1998-1999
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Manchester United won the treble this year winning the Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League and in some dramatic fashion that too. On the final day of the season, United went down on the final day 1-0 but recovered to win 2-1.
Arsenal would have won the title if not for the win of United. This season saw a lot of changes with United buying Blomqvist, Staam and Yorke along with Chelsea adding Marcel Desailly to the team after his impressive performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Chelsea eventually finished 3rd giving hopes to fans that their hopes of a title might end soon.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink finished as the top scorer for Leeds that season as Leeds once again tried to come to the top of the English footballing ladder but finished 4th in their quest for it. Charlton Athletic, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers were relegated this season. How quickly the fortunes change in English football?
1999-2000
You could dub this as the best goal scored in the Premier League or right up there in the list among the others.
Manchester United took the title again winning by a margin of 18 points followed by Arsenal, Leeds United, Liverpool and Chelsea. It was one of the most boring title races till date because of the sheer strength with which United went about their business and how their rivals floundered. It was also Gérard Houllier's first full season with Liverpool who had a decent season building a team with local lads like Gerrard and Owen and mixing them up with foreign talent like Sami Hyypia.
Bobby Robson also took over at Newcastle after Ruud Gullit was sacked. The season also saw Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard gain the attention of the other teams with West Ham doing their best to hold onto them.
2000-2001
Starting the Millenium as champions, Manchester United carried their remarkable run and ended up as champions again – A hat-trick! While Manchester United won the title, Liverpool did a cup treble winning the FA Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Cup after last season’s good display. They finished 3rd behind Arsenal but qualified for the Champions League and would feature in the competition for the first time after 1985.
Hasselbaink won the Golden Boot with his 23 goals and Chelsea welcomed Claudio Ranieri mid-season after the departure of Gianluca Vialli. Oh and by October, Leicester City were top of the league. The season saw Manchester City return back to the Premier League after a 4-year absence but were relegated back to Football League First Division.
Despite Liverpool’s and United’s success it was Ipswich Town’s George Burley who was named Manager of the Year as he guided them to a 5th place finish.
