1998–99 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town
1998–99 season
ChairmanEngland Barry Rubery
ManagerEngland Peter Jackson
Division One10th
FA CupFifth round
(knocked out by Derby County)
League CupSecond round
(knocked out by Everton)
Top goalscorerLeague: Marcus Stewart (22)
All: Marcus Stewart (26)
Highest home attendance21,629 vs Derby County (13 February 1999)
Lowest home attendance3,988 vs Mansfield Town (11 August 1998)
Biggest win4–0 vs Crystal Palace (5 December 1998)
Biggest defeat1–7 vs Barnsley (27 November 1998)

Huddersfield Town's 1998–99 campaign was Town's full season with Peter Jackson at the helm. At the end of the season, Town finished a respectable 10th place, but within a day of the end of the season, owner Barry Rubery sacked Peter Jackson to the shock of just about every Huddersfield Town fan.

Squad at the start of the season

[edit]

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 England ENG Steve Francis
-- GK Belgium BEL Nico Vaesen
-- DF England ENG Sam Collins
-- DF Scotland SCO Tom Cowan
-- DF England ENG Jon Dyson
-- DF England ENG Darren Edmondson
-- DF England ENG Rob Edwards
-- DF England ENG Kevin Gray
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Thomas Heary
-- DF England ENG Sean Hessey
-- DF Wales WAL Steve Jenkins
-- DF Scotland SCO Andy Morrison
-- MF England ENG Simon Baldry
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF England ENG David Beresford
-- MF Wales WAL Marcus Browning
-- MF England ENG Paul Dalton
-- MF Wales WAL Barry Horne
-- MF Scotland SCO Grant Johnson
-- MF Wales WAL David Phillips
-- MF England ENG Lee Richardson
-- MF England ENG Ben Thornley
-- FW England ENG Wayne Allison
-- FW England ENG Paul Barnes
-- FW Grenada GRN Delroy Facey
-- FW England ENG Ian Lawson
-- FW England ENG Marcus Stewart

Review

[edit]

Among the summer transfers brought in by manager Peter Jackson was Belgian goalkeeper Nico Vaesen, who was sent off on his debut after just 9 minutes against Bury, but after that made some exceptional performances in the Town net, which helped Town reach top spot in September and October. During that time, Town played Sunderland, which at the time saw a record 20,241 at a match at the McAlpine Stadium. (That would be eclipsed by the 21,629 that saw Town play Derby County in the FA Cup 5th round in February.)

Jackson recruited winger Ben Thornley (a popular loan signing under Horton) from Manchester United and in September, they beat Tranmere Rovers to top the early Division 1 table, thanks chiefly to the goalscoring prowess of Stewart and Allison.

Even though Town were top of the table, their away form was very mediocre at best. This was probably proven by their 7–1 loss to Barnsley in November (They were 6–0 down at half-time and to make matters worse the game was shown on Sky Sports!) Town did however have a good run in the FA Cup which culminated in a 5th-round match against Premier League side Derby County. They eventually lost 3–1 in the replay at Pride Park.

The team attracted the attention of local businessman Barry Rubery and, after protracted takeover talks, he took over the running of the club promising significant investment as the club sought Premiership status. The takeover rumours had a negative effect on the side and they fell away from the promotion race despite Jackson investing in the likes of Craig Armstrong and Jamie Vincent. A play-off place eventually faded following a horrible end to the season, which saw them win only one of their last 11 matches, although that was a 3–2 win against local rivals Bradford City at Valley Parade.

Jackson was hoping to mount a promotion challenge the following season, but he was suddenly sacked after the end of the season and replaced by former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce, whose first season in management with Sheffield United had brought little success. Jackson declined the role of academy director.

Squad at the end of the season

[edit]

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 England ENG Phil Senior
-- GK Belgium BEL Nico Vaesen
-- DF England ENG Sam Collins
-- DF England ENG Jon Dyson
-- DF England ENG Darren Edmondson
-- DF England ENG Rob Edwards
-- DF England ENG Kevin Gray
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Thomas Heary
-- DF Wales WAL Steve Jenkins
-- DF England ENG Jamie Vincent
-- MF England ENG Craig Armstrong
-- MF England ENG Simon Baldry
-- MF England ENG Chris Beech
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF England ENG David Beresford
-- MF England ENG Paul Dalton
-- MF Wales WAL Barry Horne
-- MF Scotland SCO Grant Johnson
-- MF Republic of Ireland IRL Dwayne Mattis
-- MF England ENG Lee Richardson
-- MF England ENG Ben Thornley
-- FW England ENG Wayne Allison
-- FW Grenada GRN Delroy Facey
-- FW England ENG Ian Lawson
-- FW England ENG Danny Schofield
-- FW England ENG Marcus Stewart

Results

[edit]
Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
8 August 1998 Bury A 0 - 1 7,659 21st
15 August 1998 Port Vale H 2 - 1 Dalton [40], Stewart [60] 9,930 11th
22 August 1998 Grimsby Town A 0 - 1 6,974 14th
29 August 1998 Portsmouth H 3 - 3 Stewart [45, 84], Allison [89] 10,085 13th
31 August 1998 Bristol City A 2 - 1 Horne [48], Stewart [52] 11,801 10th
5 September 1998 Sheffield United H 1 - 0 Allison [88] 12,192 6th
8 September 1998 Watford H 2 - 0 Stewart [21], Allison [41] 9,811 5th
11 September 1998 Tranmere Rovers A 3 - 2 Stewart [21], Allison [45, 69] 5,770 1st
19 September 1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2 - 1 Dalton [19], Thornley [90] 13,854 1st
26 September 1998 Bolton Wanderers A 0 - 3 20,971 2nd
29 September 1998 Stockport County A 1 - 1 Allison [40] 8,023 2nd
3 October 1998 Oxford United H 2 - 0 Dalton [24], Stewart [33] 10,968 1st
9 October 1998 Swindon Town A 0 - 3 8,316 1st
17 October 1998 Queens Park Rangers H 2 - 0 Edwards [12], Thornley [48] 11,276 1st
21 October 1998 Sunderland H 1 - 1 Stewart [28] 20,241 1st
24 October 1998 Norwich City A 1 - 4 Beresford [59] 15,403 2nd
31 October 1998 Birmingham City A 1 - 1 Stewart [61] 14,468 3rd
7 November 1998 Ipswich Town H 2 - 2 Edwards [65], Allison [74] 14,240 5th
14 November 1998 West Bromwich Albion A 1 - 3 Beresford [6] 13,626 9th
21 November 1998 Bradford City H 2 - 1 Barnes [70], Johnson [72] 18,173 6th
27 November 1998 Barnsley A 1 - 7 Facey [74] 16,648 7th
5 December 1998 Crystal Palace H 4 - 0 Stewart [15, 24, 81], Facey [90] 10,453 6th
12 December 1998 West Bromwich Albion H 0 - 3 11,947 8th
19 December 1998 Crewe Alexandra A 2 - 1 Stewart [13, 48] 5,102 8th
26 December 1998 Grimsby Town H 2 - 0 Stewart [53], Beech [65] 16,186 6th
28 December 1998 Sheffield United A 1 - 2 Stewart [67 (pen)] 17,359 7th
9 January 1999 Bury H 2 - 2 Allison [32], Johnson [83] 10,788 8th
16 January 1999 Portsmouth A 0 - 1 10,334 10th
30 January 1999 Bristol City H 2 - 2 Phillips [3], Johnson [59] 13,934 10th
6 February 1999 Port Vale A 0 - 2 6,499 11th
16 February 1999 Watford A 1 - 1 Beech [71] 10,303 11th
20 February 1999 Tranmere Rovers H 0 - 0 11,411 12th
27 February 1999 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 2 - 2 Gray [59], Hamilton [90] 21,778 12th
2 March 1999 Bolton Wanderers H 3 - 2 Stewart [36], Johnson [41], Armstrong [46] 13,867 8th
6 March 1999 Stockport County H 3 - 0 Stewart [64 (pen), 68], Jenkins [72] 11,914 8th
9 March 1999 Oxford United A 2 - 2 Thornley [29], Stewart [86 (pen)] 6,034 7th
13 March 1999 Ipswich Town A 0 - 3 17,170 10th
20 March 1999 Birmingham City H 1 - 1 Facey [55] 14,667 9th
24 March 1999 Norwich City H 1 - 1 Hughes [83 (og)] 9,717 8th
3 April 1999 Queens Park Rangers A 1 - 1 Lawson [79] 11,113 9th
5 April 1999 Swindon Town H 1 - 2 Lawson [80] 11,719 9th
10 April 1999 Sunderland A 0 - 2 41,074 10th
17 April 1999 Bradford City A 3 - 2 Stewart [22], Allison [24], Thornley [36] 15,124 9th
24 April 1999 Barnsley H 0 - 1 15,353 10th
1 May 1999 Crystal Palace A 2 - 2 Dyson [33], Stewart [40 (pen)] 17,282 10th
9 May 1999 Crewe Alexandra H 0 - 0 15,105 10th
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
2 January 1999 Round 3 Queens Park Rangers A 1 - 0 Allison [42] 11,685
23 January 1999 Round 4 Wrexham A 1 - 1 Allison [22] 8,714
3 February 1999 Round 4 replay Wrexham H 2 - 1 Stewart [20], Thornley [28] 15,427
13 February 1999 Round 5 Derby County H 2 - 2 Beech [42], Stewart [71] 21,629
24 February 1999 Round 5 replay Derby County A 1 - 3 Beech [15] 28,704
Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
11 August 1998 Round 1 1st Leg Mansfield Town H 3 - 2 Johnson [18], Allison [74], Dalton [81 (pen)] 3,988
18 August 1998 Round 1 2nd Leg Mansfield Town A 1 - 1 Stewart [28] 2,936
  • Huddersfield won 4–3 on aggregate
15 September 1998 Round 2 1st Leg Everton H 1 - 1 Allison [45] 15,395
23 September 1998 Round 2 2nd Leg Everton A 1 - 2 Stewart [1] 18,718
  • Huddersfield lost 3–2 on aggregate

Appearances and goals

[edit]
Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals League Cup Apps League Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Wayne Allison  England FW 44 9 4 2 3 2 51 13
Craig Armstrong  England MF 13 1 0 0 0 0 13 1
Simon Baldry  England MF 8 (5) 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 9 (6) 0
Paul Barnes  England FW 2 (13) 1 1 (1) 0 0 (3) 0 3 (17) 1
Chris Beech  England MF 13 (4) 2 2 2 0 0 15 (4) 4
David Beresford  England MF 13 (6) 2 1 (1) 0 0 (2) 0 14 (9) 2
Marcus Browning  Wales MF 2 (4) 0 0 0 1 (2) 0 3 (6) 0
Sam Collins  England DF 22 (1) 0 3 0 4 0 29 (1) 0
Tom Cowan  Scotland DF 5 0 2 0 0 0 7 0
Paul Dalton  England MF 7 (2) 3 0 0 3 (1) 1 10 (3) 4
Jon Dyson  England DF 10 (4) 1 2 0 0 0 12 (4) 1
Darren Edmondson  England DF 1 (2) 0 2 (1) 0 0 0 3 (3) 0
Rob Edwards  England MF 45 2 5 0 4 0 54 2
Delroy Facey  Grenada FW 5 (15) 3 0 (2) 0 0 0 5 (17) 3
Steve Francis  England GK 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Kevin Gray  England DF 28 (6) 1 5 0 2 (1) 0 35 (7) 1
Des Hamilton  England MF 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
Thomas Heary  Republic of Ireland DF 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Sean Hessey  England DF 7 (3) 0 1 0 0 0 8 (3) 0
Barry Horne  Wales MF 20 1 0 0 4 0 24 1
Mark Jackson  England DF 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Steve Jenkins  Wales DF 36 1 3 0 4 0 43 1
Grant Johnson  Scotland MF 36 4 5 0 4 1 45 5
Ian Lawson  England FW 2 (4) 2 0 0 0 0 2 (4) 2
Dwayne Mattis  Republic of Ireland MF 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (2) 0
Andy Morrison  Scotland DF 12 0 0 0 3 0 15 0
David Phillips  Wales MF 15 (8) 1 5 0 0 0 20 (8) 1
Lee Richardson  England MF 13 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 13 (2) 0
Danny Schofield  England MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Marcus Stewart  England FW 43 22 5 2 4 2 52 26
Ben Thornley  England MF 32 (3) 4 3 1 4 0 39 (3) 5
Nico Vaesen  Belgium GK 43 0 5 0 4 0 52 0
Jamie Vincent  England DF 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0