1998–99 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

1998–99 season
Owner	UEFA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	Kevin Gallacher/Ashley Ward (5)
Highest home attendance	30,436 (vs. Manchester United, 12 May)
Lowest home attendance	13,646 (vs. Lyon, 15 September)
Average home league attendance	25,773
← 1997–98 1999–2000  →

The 1998–99 season was Blackburn Rovers' seventh season in the

, and their seventh consecutive season in the top division of English football.

Four years earlier, Blackburn Rovers were

. They were among some people's outsiders for a title challenge.

But it all went wrong for Rovers, who were soon in the depth of a relegation battle. Manager Roy Hodgson paid with his job in November.^[1] Manchester United assistant Brian Kidd was named as his replacement,^[2] but he was unable to steer Rovers to safety and their relegation was confirmed in the penultimate game of the season.^[3] They were condemned to a place in Division One, but managed to hold on to many key players and approached the new season as most people's favourites for an immediate return to the elite.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
16	Wimbledon	38	10	12	16	40	63	−23	42
17	Southampton	38	11	8	19	37	64	−27	41
18	Charlton Athletic (R)	38	8	12	18	41	56	−15	36	Relegation to Football League First Division
19	Blackburn Rovers (R)	38	7	14	17	38	52	−14	35
20	Nottingham Forest (R)	38	7	9	22	35	69	−34	30

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	7	14	17	38	52	−14	35	6	5	8	21	24	−3	1	9	9	17	28	−11

Results by round

Blackburn Rovers' score comes first^[4]

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 August 1998	Derby County	H	0–0	24,007
24 August 1998	Leeds United	A	0–1	30,652
29 August 1998	Leicester City	H	1–0	22,544	Gallacher
9 September 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–2	28,338	Gallacher
12 September 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–3	20,846
21 September 1998	Chelsea	H	3–4	23,113	Sutton (2, 1 pen), Pérez
26 September 1998	Everton	A	0–0	36,404
3 October 1998	West Ham United	H	3–0	25,213	Flitcroft (2), Davidson
17 October 1998	Middlesbrough	A	1–2	34,413	Sherwood
25 October 1998	Arsenal	H	1–2	27,012	Johnson
31 October 1998	Wimbledon	A	1–1	12,526	Sutton (pen)
7 November 1998	Coventry City	H	1–2	23,779	Sherwood
14 November 1998	Manchester United	A	2–3	55,198	Marcolin, Blake
21 November 1998	Southampton	H	0–2	22,812
29 November 1998	Liverpool	A	0–2	41,753
5 December 1998	Charlton Athletic	H	1–0	22,568	Davies
12 December 1998	Newcastle United	H	0–0	27,569
19 December 1998	Nottingham Forest	A	2–2	22,013	Blake (2)
26 December 1998	Aston Villa	H	2–1	27,536	Gallacher, Sherwood
28 December 1998	Leicester City	A	1–1	21,083	Gallacher
9 January 1999	Leeds United	H	1–0	27,620	Gillespie
16 January 1999	Derby County	A	0–1	27,386
30 January 1999	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1	29,643	Jansen
6 February 1999	Aston Villa	A	3–1	37,404	Southgate (own goal), Ward, Dunn
17 February 1999	Chelsea	A	1–1	34,382	Ward
20 February 1999	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–4	24,643	McAteer
27 February 1999	West Ham United	A	0–2	25,529
10 March 1999	Everton	H	1–2	27,219	Ward
13 March 1999	Coventry City	A	1–1	19,701	Wilcox
20 March 1999	Wimbledon	H	3–1	21,754	Ward, Jansen (2)
3 April 1999	Middlesbrough	H	0–0	27,482
6 April 1999	Arsenal	A	0–1	37,762
17 April 1999	Southampton	A	3–3	15,209	Ward, Peacock, Wilcox
24 April 1999	Liverpool	H	1–3	29,944	Duff
1 May 1999	Charlton Athletic	A	0–0	20,041
8 May 1999	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	24,565	Gallacher
12 May 1999	Manchester United	H	0–0	30,436
16 May 1999	Newcastle United	A	1–1	36,623	Wilcox

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	2 January 1999	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	16,631	Davies, Wilcox
R4	23 January 1999	Sunderland	H	1–0	30,125	Gillespie
R5	14 February 1999	Newcastle United	A	0–0	36,295
R5R	24 February 1999	Newcastle United	H	0–1	27,483

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	28 October 1998	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–0	5,403	Sutton
R4	11 November 1998	Newcastle United	A	1–1 (won 4–2 on pens)	34,702	Sherwood
QF	2 December 1998	Leicester City	A	0–1	19,442

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers	Referee
R1 1st leg	15 September 1998	Lyon	H	0–1	13,646 (1,300 away)		Knud Erik Fisker (Denmark)
R1 2nd leg	29 September 1998	Lyon	A	2–2 (lost 2–3 on agg)	24,558 (1,001 away)	Pérez, Flitcroft	René Temmink (Netherlands)

Squad at end of season^[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Tim Flowers 2 DF  IRL Jeff Kenna 3 DF  SCO Callum Davidson 5 DF  ENG Darren Peacock 6 DF  SUI Stéphane Henchoz 7 MF  ENG Garry Flitcroft 8 FW  SCO Kevin Gallacher 9 FW  ENG Chris Sutton 10 FW  ENG Kevin Davies 11 MF  ENG Jason Wilcox (captain) 12 MF  IRL Damien Duff 13 GK  AUS John Filan 14 FW  WAL Nathan Blake 15 MF  IRL Lee Carsley 16 DF  ENG Marlon Broomes 17 MF  SCO Billy McKinlay

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  ITA Lazio ) 19 MF  NIR Damien Johnson 20 DF  ENG Gary Croft 21 MF  ENG Jimmy Corbett 22 GK  NIR Alan Fettis 23 DF  SCO Christian Dailly 24 MF  SUI Oumar Kondé 26 FW  WAL James Thomas 27 MF  ENG David Dunn 28 DF  ENG Martin Taylor 29 MF  ENG Wayne Gill 30 GK  WAL Anthony Williams 31 MF  NIR Keith Gillespie 32 FW  ENG Ashley Ward 33 FW  ENG Matt Jansen 34 MF  IRL Jason McAteer

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 MF  ENG Tim Sherwood (captain, to Tottenham Hotspur) 14 FW  SWE Martin Dahlin (retired) 15 MF  FRA Sébastien Pérez (on loan to Bastia) 18 MF  SWE Anders Andersson (to Aalborg)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  NOR Tore Pedersen (to Eintracht Frankfurt) 25 DF  IRL David Worrell (to Dundee United) — MF  ENG Luke Staton (to Bolton Wanderers) — DF  IRL Graham Coughlan (to Livingston)

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Gareth Stewart — DF  ENG Keith Brown — DF  IRL Peter Murphy

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Ryan Baldacchino — MF  ENG Ian Richards — MF  NIR Steven Hawe

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		FA Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Tim Flowers	15	0	10+1	0	0+1	0	1	0	2	0
13	GK	AUS	John Filan	32	0	26	0	4	0	2	0	0	0
22	GK	NIR	Alan Fettis	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	DF	IRL	Jeff Kenna	30	0	22+1	0	3	0	3	0	1	0
3	DF	SCO	Callum Davidson	41	1	34	1	2	0	2+1	0	1+1	0
5	DF	ENG	Darren Peacock	37	1	27+3	1	3	0	2	0	2	0
6	DF	SUI	Stéphane Henchoz	41	0	34	0	2	0	3	0	2	0
16	DF	ENG	Marlon Broomes	17	0	8+5	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
20	DF	ENG	Gary Croft	17	0	10+2	0	2+2	0	1	0	0	0
23	DF	SCO	Christian Dailly	21	0	14+3	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
24	DF	SUI	Oumar Kondé	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	ENG	Martin Taylor	4	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
Midfielders
7	MF	ENG	Garry Flitcroft	10	3	8	2	0	0	0	0	2	1
11	MF	ENG	Jason Wilcox	35	4	28+2	3	3	1	0	0	2	0
12	MF	IRL	Damien Duff	36	1	18+10	1	3+1	0	3	0	1	0
15	MF	IRL	Lee Carsley	8	0	7+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	SCO	Billy McKinlay	19	0	14+2	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
18	MF	ITA	Dario Marcolin	15	1	5+5	1	3	0	2	0	0	0
19	MF	NIR	Damien Johnson	25	1	14+7	1	0	0	3	0	0+1	0
27	MF	ENG	David Dunn	20	1	10+5	1	2+1	0	1+1	0	0	0
31	MF	NIR	Keith Gillespie	20	2	13+3	1	4	1	0	0	0	0
34	MF	IRL	Jason McAteer	13	1	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
8	FW	SCO	Kevin Gallacher	18	5	13+3	5	1	0	1	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Chris Sutton	20	4	17	3	1	0	1	1	1	0
10	FW	ENG	Kevin Davies	27	2	9+12	1	2	1	3	0	1	0
14	FW	WAL	Nathan Blake	14	3	9+2	3	1+2	0	0	0	0	0
32	FW	ENG	Ashley Ward	20	5	17	5	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
33	FW	ENG	Matt Jansen	11	3	10+1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
4	MF	ENG	Tim Sherwood	23	4	19	3	0	0	2	1	2	0
14	FW	SWE	Martin Dahlin	6	0	2+3	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
15	DF	FRA	Sébastien Pérez	8	2	4+1	1	1	0	0	0	2	1

Considering starts in all competitions^[6][7]

• GK: #13, John Filan, 32
• RB: #2, Jeff Kenna, 29
• CB: #5, Darren Peacock, 34
• CB: #6, Stéphane Henchoz, 41
• LB: #3, Callum Davidson, 39
• RM: #19, Damien Johnson, 17 (#23, Christian Dailly, has 18 starts)
• CM: #4, Tim Sherwood, 23
• CM: #11, Jason Wilcox, 33
• LM: #12, Damien Duff, 25
• CF: #9, Chris Sutton, 20
• CF: #32, Ashley Ward, 19

• Ashley Ward 5
• Kevin Gallacher 5
• Chris Sutton 4
• Jason Wilcox 4
• Tim Sherwood 4
• Nathan Blake 3

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
1 July 1998	DF	Darren Peacock	Newcastle United	Free
6 July 1998	FW	Jimmy Corbett	Gillingham	£535,00
9 July 1998	FW	Kevin Davies	Southampton	£7,250,000
21 July 1998	DF	Sébastien Pérez	SC Bastia	£3,000,000
21 August 1998	DF	Christian Dailly	Derby County	£5,300,000
26 October 1998	MF	Oumar Kondé	FC Basel	£500,000
30 October 1998	FW	Nathan Blake	Bolton Wanderers	£4,250,000
16 December 1998	MF	Keith Gillespie	Newcastle United	£2,350,000
29 December 1998	FW	Ashley Ward	Barnsley	£4,500,000
18 January 1999	FW	Matt Jansen	Crystal Palace	£4,100,000
27 January 1999	MF	Jason McAteer	Liverpool	£4,000,000
12 February 1999	DF	David McNamee	St Mirren	£300,000
12 February 1999	MF	Burton O'Brien	St Mirren	£300,000
22 March 1999	MF	Lee Carsley	Derby County	£3,400,000

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 August 1998	MF	Michael Lomax	Macclesfield Town	Free
1 August 1998	FW	Per Pedersen	Strasbourg	£900,000
4 August 1998	DF	Colin Hendry	Rangers	£4,000,000
26 October 1998	DF	Tore Pedersen	Eintracht Frankfurt	£225,000
5 January 1999	MF	Luke Staton	Bolton Wanderers	Free
4 February 1999	MF	Tim Sherwood	Tottenham Hotspur	£4,000,000
30 March 1999	DF	David Worrell	Dundee United	£50,000
31 May 1999	DF	Graham Coughlan	Livingston	Free
1 June 1999	DF	Sébastien Pérez	Marseille	£2,500,000

Transfers in: £39,250,000

Transfers out: £11,675,000

Total spending: £27,750,000