A Statement Of Intent
Still reeling from the huge disappointment of the Man Utd 1998 season where the Red Devils finished trophy less, manager Sir Alex Ferguson had made his intentions clear that his side were looking to put things right this time around by making a huge splash in the summer transfer market to sign Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke and Jesper Blomqvist, while long serving players Brian McClair and Gary Pallister were allowed to leave the club.
Along with the new arrivals; young players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Wes Brown as well as established stars Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer; formed a formidable looking squad heading into the campaign.
A Shaky Start
The season did not begin in the greatest of manners for United as they comprehensively lost out to Arsenal in the curtain raiser Charity Shield clash.
Despite a few hiccups in the first month of the season though, United slowly gained momentum in their Premier League as well as Champions League campaigns.
It seemed for a while that the Red Devils had blown away their chances to win honours after a very poor December but following the turn of the year, Sir Alex’s men embarked on a remarkable 33 match unbeaten streak and sensationally managed to claim the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles under the most dramatic of circumstances possible.
Football….Bloody Hell
Probably the match that epitomized Manchester United’s season was their remarkable comeback victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League where the Red Devils scored twice in injury time to cap off a magnificent campaign.
While United were undoubtedly brilliant in terms of the quality of the football throughout the campaign, their unbreakable attitude and ability to grind out results when the chips were down, was probably the main reasons why the Red Devils were so successful during the 1998/99 campaign.
Following the treble triumph, more than 500,000 fans lined up the streets of Manchester to greet their heroes while Alex Ferguson was awarded a knighthood for guiding his side to unprecedented heights.
A Famous Treble 1998/99
Undoubtedly the greatest ever season in Manchester United’s rich history, the team of 1998/99 etched their name in Old Trafford folklore with triumphs in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League to complete a remarkable treble……
This site gives a month by month account of the season, including stats, match reports, quotes and videos.
Take a walk down memory lane with us and relive the greatest season in United’s history (so far).
Sit back and enjoy the memories!
Watch highlights of the season, including the best goals and biggest moments. Then use the navigation buttons to move on to transfer news and the month by month season review.
Credits
Concept: Ellie
Design: Steve
Content: Sarad
Defying The Odds
So the question many people ask is, what were the odds of United winning the treble, and what’s the betting this happens again?
What are the odds of another English team completing the treble? We wanted to find out, so we visited the websites of 10 of the major bookmakers to see what odds they would give at the start of the season. At every betting site, we created a treble of outright bets on United to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
The average odds available on that treble were a staggering 293/1.
So while it’s not statistically as unlikely as Leicester winning the league (that was 5000/1 if you remember, about as likely as these things), the treble is certainly a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated again.
The unpredictability of modern football means that you’d just be handing the bookies your money if you bet on another team to win all three trophies.
However as some of you may know there are options to enhance your odds. The most common way is to use betting offers that you get when you open a new account. This can get you up to ten times the normal odds, although you can only do it once per bookmaker.
If that is not an option for you, you might also get slightly better odds if you bet on an Asian Handicap market, or backed a team at cumulative odds game by game. But who would have the bottle to keep placing those bets towards the end of the season when the stakes are higher?
No, I think we can agree that the 1998/99 season was a once in a lifetime achievement . Many people rightly believe that the 1999 final was one of the best comebacks in sport ever, and is unlikley to be repeated in our lifetimes at least. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s start our trip down memory lane…