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1997–98 Bolton Wanderers F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Bolton Wanderers F.C.
season	1997–98
chairman	Gordon Hargreaves
manager	Colin Todd
stadium	Reebok Stadium
league	FA Premier League
league result	18th (relegated)
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	Third Round
cup2	League Cup
cup2 result	Fourth Round
league topscorer	Nathan Blake (12)
season topscorer	Nathan Blake (14)
highest attendance	25,000, multiple occasions
lowest attendance	6,444 v Leyton Orient, 30 September 1997
average attendance	24,352
prevseason	1996–97
nextseason	1998–99

The 1997–98 season was the 119th season in Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s existence, and their first season back in the FA Premier League after winning the Football League First Division the previous season. It covers the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998. After 102 years playing at Burnden Park, the club had moved to the new Reebok Stadium.

Season summary

In their new 27,000-seat stadium, Bolton Wanderers began the season as the strongest-looking of the newly promoted side, particularly after paying a club record fee of £3.5 million for Wimbledon striker Dean Holdsworth and holding Manchester United to a 0–0 draw. But it was a season-long struggle for Colin Todd and his men, who lost their battle on the final day of the season and occupied the final relegation place – on goal difference – to complete a hat-trick of newly promoted clubs suffering relegation. Controversially Bolton had a goal against Everton disallowed in the belief that the ball had not crossed the line after crashing down off the Everton crossbar. Television replays showed the ball had indeed crossed the line. The game finished goal-less and the two sides finished level on points with Everton surviving on their superior goal difference. Bolton fans complained bitterly that the goal and resulting 1–0 win would have kept them in the FA Premier League at Everton's expense. Everton fans countered by pointing to Bolton's inability to hold onto a lead during the season while Everton had a good record of coming from behind to draw or even win against their fellow strugglers. With an hour to play it is impossible to say with any degree of confidence that Bolton would indeed have been able to hold on to their goal lead.

Final league table

Main article: 1997–98 FA Premier League

;Results summary

;Results by round

Results

FA Premier League

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance
9 August 1997	Southampton	A	1 – 0	Blake 43'	15,206
23 August 1997	Coventry City	A	2 – 2	Blake (2) 69', 76'	16,633
27 August 1997	Barnsley	A	1 – 2	Beardsley 31'	18,661
1 September 1997	Everton	H	0 – 0		23,131
13 September 1997	Arsenal	A	1 – 4	Thompson 13'	38,138
20 September 1997	Manchester United	H	0 – 0		25,000
23 September 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1 – 1	Thompson 20' (pen)	23,433
27 September 1997	Crystal Palace	A	2 – 2	Beardsley 36', Johansen 66'	17,134
4 October 1997	Aston Villa	H	0 – 1		24,186
18 October 1997	West Ham United	A	0 – 3		24,864
26 October 1997	Chelsea	H	1 – 0	Holdsworth 72'	24,080
1 November 1997	Liverpool	H	1 – 1	Blake 84'	25,000
8 November 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0 – 5		25,027
22 November 1997	Leicester City	A	0 – 0		20,464
29 November 1997	Wimbledon	H	1 – 0	Blake 89'	22,703
1 December 1997	Newcastle United	H	1 – 0	Blake 22'	24,494
6 December 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	1 – 3	Frandsen 84'	25,503
14 December 1997	Derby County	H	3 – 3	Thompson 50' (pen), Blake 73', Pollock 77'	23, 037
20 December 1997	Leeds United	A	0 – 2		31,163
26 December 1997	Barnsley	H	1 – 1	Bergsson 38'	25,000
28 December 1997	Everton	A	2 – 3	Bergsson 42', Sellars 43'	37,149
10 January 1998	Southampton	H	0 – 0		23,333
17 January 1998	Newcastle United	A	1 – 2	Blake 72'	36,767
31 January 1998	Coventry City	H	1 – 5	Sellars 21'	25,000
7 February 1998	Manchester United	A	1 – 1	B.Taylor 60'	55,156
21 February 1998	West Ham United	H	1 – 1	Blake 86'	25,000
1 March 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0 – 1		29,032
8 March 1998	Liverpool	A	1 – 2	Thompson 7'	44,532
14 March 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3 – 2	Frandsen 31', Blake 53', Thompson 69' (pen)	24,847
28 March 1998	Leicester City	H	2 – 0	Thompson (2) 52', 89'	25,000
31 March 1998	Arsenal	H	0 – 1		25,000
4 April 1998	Wimbledon	A	0 – 0		11,356
11 April 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	2 – 1	Holdsworth 20', B. Taylor 67'	25,000
13 April 1998	Derby County	A	0 – 4		29,126
18 April 1998	Leeds United	H	2 – 3	Thompson 56', Fish 89'	25,000
25 April 1998	Aston Villa	A	3 – 1	Cox 18', B.Taylor 41', Blake 84'	38,392
2 May 1998	Crystal Palace	H	5 – 2	Blake 7', Fish 20', Phillips 30', Thompson 70', Holdsworth 79'	24,449
10 May 1998	Chelsea	A	0 – 2		34,845

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance
3 January 1998	Round 3	Barnsley	A	0 – 1		15,042

Coca-Cola Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance
16 September 1997	Round 2 First Leg	Leyton Orient	A	3 – 1	Todd 13', Frandsen 20', McGinlay 79'	4,128
30 September 1997	Round 2 Second Leg	Leyton Orient	H	4 – 4 (aet)
7 – 5 (agg)	Blake (2) 8' 35', McGinlay 65' (pen), Gunnlaugsson 66'	6,444
14 October 1997	Round 3	Wimbledon	H	2 – 0 (aet)	Pollock 91', McAllister 94' (og)	9,875
18 November 1997	Round 4	Middlesbrough	A	1 – 2 (aet)	Thompson 33'	22,801

Transfers

Transfers in

Player	From	Date	Fee
ENG Robbie Elliott	ENG Newcastle United	1 July 1997	£2,500,000
Iceland Arnar Gunnlaugsson	ISL IA Akranes	10 July 1997	£100,000
ENG Peter Beardsley	ENG Newcastle United	18 August 1997	£450,000
RSA Mark Fish	ITA Lazio	19 September 1997	£2,000,000
ENG Mike Whitlow	ENG Leicester City	19 September 1997	£500,000
ENG Dean Holdsworth	ENG Wimbledon	2 October 1997	£3,500,000
FIN Jussi Jääskeläinen	FIN VPS Vaasa	11 November 1997	£100,000

Transfers out

Player	To	Date	Fee
England Scott Green	ENG Wigan Athletic	1 July 1997	£300,000
England David Lee	ENG Wigan Athletic	14 July 1997	£250,000
FIN Mixu Paatelainen	ENG Wolverhampton Wanderers	8 August 1997	£200,000
SCO John McGinlay	ENG Bradford City	6 November 1997	£625,000
SCO Steve McAnespie	ENG Fulham	27 November 1997	£100,000
England Simon Coleman	ENG Southend	20 February 1998	Free
ENG Jamie Pollock	ENG Manchester City	20 March 1998	£1,000,000
ENG Alan Thompson	ENG Aston Villa	5 June 1998	£4,500,000

Loans in

Player	From	Date From	Date To
ENG Franz Carr	ITA Reggiana	24 October 1997	28 January 1998
ENG Bob Taylor	ENG West Bromwich Albion	9 January 1998	9 February 1998
SUI Gaetano Giallanza	FRA Nantes	26 March 1998	31 May 1998
ENG John Salako	ENG Coventry City	26 March 1998	31 May 1998
ENG Bob Taylor	ENG West Bromwich Albion	26 March 1998	31 May 1998

Loans out

Player	To	Date From	Date To
England Simon Coleman	ENG Wolverhampton Wanderers	2 September 1997	2 October 1997
ENG Bryan Small	ENG Luton Town	8 September 1997	12 December 1997
ENG Greg Strong	ENG Blackpool	21 November 1997	10 February 1998
ENG Scott Taylor	ENG Rotherham United	12 December 1997	7 February 1998
ENG Bryan Small	ENG Bradford City	19 December 1997	17 January 1998
ENG Bryan Small	ENG Bury	30 January 1998	31 May 1998
ENG Peter Beardsley	ENG Manchester City	17 February 1998	11 March 1998
ENG Peter Beardsley	ENG Fulham	26 March 1998	31 May 1998
ENG Scott Taylor	ENG Blackpool	26 March 1998	26 April 1998

Appearances

Bolton used a total of 29 players during the season.

P	Player	Position	PL	FAC	LC	Total
1	DEN Per Frandsen	Midfielder	38 (0)	1 (0)	4 (0)	43 (0)
2	WAL Nathan Blake	Striker	35 (0)	1 (0)	3 (0)	39 (0)
3	Iceland Guðni Bergsson (captain)	Defender	34 (1)	1 (0)	3 (0)	38 (1)
4	ENG Alan Thompson	Midfielder	33 (0)	1 (0)	4 (0)	38 (0)
5	IRE Keith Branagan	Goalkeeper	34 (0)	0 (0)	3 (0)	37 (0)
6	ENG Jamie Pollock	Midfielder	25 (1)	1 (0)	4 (0)	30 (1)
7	ENG Andy Todd	Defender	23 (2)	1 (0)	4 (0)	28 (2)
8	ENG Scott Sellars	Midfielder	22 (0)	1 (0)	3 (0)	26 (0)
9	RSA Mark Fish	Defender	22 (0)	1 (0)	1 (0)	24 (0)
10	ENG Jimmy Phillips	Defender	21 (1)	0 (0)	1 (1)	22 (2)
11	ENG Neil Cox	Defender	20 (1)	0 (1)	0 (0)	20(2)
12	ENG Peter Beardsley	Striker	14 (3)	0 (1)	3 (0)	17 (4)
13	ENG Dean Holdsworth	Striker	17 (3)	0 (0)	0 (0)	17 (3)
14	ENG Mike Whitlow	Defender	13 (0)	1 (0)	3 (0)	16 (0)
15	NIR Gerry Taggart	Defender	14 (1)	0 (0)	1 (0)	15 (1)
16	ENG John Sheridan	Midfielder	12 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	12 (0)
17	ENG Bob Taylor	Striker	10 (2)	0 (0)	0 (0)	10 (2)
18	ENG Chris Fairclough	Striker	10 (1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	10 (1)
19	SCO John McGinlay	Striker	4 (3)	0 (0)	2 (1)	6 (4)
20	ENG Gavin Ward	Goalkeeper	4 (2)	1 (0)	1 (0)	6 (2)
21	DEN Michael Johansen	Midfielder	4 (12)	0 (0)	1 (2)	5 (14)
22	ENG Robbie Elliott	Defender	4 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	4 (0)
23	Iceland Arnar Gunnlaugsson	Striker	2 (13)	1 (0)	0 (3)	3 (16)
24	SCO Steve McAnespie	Defender	1 (1)	0 (0)	2 (0)	3 (1)
25	ENG Hasney Aljofree	Defender	2 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	2 (0)
26	ENG Greg Strong	Defender	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (1)	1 (1)
27	ENG John Salako	Midfielder	0 (7)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (7)
28	ENG Franz Carr	Midfielder	0 (5)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (5)
29	SUI Gaetano Giallanza	Striker	0 (3)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (3)

Top scorers

P	Player	Position	PL	LC	Total
1	WAL Nathan Blake	Striker	12	2	14
2	ENG Alan Thompson	Midfielder	9	1	10
3=	DEN Per Frandsen	Midfielder	2	1	3
3=	ENG Dean Holdsworth	Striker	3	0	3
3=	ENG Bob Taylor	Striker	3	0	3

References

"Bolton Wanderers 1997-98". bwfcstats.com.

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