1998–99 Chelsea F.C. season

Season summary

After a solid fourth-place finish coupled with European and League Cup success the previous season, Chelsea really felt that they could challenge for the title this season. Chelsea made more big name signings, including French World Cup winning defender Marcel Desailly from A.C. Milan, Spanish international full-back Albert Ferrer from Barcelona and, in a club-record £5.4 million move, Italian international striker Pierluigi Casiraghi from Lazio. Casiraghi's season and career was cut short by a knee injury, but his compatriot Gianfranco Zola had arguably the best season of his career, leading Chelsea to a serious title challenge, scoring 15 goals in all competitions and setting up many other goals for his teammates.

Ultimately, the European Super Cup, won by beating Europeans champions Real Madrid, was the only trophy that Chelsea had to show for their excellence. Their defence of the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup ended in the semi-finals, while their title challenge was ended in early May when they just couldn't get the better of Manchester United or Arsenal. Nonetheless, a final third-place finish booked them their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign and was another triumph for their excellent young manager Gianluca Vialli, who, at 35, announced his retirement as a player to concentrate on his managerial duties.

Final league table

Main article: 1998–99 FA Premier League

;Results summary

;Results by round

Squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Statistics

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Statistics taken from http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?teamid=536 . Squad details and shirt numbers from http://www.zanziball.it/en/28/22b9.html and http://www.eufo.de/football/eng/1998/chela_fc.htm.

Results

Premier League

Dublin Poyet Pérez
Leboeuf Le Saux Flo Zola Poyet Poyet Petrescu Guppy Poyet Flo Flo Sturridge Poyet Flo Poyet Di Matteo Goldbæk Goldbæk Goldbæk Poyet Elliott Guppy Petrescu Ginola Goldbæk Vialli

Goalscorers

• ITA Gianfranco Zola 13
• URU Gustavo Poyet 11
• NOR Tore Andre Flo 10
• DEN Bjarne Goldbaek 5
• FRA Frank Leboeuf 4
• NGA Celestine Babayaro 3
• ROM Dan Petrescu 3
• ITA Roberto Di Matteo 2
• ITA Pierluigi Casiraghi 1
• ENG Jody Morris 1
• FIN Mikael Forssell 1
• ITA Gianluca Vialli 1

UEFA Super Cup

Goalscorers

• URU Gustavo Poyet 1

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Goalscorers

• NOR Tore Andre Flo 2
• FRA Frank Leboeuf 1
• FRA Marcel Desailly 1
• DEN Brian Laudrup 1
• NGA Celestine Babayaro 1
• ITA Gianfranco Zola 1
• ENG Dennis Wise 1
• ITA Gianluca Vialli 1
• FRA Bernard Lambourde 1

League Cup

Goalscorers

• ITA Gianluca Vialli 6
• URU Gustavo Poyet 2
• NOR Tore Andre Flo 1
• FRA Frank Leboeuf 1

FA Cup

Goalscorers

• ITA Gianluca Vialli 2
• FIN Mikael Forssell 2
• FRA Frank Leboeuf 1
• ENG Dennis Wise 1
• ITA Gianfranco Zola 1
• ITA Roberto Di Matteo 1

References

References

1. "FootballSquads - Chelsea - 1998/99".
2. "All Chelsea players: 1999".
3. Sinclair was born in [[London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth]], [[England]], but also qualified to represent [[Jamaica]] internationally.