Article 14 — Manchester United 1999
From the title itself, you know which season I am going to look back on. It was a monumental and historical season, full of drama, endless joy and a pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow.
2 more stalwarts from the early 90s, Gary Pallister and Brian McClair left the club in the summer on a free transfer as the revolution of the Manchester United squad continued. In response to the disappointment of ending 1997–98 empty-handed, Alex Ferguson signed little known Dutchman, Jaap Stam from PSV Eindhoven to replace Pallister. His signing came before France 98 so United fans would keep an eye on him during that tournament.
Jesper Blomqvist was also signed from Parma, possibly as an understudy for Ryan Giggs. We have seen what damage Blomqvist could do during his time at IFK Gotenborg in the Champions League against us in 1994–95. The final signing was of Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa. Considering all the big-names United were linked with, it seemed at that time United signed him for an amount that was over the odds.
United started the season on a bad note as they were roundly beaten 0–3 by Arsenal in the Charity Shield, United’s first defeat in this competition since I became a fan. The rivalry between two started last season began to intensify this season. In the Champions League, United beat Polish side, LKS Lodz 2–0 on aggregate to qualify for the group stages of the competition.
Manchester United also had the extra attention of the vitriol facing David Beckham on their travels as he was made the fall guy for England’s elimination from France 98.
United started the league in a manner that was to be symbolic of their season ahead. We hosted Leicester City and Leicester took a 0–2 lead with 15 minutes to go despite all the pressure and possession on the Leicester goal. Two late goals, one by Teddy Sheringham and another by David Beckham salvaged a point for United.
United had their traditional slow start to the Premier League season including their 4th defeat in a row to Arsenal, 0–3 the same scoreline as in the Charity Shield. Slowly but surely, United started picking up their form. As the games and months, went by, United grew stronger. As they were chasing top spot, they suffered a shock 2–3 defeat against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford which would be the last time United lost that season.
By January, United found themselves top of the league. Traditionally, this is when United start kicking on relentlessly, showing their best form. Arsenal went top for the first time season in April after United’s 1–1 draw against Leeds United having played one game more. A 2–2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool coupled with an Arsenal win over Tottenham Hotspur opened up a 3 point lead for Arsenal still having played a game more. United regained the lead in the title race when they beat Middlesbrough in their game in hand and Leeds beat Arsenal. All United needed were 4 points in their last 2 matches to seal the league title. They got 1 point in their 0–0 draw against Blackburn Rovers to relegate their one-time closest title challengers, now managed by our former number 2, Brian Kidd and needed to hold their nerves in the final match against Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Tottenham looked to play the part of a party pooper and scored first through Les Ferdinand to give their North London rivals and neighbours, Arsenal some hope of an upset title win. David Beckham struck beautifully with 2 minutes left in the first half to deservingly equalise for United and got everyone at Old Trafford off their feet. Substitute Andy Cole’s winner 3 minutes into the second half proved to be the winning goal. At the final whistle, the roof was lifted at Old Trafford, a carnival atmosphere as United sealed their 4 league title in 6 seasons. They had another final to look forward to next week.
In the FA Cup, United had to get past Liverpool in the 4th Round at Old Trafford, 2 late goals by Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer gave the match an exciting end after battering the Liverpool goal for most of the match.
In the 6th Round, United was drawn against Chelsea, one of the front-runners for the league title that season, at Old Trafford. The match ended in a draw so there was an extra game to navigate at Stamford Bridge which United won 2–0 thanks to a double by Yorke. The reward for United was a semi-final against arch-rivals, Arsenal, a match that fit the bill to be the final. The semi-final ended 0–0 after extra-time. United thought they scored through Roy Keane but the goal was disallowed and Arsenal had Nelson Vivas sent off for a second bookable offence.
The replay would go down as a FA Cup classic. United took the lead through a wonder strike by David Beckham before Dennis Bergkamp produced a worthy reply for the equaliser in the 2nd half. Arsenal then thought they had taken the lead when Nicolas Anelka pounced on a spill by Schmeichel to score but thankfully, he was flagged offside. There was a red card in this match too and it went to Roy Keane for collecting two yellow cards. In stoppage time, my heart sank when Phil Neville brought down Ray Parlour in the box. A penalty was awarded and I prayed for a miracle. The miracle came in the form of big Peter Schmeichel who guessed right to keep Bergkamp’s penalty out. Luck and fate were on our side. What happened in extra-time was a moment of brilliance we have seen time and again.
Ryan Giggs picked up a loose ball near the halfway line from Patrick Viera, went on a run, slalomed past Arsenal defenders and smashed his shot into the roof of the net. That led to the famous wild, shirtless celebration exposing his hairy chest. That goal proved to be the winning goal and the players were swarmed by fans at full-time.
The final, a week after sealing the league title was a routine 2–0 win over Newcastle United. Captain Keane had to be substituted early after picking up an injury and Sheringham was brought on in his place and scored within 2 minutes of coming on. Paul Scholes got a second in the second half to at least make it the 3rd Double won by United. I say at least because there was another final to play in midweek for the possibility of winning a Treble.
United found themselves in a tough group after qualification to the Champions League group stage. They were in the same group as the German and Spanish champions Bayern Munich and Barcelona respectively. The 4th team in the group was Danish champions Brondby. What followed were 4 thrilling European games, there were two 3–3 draws against Barcelona managed by future United manager, Louis Van Gaal. They were a star-studded team with Josep Guardiola the captain, Rivaldo, Sonny Anderson, Luis Enrique, Luis Figo, Boudewijn Zenden, Patrick Kluivert, Michael Reiziger and a very young, Xavi.
There were two draws against Bayern Munich too, 2–2 at the Olympic Stadium and 1–1 at Old Trafford. The 1–1 draw at Old Trafford sealed United’s passage to the quarter-final as one of the best 2nd placed teams. Bayern was managed by Champions League-winning manager Ottmar Hitzfield who had masterminded the defeat of Manchester United in the semi-final of 1996–97 with Borussia Dortmund. In the Bayern team, there was Oliver Kahn, Bixente Lizarazu, Thomas Helmer, Stefan Effenberg, Mario Basler, Giovane Elber, Mario Basler, Mehmet Scholl among others.
United made light work of Brondby thrashing them 6–2 and 5–0. In the quarter-final, United was drawn against Internazionale, my favourite Italian club. It was a feeling like none other for me. Never have I experienced both my teams playing each other in a competitive match so it was hard to take sides. The Inter team had Ronaldo, my all-time favourite, Roberto Baggio, Ivan Zamorano, Youri Djorkaeff, Javier Zanetti and Diego Simeone. The sub-plot to this game was the reunion of Beckham and Simeone after their infamous clash in the summer of 1998 at France 98. Beckham had to take a lot of stick in the aftermath of that clash. United won the first leg 2–0 thanks to two first-half goals by Yorke. Inter had their chances too but one particular header by Zamorano was star-saved by Schmeichel. In the second leg, it was mostly Inter that did the pressing as they looked to overcome the deficit. Inter finally took the lead through Nicola Ventola in the second half before a late counter-attack saw Scholes net the equaliser and secure United’s passage to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, United was up against a familiar opponent, another Italian team in Juventus. Juventus was now managed by Carlo Ancelotti who had not built a reputation of being a serial winner yet. The team still had colossal players in their team like Angelo Peruzzi, Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Antonio Conte, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi, Didier Deschamps and more.
The first leg ended 1–1 with United needing an injury-time goal by Giggs to scrap a draw that Juventus looked like deserving winners. The second leg was another classic in this season. Juventus got off to a flyer, leading 2–0 through a double by the master poacher, Inzaghi. The second goal took a fortunate deflection off Stam to loop over Schmeichel. United was on the ropes but Keane dragged the team back into the game first by pulling one back. He collected a yellow card for bringing down Zidane and that meant his suspension from the final if United got there. He didn’t let his head drop and kept inspiring his team. United got the equaliser through Yorke to rock Juventus. United was now in the driving seat. Juventus was pressing hard now to regain the lead. Scholes was brought on as a substitute and picked up a yellow card which meant a suspension for the final. With 6 minutes to goal, Yorke brought through and was brought down by Peruzzi but the ball fell loose for Cole to sweep through and ensure a passage to the final.
In the final, United played a team they had already played twice in the group stage, Bayern Munich at Nou Camp. United was without two important mainstays in the team, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane so they had to field a mismatched midfield. Bayern struck first when Basler’s free-kick wrong-footed Schmeichel to find the corner of the net. For the rest of the match, Bayern was in the ascendancy and dominated. United rode their luck a bit to stay in the game. As the game wore on, United tried exerting more pressure without really troubling Oliver Kahn in goal. In a desperate last throw of the dice, Schmeichel went up for a corner. Beckham’s corner and Schmeichel’s presence caused mayhem in the box as the ball bobbled along before it was swept home by substitute Sheringham for an unlikely equaliser. At that moment, I felt United had got out of jail. What happened next was beyond my wildest imagination. United got another corner, Beckham took it, the ball was flicked on by Sheringham and another substitute Solksjaer stretched out a leg to win the game deep in injury time. Cue wild celebrations at home and a great explosion of joy and euphoria.
United had achieved the improbable, the Treble, still the only English club to have ever achieved this feat. Some truly momentous games this season, late goals were the order of the day as was playing with the usual flair, panache and scoring lots of goals. Luck and fate had a helping hand too in this achievement as, without it, United would not have achieved the Treble. Learning from the lessons of 1997–98, United’s strength in depth was sufficiently bolstered over the summer as United coped with injuries and suspensions at various stages well.
Dwight Yorke and Jaap Stam proved to be well worth their big transfer fees as they both played an integral part in United’s season. The partnership between Yorke and Cole was one of the best strike partnership I have ever seen. Sheringham and Solksjaer deputized ably as did Blomqvist on the wings for Giggs. On Any Cole, I really felt he hit top form this season. In previous seasons, he scored goals but missed a fair share too most significantly in his first season against West Ham United on the final day. He was at his clinical best this season.
It was not an easy journey as United only sealed the league title on the final day of the season by 1 point, they played Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal (twice each) on road to FA Cup glory and finally, they had to play against Barcelona, Inter, Juventus twice and Bayern Munch three times before they achieved the Holy Grail of winning the Champions League. Last year marked 20 years since this incredible achievement, still unmatched by anyone in England.
