# 1998–99 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1998–99 season was Kilmarnock's first season in the newly formed Scottish Premier League. They also competed in the Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and UEFA Cup.

## Summary
### Season

Kilmarnock finished fourth in the Scottish Premier League with 56 points. They reached the fourth round of the League Cup, losing to Airdrieonians. Kilmarnock also reached the third round of the Scottish Cup, losing to rivals Ayr United and lost in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup to Sigma Olomouc.

## Results and fixtures

Kilmarnock's score comes first
Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Friendlies

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| Ray Montgomerie Testimonial | 18 July 1998 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 6,860 | Wright 19' |

### Scottish Premier League

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 1 August 1998 | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | 8,208 | Wright 32', Nevin 72' |
| 2 | 15 August 1998 | St Johnstone | A | 0–0 | 6,210 | |
| 3 | 22 August 1998 | Rangers | H | 1–3 | 17,608 | Wright 52' |
| 4 | 30 August 1998 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–0 | 10,376 | McCoist 8', 61', 86' |
| 5 | 12 September 1998 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 58,361 | Vareille 50' |
| 6 | 19 September 1998 | Motherwell | A | 0–0 | 6,821 | |
| 7 | 23 September 1998 | Dundee | H | 2–1 | 7,069 | McCoist 21', McGowne 89' |
| 8 | 27 September 1998 | Aberdeen | A | 1–0 | 13,048 | Wright 14' |
| 9 | 3 October 1998 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 0–0 | 8,346 | |
| 10 | 17 October 1998 | Dundee United | A | 2–0 | 8,317 | McGowne 12', Vareille 80' |
| 11 | 24 October 1998 | St Johnstone | H | 2–2 | 9,336 | Roberts 78', Kernaghan 83' (o.g.) |
| 12 | 31 October 1998 | Celtic | H | 2–0 | 16,695 | Roberts 55', Mitchell 70' |
| 13 | 7 November 1998 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–2 | 14,363 | Wright 87' |
| 14 | 14 November 1998 | Dundee | A | 1–1 | 4,249 | Vareille 45' |
| 15 | 21 November 1998 | Motherwell | H | 0–0 | 10,176 | |
| 16 | 28 November 1998 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 3–0 | 5,608 | Durrant 32', 56', Holt 77' |
| 17 | 5 December 1998 | Aberdeen | H | 4–0 | 9,875 | Mitchell 6', 34', Vareille 38', Wright 66' |
| 18 | 12 December 1998 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 49,781 | |
| 19 | 20 December 1998 | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | 13,585 | Wright 30', Durrant 87' |
| 20 | 26 December 1998 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–0 | 10,668 | Holt 27' |
| 21 | 1 January 1999 | Motherwell | A | 2–1 | 8,532 | McCoist 15', McGowne 86' |
| 22 | 30 January 1999 | Dundee | H | 0–0 | 7,677 | |
| 23 | 6 February 1999 | Aberdeen | A | 1–2 | 9,299 | Mahood 66' |
| 24 | 17 February 1999 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 59,126 | |
| 25 | 28 February 1999 | Rangers | H | 0–5 | 16,242 | |
| 26 | 6 March 1999 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 0–0 | 8,032 | |
| 27 | 13 March 1999 | St Johnstone | A | 1–0 | 5,461 | Holt 18' |
| 28 | 21 March 1999 | Celtic | H | 0–0 | 14,472 | |
| 29 | 3 April 1999 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 2–2 | 14,689 | Henry 73', McCoist 77' |
| 30 | 10 April 1999 | Aberdeen | H | 4–2 | 9,048 | Mahood 9', MacPherson 19', McCutcheon 86', 90' |
| 31 | 17 April 1999 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 6–0 | 5,617 | Henry 26', 75', Mitchell 56', Durrant 58', Vareille 68', McCoist 90' |
| 32 | 24 April 1999 | Dundee | A | 1–2 | 4,296 | Innes 53' |
| 33 | 1 May 1999 | Motherwell | H | 0–1 | 8,867 | |
| 34 | 8 May 1999 | Dundee United | A | 0–0 | 7,190 | |
| 35 | 15 May 1999 | St Johnstone | H | 1–1 | 15,086 | Roberts 8' |
| 36 | 23 May 1999 | Rangers | A | 1–1 | 48,886 | McGowne 41' |

### Scottish League Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| Third Round | 18 August 1998 | Livingston | H | 3–1 | 6,565 | Wright 25, 116', McCoist 92' |
| Quarter-final | 8 September 1998 | Airdrieonians | H | 0–1 | 7,900 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| Third Round | 23 January 1999 | Ayr United | A | 0–3 | 10,153 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| First Qualifying Round 1st leg | 22 July 1998 | Željezničar | A | 1–1 | 15,000 | McGowne 55' |
| First Qualifying Round 2nd leg | 29 July 1998 | Željezničar | H | 1–0 | 14,512 | Mahood 31' |
| Second Qualifying Round 1st leg | 11 August 1998 | Sigma Olomouc | A | 0–2 | 4,000 | |
| Second Qualifying Round 2nd leg | 25 August 1998 | Sigma Olomouc | H | 0–2 | 11,140 | |

## Squad statistics

    As of 23 May 1999 (UTC)
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | League Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Gordon Marshall | 43 | 0 | 36+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Gus McPherson | 38 | 1 | 31+0 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | MLT | Dylan Kerr | 19 | 0 | 16+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Ray Montgomerie | 32 | 2 | 27+0 | 2 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Kevin McGowne | 39 | 5 | 32+0 | 4 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | SCO | John Henry | 11 | 3 | 7+4 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Pat Nevin | 5 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Mark Reilly | 19 | 0 | 17+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Gary Holt | 40 | 3 | 33+0 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | SCO | Paul Wright | 39 | 8 | 25+8 | 6 | 2+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | SCO | Ian Durrant | 43 | 4 | 36+0 | 4 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SCO | Ally Mitchell | 39 | 4 | 27+6 | 4 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | SCO | Colin Meldrum | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | SCO | Ally McCoist | 29 | 8 | 16+10 | 7 | 1+1 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Alan Mahood | 35 | 3 | 16+12 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 15 | FW | FRA | Jérôme Vareille | 27 | 5 | 20+3 | 5 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | SCO | Martin Baker | 27 | 0 | 23+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | SCO | Steven Hamilton | 5 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | SCO | Martin O'Neill | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | SCO | Mark Roberts | 27 | 3 | 9+13 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | SCO | Alan Kerr | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | SCO | Chris Innes | 4 | 1 | 4+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | SCO | Jim Lauchlan | 19 | 0 | 14+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | SCO | David Bagan | 5 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | SCO | Garry Hay | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | SCO | Alex Burke | 21 | 0 | 2+15 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | SCO | Rod Lennox | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | SCO | Gary McCutcheon | 13 | 2 | 2+10 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | SCO | Stuart Davidson | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | SCO | Adam Strain | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 84 | 35 | +49 | 71 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | St Johnstone | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 57 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Kilmarnock | 36 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 47 | 29 | +18 | 56 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Dundee | 36 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 46 | |
| 6 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 42 | |
* ↑ Since Rangers, the winners of the 1998–99 Scottish Cup, already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Celtic, the losing finalist, earned a spot in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. As such, the league's UEFA Cup place moved down to third-placed St Johnstone. Scotland were also awarded an additional UEFA Cup place as the association was top of the UEFA Fair Play ranking. Kilmarnock earned this place as winners of the Scottish Fair Play ranking.

### Division summary

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | L | W | D | D | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | L | L | L | D | W | D | D | W | W | L | L | D | D | D |
| Position | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |