| 1997-98 In English Football |
Article Index for 1997-98 |
Website Links For English |
Information About1997-98 In English Football |
|
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. Playoff winners 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 - as 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 . 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 , 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. SUCCESSFUL 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 Attilo Lombardo established himself as one of the Premiership's most competent midfielders but couldn't do enough to save his club from relegation and was soon on his way back to Italy . SUCCESSFUL MANAGERS Arsene 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. 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 McIllroy achieved a second successive promotion for Macclesfield Town in their first season of league football. 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. DEATHS
|
|
|