Manchester United's current form has been a rollercoaster for fans – but 25 years ago, they were the team to beat not only in the Premier League, but in Europe. That 1998/99 season saw them set a then-unprecedented first which has only been matched since by their local rivals Manchester City.
Under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson and with star players including David Beckham, Peter Schmeichel (in his final season with the team), Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, United secured the Premier League title and won the FA Cup just seven days apart.
Then on May 26, 1999, without midfield stalwarts Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, striker Teddy Sheringham somehow clawed back an equaliser against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final during the first minute of added time.
What to Read Next
Less than a minute later, United forced a corner, setting up super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjær's dramatic last-minute winner to secure the Champions League trophy and that treble in highly emotional scenes.
To mark the 25th anniversary of their achievement, which took place against the threat of a takeover unpopular with United fans (sound familiar?), a new Prime Video documentary titled '99 is premiering today.
Aptly split into three parts, '99 will likely hold appeal to those who enjoyed the first couple of episodes of Netflix's Beckham documentary focusing on his time at Old Trafford, or The United Way, Eric Cantona's love letter to both his former club and the city of Manchester itself.
Directed by Sampson Collins, '99 will feature interviews with Manchester United players who were key to that success including Beckham, Cole, Schmeichel, Sheringham, Solskjær and Yorke, plus Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Jaap Stam and Paul Scholes.
And of course, Sir Alex offers his perspective, as will his assistant coach Steve McClaren.
The filmmakers are also promising '99 will include never-before-seen archive footage from that season, including candid clips from the club archives and United fans.
Here's how you can relive that season.
Watch '99 in the UK
'99 is available in its entirety globally from today (Friday, May 17) on Prime Video. Membership of Amazon's streaming service can be purchased on its own, or bundled with full Prime membership.
Watch '99 with Prime membership
UK customers can get Prime Video on its own for £5.99 per month, or sign up for the full Prime service instead (£8.99 per month or £95 per year).
Prime Video is packed with sports documentaries including its acclaimed fly-on-the-wall series All or Nothing, following the globe's leading sports teams.
It's featured Premier League sides including Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur before now, with international focus on the Brazilian and German national men's football teams, the New Zealand All Blacks rugby squad, the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, and Serie A club Juventus.
In addition to documentaries about the likes of Andy Murray, Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney and Nicola Adams, Prime Video customers can also enjoy a selection of Premier League football matches until the end of the 2024/25 season – usually around 20 per year.
From 2024/25, Amazon will share the rights to the UEFA Champions League with TNT Sports in the UK, with 17 matches spread throughout the entire season.
And of course, Prime Video customers can also enjoy a selection of movies from The Idea of You to American Fiction, plus original TV series including Fallout, The Boys and Good Omens.
If you opt for full Prime membership, you can also get perks including next or nominated-day delivery, Prime Gaming access, exclusive early access to flash sales or 'Lightning Deals', and local perks such as a year of free Hello Fresh shipping or a year's free Deliveroo Plus Silver membership.
You Might Like...
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
LinkedIn
