1997–98 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season

Crewe Alexandra
1997–98 season
ChairmanJohn Bowler
ManagerDario Gradi
StadiumGresty Road
First Division11th
FA CupThird round
League CupFirst round
Top goalscorerLittle (13)
Average home league attendance5,243

During the 1997–98 English football season, Crewe Alexandra F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, in their 75th season in the English Football League.

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Crewe were favourites to go straight back down to the Second Division and before Christmas, they were in the relegation zone and looked as though it would be a possibility but a fantastic run of 7 wins from 10 league games from January to the end of February, dramatically rose Crewe from a possible relegation to 12th and 7 points from the play-offs but it proved too much to ask for and Crewe finished a satisfying season in 11th place.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
9 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 18 11 17 57 53 +4 65
10 West Bromwich Albion 46 16 13 17 50 56 −6 61
11 Crewe Alexandra 46 18 5 23 58 65 −7 59
12 Oxford United 46 16 10 20 60 64 −4 58
13 Bradford City 46 14 15 17 46 59 −13 57
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Crewe Alexandra's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1997 Swindon Town A 0–2 8,334
16 August 1997 West Bromwich Albion H 2–3 5,234 Adebola, Rivers
23 August 1997 Norwich City A 2–0 11,821 Rivers, S Smith
2 September 1997 Bury H 1–2 4,447 S Smith (pen)
13 September 1997 Portsmouth A 3–2 9,505 Rivers, Anthrobus, Adebola
16 September 1997 Port Vale H 0–1 5,519
20 September 1997 Queens Park Rangers H 2–3 5,348 Lunt, Adebola
27 September 1997 Tranmere Rovers H 2–1 4,845 Anthrobus, Street
4 October 1997 Birmingham City A 1–0 16,548 Rivers
11 October 1997 Reading A 3–3 6,685 Westwood, Little, Adebola
18 October 1997 Middlesbrough H 1–1 5,759 Adebola
21 October 1997 Ipswich Town H 0–0 4,730
25 October 1997 Bradford City A 0–1 15,333
29 October 1997 Manchester City A 0–1 27,384
1 November 1997 Nottingham Forest A 1–3 18,268 Little
4 November 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–2 5,743
8 November 1997 Oxford United H 2–1 4,524 Westwood, Anthrobus
15 November 1997 Charlton Athletic A 2–3 14,091 Street, S Smith
22 November 1997 Stockport County H 0–1 5,231
29 November 1997 Sheffield United A 0–1 16,973
6 December 1997 Huddersfield Town H 2–5 4,861 Charnock, Adebola
13 December 1997 Stoke City A 2–0 14,623 S Smith, Little
20 December 1997 Sunderland H 0–3 5,404
26 December 1997 Manchester City H 1–0 5,759 Holsgrove
28 December 1997 Bury A 1–1 5,661 Adebola
11 January 1998 Swindon Town H 2–0 4,176 Little, Street
17 January 1998 West Bromwich Albion A 1–0 15,257 Little
24 January 1998 Port Vale A 3–2 10,571 S Smith (pen), Whalley, Foran
31 January 1998 Norwich City H 1–0 5,559 Fuglestad (own goal)
7 February 1998 Queens Park Rangers A 2–3 13,429 Anthrobus, Johnson
14 February 1998 Portsmouth H 3–1 5,114 Little, Garvey, Lunt
17 February 1998 Birmingham City H 0–2 5,559
21 February 1998 Tranmere Rovers A 3–0 7,534 Rivers, Little (2)
25 February 1998 Middlesbrough A 0–1 29,936
28 February 1998 Reading H 1–0 5,202 Rivers
3 March 1998 Oxford United A 0–0 6,069
7 March 1998 Nottingham Forest H 1–4 5,759 Little
14 March 1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–1 24,272
21 March 1998 Charlton Athletic H 0–3 5,252
28 March 1998 Stockport County A 1–0 8,370 S Smith
11 April 1998 Huddersfield Town A 0–2 11,263
13 April 1998 Stoke City H 2–0 5,759 Westwood, Lightfoot
18 April 1998 Sunderland A 1–2 40,441 Charnock
25 April 1998 Bradford City H 5–0 5,054 Anthrobus, Street, Little (3)
30 April 1998 Sheffield United H 2–1 5,759 Anthrobus, Little
3 May 1998 Ipswich Town A 2–3 19,105 Charnock, Garvey

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 3 January 1998 Birmingham City H 1–2 4,607 Rivers

League Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 First Leg 12 August 1997 Bury H 2–3 2,618 Lunt, S Smith
R1 Second Leg 26 August 1997 Bury A 3–3 (lost 5–6 on agg) 3,296 Rivers, S Smith, Butler (own goal)

Squad

[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Australia AUS Jason Kearton
DF England ENG Shaun Smith
DF England ENG Marcus Bignot
DF England ENG Lee Unsworth
DF England ENG Dave Walton
MF England ENG Seth Johnson
MF England ENG Phil Charnock
MF England ENG Mark Rivers
MF England ENG Kenny Lunt
FW England ENG Colin Little
FW England ENG Steve Anthrobus
FW Nigeria NGA Dele Adebola
DF England ENG Ashley Westwood
MF England ENG Gareth Whalley
MF England ENG Kevin Street
GK Nigeria NGA Ademola Bankole
DF England ENG Mark Foran
MF England ENG Steve Garvey
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF England ENG Chris Lightfoot
MF England ENG Paul Holsgrove
DF England ENG Julian Watts
FW England ENG Jamie Moralee
FW England ENG Steve Guinan (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
DF England ENG Steve Pope
MF England ENG Jermaine Wright
FW Wales WAL Peter Smith
MF England ENG Francis Tierney
DF England ENG David Wright
DF England ENG John Pemberton
DF England ENG Jamie Collins
DF England ENG Stephen Foster
GK England ENG Neil Cutler
DF England ENG Steve Macauley
GK England ENG Mark Gayle

References

  1. ^ "Crewe Alexandra 1997-1998 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  2. ^ "All Crewe Alexandra players: 1998".