The Grail Files
The file on this jersey is still being written
This is the canonical catalog record for the manchester united 1998-99 home jersey. Its grail file, the story of the season it lived through, lands here soon.
On the record
TeamManchester United
Season1998-99
Kit typeHome
ManufacturerUmbro
SponsorSharp
02The season it lived through
Manchester United 1998-99
Highlights from the season this shirt belongs to, whichever kit was worn on the day.
League 1stChampionsChampions League Winners
Ferguson Rebuilds the Spine
Manchester United went into 1998-99 under pressure. Alex Ferguson had finished second to Arsenal's double-winning side the previous season and faced open questioning of his position from the United board. He responded by rebuilding the spine of the team, paying a world-record fee for a defender to bring in Jaap Stam from PSV Eindhoven and a club-record fee to sign Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa, pairing him with Andy Cole in an attack that would finish the season with 53 goals between them in all competitions.
Schmeichel's Farewell, Beckham's Answer
Peter Schmeichel, United's captain and last line of defense, announced in November 1998 that this would be his final season before leaving for Sporting CP. David Beckham started the campaign as a target for abuse following his red card at the 1998 World Cup, jeered by opposing fans all season, and answered it by playing some of the best football of his career, finishing runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.
Giggs's Wonder Goal Sees Off Arsenal
The league title went to the final day, United beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Old Trafford to finish one point above Arsenal, the closest of the three trophies. The FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal produced the season's signature moment outside the finals: a goalless first meeting followed by a replay at Villa Park in which Roy Keane was sent off, Dennis Bergkamp missed a late penalty, and Ryan Giggs won it in extra time with a solo run through the entire Arsenal defense from the halfway line.
Keane's Night in Turin
The European campaign turned on a two-legged semi-final against Juventus. Down 1-0 from the first leg at Old Trafford, United fell 2-0 behind in Turin before Keane scored a header to spark the comeback, driving the team to a 3-2 win and a 4-3 aggregate victory in what is remembered as one of his greatest individual performances. The booking he picked up for a foul on Zinedine Zidane in that game meant he and Paul Scholes, also booked, were suspended and missed the final.
Sheringham, Solskjaer, and the Treble
Without their two first-choice central midfielders, United trailed Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Barcelona until stoppage time, when substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored two goals in as many minutes to win it 2-1 and complete the Treble, the first English club to win the league, FA Cup, and European Cup in the same season. Ferguson was knighted later that year.
Memorable matches
- Nottingham Forest 1-8 Manchester Unitedsource
The largest away win in Premier League history at the time. Substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench and scored four goals in 12 minutes, setting a Premier League record for goals by a substitute in a single match.
- Arsenal 1-2 Manchester Unitedsource
Ryan Giggs intercepted a Patrick Vieira pass, beat five Arsenal defenders, and lashed a left-footed shot into the roof of the net in the second period of extra time to send United to Wembley. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goals and greatest matches in English football history; it was the last FA Cup semi-final to go to a replay.
- Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munichsource
Bayern Munich led 1-0 from the 6th minute through the entire match. Teddy Sheringham equalized from a corner in the 90+1st minute, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stabbed the winner into the roof of the net in the 90+3rd minute, completing United's Treble in the most dramatic fashion.
Star players
- Dwight Yorkesource
United's top scorer with 18 Premier League goals and 29 in all competitions in his first season at Old Trafford, forming a prolific partnership with Andy Cole that drove the Treble campaign.
- David Beckhamsource
Finished runner-up to Rivaldo in the 1999 Ballon d'Or. His crossing, set-piece delivery, and consistency across all three competitions made him central to United's attack throughout the season.
- Roy Keanesource
United's captain produced one of the defining individual performances in Champions League history in the semi-final second leg against Juventus, scoring and driving a comeback from 2-0 down while knowing a booking had ruled him out of the final.
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaersource
The supersub's season peaked twice: four goals in 12 minutes off the bench at Nottingham Forest in February, and the injury-time winner that sealed the Champions League final and the Treble at Camp Nou in May.
Verified against en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, premierleague.com.
03On the same rail
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