1997–98 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

West Bromwich Albion
1997–98 season
ChairmanTony Hale
ManagerRay Harford (until 4 December)
Richie Barker and John Trewick (caretaker managers until 24 December)
Denis Smith (from 24 December)
StadiumThe Hawthorns
First Division10th
FA CupFourth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Hughes (14)
All: Hunt/Hughes (14)
Highest home attendance23,013 v Nottingham Forest
Lowest home attendance7,227 v Luton Town
Average home league attendance17,004 (16,635 all competitions)

During the 1997–98 English football season, West Bromwich Albion F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

In the first few months of the 1997–98 season, West Brom established themselves in the top six. Harford then stunned Albion supporters by moving to QPR after less than a year in charge, making way for Denis Smith,[1][2] who struggled to maintain the momentum created by Harford, and the Baggies could only finish 10th.

Nigel Spink (24) became the oldest goalkeeper to appear for the club when, at the age of 39 years and 19 days, he kept goal in a League Cup tie against Cambridge United on 27 August 1997,[3] a record since broken by Dean Kiely at 39 years, 189 days.[4]

Final league table

Main article: 1997–98 Football League First Division

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
8 Stockport County 46 19 8 19 71 69 +2 65
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
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

West Bromwich Albion's score comes first[5]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1997 Tranmere Rovers H 2–1 16,727 Kilbane, Hunt
16 August 1997 Crewe Alexandra A 3–2 5,234 Hunt (pen), Hughes (2)
24 August 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–0 22,511 Curle (own goal)
30 August 1997 Ipswich Town A 1–1 13,508 Sneekes
3 September 1997 Stoke City A 0–0 17,500
7 September 1997 Reading H 1–0 15,966 Hunt
13 September 1997 Queens Park Rangers A 0–2 14,399
20 September 1997 Swindon Town H 0–0 16,237
27 September 1997 Bury A 3–1 6,439 Peschisolido (3)
4 October 1997 Oxford United H 1–2 15,889 Hunt
18 October 1997 Portsmouth A 3–2 9,158 Mardon, Hunt (2)
21 October 1997 Nottingham Forest A 0–1 19,243
25 October 1997 Sheffield United H 2–0 17,311 Hunt, Hughes
1 November 1997 Bradford City A 0–0 16,212
4 November 1997 Norwich City H 1–0 13,949 Hughes
8 November 1997 Charlton Athletic H 1–0 16,124 Hunt
15 November 1997 Port Vale A 2–1 11,124 Hunt, Hamilton
23 November 1997 Birmingham City H 1–0 18,444 Sneekes
29 November 1997 Middlesbrough A 0–1 30,164
2 December 1997 Manchester City H 0–1 17,904
6 December 1997 Stockport County H 3–2 14,957 Sneekes, Hughes, Hunt
13 December 1997 Sunderland A 0–2 29,231
20 December 1997 Huddersfield Town H 0–2 14,619
26 December 1997 Reading A 1–2 10,154 Kilbane
28 December 1997 Stoke City H 1–1 19,690 Hunt
9 January 1998 Tranmere Rovers A 0–0 8,058
17 January 1998 Crewe Alexandra H 0–1 15,257
27 January 1998 Ipswich Town H 2–3 12,403 Murphy, Flynn
31 January 1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–0 28,244 Hunt
7 February 1998 Swindon Town A 2–0 9,861 Carbon, Evans
14 February 1998 Queens Park Rangers H 1–1 20,143 Hughes
17 February 1998 Oxford United A 1–2 9,412 Taylor
21 February 1998 Bury H 1–1 15,840 Hughes
24 February 1998 Portsmouth H 0–3 12,757
28 February 1998 Manchester City A 0–1 28,460
3 March 1998 Charlton Athletic A 0–5 10,893
7 March 1998 Bradford City H 1–1 13,281 Burgess
14 March 1998 Norwich City A 1–1 16,663 Hughes
21 March 1998 Port Vale H 2–2 14,242 Flynn, Taylor
28 March 1998 Birmingham City A 0–1 23,260
4 April 1998 Middlesbrough H 2–1 21,620 Quinn (2, 1 pen)
11 April 1998 Stockport County A 1–2 7,943 Hughes
13 April 1998 Sunderland H 3–3 22,181 Hughes (2), Kilbane
18 April 1998 Huddersfield Town A 0–1 11,704
25 April 1998 Sheffield United A 4–2 21,248 Hunt, Hughes (2), Kilbane
3 May 1998 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 23,013 Hughes (pen)

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 13 January 1998 Stoke City H 3–1 17,598 Sneekes (2), Kilbane
R4 24 January 1998 Aston Villa A 0–4 39,372

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 First Leg 12 August 1997 Cambridge United A 1–1 3,520 Peschisolido
R1 Second Leg 27 August 1997 Cambridge United H 2–1 (won 3–2 on agg) 10,264 Hunt, Sneekes (pen)
R2 First Leg 16 September 1997 Luton Town A 1–1 3,437 Taylor
R2 Second Leg 23 September 1997 Luton Town H 4–2 (won 5–3 on agg) 7,227 Raven, McDermott, Peschisolido (2)
R3 15 October 1997 Liverpool H 0–2 22,986

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[6]

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 England ENG Alan Miller
— GK England ENG Chris Adamson
— GK England ENG Paul Crichton
— GK England ENG Nigel Spink
— GK Scotland SCO Gary Germaine[notes 1]
— DF England ENG Paul Holmes
— DF Wales WAL Paul Mardon[notes 2]
— DF England ENG Matt Carbon
— DF England ENG Daryl Burgess
— DF England ENG Shane Nicholson
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Kevin Kilbane[notes 3]
— MF Netherlands NED Richard Sneekes
— MF England ENG Peter Butler
— MF England ENG Ian Hamilton
— MF England ENG Sean Flynn
— FW England ENG Andy Hunt
— FW England ENG Lee Hughes
— MF England ENG David Smith
— DF Australia AUS Shaun Murphy
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Australia AUS Andy McDermott
— FW Northern Ireland NIR James Quinn[notes 4]
— FW England ENG Bob Taylor
— DF Scotland SCO Steve Nicol
— DF England ENG Paul Raven
— DF Australia AUS Jason van Blerk
— DF England ENG Paul Beesley (on loan from Manchester City)
— MF England ENG Stacy Coldicott
— DF England ENG Tony Dobson
— FW Canada CAN Paul Peschisolido
— DF England ENG Graham Potter
— FW Republic of Ireland IRL Mickey Evans[notes 5]
— FW England ENG Franz Carr
— FW Wales WAL James Thomas (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
— FW Saint Kitts and Nevis SKN Brian Quailey[notes 6]
— MF England ENG Dave Gilbert
— MF England ENG Dean Bennett
— FW England ENG Michael Rodosthenous
— GK England ENG Neil Wypior

Notes

  1. ^ Germaine was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
  2. ^ Mardon was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in October 1995.
  3. ^ Kilbane was born in Preston, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for Republic of Ireland in September 1997.
  4. ^ Quinn was born in Coventry, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1996.
  5. ^ Evans was born in Plymouth, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in October 1997.
  6. ^ Quailey was born in Leicester, England, but also qualified to represent Saint Kitts and Nevis internationally and represented them at U-23 level.

References

  1. ^ Irwin, Mark (4 December 1997). "QPR's Harf measure". The Free Library. The Mirror. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  2. ^ Moore, David (24 December 1997). "Football: Albion job for Smith". The Free Library. The Mirror. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  3. ^ Matthews, Tony (2005). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion. Breedon Books. pp. 220–221. ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
  4. ^ "Games played by Dean Kiely in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ "West Bromwich Albion results for the 1997-1998 season - Statto.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  6. ^ "All West Bromwich Albion players: 1998".