# 1998–99 Bradford City A.F.C. season

During the 1998–99 English football season, Bradford City competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

In the summer, Jewell signed strikers Lee Mills from Port Vale and Isaiah Rankin from Arsenal, for £1 million and £1.3 million respectively, and signed former captain Stuart McCall from Rangers on a free transfer to lead the side. Despite a poor start, Bradford secured promotion to the top division for the first time in 77 years with a 3–2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final game of the 1998-99 season. Bradford's success meant that Dean Windass, who had signed from Oxford United in March, became the club's third £1 million signing of the season: Windass had originally been signed for £950,000, but an additional fee of £50,000 was paid to Oxford because of Bradford's promotion.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sunderland (C, P) | 46 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 91 | 28 | +63 | 105 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Bradford City (P) | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 82 | 47 | +35 | 87 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 69 | 32 | +37 | 86 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 4 | Birmingham City | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 81 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 5 | Watford (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 65 | 56 | +9 | 77 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |

## Results

Bradford City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Results per matchday

| Matchday | 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 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | D | L | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | W |
| Position | 17 | 23 | 19 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 8 August 1998 | Stockport County | H | 1–2 | 14,360 | Beagrie (pen) |
| 15 August 1998 | Watford | A | 0–1 | 10,731 | |
| 23 August 1998 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–2 | 13,163 | Rankin, Mills |
| 28 August 1998 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–2 | 5,759 | McCall |
| 31 August 1998 | Birmingham City | H | 2–1 | 13,910 | Mills, Moore |
| 8 September 1998 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–3 | 11,596 | |
| 12 September 1998 | Sheffield United | H | 2–2 | 13,169 | Mills, Blake |
| 20 September 1998 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–0 | 12,426 | Mills (2) |
| 26 September 1998 | Barnsley | H | 2–1 | 15,887 | Watson (2) |
| 29 September 1998 | Port Vale | H | 4–0 | 13,245 | Blake, Moore, Mills (2) |
| 3 October 1998 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | 37,828 | |
| 9 October 1998 | Bury | H | 3–0 | 15,697 | Blake, McCall, Beagrie |
| 17 October 1998 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–2 | 20,741 | |
| 20 October 1998 | Portsmouth | A | 4–2 | 10,062 | Whalley, Rankin, Mills, Beagrie |
| 31 October 1998 | Bristol City | H | 5–0 | 14,468 | Mills, Carey (own goal), Rankin, Beagrie, Blake |
| 7 November 1998 | Norwich City | A | 2–2 | 14,722 | Rankin, Mills |
| 10 November 1998 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 1–0 | 6,002 | Beagrie (pen) |
| 14 November 1998 | Swindon Town | H | 3–0 | 14,897 | Beagrie (pen), Pepper, Jacobs |
| 21 November 1998 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–2 | 18,173 | Blake |
| 28 November 1998 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–3 | 15,037 | |
| 5 December 1998 | Oxford United | A | 1–0 | 5,969 | Mills |
| 12 December 1998 | Swindon Town | A | 4–1 | 7,447 | Blake (2), Mills (2) |
| 19 December 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 13,846 | Blake, Mills |
| 26 December 1998 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–0 | 24,625 | |
| 28 December 1998 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–0 | 14,076 | Blake, Mills |
| 9 January 1999 | Stockport County | A | 2–1 | 8,975 | Blake, Beagrie |
| 16 January 1999 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 4–1 | 12,595 | Mills (3), Blake |
| 19 January 1999 | Crystal Palace | H | 2–1 | 14,368 | Westwood, Beagrie (pen) |
| 31 January 1999 | Birmingham City | A | 1–2 | 19,291 | Lawrence |
| 6 February 1999 | Watford | H | 2–0 | 14,142 | McCall, Mills |
| 13 February 1999 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–0 | 15,024 | |
| 19 February 1999 | Sheffield United | A | 2–2 | 14,675 | Blake (2) |
| 27 February 1999 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–0 | 14,278 | Jacobs |
| 3 March 1999 | Barnsley | A | 1–0 | 16,866 | Watson |
| 9 March 1999 | Sunderland | H | 0–1 | 15,124 | |
| 13 March 1999 | Norwich City | H | 4–1 | 13,331 | Moore, Beagrie (pen), Mills, Lawrence |
| 20 March 1999 | Bristol City | A | 3–2 | 10,870 | Mills, Jacobs, Whalley |
| 28 March 1999 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–1 | 15,626 | |
| 3 April 1999 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–0 | 14,522 | Blake, Sharpe, Beagrie |
| 5 April 1999 | Bury | A | 2–0 | 8,000 | Bullock (own goal), Windass |
| 10 April 1999 | Portsmouth | H | 2–1 | 13,552 | Mills, Sharpe |
| 13 April 1999 | Port Vale | A | 1–1 | 6,998 | Mills |
| 17 April 1999 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–3 | 15,124 | Blake, Windass |
| 24 April 1999 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 3–1 | 11,641 | Beagrie, Westwood, Watson |
| 1 May 1999 | Oxford United | H | 0–0 | 15,064 | |
| 9 May 1999 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–2 | 27,589 | Beagrie, Mills, Blake |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 2 January 1999 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–1 | 13,870 | Mills, Lawrence |
| R4 | 23 January 1999 | Newcastle United | A | 0–3 | 36,698 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 1st Leg | 11 August 1998 | Lincoln City | H | 1–1 | 4,481 | Beagrie |
| R1 2nd Leg | 18 August 1998 | Lincoln City | A | 1–0 (won 2–1 on agg) | 22,695 | Rankin |
| R2 1st Leg | 15 September 1998 | Halifax Town | A | 2–1 | 5,714 | Moore, Beagrie |
| R2 2nd Leg | 22 September 1998 | Halifax Town | H | 3–1 (won 5–2 on agg) | 6,237 | Blake, Beagrie (pen), Pepper |
| R3 | 28 October 1998 | Leeds United | A | 0–1 | 27,561 | |

## First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
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 | ENG | Mark Prudhoe |
| — | GK | ENG | Gary Walsh |
| — | DF | ENG | Mark Bower |
| — | DF | ENG | John Dreyer |
| — | DF | ENG | Wayne Jacobs |
| — | DF | ENG | Darren Moore |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Todd |
| — | DF | ENG | Daniel Verity |
| — | DF | ENG | Ashley Westwood |
| — | DF | SCO | Stephen Wright |
| — | DF | IRL | Andy O'Brien |
| — | MF | ENG | Peter Beagrie |
| — | MF | ENG | Robbie Blake |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Bolland |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Jamie Lawrence |
| — | MF | ENG | Nigel Pepper |
| — | MF | ENG | Craig Ramage |
| — | MF | ENG | Lee Sharpe (on loan from Leeds United) |
| — | MF | SCO | Stuart McCall (captain) |
| — | MF | IRL | Gareth Whalley |
| — | FW | ENG | Gareth Grant |
| — | FW | ENG | Lee Mills |
| — | FW | ENG | Isaiah Rankin |
| — | FW | ENG | Gordon Watson |
| — | FW | ENG | Dean Windass |
| — | FW | SWE | Robert Steiner |
| — | FW | BRA | Edinho |