1998–99 Preston North End F.C. season

Preston North End
1998–99 season
Chairman	Bryan Gray
Manager	David Moyes
Stadium	Deepdale
Second Division	5th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Nogan (18); All: Nogan (21)
Highest home attendance	20,857 vs Manchester City
Lowest home attendance	8,656 vs York City
Average home league attendance	11,926

During the 1998–99 English football season, Preston North End F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

Preston North End started the season by only losing one of their first 12 fixtures. The defeat in question was against Stoke City. Five games after Christmas the Lillywhites went top of the table. The arrival of Steve Basham, on loan from Bournemouth, gave the side fresh impetus as he scored ten goals in 17 appearances. However, Preston's end to the season saw them win only one of their final nine games and finish in fifth place.^[1]

Preston were paired with fourth place Gillingham in the play off semi-final. Despite David Eyres giving Preston the lead in the first leg, the Kent side equalised 11 minutes before time. In the second leg, the Gills opened scoring early which was enough for Preston to miss out on going to Wembley.^[1]

In the FA Cup, home victories against Ford United and Walsall gave Preston a third round tie against Arsenal. After an exciting start that saw Preston take a two-goal lead, the Premiership side scored four to knock North End out of the cup.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Manchester City (O, P)	46	22	16	8	69	33	+36	82	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4	Gillingham	46	22	14	10	75	44	+31	80
5	Preston North End	46	22	13	11	78	50	+28	79
6	Wigan Athletic	46	22	10	14	75	48	+27	76
7	Bournemouth	46	21	13	12	63	41	+22	76

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Preston North End's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
8 August 1998	York City	H	3–0	8,656	Appleton, Rankine, Nogan
15 August 1998	Luton Town	A	1–1	5,392	Macken
22 August 1998	Stoke City	H	3–4	11,587	Nogan (2), Eyres
29 August 1998	Lincoln City	A	4-3	4,130	Eyres, Macken (2), Nogan
31 August 1998	Chesterfield	H	2-0	9,249	Harris, Kidd
5 September 1998	Bristol Rovers	A	2-2	6,702	Harris, Jackson
8 September 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1-0	3,800	Nogan
12 September 1998	Reading	H	4-0	9,836	Jackson(2), Eyres(2)
19 September 1998	Oldham Athletic	A	1-0	8,205	Appleton
26 September 1998	Gillingham	H	1-1	10,506	Harris
3 October 1998	Walsall	A	0-1	5,802
12 October 1998	Manchester City	A	1-0	28,779	Gary Parkinson (pen)
17 October 1998	Colchester United	H	2-0	10,483	Eyres, Nogan
20 October 1998	Macclesfield Town	H	2-2	10,316	Harris, Jackson
24 October 1998	Northampton Town	A	1-1	6,085	Colin Hill(og)
07 November 1998	Burnley	H	4-1	15,888	Rankine, Nogan, Eyres, Byfield
10 November 1998	Millwall	H	0-1	10,228
21 November 1998	Blackpool	A	0-0	10,868
28 November 1998	Wigan Athletic	H	2-2	11,562	Macken, Rankine
12 December 1998	Notts County	A	3-2	5,096	Gregan, Cartwright, Harris
19 December 1998	Fulham	H	0-1	12,321
26 December 1998	Stoke City	A	1-0	23,272	Jackson
28 December 1998	Wrexham	H	3-1	11,562	Nogan, Cartwright(2)
09 January 1999	York City	A	1-0	5,744	Nogan
16 January 1999	Luton Town	H	2-1	11,034	Nogan, Harris
23 January 1999	Chesterfield	A	1-0	6,138	Kidd
26 January 1999	AFC Bournemouth	A	1-3	6,170	Nogan
30 January 1999	Wrexham	A	5-0	6,394	Jackson, Nogan, Macken, Eyres, Kidd
06 February 1999	Bristol Rovers	H	2-2	12,170	Cartwright, Nogan
13 February 1999	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2-1	10,686	Basham (2)
20 February 1999	Reading	A	1-2	10,937	Basham
23 February 1999	Lincoln City	H	5-0	9,849	Basham (2), Nogan (2), Macken
27 February 1999	Oldham Athletic	H	2-1	12,965	Nogan, Jackson
06 March 1999	Gillingham	A	1-1	9,581	Gregan
14 March 1999	Burnley	A	1-0	11,561	Nogan
20 March 1999	AFC Bournemouth	H	0-1	12,882
27 March 1999	Northampton Town	H	3-0	10,686	Basham (2), Macken
02 April 1999	Colchester United	A	0-1	5,644
05 April 1999	Manchester City	H	1-1	20,857	Basham
10 April 1999	Macclesfield Town	A	2-3	4,325	Basham (2)
13 April 1999	Wigan Athletic	A	2-2	5,396	Murdock, Eyres
17 April 1999	Blackpool	H	1-2	15,337	Nogan
20 April 1999	Walsall	H	1-0	13,337	Gregan
24 April 1999	Millwall	A	2-2	6,016	Darby, Jackson
01 May 1999	Notts County	H	1-1	11,862	Macken
08 May 1999	Fulham	A	0-3	17,176

Football League Playoffs

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 May 1999	Gillingham	H	1-1	18,584	Eyres
19 May 1999	Gillingham	A	0-1	10,505

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	14 November 1998	Ford United	H	3–0	10,167	Rankine, Harris, Darby
R2	5 December 1998	Walsall	H	2–0	8,488	Nogan, McKenna
R3	4 January 1999	Arsenal	H	2–4	21,099	Nogan

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	12 August 1998	Grimsby Town	A	0–0	3,008
R1 2nd Leg	18 August 1999	Grimsby Town	H	0–0 (lost 6–7 on penalties)	5,650

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1N	8 December 1998	Burnley	A	1–0	3,366	Macken
R2N	19 January 1999	Hartlepool United	A	2–2 (Hartlepool won on penalties)

Squad

^[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	David Lucas
—	GK	FIN	Teuvo Moilanen
—	DF	ENG	Graham Alexander
—	DF	ENG	Dominic Ludden
—	DF	ENG	Ryan Kidd
—	DF	ENG	Michael Jackson
—	DF	ENG	Gary Parkinson
—	DF	NIR	Colin Murdock
—	DF	NIR	Paul Morgan
—	DF	ENG	Mark Winstanley (on loan from Burnley)
—	DF	ENG	Craig Harrison (on loan from Middlesbrough)
—	DF	ENG	Neil Clement (on loan from Chelsea)
—	MF	ENG	Sean Gregan
—	MF	ENG	Lee Cartwright
—	MF	ENG	Mark Rankine
—	MF	ENG	David Eyres


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Julian Darby
—	MF	NIR	Stuart King
—	MF	ENG	Michael Appleton
—	MF	ENG	Paul McKenna
—	FW	WAL	Kurt Nogan
—	FW	IRL	Jon Macken
—	FW	ENG	Steve Basham (on loan from Southampton)
—	FW	ISL	Bjarki Gunnlaugsson
—	FW	ENG	Jason Harris
—	FW	ENG	Michael Holt
—	FW	JAM	Darren Byfield (on loan from Aston Villa)
—	FW	ENG	Paul McGregor
—	FW	SCO	Andy Gray (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
—	FW	ENG	Mark Wright

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Powter, David (2002). 25 Seasons At Deepdale - The Complete Record 1977-78 to 2001-02. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books Limited. p. 35. ISBN 1-86223-070-6.
^ "Preston North End 1998-1999 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
^ "All Preston North End players: 1998".

[auto-1] Powter, David (2002). 25 Seasons At Deepdale - The Complete Record 1977-78 to 2001-02. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books Limited. p. 35. ISBN 1-86223-070-6.

[2] "Preston North End 1998-1999 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2026.

[3] "All Preston North End players: 1998".

[1]

[2]

[3]

Preston North End Football Club
General	Players Managers History Players of the Year Seasons The Invincibles
Grounds	Deepdale
Rivalries	West Lancashire derby League record by opponent Burial of the Coffin

Preston North End F.C. seasons
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
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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
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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