1998–99 Stoke City F.C. season
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 8 August 1998 Northampton Town A 3-1 6,661 Kavanagh ( pen ) 7 ' , Thorne 63 ' , Crowe 83 '
2 15 August 1998 Macclesfield Town H 2-0 13,981 Crowe 25 ' , Thorne 36 '
3 22 August 1998 Preston North End A 4-3 11,587 Crowe ( 2 ) 50 ' , 85 ' , Kavanagh ( 2 ) 69 ' , 72 ' ( pen )
4 29 August 1998 Oldham Athletic H 2-0 12,306 Keen 22 ' , Lightbourne 90 '
5 31 August 1998 Colchester United A 1-0 4,728 Kavanagh 78 '
6 5 September 1998 Bournemouth H 2-0 13,443 Thorne 70 ' , Crowe 76 '
7 8 September 1998 Fulham A 0-1 12,055
8 12 September 1998 Millwall H 1-0 12,307 Lightbourne 90 '
9 19 September 1998 Wrexham A 1-0 7,290 Wallace 78 '
10 26 September 1998 Blackpool H 1-3 15,002 Crowe 69 ' ( pen )
11 3 October 1998 Reading A 1-2 13,089 Whittle 69 '
12 12 October 1998 Chesterfield H 0-0 10,557
13 17 October 1998 Lincoln City A 2-1 6,159 Robinson 59 ' , Sigurðsson 52 '
14 20 October 1998 Bristol Rovers A 0-1 6,752
15 24 October 1998 Wigan Athletic H 2-1 11,480 Kavanagh 52 ' , Griffiths 53 ' ( o.g . )
16 31 October 1998 Notts County A 0-1 8,546
17 7 November 1998 Luton Town H 3-1 12,964 Oldfield 3 ' , Forsyth 37 ' , Lightbourne 90 '
18 10 November 1998 Burnley A 2-0 10,575 Lightbourne 47 ' , Thorne 62 '
19 21 November 1998 York City H 2-0 11,795 Forsyth 30 ' , Oldfield 35 '
20 28 November 1998 Wycombe Wanderers A 1-0 6,023 Kavanagh 79 '
Results -- Football League Second Division
Main article : 1998–99 Football League
The 1998-99 season was Stoke City's 92nd season in the Football League and the fifth in the third tier. Stoke entered a new era at their 28,000 seater stadium in the third tier of English football with heavy debts of around £5 million and had no manager the future seemed very uncertain. It came as a welcome surprise then when chairman Keith Humphreys appointed former Aston Villa manager Brian Little. And Little's new look side started the season on fire winning six straight matches as it looked like that Stoke would be too good for their Second Division opponents. By November it seemed a matter of when and not if Stoke would gain promotion but their form completely dropped off and just one win was registered from the end of November to March. Chief executive Jez Moxey was now coming in for some serious pressure to resign by the supporters due to the poor finances and with no chance of promotion Stoke finished in 8th place with 69 points. Little had since lost interest way before the end of the season and he resigned in July leaving Stoke to find another manager.