SUMMARY

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Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
24	11	10	3	7,146

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This issue is for the scoreless draw with Tranmere in mid March 1999. The crowd was 7,589, pretty remarkable on reflection given the dreadful form that we were in at that time, (one win the previous five games).

Tom Bennett came on as a sub in the game. After 14 months out after the horrific leg-break at Birmingham it was his 4th appearance from the bench. Although playing a few games subsequently it was never the same for him at EP. He moved onto Walsall and then Boston. I still have good memories of one of my favourite players at EP.

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MILLENNIUM EVE – 6TH IN THE SECOND TIER

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My abiding memory of 1999 is looking at the table as the year drew to a close. A team that I had watched in the lower reaches for so many years stood proudly in 6th place in Division 1, effectively the 26th best team in the country right at that moment!! It was a great moment. So savour the top of the table as the new Millennium dawned.

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Turning back to the start of the year. I wrote a piece on behalf of The Tea Party for the fanzine compendium Survival of the Fattest which reviewed our 1998/99 season. It provides an overview of the season, in which I start by saying, “So the remit was to deliver 2000 words on the ’98-99 season. It’s hardly a case of where to start, more a debate on whether it started at all”. (The full article can be found HERE). It was a tale of little achievement on the field, and that was certainly true of the period from the new year onward. It also outlines the trouble off the field. Not with fans expressing dissension about the Board, as would normally be the case, but rather incidents with players. Chris and Dessie Byrne, plus Aaron Wilbraham all made headlines, but for the wrong reasons.

On the field there was little to enthuse about as 1998/99 meandered to an inevitable conclusion of mid table mediocrity. Two loan players, Derek McInnes, (from Rangers), and Paul Hughes, (from Chelsea), returned to their parent clubs. Investment was sorely needed. The 1996/97 team had been largely broken up. The first game of 1999, (a 3-0 FA Cup win at Gigg Lane), had only 5 of the players who had taken us to promotion, and the replacements so far had failed to live up to expectations.

Elwood, tightening the EP purse strings, (and having taken out virtually all of the proceeds from the 1996/97 season by way of an effective repayment of the cash he had put in), gave Megson the princely sum of £10,000 to recruit. For that he got David Smith, pretty much a lower league journeyman, and Tony Ellis, a good striker, but someone who was at the tail end of his career. It hardly boded well, and as my piece to SOTF attests, our season effectively ended with a win at the Reebok in mid March. Thereafter 4 points from 6 games says it all.

There was much disaffection from the fans, not only with the results but also the style of football being served up by Megson. The season concluded with what I understand was a shameful display at Oxford on the final day. I didn’t heave the heart to make the trip, and as things unfolded, I was more than glad that I had kept cash in my pocket, and had used the best part of 10 hours far more fruitfully.

In mid June the news emerged of Megson’s sacking. It seemed to be hung on the hook of him allegedly applying for other jobs. What truth there is in that I know not. But who would have blamed him, given the clear indications that things like hotels being built at the Railway End were seemingly of greater importance than having a product on the field. Equally, there were few tears shed amongst the fans, after the desultory fare that had been served up since the run of the year. Personally, I saw it as a divorce of convenience. It suited all parties.

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KILNER IN CHARGE

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We awaited with bated breath the new manager. Andy Kilner, the Club’s Football in the Community supremo was put in temporary charge – with the temporary nature of the appointment morphing into permanence pretty quickly as the new season was but 6 weeks away. Would there be any investment? With Elwood by this time looking like he’d lost interest, and to my eyes, wanting his legacy to be the 1996/97 season, the answer didn’t take much working out.

The team that won at Grimsby on the opening day of 1999/00 had but one new player, Shane Nicholson, who arrived from Chesterfield. It was a decent, if not earth shattering start, and Kilner brought in Laurent D’Jaffo, a striker from Bury, and Kent Bergersen, a Norwegian with no previous experience in English football. At the same time Brett Angell went out on loan, (firstly to Notts County then Preston). Martin McIntosh disappeared from the team in early December, and headed back north of the border to Hibernian.

It turned into a few months of “averageness”. By the end of November, there had been 7 wins; 6 draws and 7 defeats, and an exit from the League Cup on the away goals rule. By the time December came around we were 10th. In my view, whilst there had precious little to get excited about, I preferred the context that I had spent by then 36 years watching a team in the lower reaches, We were now in the second tier, and competing reasonably. But the changeover in personnel was to have a big impact in the second half of the season. We ended up using 33 players – far too many for any degree of consistency.

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MAINE ROAD; TONY DINNING & PANDEMONIUM

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I think that it’s fair to say the December 1999 was one of the best months that I have spent watching County. Forget the FA Cup exit at Grimsby. It was a 3rd Round tie played in December most unusually, and the season that the holders Manchester United withdrew as there was more cash to made abroad. Equally the 3rd round was in December, to help the top clubs meet thier European commitments and assist TV schedules. 20 years ago and the authorities were already dancing to UEFA and TV.

As I write this in early June 2020, we await the return of the Premier League in a week or so, after the Covid-19 pandemic, a decision taken solely to keep the TV money flowing. Not of course for the benefit of the game as a whole, but for the great and good of the game, (as they like to think of themselves).

Anyway December 1999 provided 5 league games. The first four were all won, and there are some outstanding memories from them. They started with a routine home victory over Grimsby, and 3 days later we went to Maine Road. What a night! They were top of the table, and looked like increasing thier lead when they scored an early goal. An equaliser from Alan Bailey was followed by a late winner, courtesy of a Tony Dinning penalty. Cue pandemonium in the North Stand. For a fuller description see the piece about Maine Road.

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A most satisfying win at the Reebok, (I always enjoyed beating Bolton for some perverse reason, mostly to do with their attitude when they fell into Division 4. “We’re too big a club to play at this level” was the general tenor of things). Which brought us to Boxing Day with Wolves the visitors to EP. Bigger crowds are the norm at that time of year, and our recent form, plus Wolves bringing a fair few, saw the EP turnstiles clicking merrily. 10.278 was the recorded attendance. In the 20 years since then it’s only been bettered the once, 3 months later when City played the return game. The starting line-up was short of Ian Moore, who was late, stuck in a traffic jam. He emerged off the bench in the second half, and promptly turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win.

We went home to finish off the festive fare, with County standing 6th in the table. As far as I’m aware that’s the highest position in our history, and without a doubt the highest in my 57 years. (The purists may argue that 2 games, and 2 wins into the season we stood top of the table, and of course they are right, but early season placings are of little relevance). We finished the year still in 6th despite a narrow defeat at Portman Road a couple of days later.

As the Millennium firework fiesta heralded the 21st century it was a great time to be a County fan. We looked forward with anticipation. How holes can be dashed and so cruelly. Just over a decade later we crashed out of the Football League, and 2 years after that we were consigned to regional football. It simply is the greatest fall from grace in English football. The next 15 years will be hard to write about, (barring the one promotion in 2007/08 and the renaissance under Jim Gannon in the last couple of years). But the overriding theme will be about the biblical scale mismanagement off the field, which gave those on it, and the managers charged with overseeing the football side, little chance.

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Back to 1998 Forward to 2000 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1999

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THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Home Game
Sat	09/01/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Bradford City	L	1	2	8,975	583
Sat	30/01/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	L	1	2	8,654	584
Sat	13/02/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Birmingham City	W	1	0	9,056	585
Sat	27/02/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Queens Park Rangers	D	0	0	7,694	586
Tue	09/03/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Swindon Town	W	2	1	6,098	587
Sat	20/03/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Tranmere Rovers	D	0	0	7,589	588
Sat	03/04/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Bury	D	0	0	7,483	589
Sat	10/04/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Sheffield United	W	1	0	7,551	590
Sat	17/04/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Bristol City	D	2	2	7,602	591
Sat	01/05/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Sunderland	L	0	1	10,548	592
Tue	10/08/99	Worthington Cup	Round 1 (1st Leg)	Oldham Athletic	W	2	0	3,017	593
Sat	14/08/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Tranmere Rovers	W	2	1	6,555	594
Fri	27/08/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Birmingham City	W	2	0	6,115	595
Sat	18/09/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Port Vale	W	1	0	7,632	596
Tue	21/09/99	Worthington Cup	Round 2 (2nd Leg)	Barnsley	D	3	3	3,332	597
Sat	25/09/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Norwich City	D	2	2	7,603	598
Sat	16/10/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Crewe Alexandra	W	2	1	7,571	599
Tue	19/10/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Huddersfield Town	D	1	1	7,305	600
Sat	30/10/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Walsall	D	1	1	6,592	601
Tue	02/11/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Queens Park Rangers	D	3	3	4,868	602
Sat	06/11/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Fulham	W	2	1	7,200	603
Sat	20/11/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Sheffield United	D	1	1	6,614	604
Sat	04/12/99	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Grimsby Town	W	2	1	5,581	605
Sun	26/12/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	W	3	2	10,278	606