1997–98 FA Premier League

Season summary

At the end of the 1997–98 FA Premier League season, a record total of nine English teams qualified for European competition.

Premiership champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, while UEFA Cup places went to Liverpool, Leeds United, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. Qualifying for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup were Chelsea (as defending champions) and FA Cup runners-up Newcastle United. Crystal Palace, while finishing bottom, qualified for the Intertoto Cup.

Manchester United led the table for most of the season, before a dip in form during the final two months of the campaign saw Arsenal overtake them in April, taking advantage of games in hand, and winning the league title with two away matches remaining, although the gap between the champions and runners-up was a single point in the final table as Arsenal lost their final two away fixtures and Alex Ferguson’s men won both of theirs. Arsenal then completed the double by winning the FA Cup. Despite the sudden dismissal of FA Cup-winning player-manager Ruud Gullit, Chelsea won the League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup under new player-manager Gianluca Vialli.

The gap between the Premier League and Division One of the Football League was highlighted at the end of 1997–98 when all three newly promoted teams were relegated. Crystal Palace was confined to the bottom place in the final table, having won just two home games all season and losing most of their games in the second half of the campaign. Barnsley's first season in the top division ended in relegation, although they did reach the FA Cup quarter finals and knocked out Manchester United in the Fifth Round. Bolton Wanderers went down on goal difference, with 17th place being occupied by Everton: despite preserving top-flight football for the 45th season running, Howard Kendall quit as manager at Goodison Park after his third spell in charge.

Another mark of the gap was that the three relegated teams in the previous season took the top three places in the 1997–98 Football League. Had Sunderland not lost the play-off final to Charlton Athletic on a penalty shootout, the 20 teams from the 1998–99 Premier League would have been exactly the same as those in the 1996–97 Premier League.

Teams

Twenty teams are competing in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Bolton Wanderers (returning after a season's absence), Barnsley (playing in the top flight for the first time) and Crystal Palace (playing in the top flight after a two year absence). They replaced Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, who were relegated to the First Division after top flight spells of one, two and three years respectively.

Stadiums and locations

Arsenal

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Tottenham Hotspur

West Ham United

Wimbledon

Personnel and kits

A list of personnel and kits of the clubs in the 1997–98 FA Premier League.

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Premier League hat-tricks

:Note: 4 Player scored 4 goals; P Player scored a perfect hat-trick; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

Attendances

Source:

References and notes

References

1. "English Premier League 1997–98". statto.com.
2. (5 January 2024). "Premier League 1997/1998 » Attendance » Home matches".
3. "Honours". [[Arsenal F.C..
4. [https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng98.html League tables and results for English football leagues, 1997–98 season]. Retrieved 21 September 2006.
5. (4 November 1997). "Sheffield Wednesday search for new boss". BBC Sport.
6. White, Clive. (10 August 1997). "Football: Dublin exposes Chelsea's flaw". The Independent.
7. Anderson, David. "Blackburn 5 Aston Villa 0". Sporting Life.
8. Hodgson, Guy. (25 August 1997). "Football: Barnsley exposed by Vialli". The Independent.
9. (4 January 2003). "In pictures: Dennis Bergkamp's 100 Arsenal goals". BBC Sport.
10. "Arsenal 4–1 Bolton Wanderers". Soccerbase.
11. "Liverpool 4–2 Chelsea". Soccerbase.
12. Anderson, David. "Manchester United 7–0 Barnsley". Sporting Life.
13. Culley, Jon. (10 November 1997). "Football: Shreeves reaps reward of Pleat's long-term plan". The Independent.
14. Lipton, Martin. "Chelsea 4 Derby 0". Sporting Life.
15. Shaw, Phil. (7 December 1997). "Football: Tottenham's revival hopes threatened by Venglos factor". The Independent.
16. (28 December 1997). "Ferguson hits hat-trick for Everton". BBC News.
17. Culley, Jon. (18 January 1998). "Football: Villa cut down by Gallacher". The Independent.
18. "Sheffield Wednesday 3–3 Liverpool". Soccerbase.
19. Hodgson, Guy. (2 March 1998). "Football: Why Sutton should eat humble pie". The Independent.
20. Rodgers, Ian. "Leeds 3 Coventry 3". Sporting Life.
21. Griffiths, Wyn. (4 May 1996). "Football: Klinsmann muddies the water". The Independent.
22. link. (9 December 2006 . Retrieved 21 September 2006.)
23. [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsPFAPlyr.html "England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year".] Retrieved 21 September 2006.
24. [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsPFAYngPlyr.html "England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year".] Retrieved 21 September 2006.
25. [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsFWAFbYr.html "England Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year".] Retrieved 21 September 2006.
26. https://www.worldfootball.net/competition/co91/england-premier-league/se3246/1997-1998/attendance/