1997–98 Football Conference

Conference National
Season1997–98
ChampionsHalifax Town (1st Football Conference title)
Direct promotionHalifax Town
Conference League Cup winnersMorecambe
FA Trophy winnersCheltenham Town (1st FA Trophy title)
Relegated to Level 6Gateshead,
Slough Town,
Stalybridge Celtic
Matches played462
Goals scored1,344 (2.91 per match)
Top goalscorerGeoff Horsfield (Halifax Town), 30
Biggest home winFarnborough Town – Stalybridge Celtic 6–0 (20 December 1997)
Biggest away winMorecambe – Hereford 1–5 (1 November 1997);
Stevenage – Hayes 1–5 (1 September 1997) ;
Dover – Kidderminster 0–4 (20 September 1997);
Kettering – Rushden & Diamonds 0–4 (21 February 1998);
Leek – Kettering 0–4 (31 March 1998)
Highest scoringHayes – Yeovil Town 6–4 (14 February 1998);
Rushden & Diamonds – Farnborough Town 5–5 (13 September 1997)
Longest winning runHalifax Town, 8 matches
Longest unbeaten runCheltenham Town, 17 matches
Longest losing runFarnborough Town, Stalybridge Celtic, 7 matches
Highest attendanceHalifax Town v Cheltenham Town, 6,357 (25 April 1998)
Lowest attendance?
Average attendance?

The Football Conference season of 1997–98 was the nineteenth season of the Football Conference, also known as the Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons.

Changes since the previous season

Final league table

Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Halifax Town 42 17 4 0 51 15 8 8 5 23 28 +31 87 Football Conference Champions, promoted to Football League Division Three
2 Cheltenham Town[a] 42 15 4 2 39 15 8 5 8 24 28 +20 78 FA Trophy winners
3 Woking 42 14 3 4 47 22 8 5 8 25 24 +26 74
4 Rushden & Diamonds 42 12 4 5 44 26 11 1 9 35 31 +22 74
5 Morecambe 42 11 4 6 35 30 10 6 5 42 34 +13 73 Conference League Cup winners
6 Hereford United 42 11 7 3 30 19 7 6 8 26 30 +7 67 Relegated from The Football League
7 Hednesford Town 42 14 4 3 28 12 4 8 9 31 38 +9 66
8 Slough Town 42 10 6 5 34 21 8 4 9 24 28 +9 64 Demoted to Isthmian League.[b]
9 Northwich Victoria 42 8 9 4 34 24 7 6 8 29 35 +4 60
10 Welling United 42 11 5 5 39 27 6 4 11 25 35 +2 60
11 Yeovil Town[a] 42 14 3 4 45 24 3 5 13 28 39 +10 59
12 Hayes 42 10 4 7 36 25 6 6 9 26 27 +10 58
13 Dover Athletic 42 10 4 7 34 29 5 6 10 26 41 −10 55
14 Kettering Town 42 8 6 7 29 29 5 7 9 24 31 −7 52
15 Stevenage Borough 42 8 8 5 35 27 5 4 12 24 36 −4 51
16 Southport 42 9 5 7 32 26 4 6 11 24 32 −2 50
17 Kidderminster Harriers 42 6 8 7 32 31 5 6 10 24 32 −7 47
18 Farnborough Town 42 10 3 8 37 27 2 5 14 19 43 −14 44
19 Leek Town[a] 42 8 8 5 34 26 2 6 13 18 41 −15 44
20 Telford United 42 6 7 8 25 31 4 5 12 28 45 −23 42
21 Gateshead 42 7 6 8 32 35 1 5 15 19 52 −36 35 Relegated to the Northern Premier League
22 Stalybridge Celtic 42 6 5 10 33 38 1 3 17 15 55 −45 29
Source: [1]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c New club in the Conference
  2. ^ Slough Town were demoted because their ground did not meet Conference National requirements. They were demoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Results

Home \ Away CHL DOV FAR GAT HAL HAY HED HER KET KID LEE MOR NOR R&D SLO SOU STL STB TEL WEL WOK YEO
Cheltenham Town 3–1 1–0 2–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 3–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 2–0
Dover Athletic 3–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–4 2–1 2–3 4–0 0–3 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 6–3 2–1 0–2 1–0
Farnborough Town 1–2 1–0 4–0 1–2 0–2 1–3 0–2 3–2 3–3 2–0 0–2 2–3 2–0 1–0 3–2 6–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 3–0 2–2
Gateshead 0–0 1–2 3–0 2–2 1–1 2–5 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–4 2–2 2–1 5–1 0–2 3–3 2–1 0–2 2–1 1–2 0–3
Halifax Town 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 5–1 4–2 2–0 1–0 4–3 3–1 4–0 6–1 1–0 1–0 3–1
Hayes 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–2 4–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 1–2 1–3 2–1 3–1 3–0 6–4
Hednesford Town 0–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–2 1–1 1–0
Hereford United 3–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–1
Kettering Town 0–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–4 3–3 2–1 3–1 2–0 1–3 0–1 0–1 1–1
Kidderminster Harriers 1–2 3–3 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–4 4–1 1–1 1–4 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 5–0 1–3 1–1 2–1 1–1 3–1
Leek Town 0–0 5–1 3–1 2–2 2–0 1–2 3–3 2–2 0–4 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–1 2–2 2–1 3–1 1–2 2–0 2–0
Morecambe 1–0 3–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–3 1–5 1–3 3–1 1–1 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 0–2 1–0 4–2 1–2 1–0
Northwich Victoria 2–1 2–1 3–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–0 1–1 3–1 5–0 2–4 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 5–1 0–2 2–1
Rushden & Diamonds 4–1 4–1 5–5 3–2 4–0 1–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 4–1 0–1 3–3 0–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–2 0–1 2–1 2–2
Slough Town 1–2 2–4 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–3 3–0 1–2 1–0 4–0 3–1 1–0 1–2 1–3 1–1
Southport 1–2 0–1 3–1 3–1 0–0 0–2 4–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–2 4–2 1–0 1–2 3–1 0–0 2–1
Stalybridge Celtic 1–4 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–3 3–4 2–1 6–1 3–1 0–1 2–4 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 3–2
Stevenage Borough 1–2 2–2 5–0 6–1 1–2 1–5 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–1 1–1 0–3 1–3 2–1 4–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–1
Telford United 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–4 0–3 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–3 2–1 4–2 0–1 2–2 1–0 3–0 0–3 0–3 1–4
Welling United 2–1 2–2 1–0 2–0 6–2 2–0 3–2 3–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 3–5 1–0 1–0 4–1 1–1 1–3
Woking 2–0 4–0 3–0 3–1 2–2 3–0 4–2 3–1 0–1 0–1 5–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 2–1 1–1 3–1 5–3 1–1 3–1 2–0
Yeovil Town 3–1 4–1 0–1 6–3 0–1 4–3 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–3 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 5–3 1–1 2–0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Glenda Rollin (ed.), Jack Rollin (exec. ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1998–99. Headline, 1998.[1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
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Locations of the Football Conference 1997–1998 teams
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Locations of the Football Conference London teams 1997–1998

Top scorers in order of league goals

Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total[1]
1 Geoff Horsfield Halifax Town 30 4 0 0 34
2 Darren Collins Rushden & Diamonds 29 0 3 0 32
3 Darran Hay Woking 20 0 0 1 21
4 Mark Cooper Welling United 18 1 0 0 19
= John Norman Morecambe 18 0 0 3 21
6 Neil Grayson Hereford United & Cheltenham Town 17 4 0 1 22
7 Owen Pickard Yeovil Town 17 6 0 1 24
= Dale Watkins Cheltenham Town 17 4 7 1 29
= Mike Bignall Kidderminster Harriers 16 1 0 0 17
= Brendan Burke Stalybridge Celtic 16 2 1 1 20
= Jason Eaton Cheltenham Town 16 2 4 0 22
= David Mehew Rushden & Diamonds 16 1 0 0 17
= Warren Patmore Yeovil Town 16 0 0 1 17
14 Ritchie Hanlon Welling United 15 0 0 0 15
= Martin Randall Hayes 15 0 2 2 19
16 Jamie Paterson Halifax Town 14 3 1 0 18
= Grant Payne Woking 14 0 0 1 15
= Chris Pearson Kettering Town 14 0 0 0 14
19 Andy Milner Morecambe 13 0 0 2 15
20 Steve Bowey Gateshead 12 1 1 0 14
= Jimmy Strouts Dover Athletic 12 0 0 1 13

References

  1. ^ a b c Glenda Rollin (ed.), Jack Rollin (exec. ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1998–99. Headline, 1998.