1998–99 FA Cup


The 1998–99 FA Cup was the 118th season of the FA Cup. It was won by Manchester United, who beat Newcastle United 2–0 in the final at the old Wembley Stadium. The goals were scored by Teddy Sheringham after 11 minutes, less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute for Roy Keane, and Paul Scholes on 53 minutes. It was the second leg of a historic treble for Manchester United; having already won the Premier League title the previous weekend, they went on to win the Champions League the following Wednesday.

Calendar

First round

The First Round featured those non-league teams who had come through the qualifying rounds and the teams from the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system. The matches were played on 14 November 1998. There were ten replays, with three ties requiring a penalty shoot-out to settle.

Second round

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were scheduled to be played on 5 December 1998, with eight replays and two penalty shoot-outs required, each of which featured a team who won on penalties in the previous round.

Third round

The third round of the season's FA Cup was scheduled for 2 January 1999. This round marked the point at which the teams in the two highest divisions in the English league system, the Premier League and the Football League First Division. There were six replays, with none of these games requiring a penalty shoot-out.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Bournemouth1–0West Bromwich Albion2 January 1999
2Bristol City0–2Everton2 January 1999
3Bury0–3Stockport County2 January 1999
4Preston North End2–4Arsenal4 January 1999
5Southampton1–1Fulham2 January 1999
ReplayFulham1–0Southampton13 January 1999
6Leicester City4–2Birmingham City2 January 1999
7Nottingham Forest0–1Portsmouth2 January 1999
8Blackburn Rovers2–0Charlton Athletic2 January 1999
9Aston Villa3–0Hull City2 January 1999
10Sheffield Wednesday4–1Norwich City3 January 1999
11Bolton Wanderers1–2Wolverhampton Wanderers2 January 1999
12Crewe Alexandra1–3Oxford United2 January 1999
13Lincoln City0–1Sunderland2 January 1999
14Swindon Town0–0Barnsley2 January 1999
ReplayBarnsley3–1Swindon Town19 January 1999
15Wrexham4–3Scunthorpe United2 January 1999
16Sheffield United1–1Notts County2 January 1999
ReplayNotts County3–4Sheffield United23 January 1999
17Tranmere Rovers0–1Ipswich Town2 January 1999
18Newcastle United2–1Crystal Palace2 January 1999
19Tottenham Hotspur5–2Watford2 January 1999
20Queens Park Rangers0–1Huddersfield Town2 January 1999
21Coventry City7–0Macclesfield Town2 January 1999
22West Ham United1–1Swansea City2 January 1999
ReplaySwansea City1–0West Ham United13 January 1999
23Manchester United3–1Middlesbrough3 January 1999
24Plymouth Argyle0–3Derby County2 January 1999
25Bradford City2–1Grimsby Town2 January 1999
26Oldham Athletic0–2Chelsea2 January 1999
27Wimbledon1–0Manchester City2 January 1999
28Cardiff City1–1Yeovil Town2 January 1999
ReplayYeovil Town1–2Cardiff City12 January 1999
29Port Vale0–3Liverpool3 January 1999
30Southport0–2Leyton Orient2 January 1999
31Rotherham United0–1Bristol Rovers2 January 1999
32Rushden & Diamonds0–0Leeds United2 January 1999
ReplayLeeds United3–1Rushden & Diamonds13 January 1999

Fourth round

The Fourth Round ties were played with the thirty-two winners of the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for 23 January 1999. There were three replays.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Leicester City0–3Coventry City23 January 1999
2Blackburn Rovers1–0Sunderland23 January 1999
3Aston Villa0–2Fulham23 January 1999
4Sheffield Wednesday2–0Stockport County23 January 1999
5Wolverhampton Wanderers1–2Arsenal24 January 1999
6Everton1–0Ipswich Town23 January 1999
7Wrexham1–1Huddersfield Town23 January 1999
ReplayHuddersfield Town2–1Wrexham3 February 1999
8Sheffield United4–1Cardiff City27 January 1999
9Newcastle United3–0Bradford City23 January 1999
10Barnsley3–1Bournemouth23 January 1999
11Bristol Rovers3–0Leyton Orient23 January 1999
12Portsmouth1–5Leeds United23 January 1999
13Manchester United2–1Liverpool24 January 1999
14Wimbledon1–1Tottenham Hotspur23 January 1999
ReplayTottenham Hotspur3–0Wimbledon2 February 1999
15Oxford United1–1Chelsea25 January 1999
ReplayChelsea4–2Oxford United3 February 1999
16Swansea City0–1Derby County23 January 1999

Fifth Round

The Fifth Round matches were scheduled for 13 February 1999. There were three replays, and one game replayed, Arsenal had beaten Sheffield United in the original tie. However, both sides felt that Arsenal's winning goal had been gained unfairly. Arsenal's boss Arsene Wenger wrote himself into FA Cup folklore with an act of sportsmanship that saw him offer to play the game again after Marc Overmars scored following Nwankwo Kanu's failure to return the ball to the Blades following an injury.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Sheffield Wednesday0–1Chelsea13 February 1999
2Everton2–1Coventry City13 February 1999
3Newcastle United0–0Blackburn Rovers14 February 1999
ReplayBlackburn Rovers0–1Newcastle United24 February 1999
4Barnsley4–1Bristol Rovers13 February 1999
5Manchester United1–0Fulham14 February 1999
6Huddersfield Town2–2Derby County13 February 1999
ReplayDerby County3–1Huddersfield Town24 February 1999
7Arsenal2–1Sheffield United13 February 1999
RematchArsenal2–1Sheffield United23 February 1999
8Leeds United1–1Tottenham Hotspur13 February 1999
ReplayTottenham Hotspur2–0Leeds United24 February 1999

Sixth Round Proper

The four quarter-final games were scheduled for 6 March 1999, although only the match between Arsenal and Derby County was played on this date. One of the ties, Manchester United–Chelsea, resulted in a draw and went to a replay, which United won.
Barnsley, who lost 1–0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur, were the last team left in the competition from outside the Premier League.
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Replay
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Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 11 April 1999. The original match between Manchester United and Arsenal finished as a goalless draw, as Roy Keane's goal for Manchester United was ruled out for offside, and the tie went to a replay; it was to be the last replay of a drawn semi-final, with all future ties decided by extra time and penalties.
In the replay, David Beckham opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 17th minute with a strike from 30 yards. Dennis Bergkamp equalised via a deflected shot from the same distance midway through the second half, before Arsenal had a second goal disallowed for offside against Nicolas Anelka. In the immediate aftermath, Keane was sent off for a foul on Overmars that earned him a second yellow card. In the final minutes of normal time, Phil Neville conceded a penalty with a foul on Ray Parlour, only for Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel to correctly guess which way Bergkamp would shoot and save the kick. In extra time, Ryan Giggs intercepted a wayward pass from Patrick Viera just inside the Manchester United half, before dribbling past Vieira, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown and Tony Adams, and beating Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman with a left-footed strike into the roof of the net. It was hailed almost immediately as one of the greatest goals ever scored in the history of the competition.
The other semi-final between Newcastle and Tottenham was goalless after 90 minutes, but two extra-time goals from Newcastle's Alan Shearer put the Magpies into their second consecutive FA Cup final and ended Spurs' hopes of adding to the League Cup title they had earned earlier in the season.

Replay

Final

The Final took place on 22 May 1999 and was played at the old Wembley Stadium, between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Manchester United had finished as champions and Newcastle 13th in the Premier League that season. The final was a slightly one-sided affair, Manchester United claiming a record 10th success with a 2–0 win. Goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes were scored in the 11th and 53rd minutes respectively. It was the buildup to Manchester United's Treble. Manchester United also became the first team to win the double three times.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free-to-air broadcasters for the second consecutive season, while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the 11th consecutive season.
The matches shown live on ITV Sport were: Port Vale v Liverpool ; Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal ; Manchester United v Fulham ; Newcastle United v Everton ; Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur ; and Manchester United 2–0 Newcastle United.