1998–99 Hong Kong First Division League
# 1998–99 Hong Kong First Division League

The 1998–99 Hong Kong First Division League season was the 88th since its establishment.

The first match was played on 30 August 1998 with Instant-Dict drew South China 2–2. However, as there was an ineligible player in Instant-Dict's squad and the team was penalised with a 0–3 loss.

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Happy Valley | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 14 | +17 | 30 | To Grand Final |
| 2 | South China | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 22 | Championship Playoff |
| 3 | Yee Hope | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 27 | +3 | 22 | Championship Playoff |
| 4 | Golden | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 22 | Championship Playoff |
| 5 | Sing Tao | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 19 | Relegation Playoff |
| 6 | Instant-Dict | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 16 | Relegation Playoff |
| 7 | Rangers | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 16 | Relegation Playoff |
| 8 | Sai Kung Friends | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 10 | Relegation Playoff |

## Second stage

NB: Teams take points and goals halved from first phase. GF and GA is rounded.

### Championship playoff

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | South China | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 25 | To Grand Final |
| 2 | Happy Valley | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 16 | +10 | 22 | |
| 3 | Yee Hope | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 18 | |
| 4 | Golden | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 25 | −5 | 16 | |

### Relegation playoff

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 5 | Instant-Dict | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 23 | |
| 6 | Sing Tao | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 18.5 | Withdrew from the league system after the season. |
| 7 | Sai Kung Friends | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 34 | −13 | 14 | Relegation to Second Division by rules, but retained in the First Division as both HKFC and Fire Services declined promotion. |
| 8 | Rangers | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 31 | −16 | 11 | Relegation to Second Division by rules, but retained in the First Division as both HKFC and Fire Services declined promotion. |

## Final

* First Division League 1998–99 winners
* Happy Valley 3rd title
