1898–99 Aston Villa F.C. season

First Division
Season	1898–99
Champions	Aston Villa, 4th English title
Relegated	Bolton Wanderers, Wednesday
Top goalscorer	Steve Bloomer; (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Derby County 9–0 Wednesday; (21 January 1899)
Biggest away win	Liverpool 0–3 Aston Villa; (15 October 1898); Nottingham Forest 0–3 Liverpool; (26 November 1898); Wednesday 0–3 Liverpool; (31 December 1898)
Highest scoring	Derby County 5–5 Everton; (15 October 1898)
Longest winning run	8 matches; Aston Villa
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches; Liverpool
Longest losing run	4 matches; Everton; Sheffield United; Sunderland; The Wednesday; Wolverhampton Wanderers
Highest attendance	41,000; Aston Villa 5–0 Liverpool; (29 April 1899)
Lowest attendance	1,000; Bury 1–1 Newcastle United; (22 October 1898); West Brom 2–0 Notts Forest; (24 December 1898); West Brom 6–2 Blackburn; (21 January 1899)
Average attendance	10,004
	← 1897–98 1899–1900 →

Aston Villa
1898–99 season
Chairman	Frederick Rinder
Manager	George Ramsay
First Division	1st (champions, 4th title)
FA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	Fred Wheldon (16)

The 1898–99 English football season was Aston Villa's 11th season in the Football League, the top flight of English football. Villa were champions for an unequalled fourth time.

There were debuts for Walter Leigh,^[1] Albert Wilkes,^[2] Billy Haggart,^[3] Frank Bedingfield,^[4] Bobby Templeton^[5] and Ralph Gaudie (5).^[6]^[7]

Three of Villa’s 1897 double-winning team joined Celtic in the summer of 1897, so the previous season had proved to be a rebuilding period for the club. By the mid-point of 1898/99, Villa had a narrow lead over Everton and Burnley but a late season run by Liverpool dropped them to second place. It came down to ‘last-game decider’, with Villa at home to Liverpool. 41,000 spectators shoe-horned themselves into Villa Park to see an emphatic win by the home team, 5–0.

The season was notable for one of those one-off, never repeated events that enliven League history. The referee was late arriving for the match at The Wednesday. After some deliberation, it was decided to start without him. Though he took over at half-time, the delay meant that darkness fell with 10 minutes left to play. Wednesday were the better team on the day and led 3–1 at the time. The League consulted the rule-book and decided that the last 10 minutes would have to be played at a later date. The first suggestion was that perhaps the 10 minutes could be played before the return game at Villa Park. In the end, Villa agreed to play Wednesday in a benefit match for one of their players, and the missing minutes were duly played out before the friendly game. Villa made one change for the second game, Garraty replacing Bedingfield.

League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Aston Villa (C)	34	19	7	8	76	40	1.900	45
2	Liverpool	34	19	5	10	49	33	1.485	43
3	Burnley	34	15	9	10	45	47	0.957	39
4	Everton	34	15	8	11	48	41	1.171	38
5	Notts County	34	12	13	9	47	51	0.922	37

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

Ever-present: Tommy Bowman

First at top: 29 October

Date won league: 29 April (last game)

Players used: 23

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Notes	Scorers
3 Sep 1898	Stoke	Wellington Road	3–1	—	Charlie Athersmith, Jack Devey, Ralph Gaudie ^[8]
10 Sep 1898	Bury	Gigg Lane	1–2	—	Fred Wheldon ^[9]
17 Sep 1898	Burnley	Turf Moor	4–2	—	Steve Smith (2), George Johnson, Charlie Athersmith ^[10]
24 Sep 1898	Sheffield United	Wellington Road	1–1	—	Jack Devey ^[11]
1 Oct 1898	Newcastle United	St James' Park	1–1	—	Jack Devey ^[12]
8 Oct 1898	Preston North End	Wellington Road	4–2	—	Jack Devey (2), Jimmy Cowan, George Johnson ^[13]
15 Oct 1898	Liverpool	Anfield	3–0	—	George Johnson, Jack Devey, Fred Wheldon ^[14]
22 Oct 1898	Nottingham Forest	Wellington Road	3–0	—	Jack Sharp (2), Jack Devey
29 Oct 1898	Bolton Wanderers	Wellington Road	2–1	—	Fred Wheldon, Jack Devey
5 Nov 1898	Derby County	Wellington Road	7–1	—	Jack Devey (2), George Johnson (2), Fred Wheldon (2), Jack Cowan
12 Nov 1898	West Bromwich Albion	Stoney Lane	1–0	—	George Johnson
19 Nov 1898	Blackburn Rovers	Wellington Road	3–1	—	Jack Devey, Fred Wheldon (2)
26 Nov 1898	The Wednesday	Olive Grove	1–3	—	Steve Smith
3 Dec 1898	Sunderland	Wellington Road	2–0	—	Jack Sharp (2)
10 Dec 1898	Wolves	Wellington Road	1–1	—	Jimmy Crabtree
17 Dec 1898	Everton	Wellington Road	3–0	—	Fred Wheldon, Jack Devey, George Johnson
24 Dec 1898	Notts County	Trent Bridge	0–1	—	—
26 Dec 1898	Newcastle United	Wellington Road	1–0	—	Charlie Athersmith
31 Dec 1898	Stoke	Victoria Ground	0–3	—	—
7 Jan 1899	Bury	Wellington Road	3–2	—	Fred Wheldon, Jack Devey (2)
14 Jan 1899	Burnley	Wellington Road	4–0	—	Fred Wheldon, Charlie Athersmith, Own goal, Tommy Bowman
21 Jan 1899	Sheffield United	Bramall Lane	3–1	—	Albert Wilkes, George Johnson, Jack Cowan
4 Feb 1899	Preston North End	Deepdale	0–2	—	—
18 Feb 1899	Nottingham Forest	City Ground	0–1	—	—
4 Mar 1899	Derby County	Baseball Ground	1–1	—	George Johnson
18 Mar 1899	Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	0–0	—	—
25 Mar 1899	The Wednesday	Wellington Road	3–1	—	Fred Wheldon, Billy Garraty, George Johnson
1 Apr 1899	Sunderland	Roker Park	2–4	—	Jack Devey, Jimmy Cowan
3 Apr 1899	Wolves	Molineux	0–4	—	—
15 Apr 1899	Everton	Goodison Park	1–1	—	Steve Smith
17 Apr 1899	Bolton Wanderers	Burnden Park	0–0	—	—
22 Apr 1899	Notts County	Wellington Road	6–1	—	Jack Devey (3), Fred Wheldon, Billy Garraty (2)
24 Apr 1899	West Bromwich Albion	Wellington Road	7–1	—	Tommy Bowman, Fred Wheldon (2), Billy Garraty (3), Jimmy Cowan
29 Apr 1899	Liverpool	Wellington Road	5–0	—	Jack Devey (2), Billy Garraty, Jimmy Crabtree, Fred Wheldon^[15]

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Villa competed in the 1899 Sheriff of London Charity Shield.

References

External links

Aston Villa official website

[1] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/walter-leigh

[2] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/albert-wilkes

[3] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/billy-haggart

[4] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/frank-bedingfield

[5] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/bobby-templeton

[6] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ralph-gaudie

[7] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[8] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/344

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/345

[10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/346

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/347

[12] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/348

[13] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/349

[14] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/350

[avfc9899-15] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/league/1898-99

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Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26