How I Went About Recreating That 98/99 League Table
So, the other day, I got this itch, you know? I was thinking about classic football seasons, and the 98/99 Premier League just popped into my head. What a season that was! Manchester United’s treble, Arsenal pushing them all the way, Chelsea being strong. Just a lot of good memories tied to that time. I thought, hey, why not try and put together the final league table from that year? Just for kicks, a little project.
First thing, I figured I’d need the basic stats for each team. You know, how many games they played, wins, draws, losses, goals for, goals against, and of course, the points. Sounds simple, right? But finding reliable data for something that old can sometimes be a bit of a faff. I remember thinking, ‘Where am I gonna dig this up from?’
My Hunt for the Numbers
I started by just searching around on the internet. You’d think it’d be everywhere, but you get all sorts of different sites, some looking a bit dodgy, others incomplete. I had to spend a bit of time cross-checking. I wanted to make sure I got the right numbers for all 20 teams that were in the top flight back then. It’s funny how you can go down a rabbit hole looking for simple facts. One site might have the points, another the goal difference, but getting it all in one reliable spot took a little patience. I wasn’t looking for anything super complex, just the final standings.
Once I felt I had a good set of data for each club – from Manchester United at the top, all the way down to the teams that got relegated – I needed to organize it. I decided the classic table format was the way to go. It’s just the easiest way to see everything at a glance.
Putting It All Together
So, I sat down and started to lay it out. I figured I’d need these columns:
- Position
- Team
- Played (P)
- Won (W)
- Drawn (D)
- Lost (L)
- Goals For (GF)
- Goals Against (GA)
- Goal Difference (GD)
- Points (Pts)
I just started inputting the data for each team, one by one. Manchester United, then Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, and so on. Making sure the goal difference was calculated right, and the points matched up. It was a bit like doing a puzzle, but with numbers and team names. I didn’t use any fancy software, just typed it out and tried to make it look neat. Used some basic bolding for the headers, that sort of thing.
And well, after a bit of typing and checking, there it was! The complete Premier League table for the 1998/99 season. Seeing it all laid out, from the champions down to those who faced the drop, was quite satisfying. It’s a snapshot of a specific moment in football history. Took me back, that’s for sure. Sometimes these little projects, just digging up and organizing old info, can be quite a nice way to spend an afternoon. Makes you appreciate how much drama and effort goes into a full season, doesn’t it?
