UNBEATEN CROYDON CRUISE TO THEIR SECOND TITLE

The 1998-99 National Division, like the previous campaign, saw a four team race for the title – but this time it was Croydon who claimed the crown, edging Arsenal into second place with Doncaster Belles finishing third and reigning champions Everton having to settle for fourth place.  

It was Croydon’s second title in three years under player-manager Debbie Bampton MBE, the South London side remaining unbeaten throughout the campaign while conceding the fewest goals (11 in 18 games).

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Champions Croydon featured in ‘On the Ball' the magazine for women’s football, featuring the photo of them in the stands, waving their self-made trophy at the Women’s FA Cup Final

Such stingy defensive form – which formed the foundation of the nine-game winning streak that followed their 0-0 home draw with Doncaster Belles in mid-December – proved pivotal. While a shock defeat for rivals Arsenal in October, at Tranmere Rovers, proved decisive. 

The Gunners went down 1-0 in front of over 300 fans at Heswall FC, where Kelly Shimmin’s second-half strike earned the youthful hosts a deserved victory.

Croydon were now without their retired 1995 World Cup stars Hope Powell and Brenda Sempare, while this also proved to be the swansong season for former England forward Kerry Davis. They still boasted a robust and experienced spine throughout the side, including Lionesses goalkeeper Pauline Cope, their Northern Ireland international skipper and centre-back Gill Wylie, Bampton in midfield and England forward Jo Broadhurst in attack.  

“Some of my players – probably four or five of them – were Arsenal ‘hasbeens’ really,” reflects Bampton, wryly. “I mixed older, experienced players with younger players, like the twins [Carly and Gemma Hunt]. I had one to the left of me and one to the right of me, I had Gill Wylie at centre-back and Jo [Broadhurst] up front.”

 “Gill Wylie was one of the hardest players, ever. I mean, brutal. What a player.” 

Camaraderie was key for Croydon’s battlers: “Croydon is special to me, because I was manager and a player, and we were such underdogs,” says Bampton. 

“The best team in the league were definitely Arsenal. They could wipe the floor with us. But we went unbeaten for 18 months. I think it was that spirit and bond we had. We were all mates… and when things were sort of confrontational we all hung in together.” 

One occasion she refers to was their potential league-winning fixture, which had rather infamous ramifications: 

“We had to go to Tranmere, I phoned The FA and asked if an FA representative was going to be there to present us with the trophy. They said, “It’s too far to go.” 

Croydon were indeed confirmed as champions in the North West, on 2nd May. In what was their best performance of the season, Carmaine Walker scored an excellent hat-trick – a glancing header, one struck with the outside of the boot and the third an unstoppable rocket – and Joanne Broadhurst netted twice to register a comfortable 5-0 win.

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Hat-trick heroine Carmaine Walker helped secure Croydon’s title at Tranmere

“So we ended up all going to Charlton [The Valley] the following day, for the FA Cup Final, all in our Croydon shirts,” explains Bampton. “It was live on Sky Sports and we were singing, “‘We are the Champions’ and ‘where’s your treble gone’?”

Arsenal’s 6-0 win against Ilkeston Town in late April relegated the midlands side after only one season in the top flight, and a week later a 3-2 loss to Everton consigned Bradford City to the Northern Division. 

The Gunners, meanwhile, closed their season with a 3-1 win at Highbury, rather poetically, against Tranmere Rovers. It was played just six days after their FA cup triumph over Southampton Saints, adding another piece of silverware to their league cup win – that one league loss had likely cost them a second, historic domestic treble.

FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE NATIONAL DIVISION RESULTS 1998-99

6/9/1998
Bradford City 0-3 Arsenal
Everton 0-0 Croydon
Millwall Lionesses 1-0 Liverpool
Southampton Saints 0-1 Ilkeston Town
Tranmere Rovers 1-3 Doncaster Belles

20/9/1998
Arsenal 4-1 Everton
Croydon 4-0 Bradford City
Doncaster Belles 2-1 Millwall Lionesses
Ilkeston Town 3-4 Tranmere Rovers
Liverpool 3-0 Southampton Saints

27/9/1998
Arsenal 3-3 Croydon

4/10/1998
Everton 1-2 Doncaster Belles
Ilkeston Town 0-9 Arsenal
Liverpool 0-3 Croydon
Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Millwall Lionesses

18/10/1998
Doncaster Belles 2-2 Southampton Saints
Liverpool 2-1 Ilkeston Town
Millwall Lionesses 0-4 Croydon
Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Arsenal

21/10/1998
Croydon 4-0 Southampton Saints
Doncaster Belles 1-0 Liverpool

22/10/1998
Arsenal 1-0 Millwall Lionesses

1/11/1998
Everton 2-2 Arsenal
Tranmere Rovers 3-1 Ilkeston Town

8/11/1998
Doncaster Belles 3-0 Bradford City
Ilkeston Town 0-2 Millwall Lionesses
Southampton Saints 0-4 Everton

15/11/1998
Everton 2-1 Ilkeston Town
Liverpool 0-5 Arsenal
Tranmere Rovers 3-0 Southampton Saints

22/11/1998
Arsenal 2-1 Southampton Saints
Bradford City 1-5 Doncaster Belles
Croydon 5-0 Ilkeston Town

29/11/1998
Bradford City 1-3 Liverpool
Millwall Lionesses 3-1 Ilkeston Town

6/12/1998
Croydon 2-2 Arsenal
Southampton Saints 2-0 Millwall Lionesses

13/12/1998
Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool
Bradford City 1-1 Millwall Lionesses
Croydon 0-0 Doncaster Belles
Ilkeston Town 1-0 Everton

20/12/1998
Everton 0-4 Tranmere Rovers
Liverpool 1-2 Doncaster Belles
Millwall Lionesses 0-1 Arsenal
Southampton Saints 1-3 Croydon

17/1/1999
Doncaster Belles 1-3 Arsenal

24/1/1999
Ilkeston Town 0-3 Liverpool  

31/1/1999
Doncaster Belles   3-0 Tranmere Rovers
Everton 5-0 Bradford City
Ilkeston Town 0-2 Southampton Saints

14/2/1999
Arsenal 2-2 Doncaster Belles

21/2/1999
Doncaster Belles 0-1 Croydon
Everton 0-1 Southampton Saints
Liverpool 5-1 Bradford City

28/2/1999
Bradford City 1-0 Southampton Saints
Croydon 2-1 Liverpool
Everton 2-0 Millwall Lionesses

14/3/1999
Bradford City 0-5 Tranmere Rovers
Liverpool 1-1 Millwall Lionesses
Southampton Saints 1-5 Arsenal

21/3/1999
Everton 1-0 Liverpool 

28/3/1999
Bradford City 2-6 Croydon 
Southampton Saints 2-2 Doncaster Belles
Tranmere Rovers 2-2 Liverpool

4/4/1999
Bradford City 2-2 Ilkeston Town
Millwall Lionesses 0-3 Everton

7/4/1999
Liverpool 5-0 Tranmere Rovers
Croydon 2-1 Millwall Lionesses

11/4/1999
Arsenal 6-0 Bradford City 
Croydon 1-0 Everton
Millwall Lionesses 1-1 Doncaster Belles
Southampton Saints 2-1 Liverpool 

13/4/1999
Bradford City 0-0 Tranmere Rovers

14/4/1999
Doncaster Belles 1-0 Ilkeston Town

18/4/1999
Ilkeston Town 1-4 Croydon 

21/4/1999
Liverpool 1-2 Everton

25/4/1999
Arsenal 6-0 Ilkeston Town
Croydon 4-0 Tranmere Rovers
Millwall Lionesses 1-1 Bradford City

26/4/1999
Doncaster Belles 1-2 Everton

28/4/1999
Ilkeston Town 1-1 Doncaster Belles
Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Everton

2/5/1999
Bradford City 2-3 Everton
Tranmere Rovers 0-5 Croydon

9/5/1999
Arsenal 3-1 Tranmere Rovers
Bradford City 3-2 Ilkeston Town

12/5/1999
Millwall Lionesses 1-1 Southampton Saints

16/5/1999
Southampton Saints 0-2 Tranmere Rovers

23/5/1999
Southampton Saints 5-1 Bradford City
Millwall Lionesses 0-2 Tranmere Rovers