On 12 September 1998, Spartak Moscow paid a visit to Amkar for a Russian Cup tie. Spartak's previous visit to the Western Urals was in 1977 as a first division side, when they were close to a return to the top tier of domestic football. The match attracted enormous interest and the 25,000-capacity stadium was filled to capacity for the first time in its 30-year history. The match finished 1–0 in favour of Amkar. In the league, "Permyaki" accumulated 93% of the possible number of points and scored 100 goals. Amkar took first place and earned the right to play in the First Division.