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Watford
1997–98 season
Chairman	Elton John
Manager	Graham Taylor
Stadium	Vicarage Road
Second Division	1st (champions)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Auto Windscreens Shield	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Kennedy (11); All: Kennedy (13)
Average home league attendance	11,532
	← 1996–97 1998–99 →

During the 1997–98 English football season, Watford F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Kenny Jackett was demoted to the position of assistant manager and Graham Taylor returned for a second spell as Watford manager. The transition proved a success; Watford secured the Division Two title, beating Bristol City into second place after a season-long struggle.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Watford (C, P)	46	24	16	6	67	41	+26	88	Promotion to the First Division
2	Bristol City (P)	46	25	10	11	69	39	+30	85	Promotion to the First Division
3	Grimsby Town (O, P)	46	19	15	12	55	37	+18	72	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4	Northampton Town	46	18	17	11	52	37	+15	71
5	Bristol Rovers	46	20	10	16	70	64	+6	70

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Watford's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Burnley	H	1–0	11,155	Lee
16 August 1997	Carlisle United	A	2–0	7,395	Kennedy, Johnson
23 August 1997	Brentford	H	3–1	10,125	Millen, Melvang, Johnson
30 August 1997	Preston North End	A	0–2	11,042
2 September 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–0	5,141	Noel-Williams
7 September 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2–1	12,100	Hyde, Lee
13 September 1997	Chesterfield	H	2–1	11,204	Rosenthal, Lee
20 September 1997	Gillingham	A	2–2	7,780	Rosenthal (pen), Johnson
27 September 1997	York City	H	1–1	13,812	Lee
4 October 1997	Luton Town	A	4–0	9,041	Johnson, Thomas, Kennedy (2)
14 October 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	2–1	8,110	Kennedy, Rosenthal (pen)
18 October 1997	Millwall	H	0–1	12,530
21 October 1997	Fulham	H	2–0	11,486	Rosenthal, Robinson
25 October 1997	Grimsby Town	A	1–0	5,699	Rosenthal
1 November 1997	Blackpool	H	4–1	9,723	Lee (2), Johnson, Rosenthal
4 November 1997	Southend United	A	3–0	4,001	Kennedy (3)
8 November 1997	Walsall	A	0–0	5,077
18 November 1997	Oldham Athletic	H	2–1	8,397	Thomas, Mooney
22 November 1997	Northampton Town	A	1–0	7,373	Kennedy
29 November 1997	Wigan Athletic	H	2–1	9,455	Thomas, Mooney
2 December 1997	Wrexham	A	1–1	3,702	Rosenthal
13 December 1997	Bristol City	H	1–1	16,072	Noel-Williams
20 December 1997	Bournemouth	A	1–0	6,081	Kennedy
26 December 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–0	8,090
28 December 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–1	11,594	Mooney
10 January 1998	Burnley	A	0–2	9,551
17 January 1998	Preston North End	H	3–1	10,182	Kennedy (2), Hyde
24 January 1998	Brentford	A	2–1	6,969	Mooney, Johnson
31 January 1998	Chesterfield	A	1–0	5,975	Noel-Williams
8 February 1998	Gillingham	H	0–2	10,498
14 February 1998	Luton Town	H	1–1	15,182	Robinson
21 February 1998	York City	A	1–1	4,890	Palmer
25 February 1998	Millwall	A	1–1	7,126	Mooney
28 February 1998	Bristol Rovers	H	3–2	12,186	Noel-Williams, Rosenthal, Mooney
3 March 1998	Walsall	H	1–2	8,096	Noel-Williams
7 March 1998	Blackpool	A	1–1	5,237	Bazeley
14 March 1998	Southend United	H	1–1	10,750	Hyde
17 March 1998	Carlisle United	H	2–1	7,274	Palmer, Bazeley
21 March 1998	Oldham Athletic	A	2–2	5,744	Bazeley, Gibbs
28 March 1998	Northampton Town	H	1–1	14,268	Johnson
4 April 1998	Wigan Athletic	A	2–3	4,262	Foley, Hyde
11 April 1998	Wrexham	H	1–0	12,340	Lee
13 April 1998	Bristol City	A	1–1	19,141	Lee
25 April 1998	Grimsby Town	H	0–0	14,002
28 April 1998	Bournemouth	H	2–1	12,834	Lee, Noel-Williams
2 May 1998	Fulham	A	2–1	17,114	Noel-Williams, Lee

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	15 November 1997	Barnet	A	2–1	4,040	Rosenthal (2)
R2	6 December 1997	Torquay United	A	1–1	3,416	Noel-Williams
R2R	16 December 1997	Torquay United	H	2–1 (a.e.t.)	5,848	Noel-Williams (2)
R3	3 January 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	18,306	Kennedy
R3R	14 January 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0 (lost 3–5 on pens)	18,707

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	13 August 1997	Swindon Town	A	2–0	6,271	Noel-Williams, Rosenthal
R1 2nd Leg	26 August 1997	Swindon Town	H	1–1 (won 3–1 on agg)	7,712	Hyde
R2 1st Leg	16 September 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–1	7,154	Kennedy
R2 2nd Leg	23 September 1997	Sheffield United	A	0–4 (lost 1–5 on agg)	7,511

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	9 December 1997	Fulham	A	0–1	3,364

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[3]

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	ENG	Alec Chamberlain
—	GK	ENG	Chris Day
—	GK	ENG	Andrew Iga
—	DF	ENG	Darren Bazeley
—	DF	ENG	Clint Easton
—	DF	ENG	Nigel Gibbs
—	DF	ENG	Dominic Ludden
—	DF	ENG	Colin Miles
—	DF	ENG	Keith Millen
—	DF	ENG	Steve Palmer
—	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson
—	DF	ENG	Mark Rooney
—	DF	ENG	Darren Ward
—	DF	WAL	Rob Page
—	DF	DEN	Lars Melvang
—	MF	ENG	Micah Hyde^{[notes 1]}


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Stuart Slater
—	MF	ENG	Tommy Smith
—	MF	ENG	Steve Talboys
—	MF	NIR	Peter Kennedy
—	MF	ISL	Jóhann Guðmundsson
—	MF	ISR	Alon Hazan
—	MF	AUS	Richard Johnson
—	FW	ENG	Wayne Andrews
—	FW	ENG	Jason Lee
—	FW	ENG	Nathan Lowndes
—	FW	ENG	Tommy Mooney
—	FW	ENG	Gifton Noel-Williams
—	FW	WAL	Dai Thomas
—	FW	IRL	Dominic Foley (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
—	FW	ISR	Ronny Rosenthal

Reserve squad