1998–99 in English football gets the manager's job on a permanent basis. 28 October 1998 – Chelsea player-manager Gianluca Vialli scores a hat-trick in the 4–1 League Cup third round win over Aston Villa. Making his debut as a late substitute is 17-year-old defender John Terry. On the same day, striker Brian Laudrup's departure from Chelsea is announced after just four months at the club. 31 October 1998 – Ron Reeves, a 55-year-old steward, is killed outside Highfield Road stadium after being crushed by the Arsenal team coach just before a game with Coventry City. The month ends with Aston Villa still top, a
Matthew Armstrong (English footballer) serving in the Middle East as a private with 149 Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps. He is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial. Matthew Armstrong (English footballer) Matthew Armstrong (1918 or 1919 – 12 July 1941) was an English footballer who made 38 appearances in the Football League playing as a wing half for Darlington in the 1930s. He joined Aston Villa in 1939 – a preview in the "Daily Express" highlighted him as one of "two young defenders who look as if they have that certain Soccer something" – but he never played for Villa's first team before the