1998–99 Manchester City F.C. season

Manchester City F.C.
1998-99 season
Manager Joe Royle
Second Division 3rd
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Second round
Play-offs Winners
Top goalscorer League: Shaun Goater (17)
All: Shaun Goater (20)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Manchester City were able to make an immediate return to Division One, thanks to a play-off final victory over Gillingham in a penalty shootout, having drawn level from 2-0 down with 89 minutes of normal time played. The dramatic victory ensured that City's first season in English football's third tier ended in promotion, bringing some success to the club after two relegations in three seasons.

Team kit

The team kit was produced by Kappa and the shirt sponsor was Brother.

While the home shirt for the season was nothing to write home about - a thankfully-plain if unusually dark-shaded blue shirt with little adornment after the extravagance of 1990's kit design other than simple Kappa logos lining the shoulders and the side of the shorts, the away kit would take on a special significance to Manchester City fans. While the luminous yellow and navy blue stripes were peculiar, with the yellow in particular somewhat garish and never having even been worn before by City, the shirt took on a whole new meaning when it was worn for the 1999 Football League Second Division play-off Final. Although this game technically marked the lowest ever league finish in Manchester City's history, instead the incredible circumstances by which City were able to win - having conceded the first two goals of the game in the last ten minutes of normal time, before getting two goals of their own in injury time, and then winning a penalty shoot-out - in fact mark this game as one of the proudest moments of the club's history, with many fans describing the victory as feeling as good as winning a top division title, and probably being more important to the club's long-term future. The kit instantly went from being an average if slightly unusual shirt to being one of the most iconic symbols of the club's history. There have been frequent if uncoordinated calls for the shirt to be brought back as an away kit in a future season, though as yet the design has largely been forgotten by the club's successive kit manufacturers.

Home
Away

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Second Division

Matches

Playoff semi-finals

DOR

Playoff final

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