1997–98 Newcastle United F.C. season

Season summary

During the summer, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand were sold to Tottenham Hotspur, while in a pre-season friendly match, Alan Shearer sustained a horrific ankle injury which would keep him out for half the season. Manager Kenny Dalglish signed goalkeeper Shay Given, midfielder Temur Ketsbaia, striker John Barnes and veteran striker Ian Rush, the club's eldest player signing at age 36.

The highlight of the 1997–98 season was to be the club's run in the UEFA Champions League, seeing them defeat Barcelona 3–2 after a hat-trick from striker Faustino Asprilla. The club's Premier League form, however, began to suffer following Asprilla's departure from the club in January, and despite the return of Shearer to the starting line-up, he was unable to recapture the form he had found under Kevin Keegan. The club reached the FA Cup final only to fall to a 2–0 defeat by Arsenal.

Controversy surrounded the club in March 1998 when chairman Freddie Shepherd, and deputy chairman Douglas Hall (son of previous chairman Sir John Hall, who had retired during the summer), were filmed in a Spanish brothel making a series of remarks to an undercover tabloid journalist. They ridiculed Shearer, boasted of "ripping off" supporters with the club shirts they sold, and called the women of Newcastle "dogs". Both subsequently resigned, and Sir John Hall returned as acting chairman for the remainder of the season.

Newcastle enjoyed a good run in the 1997–98 FA Cup and reached the final for the first time in 24 years. They never looked like winners, and the final whistle blew with a 2–0 scoreline giving the trophy to opponents Arsenal. But as Arsenal had completed the double, Newcastle entered the 1998–99 Cup Winners' Cup.

Dalglish's cautious brand of football proved unpopular with supporters used to Newcastle's previous swashbuckling style; more importantly this cautious style was not producing results. Many players signed by Dalglish were not considered to match the quality of those who had left the club this season. The team's 13th-place finish gave particular cause for concern, as Newcastle had finished runners-up in the last two seasons and had never finished below sixth since returning to the top flight in 1993. To add insult to injury, only 35 league goals were scored by the club all season.

Despite signing Dietmar Hamann, Nolberto Solano and Gary Speed, several unsuccessful transfer deals along with a poor start to the 1998–99 season led to Dalglish being sacked.

Transfers

In

• Total spending: £17,450,000

Out

• Total income: £21,150,000

Coaching staff

Players

First-team squad

:Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Reserve squad

:The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.

Statistics

Appearances, goals and cards

:(Substitute appearances in brackets)

Matches

Pre-season

Tomasson Stam Beardsley Furlong Shearer Bennett Nicholls Leboeuf Pearce Asprilla Tomasson Oliseh Beardsley Watson Inzaghi

[[1997–98 FA Premier League|Premier League]]

Batty Atherton Stefanović Blondeau Hyde Batty Albert Ketsbaia Ehiogu Collymore Pistone Perry Ekoku C. Hughes Gayle Barton Lee Gillespie Bilić Cadamarteri Kewell John Beresford Wetherall
Radebe Wallace Barton Batty Peacock Ketsbaia Hendry Flitcroft Gallacher McKinlay Valéry Henchoz Tomasson Beresford
Albert Elliott Izzet Heskey Williams Hall Lee Albert Albert Lundekvam Hirst Warhurst Tomasson Batty Peacock Lee Pollock Gillespie Adams Petit Hendrie Barnard Batty Peacock Pistone Albert Ketsbaia Carsley Eranio Pistone Batty Gillespie P Neville Butt Rowett D Powell Batty Pearce Tomasson Redknapp Newsome Hyde Humphreys Beresford Watson Ketsbaia Barton A. Todd Frandsen McAteer Babb McManaman Moncur Impey Batty Kelly Haaland Ribeiro Kewell Barton Dabizas Batty Jansen Brolin Ismaël Le Tissier
Palmer Lundekvam Oakley Pistone Vieira Albert Shearer Barton Pearce Eaden Moses Bullock Bosančić Pallister Solskjær Given Shearer Pistone Ferdinand
Vega Pistone Speed Dabizas Lee Speed Pearce Leboeuf Vialli Hendry Dahlin Henchoz

Champions League

Cvitanović Ketsbaia Batty Figo De la Peña Shevchenko Golovko Asprilla Gillespie Vampeta Stam Iwan Peacock Lee Tomasson De Bilde
Faber Pearce Albert Gillespie

FA Cup

Oster Ferguson Beresford Peacock Lee Pistone Perkins Crawshaw Beresford Shearer Pistone Trott Beevor Pistone Mellon Hill Speed Batty
Barton Pearce Howey Shearer Barnard Moses Morgan Redfearn Sandford Holdsworth Marker Anelka Winterburn Howey Shearer Dabizas

League Cup

Rush Albert Fowler Matteo Redknapp

Notes

References

References

1. (28 July 1997). "Football: Shearer out 'for months' as pounds 6m Ferdinand joins Spurs". The Independent.
2. (10 January 1998). "Toon Army dreams of absent friend as thrills turn to chills". The Independent.
3. [https://blackandwhitetoon.blogspot.com/2010/03/toonpedia.html Toonpedia: Newcastle United 3–2 Barcelona] 17 September 1997. ''Black and White Toon''. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
4. (15 June 2001). "Shearer the Geordie gem". British Broadcasting Corporation.
5. "FA Cup Final 1998".
6. (24 March 1998). "Newcastle Utd directors resign". British Broadcasting Corporation.
7. (25 March 1998). "A Sad Episode for Newcastle". The New York Times.
8. [http://www.onthisfootballday.com/football-history/august-27-dalglish-sacked-by-newcastle.php Dalglish Sacked by Newcastle] {{webarchive. link. (21 July 2013 . ''On This Football Day''. Retrieved 14 August 2013)
9. (18 July 1997). "Dahl joins Toon for Pete's sake". The Free Library.
10. Irwin, Mark. (19 July 1997). "Pounds 1m; a year Pearce joins Kenny; Top-flight says Stu". The Free Library.
11. (28 August 1997). "Clark: Glad to be Wear". Daily Mirror.
12. Millar, Steve. (4 September 1997). "Elliott: I'll bounce back". Daily Mirror.
13. (19 July 1997). "Ginola bit part as Spurs draw blank". Daily Mirror.
14. "FootballSquads – Newcastle United – 1997/98".
15. (22 November 2011). "Newcastle United 1997–98 Results (Soccerbase)". Soccerbase.
16. (22 November 2011). "Newcastle United 1997–98 Results (NUFC.com)". NUFC.com.
17. (22 November 2011). "Newcastle United 1997–98 Results (toon1892.com)". Toon1892.com.
18. Andrews, Phil. (28 July 1997). "Dalglish's striking problem". The Independent.