# 1998–99 West Ham United F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, West Ham United F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

## Season summary

In the 1998–99 season, the Hammers finished fifth in the Premier League, their second-best placing ever in the top-flight, securing UEFA Cup qualification to mark a return to European competitions after 19 years away.
New additions to the side for the season were goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, defender Neil Ruddock, Marc Keller and Arsenal goalscoring legend Ian Wright, while mid-season arrivals came in the shape of midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé, defender Scott Minto and striker Paolo Di Canio. During the course of the season, several key players left the club, including veteran defender Tim Breacker, unsettled striker John Hartson and winger Andy Impey. April saw the retirement of defender Richard Hall, who had struggled with injuries since his arrival from Southampton in July 1996.
The season also saw the emergence of highly promising midfielder Joe Cole, who played his first eight league games and made a further appearance in the FA Cup.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Chelsea | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 75 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Leeds United | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 62 | 34 | +28 | 67 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | West Ham United | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 57 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 55 | |
| 7 | Liverpool | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 49 | +19 | 54 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: 1998-99 FA Premier League table

## Results

West Ham United's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 2 January 1999 | Swansea City | H | 1–1 | 26,039 | Dicks |
| R3R | 13 January 1999 | Swansea City | A | 0–1 | 10,116 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 15 September 1998 | Northampton Town | A | 0–2 | 7,254 | |
| R2 2nd Leg | 22 September 1998 | Northampton Town | H | 1–0 (1–2 on agg) | 25,435 | Lampard |

## Squad

| No. | Player | Position | Lge apps | Lge Gls | FAC apps | FAC Gls | LC apps | LC Gls | Date signed | Previous club |
| West Ham United XI 1998–1999 ||||||||||||
| 12 | Shaka Hislop (Hammer of the Year) | GK | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | July 1998 | Newcastle United |
| 15 | Rio Ferdinand | CB | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | November 1995 | Academy |
| 19 | Ian Pearce | CB | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | September 1997 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 6 | Neil Ruddock | CB | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | July 1998 | Liverpool |
| 8 | Trevor Sinclair | RM | 36 | 7 | 2 | | 2 | | January 1998 | Queens Park Rangers |
| 11 | Steve Lomas (captain) | CM | 30 | | 2 | | | | March 1997 | Manchester City |
| 18 | Frank Lampard | CM | 38 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | July 1995 | Academy |
| 7 | Marc Keller | LM | 17+4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | July 1998 | Karlsruher SC |
| 29 | Eyal Berkovic | AM | 28+2 | 3 | 1+1 | | 1 | | June 1997 | Southampton |
| 10 | John Hartson | CF | 16+1 | 4 | 2 | | 1 | | February 1997 | Arsenal |
| 14 | Ian Wright | CF | 20+2 | 9 | 1 | | 2 | | August 1998 | Arsenal |
| Important players ||||||||||||
| 10 | Paolo Di Canio | CF | 12+1 | 4 | | | | | January 1999 | Sheffield Wednesday |
| 20 | Scott Minto | LWB | 14+1 | | | | | | January 1999 | Benfica |
| 9 | Paul Kitson | CF | 13+4 | 3 | | | | | February 1997 | Newcastle United |
| 13 | Marc-Vivien Foé | CM | 13 | | | | | | January 1999 | Lens |
| 4 | Steve Potts | CB | 11+8 | | 1 | | 2 | | May 1984 | Academy |
| 17 | Stan Lazaridis | LWB | 11+4 | | 2 | | 1 | | September 1995 | West Adelaide |
| 3 | Julian Dicks | D | 9 | | 2 | | 1 | 1 | October 1994 | Liverpool |
| 16 | John Moncur | CM | 6+8 | | | | 1 | | June 1994 | Swindon Town |
| Other players ||||||||||||
| 20 | Andy Impey | RWB | 6+2 | | | | 1 | | September 1997 | Queens Park Rangers |
| 30 | Javier Margas | CB | 3 | | | | | | July 1998 | Universidad Católica |
| 26 | Joe Cole | M | 2+6 | | 0+1 | | | | July 1997 | Academy |
| 2 | Tim Breacker | RB | 2+1 | | 1 | | 0+1 | | October 1990 | Luton Town |
| 24 | Samassi Abou | CF | 2+1 | | 0+1 | | 1 | | October 1997 | Cannes |
| 22 | Craig Forrest | GK | 1+1 | | | | | | July 1995 | Ipswich Town |
| 27 | Emmanuel Omoyinmi | F | 0+3 | | 1+1 | | 0+1 | | May 1995 | Academy |
| 28 | Chris Coyne | CB | 0+1 | | | | | | January 1996 | Perth SC |
| 25 | Lee Hodges | M | 0+1 | | | | | | March 1995 | Academy |
| 40 | Gavin Holligan | F | 0+1 | | | | | | January 1999 | Kingstonian |
| 5 | Richard Hall | CB | | | 0+1 | | | | July 1996 | Southampton |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 13 July 1998 | FW | Ian Wright | Arsenal | £500,000 |
| 30 July 1998 | DF | Neil Ruddock | Liverpool | £100,000 |
| 30 July 1998 | DF | Javier Margas | Universidad Católica | £1,800,000 |
| 25 November 1998 | FW | Gavin Holligan | Kingstonian | £100,000 |
| 14 January 1999 | DF | Scott Minto | Benfica | £1,000,000 |
| 27 January 1999 | FW | Paolo Di Canio | Sheffield Wednesday | £1,750,000 |
| 27 January 1999 | MF | Marc-Vivien Foé | Lens | £4,000,000 |
| 9 February 1999 | MF | Jimmy Bullard | Ebbsfleet United | £30,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 August 1998 | DF | Lee Goodwin | Dagenham & Redbridge | Free transfer |
| 24 November 1998 | MF | Andy Impey | Leicester City | £1,600,000 |
| 25 December 1998 | GK | Luděk Mikloško | Queens Park Rangers | Nominal |
| 14 January 1999 | FW | John Hartson | Wimbledon | £7,500,000 |
| 10 February 1999 | DF | Tim Breacker | Queens Park Rangers | Free transfer |
| 12 March 1999 | DF | David Partridge | Dundee United | £40,000 |
| 24 May 1999 | MF | Joe Keith | Colchester United | Free transfer |
    Transfers in: £9,280,000
    Transfers out: £9,140,000
    Total spending: £140,000