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

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

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
9 August 1997Tranmere RoversH2–116,727Kilbane, Hunt
16 August 1997Crewe AlexandraA3–25,234Hunt (pen), Hughes (2)
24 August 1997Wolverhampton WanderersH1–022,511Curle (own goal)
30 August 1997Ipswich TownA1–113,508Sneekes
3 September 1997Stoke CityA0–017,500
7 September 1997ReadingH1–015,966Hunt
13 September 1997Queens Park RangersA0–214,399
20 September 1997Swindon TownH0–016,237
27 September 1997BuryA3–16,439Peschisolido (3)
4 October 1997Oxford UnitedH1–215,889Hunt
18 October 1997PortsmouthA3–29,158Mardon, Hunt (2)
21 October 1997Nottingham ForestA0–119,243
25 October 1997Sheffield UnitedH2–017,311Hunt, Hughes
1 November 1997Bradford CityA0–016,212
4 November 1997Norwich CityH1–013,949Hughes
8 November 1997Charlton AthleticH1–016,124Hunt
15 November 1997Port ValeA2–111,124Hunt, Hamilton
23 November 1997Birmingham CityH1–018,444Sneekes
29 November 1997MiddlesbroughA0–130,164
2 December 1997Manchester CityH0–117,904
6 December 1997Stockport CountyH3–214,957Sneekes, Hughes, Hunt
13 December 1997SunderlandA0–229,231
20 December 1997Huddersfield TownH0–214,619
26 December 1997ReadingA1–210,154Kilbane
28 December 1997Stoke CityH1–119,690Hunt
9 January 1998Tranmere RoversA0–08,058
17 January 1998Crewe AlexandraH0–115,257
27 January 1998Ipswich TownH2–312,403Murphy, Flynn
31 January 1998Wolverhampton WanderersA1–028,244Hunt
7 February 1998Swindon TownA2–09,861Carbon, Evans
14 February 1998Queens Park RangersH1–120,143Hughes
17 February 1998Oxford UnitedA1–29,412Taylor
21 February 1998BuryH1–115,840Hughes
24 February 1998PortsmouthH0–312,757
28 February 1998Manchester CityA0–128,460
3 March 1998Charlton AthleticA0–510,893
7 March 1998Bradford CityH1–113,281Burgess
14 March 1998Norwich CityA1–116,663Hughes
21 March 1998Port ValeH2–214,242Flynn, Taylor
28 March 1998Birmingham CityA0–123,260
4 April 1998MiddlesbroughH2–121,620Quinn (2, 1 pen)
11 April 1998Stockport CountyA1–27,943Hughes
13 April 1998SunderlandH3–322,181Hughes (2), Kilbane
18 April 1998Huddersfield TownA0–111,704
25 April 1998Sheffield UnitedA4–221,248Hunt, Hughes (2), Kilbane
3 May 1998Nottingham ForestH1–123,013Hughes (pen)

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R313 January 1998Stoke CityH3–117,598Sneekes (2), Kilbane
R424 January 1998Aston VillaA0–439,372

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 First Leg12 August 1997Cambridge UnitedA1–13,520Peschisolido
R1 Second Leg27 August 1997Cambridge UnitedH2–1 (won 3–2 on agg)10,264Hunt, Sneekes (pen)
R2 First Leg16 September 1997Luton TownA1–13,437Taylor
R2 Second Leg23 September 1997Luton TownH4–2 (won 5–3 on agg)7,227Raven, McDermott, Peschisolido (2)
R315 October 1997LiverpoolH0–222,986

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".
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