# 1898–99 Manchester City F.C. season

The 1898–99 season was Manchester City F.C.'s eighth season of league football and seventh season in the Football League. The season saw their first title as they won the Football League Second Division, earning promotion to the First Division.

## Football League Second Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Manchester City (C, P) | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 92 | 35 | 2.629 | 52 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Glossop North End (P) | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 76 | 38 | 2.000 | 46 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Leicester Fosse | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 64 | 42 | 1.524 | 45 | |
| 4 | Newton Heath | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 67 | 43 | 1.558 | 43 | |
| 5 | New Brighton Tower | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 71 | 52 | 1.365 | 43 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 92 | 35 | 2.629 | 52 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 64 | 10 | 31 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 25 | 21 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Reports

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 3 September 1898 | Grimsby Town | H | Hyde Road | 7 – 2 | Meredith (3), Gillespie (3), Whitehead | 10,000 |
| 10 September 1898 | Newton Heath | A | Bank Street | 0 – 3 | | 15,000 |
| 17 September 1898 | New Brighton Tower | H | Hyde Road | 1 – 1 | Cowie | 6,000 |
| 24 September 1898 | Lincoln City | A | Sincil Bank | 1 – 3 | Whitehead | 3,000 |
| 1 October 1898 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 1 | Read, S. Smith, Dougal | 6,000 |
| 8 October 1898 | Luton Town | A | Dunstable Road | 3 – 0 | Meredith, S. Smith, Cowie | 10,000 |
| 15 October 1898 | Leicester Fosse | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 1 | Meredith, S. Smith, Gillespie | 8,000 |
| 22 October 1898 | Darwen | A | Barley Bank | 2 – 0 | Meredith, S. Smith | 7,000 |
| 5 November 1898 | Barnsley | A | Oakwell | 1 – 1 | Cowie | 4,000 |
| 12 November 1898 | Glossop North End | A | North Road | 2 – 1 | Meredith, Gillespie | 6,000 |
| 19 November 1898 | Walsall | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 0 | Jones, Gillespie | 10,000 |
| 26 November 1898 | Burton Swifts | A | Peel Croft | 3 – 3 | Meredith, Moffatt, Gillespie | 5,000 |
| 3 December 1898 | Burslem Port Vale | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 1 | Meredith (2), Dougal | 10,000 |
| 10 December 1898 | Loughborough | A | Athletic Ground | 3 – 1 | Bill Smith, Meredith, F. Williams | 10,000 |
| 17 December 1898 | Loughborough | H | Hyde Road | 5 – 0 | Meredith (3), Ray, S. Smith | 4,000 |
| 24 December 1898 | Blackpool | A | Athletic Grounds | 4 – 2 | Moffatt (2), Meredith, Gillespie | 8,000 |
| 26 December 1898 | Newton Heath | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 0 | Meredith, Gillespie, Dougal, F. Williams | 20,000 |
| 27 December 1898 | Small Heath | A | Muntz Street | 1 – 4 | Dougal | 10,000 |
| 31 December 1898 | Grimsby Town | A | Abbey Park | Abandoned 0 – 0 | | 300 |
| 2 January 1899 | Glossop North End | H | Tower Athletic Grounds | 0 – 2 | | 7,000 |
| 14 January 1899 | New Brighton Tower | A | Hyde Road | 1 – 0 | Gillespie | 10,000 |
| 4 February 1899 | Luton Town | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 0 | S. Smith, Gillespie | 8,000 |
| 11 February 1899 | Leicester Fosse | A | Filbert Street | 1 – 1 | F. Williams | 10,000 |
| 18 February 1899 | Darwen | H | Hyde Road | 10 – 0 | F. Williams (5), Meredith (3), Dougal, S. Smith | 8,000 |
| 22 February 1899 | Lincoln City | H | Hyde Road | 3 – 1 | S. Smith, Gillespie, F. Williams | 5,000 |
| 25 February 1899 | Gainsborough Trinity | A | The Northolme | 1 – 3 | Meredith | 5,000 |
| 4 March 1899 | Barnsley | H | Hyde Road | 5 – 0 | Meredith (3), Ross (2) | 12,000 |
| 18 March 1899 | Walsall | A | Hillary Street | 1 – 1 | Ross | 6,000 |
| 25 March 1899 | Burton Swifts | H | Hyde Road | 6 – 0 | Meredith (2), Ross (2), Moffatt, Dougal | 6,000 |
| 31 March 1899 | Gainsborough Trinity | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 0 | Gillespie (2), Dougal, Ross | 15,000 |
| 1 April 1899 | Burslem Port Vale | A | Athletic Ground | 1 – 1 | Meredith | 12,000 |
| 3 April 1899 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | Manor Ground | 1 – 0 | Gillespie | 5,000 |
| 8 April 1899 | Small Heath | H | Hyde Road | 2 – 0 | F. Williams (2) | 20,000 |
| 11 April 1899 | Grimsby Town | A | Abbey Park | 2 – 1 | Meredith, Gillespie | 5,000 |
| 22 April 1899 | Blackpool | H | Hyde Road | 4 – 1 | Meredith (2), Gillespie, Ross | 10,000 |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 28 January 1899 | First round | Small Heath | A | Muntz Street | 2 – 3 | Meredith, Gillespie | 15,399 |

## Squad statistics
### Squad

Appearances for competitive matches only
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Abandoned | Abandoned | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Tommy Chappell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Charlie Williams | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | Di Jones | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| DF | Dick Ray | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| MF | Stuart Munn | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | Walter Bowman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Billie Gillespie | 30 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 18 |
| FW | Billy Meredith | 33 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 30 |
| FW | Bill Smith | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| FW | Jimmy Whitehead | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Fred Williams | 25 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 11 |
| -- | Andrew Cowie | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| -- | George Dougal | 31 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 7 |
| -- | Billy Holmes | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| -- | Bobby Moffatt | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 4 |
| -- | Thomas Read | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| -- | Jimmy Ross | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 |
| -- | S. Smith | 25 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 8 |