After finishing the previous season without winning any titles, United won the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1998–99, the first side in English football to do so.
Having claimed an unprecedented third Double in six seasons, Manchester United went on to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions' League Final in Barcelona, four days later to claim the Treble, a feat never before achieved by an English club.
Their FA Cup triumph would also have qualified them for the 1999 FA Charity Shield and the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup, but their position as league winners meant that they had already qualified for the Charity Shield and the higher-tier Champions' League; therefore, the other place in the Charity Shield went to league runners-up Arsenal, while the UEFA Cup place usually reserved for the cup winners went to Newcastle as Cup runners-up.
Manchester United decided not to defend their FA Cup title the following season, having instead been invited to compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. The Football Association (FA) encouraged the club to take part in the new tournament as they believed it would help their bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Alex Ferguson initially suggested that The FA could allow his team a bye to a later round of the competition to help alleviate the fixture congestion that would arise from entering both competitions, but the FA suggested that Manchester United simply pull out of the FA Cup altogether, putting the club in what chairman Martin Edwards called a "no-win" situation. Edwards said: "We're going to get criticised whatever we do. If we don't go people will say that we are selfish and only looking after ourselves and not prepared to help the 2006 World Cup bid. But we will also be criticised if we say we're not going to compete in the FA Cup." The offer was also criticised by Manchester United fans; Andy Walsh of theIndependent Manchester United Supporters' Association said, "They've shown very little offer of help in the past when United have looked to ease their fixture congestion. This blinding conversion is all to do with the 2006 campaign."
The club ultimately accepted The FA's offer on 30 June, but they were given until the date of the draw for the second round on 28 October to finalise that decision. Their place in the third round was given to a "lucky loser", determined by drawing one team out of the 40 losers from the second round; that team was Darlington of the Third Division, who were drawn away to Aston Villa. Manchester United were knocked out of the Club World Championship in the group stage after losing to hosts Vasco Da Gama and drawing with Mexican club Necaxa, their only victory coming against Australian representatives South Melbourne. It later turned out that their FA Cup sacrifice was in vain, as FIFA suggested that their participation in the competition would have no bearing on the vote to host the 2006 World Cup, which was ultimately won by the German FA.
Of the 20 finals played between 1996 and 2015, this final was ranked 19th by The Daily Telegraph for failing to live up to the promise of the game's early action.
| Chairman | Martin Edwards |
|---|---|
| Manager | Alex Ferguson |
| Premier League | 1st |
| FA Cup | Winners |
| League Cup | Quarter-finals |
| UEFA Champions L. | Winners |
| Charity Shield | Runners-up |
| Top goalscorer | League: Dwight York (18) All: Dwight York (29) |
| Highest home attendance | 55,316 vs Southampton (27 February 1999) |
| Lowest home attendance | 37,337 vs Nottm Forest (11 November 1998) |
| Average home league attendance | 55,188 |
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