A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Season | 1898–99 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Aston Villa |
| Relegated | Blackpool Darwen |
| New Clubs in League | Barnsley Burslem Port Vale, Glossop North End, New Brighton Tower |
← 1897–98 | |
The 1898–99 season was the 11th season of The Football League. Two teams were able to win the First Division title going into the final day of the season: Aston Villa and Liverpool; second-placed Liverpool travelled to Villa Park for the final match, needing a win to overtake Villa and win the title, but Villa won 5–0 to win their fourth First Division title.
Defending champions Sheffield United had the first poor title defence in English top flight history, finishing 16th out of 18, barely avoiding the two relegation places.
Final league tables
Beginning in the 1894–95 season, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded). In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.
During the first six seasons of the league, (up to the 1893–94 season), re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league.
First Division
| Season | 1898–99 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Aston Villa 4th English title |
| Relegated | Bolton Wanderers The Wednesday |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 868 (2.84 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Steve Bloomer (23 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Derby County 9–0 The Wednesday (21 January 1899) |
| Biggest away win | Liverpool 0–3 Aston Villa (15 October 1898) Nottingham Forest 0–3 Liverpool (26 November 1898) The 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 Bromwich Albion 2–0 Nottingham Forest (24 December 1898) West Bromwich Albion 6–2 Blackburn Rovers (21 January 1899) |
| Average attendance | 10,004 |
← 1897–98 | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 6 | Blackburn Rovers | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 60 | 52 | 1.154 | 36 | |
| 7 | Sunderland | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 41 | 41 | 1.000 | 36 | |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 54 | 48 | 1.125 | 35 | |
| 9 | Derby County | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 62 | 57 | 1.088 | 35 | |
| 10 | Bury | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 48 | 49 | 0.980 | 35 | |
| 11 | Nottingham Forest | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 42 | 42 | 1.000 | 33 | |
| 12 | Stoke | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 47 | 52 | 0.904 | 33 | |
| 13 | Newcastle United | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 49 | 48 | 1.021 | 30 | |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 42 | 57 | 0.737 | 30 | |
| 15 | Preston North End | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 44 | 47 | 0.936 | 29 | |
| 16 | Sheffield United | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 45 | 51 | 0.882 | 29 | |
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers (R) | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 37 | 51 | 0.725 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 18 | The Wednesday (R) | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 32 | 61 | 0.525 | 24 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated