1998-1999, Manchester United season

In 1998-1999, Manchester United won a unique treble: the Premiership, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

Significant purchases were made to begin the season. Jaap Stam was bought from PSV Eindhoven, Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa, and Jesper Blomqvist from Parma. Stam and Yorke particularly made telling contributions. Yorke formed an impressive partnership with Andy Cole and both scored lots of goals.

Despite losing Yorke, Aston Villa made a promising start to the season and were top of the Premiership at Christmas. In the new year they fell away, and it was left to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United to battle for the title. It went down to the last day of the season, when Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Old Trafford to finish as champions. From Boxing Day to the end of the season, Manchester United played thirty-three games in all competitions and remained undefeated throughout. In one amazing game away to Nottingham Forest, they won 8-1, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer coming on as a substitute and scoring four times in the last ten minutes.

In the FA Cup, Manchester United defeated Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal on their way to the final. In a dramatic semi-final replay against Arsenal, Roy Keane was sent off, Peter Schmeichel saved a last-minute Bergkamp penalty and, in extra time, Ryan Giggs scored one of the greatest ever Manchester United goals to win the game. The final against Newcastle was almost an anti-climax. Manchester United won 2-0.

The UEFA Champions League began for Manchester United in August, with two qualifying matches against LKS Lodz. Altogether, Manchester United played thirteen Champions League games during the season. These included three against Bayern Munich, two 3-3 draws against Barcelona, and a memorable semi-final second leg away win against Juventus. Following a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, Juventus scored two early goals at home. Manchester United held on and then fought back, inspired by Roy Keane. A booking in the game meant that Keane would miss any final, but this didn’t prevent him having one of his most influential games. He scored himself, Yorke then equalised, and Andy Cole scored the winner late in the game. The final against Bayern Munich was largely forgettable, until the last few minutes. Keane and Scholes both missed the game through suspension. Bayern scored in the first half and, as the game entered injury time, looked as if they would win. Substitute Teddy Sheringham then scored an equaliser following a Beckham corner. With only seconds remaining, and as the teams prepared for extra time, another Beckham corner was headed on by Sheringham and Solskjaer scored one of the most famous Manchester United goals of all time. The premier European competition had been won for the first time since 1967-1968, and a remarkable treble had been completed. In an interview immediately after the match, Alex Ferguson famously summed it all up, ‘Football ... bloody hell’. Later in the summer he was knighted following his team’s unique 1998-1999 achievement.