April 1999

Out

#	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
10	FW	Dwight Yorke	Manchester United	£12,600,000	August 1998
6	DF	David Unsworth	Everton	£3,000,000	August 1998
26	GK	Ben Petty	Stoke City	Free	November 1998
2	DF	Gary Charles	Benfica	£1,000,000	January 1999
24	DF	Lee Collins	Stoke City	Free	February 1999

Transfers in: £30,425,000

Transfers out: £21,200,000

Total spending: £9,225,000

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK		Mark Bosnich	17	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
13	GK		Michael Oakes	28	0	23	0	2	0	1	0	2	0
30	GK		Adam Rachel	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF		Alan Wright	45	0	38	0	2	0	1	0	4	0
4	DF		Gareth Southgate	44	1	38	1	2	0	0	0	4	0
5	DF		Ugo Ehiogu	31	2	23+2	2	2	0	1	0	3	0
6	DF		Steve Watson	30	0	26+1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
15	DF		Gareth Barry	37	2	27+5	2	2	0	0	0	3	0
16	DF		Simon Grayson	20	0	4+11	0	0+1	0	1	0	2+1	0
24	DF		Mark Delaney	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF		Tommy Jaszczun	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
32	DF		Aaron Lescott	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
34	DF		Colin Calderwood	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF		Ian Taylor	38	4	31+2	4	1	0	1	0	2+1	0
8	MF		Mark Draper	29	3	13+10	2	1	0	1	1	3+1	0
10	MF		Paul Merson	28	5	21+5	5	1	0	1	0	0	0
11	MF		Alan Thompson	29	2	20+5	2	0	0	0+1	0	3	0
17	MF		Lee Hendrie	37	3	31+1	3	2	0	0	0	3	0
18	MF		Fabio Ferraresi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
20	MF		Riccardo Scimeca	24	2	16+2	2	2	0	1	0	1+2	0
26	MF		Steve Stone	10	0	9+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW		Stan Collymore	24	7	11+9	1	1	2	0	0	3	4
12	FW		Julian Joachim	43	16	29+7	14	2	1	1	0	4	1
14	FW		Dion Dublin	24	11	24	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	FW		Darren Byfield	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
22	FW		Darius Vassell	11	2	0+6	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0+3	2
Players transferred out during the season
2	DF		Gary Charles	17	2	10+1	1	0+1	0	1	0	4	1
10	FW		Dwight Yorke	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 15 May 1999
Source: Competitions

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[5]

No. Pos. Nat. Name MS Notes 13 GK Michael Oakes 28 6 RB Steve Watson 29 5 CB Ugo Ehiogu 29 4 CB Gareth Southgate 44 3 LB Alan Wright 45 10 RM Paul Merson 22 Alan Thompson has 23 starts 17 CM Lee Hendrie 36 7 CM Ian Taylor 35 11 LM Gareth Barry 32 12 CF Julian Joachim 36 14 CF Dion Dublin 24 Goalscorers Name Premier League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup Total Julian Joachim 14 1 1 16 Dion Dublin 11 11 Stan Collymore 1 2 4 7 Paul Merson 5 5 Ian Taylor 4 4 Lee Hendrie 3 3 Mark Draper 2 1 3 Gareth Barry 3 3 Alan Thompson 2 2 Ugo Ehiogu 2 2 Riccardo Scimeca 2 2 Darius Vassell 2 2 Gary Charles 1 1 2 Gareth Southgate 1 1 Opposition own goals 1 1 Total goals 52 3 1 8 64 Notes ↑ Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003. ↑ Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-18, U-20, and U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009. ↑ Tarrant was born in Darlington, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level. ↑ Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, and U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008. ↑ Edwards was born in Madeley, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Wales in March 2003. ↑ Nicolas was born in Westminster, England, but also qualified to represent Cyprus internationally and represented them at U-21 level. ↑ N'Kubi was born in Uganda, but also qualified to represent Sweden internationally and represented them at U-17 level. References ↑ "Football: United win £12m battle for Yorke". The Independent. 21 August 1998. Retrieved 11 February 2012. ↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/aston-villa/1998-1999/results ↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1998-1999/faprem/avilla.htm ↑ http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/1998-99.html ↑ http://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/1999