1897–98 Newton Heath F.C. season

The 1897–98 season was Newton Heath's sixth season in the Football League and their fourth in the Second Division. They finished fourth in the league, which was not enough to earn them a chance for promotion back to the First Division. In the FA Cup, the Heathens were knocked out by Liverpool in the Second Round, after beating Walsall in the First Round.

Newton Heath

1897–98 season
Secretary	A. H. Albut
Second Division	4th
FA Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Henry Boyd (22) All: Henry Boyd (22)
Highest home attendance	20,000 vs Manchester City (16 October 1897)
Lowest home attendance	2,000 vs Loughborough (29 March 1898)
Average home league attendance	6,647
Home colours Away colours

The club also entered teams in the Lancashire and Manchester Senior Cups in 1897–98. They reached the semi-finals of the Manchester Senior Cup before being beaten 2–1 by Manchester City in a replay, but they went two better in the Lancashire Senior Cup, beating Blackburn Rovers 2–1 in the final.

Second Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
4 September 1897	Lincoln City	H	5–0	Boyd (3), Cassidy, Bryant	5,000
11 September 1897	Burton Swifts	A	4–0	Boyd (3), Cassidy	2,000
18 September 1897	Luton Town	H	1–2	Cassidy	8,000
25 September 1897	Blackpool	A	1–0	Smith	2,000
2 October 1897	Leicester Fosse	H	2–0	Boyd (2)	6,000
9 October 1897	Newcastle United	A	0–2		12,000
16 October 1897	Manchester City	H	1–1	Gillespie	20,000
23 October 1897	Small Heath	A	1–2	Bryant	6,000
30 October 1897	Walsall	H	6–0	Cassidy (2), Donaldson (2), Bryant, Gillespie	6,000
6 November 1897	Lincoln City	A	0–1		2,000
13 November 1897	Newcastle United	H	0–1		7,000
20 November 1897	Leicester Fosse	A	1–1	Wedge	6,000
27 November 1897	Grimsby Town	H	2–1	Bryant, own goal	5,000
11 December 1897	Walsall	A	1–1	Boyd	2,000
25 December 1897	Manchester City	A	1–0	Cassidy	16,000
27 December 1897	Gainsborough Trinity	A	1–2	Carman	3,000
1 January 1898	Burton Swifts	H	4–0	Boyd, Bryant, Carman, McNaught	6,000
8 January 1898	Woolwich Arsenal	A	1–5	Erentz	8,000
12 January 1898	Burnley	H	0–0		7,000
15 January 1898	Blackpool	H	4–0	Boyd (2), Cartwright, Cassidy	4,000
26 February 1898	Woolwich Arsenal	H	5–1	Bryant, Cassidy (2), Collinson, Ord (o.g.)	6,000
7 March 1898	Burnley	A	3–6	Collinson, Bryant (2)	3,000
19 March 1898	Darwen	A	3–2	Boyd (2), McNaught	2,000
21 March 1898	Luton Town	A	2–2	Boyd, Cassidy	2,000
29 March 1898	Loughborough	H	5–1	Boyd (3), Cassidy (2)	2,000
2 April 1898	Grimsby Town	A	3–1	Cassidy (2), Boyd	2,000
8 April 1898	Gainsborough Trinity	H	1–0	Cassidy	5,000
9 April 1898	Small Heath	H	3–1	Boyd, Gillespie, Morgan	4,000
16 April 1898	Loughborough	A	0–0		1,200
23 April 1898	Darwen	H	3–2	Collinson (2), Bryant	4,000

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Burnley (C, O, P)	30	20	8	2	80	24	3.333	48	Qualification for test matches
2	Newcastle United (O, P)	30	21	3	6	64	32	2.000	45
3	Manchester City	30	15	9	6	66	36	1.833	39
4	Newton Heath	30	16	6	8	64	35	1.829	38
5	Woolwich Arsenal	30	16	5	9	69	49	1.408	37
6	Small Heath	30	16	4	10	58	50	1.160	36
7	Leicester Fosse	30	13	7	10	46	35	1.314	33
8	Luton Town	30	13	4	13	68	50	1.360	30
9	Gainsborough Trinity	30	12	6	12	50	54	0.926	30
10	Walsall	30	12	5	13	58	58	1.000	29
11	Blackpool	30	10	5	15	49	61	0.803	25
12	Grimsby Town	30	10	4	16	52	62	0.839	24
13	Burton Swifts	30	8	5	17	38	69	0.551	21
14	Lincoln City	30	6	5	19	43	82	0.524	17	Re-elected
15	Darwen	30	6	2	22	31	76	0.408	14
16	Loughborough	30	6	2	22	24	87	0.276	14

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
29 January 1898	First Round	Walsall	H	1–0	Pears (o.g.)	6,000
12 February 1898	Second Round	Liverpool	H	0–0		12,000
16 February 1898	Second Round Replay	Liverpool	A	1–2	Jimmy Collinson	6,000