What happened to Manchester United in 1999?

The new Prime Video documentary series 99 focuses on one of the most incredible stories in football history: Manchester United's 1998-99 season. Across three episodes and dozens of interviews with the biggest stars on and off the pitch, the series offers the inside story of that season, through the prism of 10 pivotal days.

That season saw Sir Alex Ferguson's dominant Man United side scale heights they had never managed before, even after winning four of the first six Premier League titles. They took on the unprecedented challenge of winning a "treble" — the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League — for the first time.

Before we all settle down to watch 99 on Prime Video, let's take a look at how that unique season played out.

What happened to Manchester United in 1999?

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Ferguson's incredible and star-studded team did the unthinkable in 1999, winning all three major trophies and completing the treble across 10 days and three pivotal games. It's these three games that provide the framing device for each episode of the new documentary.

The first episode follows the season's Premier League campaign. Having lost out on the title to Arsenal in 1998, United were bruised by a 3-0 defeat to the champions in the pre-season Charity Shield match. They were thumped again by Arsenal in a league game early in the season.

But, powered by the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry of new striker partnership Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, as well as the creativity of stars like David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, they turned things around. On the final day, they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 to ensure they finished a point ahead of Arsenal and won the title.

Watch: Trailer for Manchester United documentary 99

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Just six days later, the team went to Wembley and bested Newcastle United in the FA Cup final thanks to goals from substitute Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. Sheringham was again one of the heroes four days later when United lined up against Bayern Munich in the biggest clash in European football — the Champions League final.

United's stars flew to Barcelona for the crunch clash at the famous Camp Nou. Bayern were also on the hunt for a treble and went 1-0 up early in the match. They held on to their slender lead until the 91st minute when Sheringham — again on as a substitute — bundled home a late equaliser to send the match level.

Then the ultimate super-sub Ole Gunnar Solksjaer did what he so often did, scoring a crucial goal off the bench for United. And he never got one more important than this — the winning goal that secured the treble in the 93rd minute of the match.

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Manchester United's achievement in 1999 stood as the only example of an English team winning a treble for well over 20 years. Perhaps inevitably, it was Pep Guardiola's exceptional Manchester City team who were the next to complete the feat, managing it in the 2022-23 season.

But there's no doubt that United's triumph stands as something truly special and the perfect combination of a team of stars and a manager with all of the intelligence to put them together.

99 is available to stream in full on Prime Video now.