1997–98 in English football

The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

=Premier League=

Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title. They added the FA Cup two weeks later to become only the second English club to repeat the double.

All three newly promoted teams - Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Crystal Palace - were relegated after just one season in the Premiership.

Everton endured their most difficult season for some 50 years. They finished 17th in the Premiership and only avoided relegation because they had a stronger goal difference than 18th-placed Bolton. Manager Howard Kendall's third reign at the helm came to an end soon afterwards and he was replaced by Walter Smith.

Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers made good progress in the Premiership and achieved UEFA Cup qualification.

Division One

Champions Nottingham Forest and runners-up Middlesbrough won promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking. Charlton Athletic won the playoffs to end an eight-year absence from the top flight.

Reading were relegated in bottom place. They were joined on the last day of the season by Manchester City and Stoke City. The blue half of Manchester endured relegation to the third tier of the English league for the first time in its history, despite beating also doomed Stoke 5-2 away on the last day of the season, but neither fans took lightly to relegation, as mass football violence outside outshone the match. QPR, Portsmouth and Port Vale all won their games to avoid the drop.

Division Two

Graham Taylor's second spell as manager brought instant success as Watford won the Division Two championship. They were joined by runners-up Bristol City and playoff winners Grimsby Town.

Going down to Division Three were Brentford, Plymouth Argyle, Carlisle United and Southend United. Brentford had been losing playoff finalists just 12 months earlier, Plymouth had been promoted to Division Two just two seasons earlier, Carlisle were newly-promoted and Southend had endured their second successive relegation.

Division Three

Macclesfield Town finished runners-up in Division Three to gain their second successive promotion, a year after winning the Conference. They were joined by champions Notts County, who won the title by 17 points and became the first team since World War II to secure promotion in March, third-placed Lincoln City and playoff winners Colchester United.

Doncaster Rovers suffered an English league record of 34 defeats and won just four games to lose their league status. They were replaced by Conference champions Halifax Town, who regained their league status five years after losing it.

FA Cup

Arsenal became only the second club to have won two doubles after they beat Newcastle United 2-0 and added the FA Cup to their Premiership title triumph.

League Cup

Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0 to give new manager Gianluca Vialli his first major trophy just weeks after being appointed.

uccessful players

Dennis Bergkamp was the key player in Arsenal's double triumph and was voted Player of the Year by both the PFA and FWA.

Liverpool's 18-year-old striker Michael Owen scored 18 Premiership goals and became the youngest England player of the 20th century, for which he was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

Coventry City striker Dion Dublin became the target of the country's biggest clubs after his 18 Premiership goals kept the Sky Blues well clear of relegation.

Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton regained his full form and helped his side qualify for the UEFA Cup by scoring 18 Premiership goals.

Italian midfielder Attilio Lombardo established himself as one of the Premiership's most competent midfielders but couldn't do enough to save his club Crystal Palace from relegation, though he did stay at the south-London side until January 1999, when financial trouble meant his wages couldn't be paid.

uccessful managers

Arsène Wenger won his first major trophies as Arsenal manager by guiding them to Premiership and FA Cup glory.

Gianluca Vialli, 33, kicked off his management career by winning the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup with Chelsea.

Alan Curbishley finally succeeded in getting Charlton promoted to the Premiership after seven seasons of trying on limited resources.

Bryan Robson returned Middlesbrough to the Premiership as Division One runners-up, as well as taking them to runners-up spot in the League Cup.

Graham Taylor began his second spell as Watford manager by winning the Division Two championship and giving his club their first successful season since they were league runners-up back in 1983.

Sammy McIlroy achieved a second successive promotion for Macclesfield Town in their first season of league football.
Alan Buckley achieved promotion for Grimsby Town after their relegation from division one. Also took the team to Wembley for the first time in its history to win the Auto Windscreens Shield against Bournemouth.

Sam Allardyce took Notts County to the Division Three title with 99 points - the highest tally in any division this season.

Shane Westley won promotion to Division Two just weeks after taking over as manager of Lincoln City.

George Mulhall, 62, returned Halifax Town to the Football League as Conference champions five years after they had been demoted.

Biggest rise

Macclesfield Town marked their first season as a Football League club by finishing runners-up in Division Three and winning promotion to Division Two.

Biggest fall

Manchester City endured their second relegation in three seasons to become the first winners of a European trophy to slide into the third tier of their domestic league - they had won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1970.

Events

Double glory for Arsenal and Chelsea

Arsenal equalled Manchester United's record of two league championship and F.A Cup doubles when they overhauled Alex Ferguson's men in the Premiership title race and beat Kenny Dalglish's Newcastle United in the F.A Cup final, giving Arsène Wenger a brilliant first season at the Highbury helm.

Chelsea completed the other half of the London double by beating Middlesbrough in the League Cup final and VFB Stuttgart in the Cup Winners Cup final, within three months of 33-year-old striker Gianluca Vialli taking over as player-manager after Ruud Gullit was sacked for arguing about transfer funds with chairman Ken Bates.

Justin Fashanu found dead in suspected suicide

Justin Fashanu, the first English footballer to admit being homosexual, was found dead on the morning of 3rd May in a lock-up garage in East London. He was 37. Fashanu, who is believed to have committed suicide, had fled the USA after being arrested in Maryland on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy.

Fashanu, older brother of former Wimbledon striker John, began his career as an exciting young striker with Norwich City and in 1981 became Britain's first £1million black footballer when he joined Nottingham Forest. But he was not successful at the City Ground and later turned out for clubs including Edmonton (a Canadian team), Manchester City, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Torquay United, Airdrieonians, and Hearts. In 1992 he applied for the Torquay United manager's job but his application was rejected and he briefly stayed on an assistant manager before quitting the club completely.

Billy Bremner dies at 54

Billy Bremner, the controversial but brilliant midfielder who starred for Leeds United in Don Revie glory era, died on 6th December after suffering a heart attack at the age of 54. He collected three championship medals as well as League Cup, F.A Cup, Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup winner's medals before finishing his career with Hull City. Bremner returned to Leeds as manager in 1985 and came within a whisker of reaching the F.A Cup final and winning promotion to the First Division in his second season as manager. He was sacked in 1988 and finished his time in football as manager of Doncaster Rovers, where he was in charge from August 1989 until November 1991.

Grief for the red and white part of Stoke, and the blue half of Manchester

While the red half of Manchester reeled in disappointment at being beaten to the Premiership title by Arsenal, the blue half of Manchester had to come to terms with the agony of relegation to Division Two for the first time in their history. City had started the Division One campaign badly and manager Frank Clark was fired in March, with former Everton manager Joe Royle being appointed as his successor.

City went into their final game of the season at Stoke, with both sides knowing that they had to win to stand any chance of avoiding relegation. In the end City won 5-2, but both teams were relegated because the three teams above the drop zone all won their games.

Relegation to Division Two meant that Manchester City (who had won the Cup Winners Cup in 1970) were the first former winners of a European trophy to be relegated to the third tier of their domestic league.

To the dismay of the Stoke fans, Stoke were relegated in the first season of their new stadium. Many fans did not take to moving to the Britannia Stadium from their sacred old Victoria Ground. Stoke City were in the top flight in 1984/85 season.

Argentina end England's World Cup hopes

England took on Argentina in the Second Round of the World Cup in France, with a classic goal by 18-year-old striker Michael Owen giving them an early lead. The score was 2-2 with 45 minutes played, and early in the second half Diego Simeone fouled David Beckham and sent the 23-year-old midfielder falling to the ground. Beckham, still lying on the ground, reacted by kicking Simeone in the shins and was sent off. The game finished 2-2, and England lost the resultant penalty shoot-out after David Batty and Paul Ince's shots were saved. The trophy was finally won by hosts France.

Honours

Nationwide League Division One

"See also: Play-off results"

NB In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference

Nationwide League Division Two

1.Watford2.Bristol City3.Grimsby Town4.Northampton5.Bristol Rovers6.Fulham

19.Walsall20.Burnley21.Brentford22.Plymouth Argyle23.Carlisle Utd24.Southend Utd

Nationwide League Division Three

Diary of the season

29 July 1997 - Newcastle United sell striker Les Ferdinand to Tottenham for £6million.

7 August 1997 - Footballers Bruce Grobelaar, Hans Segers and John Fashanu, along with a Thai businessman, are cleared of match-fixing at Winchester Crown Court.

16 August 1997 - Arsenal announce plans to relocate from Highbury due to its sub-40,000 capacity and difficulties for expansion.

31 August 1997 - The Liverpool-Newcastle United FA Premier League fixture is cancelled as a mark of respect for Princess Diana, who died earlier in the day in a Paris car crash.

1 September 1997 - Bolton Wanderers move into their new 27,500-seat Reebok Stadium after 102 years at Burnden Park.

6 September 1997 - There are no major football matches as the entire FA Premier League and Football League programmes are cancelled on the day of Princess Diana's funeral.

25 September 1997 - Kevin Keegan returns to football as Fulham's "Chief Operating Officer", working in conjunction with new Head Coach Ray Wilkins.

27 September 1997 - Manchester United captain Roy Keane suffers knee ligament damage against Leeds United in a FA Premier League 1-0 defeat at Elland Road and is ruled out for the rest of the season.

11 October 1997 - England achieve automatic qualification for the 1998 World Cup after drawing 0-0 in Rome with Italy, who must navigate a two-leg playoff.

29 November 1997 - Iran qualify for the 1998 World Cup at the expense of Australia, whose national coach Terry Venables steps down after one year in charge.

6 December 1997 - Former Leeds United and Scotland midfielder Billy Bremner dies aged 54 after suffering a heart attack.

27 December 1997 - Manchester United agree to sell Czech winger Karel Poborský to Benfica after an unsuccessful 18 months at Old Trafford.

3 January 1998 - Holders Chelsea suffer a first hurdle defeat in the FA Cup when they lost 5-3 to Manchester United.

9 February 1998 - Michael Owen becomes the youngest-ever England international when he plays in the nation's 2-0 defeat against Chile.

12 February 1998 - The football world is stunned by the dismissal of Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit, who was sacked after a dispute with chairman Ken Bates. 33-year-old striker Gianluca Vialli is installed as player-manager.

1 March 1998 - Manchester United enter March 11 points ahead at the top of the FA Premier League, with their nearest contenders Arsenal having 3 games in hand.

14 March 1998 - Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford to decrease United's lead to 6 points, plus they have the advantage of 3 games in hand.

28 March 1998 - Notts County, Division Three leaders, become the first English team to win promotion in March.

3 May 1998 - Arsenal clinch the FA Premier League title with a 4-0 home win over Everton.

10 May 1998 - The FA Premier League season ends with Arsenal as champions and Manchester United as runners-up, with both teams qualifying for the European Cup. The UEFA Cup places go to Liverpool, Chelsea, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa. Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Crystal Palace are relegated.

16 May 1998 - Arsenal become the second English team (though with an entirely different set of players) to complete the 'double' when they beat Newcastle United 2-0 in the FA Cup final.

25 May 1998 - Charlton Athletic win promotion to the FA Premier League after beating Sunderland 7-6 on penalties following a 4-4 draw in the Division One playoff final.

Deaths

*Billy Bremner, one of the most influential players for Leeds United during the glorious Don Revie era, died after suffering a heart attack two days before his 55th birthday. He helped them win two league championships, one FA Cup, one League Cup and one UEFA Cup, and managed the club from 1985 to 1988. He also had spells in charge of Doncaster Rovers (twice) and Hull City.
*Justin Fashanu, 37, was found dead in a lock-up garage in East London. He was one of the most promising strikers in England when playing for Norwich City in the early 1980s and became England's first £1million black footballer when he was sold to Nottingham Forest, but failed to succeed at the highest level and from the mid 1980s until the early 1990s had short-lived, uneventful spells at clubs including Manchester City, Newcastle United, Torquay United and Hearts. He was the older brother of former Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker John Fashanu. Four months after his death, a coroner recorded a verdict of suicide on Justin Fashanu.
*Peter Sillett, 65, was a right back for Chelsea when whey won the league championship in 1955. He was capped three times for England and was the older brother of John Sillett, who managed Coventry City to FA Cup glory in 1987. Sir Stanley Matthews rated Sillett as the best defender he had ever played against.
*Robbie James, 40, played nearly 800 English league games between 1973 and 1994 for clubs including QPR, Leicester City, Swansea City and Cardiff City, and was a Welsh international midfielder. He was with Llanelli as player-manager when he collapsed in a Welsh Football League game against Porthcawl and was certified dead on his arrival at hospital.
*Jack Rowley, 78, was a high scoring centre forward for Manchester United who helped them win their first two trophies under Matt Busby - the FA Cup in 1948 and league title in 1952. He was the older brother of another goalscoring legend, Arthur Rowley, who played for Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town.
*Jimmy Hagan, 80, who played 361 league matches for Sheffield United between 1938 and 1958, and once for England. As a manager he led SL Benfica to three successive Portuguese championships between 1970 and 1973.
*Keith Newton, 56, was a full-back for Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Burnley. He was selected in Alf Ramsey's squad for the 1966 World Cup but was not involved in the final.