1998–99 Ipswich Town F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the Football League First Division.

Ipswich Town

1998–99 season
Chairman	David Sheepshanks
Manager	George Burley
Stadium	Portman Road
First Division	3rd
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Play-offs	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: David Johnson / James Scowcroft (13) All: David Johnson / James Scowcroft (14)
Highest home attendance	22,162 (vs Queens Park Rangers, 5 Apr 1999, First Division)
Lowest home attendance	7,952 (vs Exeter City, 18 Aug 1998, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	16,920
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Season summary

In the 1998–99 season, Ipswich fans felt it would be third time lucky in the play-offs for the Tractor Boys. However the team once again lost on away goals to Bolton Wanderers.^[1] Ipswich had been second at the beginning of April but defeat to Bolton saw Bradford City overtake them and two more defeats in their last four games, including a shock home defeat to relegation-threatened Crewe Alexandra, saw Ipswich finish third.^[2]

First-team squad

^[3]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   ENG Richard Wright — GK   ENG Lee Bracey — DF   ENG Jason Cundy — DF   ENG Tony Mowbray — DF   ENG Mark Venus — DF   FRA Jean-Manuel Thetis — DF   NED Fabian Wilnis — MF   ENG Jamie Clapham — MF   ENG Kieron Dyer — MF   ENG John Kennedy

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Mick Stockwell — MF   ENG Adam Tanner — MF   NIR Jim Magilton — MF   ENG Matt Holland (captain) — MF   NED Marco Holster — MF   NED Bobby Petta — FW   ENG Richard Naylor — FW   ENG James Scowcroft — FW   JAM David Johnson

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. Pos. Nation Player — DF   ARG Mauricio Taricco (to Tottenham Hotspur) — MF   NIR Danny Sonner (to Sheffield Wednesday) — MF   ENG Paolo Vernazza (loan return to Arsenal) — MF   ENG Lee Hodges (loan return to West Ham United) — MF   ENG Jonathan Hunt (loan return to Derby County)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Paul Mason (Retired) — FW   SCO Alex Mathie (to Dundee United) — FW   FRA Samassi Abou (loan return to West Ham United) — FW   ENG Marlon Harewood (loan return to Nottingham Forest)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   ENG Wayne Brown — DF   ENG Titus Bramble — MF   SCO Stuart Niven

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Chris Keeble — FW   ENG Richard Logan

Competitions

Football League First Division

Main article: 1998–99 Football League First Division

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GS	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Sunderland	46	31	12	3	91	28	91	105	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
2	Bradford City	46	26	9	11	82	47	82	87	Promoted to FA Premier League
3	Ipswich Town	46	26	8	12	69	32	69	86	Participated in play-offs
4	Birmingham City	46	23	12	11	66	37	66	81
5	Watford	46	21	14	11	65	56	65	77	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Ipswich Town's score comes first^[4]

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1998	Grimsby Town	A	0–0	7,211
15 August 1998	Bury	H	0–0	13,267
22 August 1998	Portsmouth	A	0–0	12,002
29 August 1998	Sunderland	H	0–2	15,813
31 August 1998	Port Vale	A	3–0	5,485	Scowcroft, Johnson, Holland
8 September 1998	Bradford City	H	3–0	11,596	Scowcroft (2), Venus
12 September 1998	Oxford United	A	3–3	6,632	Scowcroft, Johnson, Dyer
19 September 1998	Bristol City	H	3–1	13,657	Johnson (2), Scowcroft
26 September 1998	Watford	A	0–1	13,109
29 September 1998	Tranmere Rovers	A	2–0	5,072	Stockwell, Scowcroft
3 October 1998	Crystal Palace	H	3–0	16,837	Venus (pen), Taricco, Mathie
17 October 1998	Swindon Town	H	1–0	13,212	Johnson
20 October 1998	Norwich City	H	0–1	22,079
24 October 1998	Stockport County	A	1–0	7,432	Dyer
31 October 1998	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–0	15,568	Johnson (2)
3 November 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	14,680	Scowcroft, Stockwell
7 November 1998	Huddersfield Town	A	2–2	14,240	Venus, Johnson
14 November 1998	Barnsley	A	1–0	15,966	Johnson
21 November 1998	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–1	17,255
28 November 1998	Crewe Alexandra	A	3–0	5,165	Scowcroft (3, 1 pen)
2 December 1998	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–1	12,449	Holland
5 December 1998	Birmingham City	H	1–0	15,901	Petta
12 December 1998	Barnsley	H	0–2	16,021
20 December 1998	Sheffield United	A	2–1	12,944	Abou, Naylor
26 December 1998	Portsmouth	H	3–0	21,805	Naylor (2), Dyer
28 December 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1	24,636
9 January 1999	Grimsby Town	H	0–1	15,575
17 January 1999	Sunderland	A	1–2	39,835	Holland
30 January 1999	Port Vale	H	1–0	16,328	Clapham
6 February 1999	Bury	A	3–0	4,750	Venus (pen), Mowbray, Harewood
13 February 1999	Bradford City	A	0–0	15,024
20 February 1999	Oxford United	H	2–1	16,920	Holland, Venus (pen)
27 February 1999	Bristol City	A	1–0	14,065	Naylor
2 March 1999	Watford	H	3–2	18,818	Dyer, Venus, Johnson
6 March 1999	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–0	15,929	Thetis
9 March 1999	Crystal Palace	A	2–3	16,360	Johnson, Clapham
13 March 1999	Huddersfield Town	H	3–0	17,170	Magilton, Johnson, Petta
20 March 1999	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–0	15,552	Thetis
3 April 1999	Swindon Town	A	6–0	10,337	Venus (2 pens), Scowcroft, Mowbray, Clapham, Wilnis
5 April 1999	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–1	22,162	Johnson, Scowcroft, Holland
11 April 1999	Norwich City	A	0–0	19,511
17 April 1999	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–2	19,894
20 April 1999	Stockport County	H	1–0	17,056	Magilton
24 April 1999	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–2	20,845	Venus (pen)
2 May 1999	Birmingham City	A	0–1	27,685
9 May 1999	Sheffield United	H	4–1	21,689	Magilton, Scowcroft, Dyer, Naylor

First Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	16 May 1999	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–1	18,295
SF 2nd Leg	19 May 1999	Bolton Wanderers	H	4–3 (lost on away goals)	21,755	Holland (2), Dyer (2)

FA Cup

Main article: 1998–99 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	2 January 1999	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–0	7,223	McGreal (own goal)
R4	23 January 1999	Everton	A	0–1	28,854

League Cup

Main article: 1998–99 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	11 August 1998	Exeter City	A	1–1	3,233	Holland
R1 2nd Leg	18 August 1998	Exeter City	H	5–1 (won 6–2 on agg)	7,952	Taricco, Holland, Stockwell, Mathie, Mason
R2 1st Leg	15 September 1998	Luton Town	H	2–1	9,032	Scowcroft, Thetis
R2 2nd Leg	22 September 1998	Luton Town	A	2–4 (lost 4–5 on agg)	5,655	Johnson, Davis (own goal)

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Ref
1 July 1998	MF	Marco Holster	Heracles Almelo	Free transfer	^[5]
1 August 1998	FW	Sean Friars	Liverpool	Free transfer	^[6]
11 September 1998	DF	Jean-Manuel Thetis	Sevilla	£50,000	^[7]
6 January 1999	DF	Fabian Wilnis	De Graafschap	£200,000	^[8]
22 March 1999	MF	Jim Magilton	Sheffield Wednesday	£680,000	^[9]

Loans in

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
3 October 1998	MF	Paolo Vernazza	Arsenal	3 November 1998	^[10]
28 October 1998	MF	Jonathan Hunt	Derby County	17 November 1998	^[11]
18 November 1998	MF	Lee Hodges	West Ham United	21 December 1998	^[12]
3 December 1998	FW	Samassi Abou	West Ham United	29 December 1998	^[13]
12 January 1999	MF	Jim Magilton	Sheffield Wednesday	21 March 1999	^[9]
28 January 1999	FW	Marlon Harewood	Nottingham Forest	4 March 1999	^[14]

Transfers out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Ref
1 July 1998	MF	Simon Milton	Retired		^[15]
7 July 1998	MF	Geraint Williams	Colchester United	Undisclosed	^[16]
7 July 1998	DF	Gus Uhlenbeek	Fulham	Free transfer	^[17]
29 September 1998	MF	Paul Mason	Retired		^[18]
14 October 1998	MF	Danny Sonner	Sheffield Wednesday	Undisclosed	^[19]
16 October 1998	FW	Alex Mathie	Dundee United	£700,000	^[20]
9 November 1998	DF	Mauricio Taricco	Tottenham Hotspur	£1,775,000	^[21]

Loans out

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
1 August 1998	MF	John Kennedy	Morecambe	31 October 1998	^[22]

Awards

Player awards

Award	Player	Ref
Player of the Year	Jamie Clapham	^[23]

PFA First Division Team of the Year

Player	Ref
Richard Wright	^[24]
Mark Venus	^[25]
Kieron Dyer	^[25]

References

1. Cross, John. "Football: TOWN CRIERS; Ipswich agony as they fail in play-offs again". The Mirror. Retrieved 25 March 2012 – via The Free Library.
2. Hadgraft, Rob (October 2006). Ipswich Town The Modern Era. p. 371. ISBN 1-905328-24-9.
3. "Ipswich FC Player Appearances | Past & Present | Soccer Base".
4. . Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
5. "Marco Holster at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
6. "Sean Friars at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
7. "Manuel Thetis at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
8. "Fabian Wilnis at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
9. "Jim Magilton at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
10. "Paolo Vernazza at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
11. "Jonathan Hunt at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
12. "Lee Hodges at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
13. "Samassi Abou at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
14. "Marlon Harewood at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
15. "Simon Milton at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
16. "Geraint Williams at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
17. "Gus Uhlenbeek at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
18. "Paul Mason at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
19. "Danny Sonner at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
20. "Alex Mathie at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
21. Staff and Agencies (5 November 1998). "Spurs snag on Taricco". The Guardian. from the original on 7 May 2014.
22. "John Kennedy at Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
23. Warren, Andy (28 March 2019). "Picking Ipswich Town's shining light in a dark season – the contenders for the player of the year award". East Anglian Daily Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
24. "Richard Wright". England Football Online. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
25. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1999). The 1999–2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7.