Wikipedia

1997–98 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Blackburn Rovers competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Blackburn Rovers
1997–98 season
OwnerJack Walker
ChairmanRobert Coar
ManagerRoy Hodgson
StadiumEwood Park
Premiership6th
FA CupFifth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Sutton (18)
All: Sutton (21)
Highest home attendance30,547 vs Manchester United
(6 Apr 1998, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance19,086 vs Coventry City
(28 Sep 1997, Premier League)
Average home league attendance25,253

Season summary

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After last season's slip-up, Blackburn Rovers emerged as title contenders under new manager Roy Hodgson, and even sixth place in the final table was enough for a UEFA Cup place. Never below seventh throughout the campaign, Rovers only lost two league matches before New Year as Hodgson picked up the Premier League Manager of the Month awards for both August and December,[1] but faded in the second half of the campaign.

Chris Sutton's continued return to form saw him come joint top of the Premiership goalscoring charts with 18 goals, a Premier League Player of the Month award for February[1] and led to him earning a long-awaited international call-up, though he didn't make the final squad for the World Cup after refusing to play for the England B team.

Final league table

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Main article: 1997–98 FA Premier League
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
4 Chelsea 38 20 3 15 71 43 +28 63 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
5 Leeds United 38 17 8 13 57 46 +11 59 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[b]
6 Blackburn Rovers 38 16 10 12 57 52 +5 58
7 Aston Villa 38 17 6 15 49 48 +1 57
8 West Ham United 38 16 8 14 56 57 −1 56
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions. As they were also the League Cup winners, the UEFA Cup berth vacated was awarded to Blackburn Rovers.
  2. ^ Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
Results summary
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
38 16 10 12 57 52  +5 58 11 4 4 40 26  +14 5 6 8 17 26  −9
Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAHHAHAAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAH
ResultWWDWWLDDDWWDDWWLWWWDDLWDLLWLLWLLLLDWLW
Position51111223532332233222232345255466676666
Source: 11v11.com: 1997-98 Blackburn Rovers results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

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Blackburn Rovers' score comes first[2]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1997 Derby County H 1–0 23,557 Gallacher
13 August 1997 Aston Villa A 4–0 37,112 Sutton (3), Gallacher
23 August 1997 Liverpool H 1–1 30,187 Dahlin
25 August 1997 Sheffield Wednesday H 7–2 19,618 Gallacher (2), Hyde (own goal), Wilcox, Sutton (2), Bohinen
30 August 1997 Crystal Palace A 2–1 20,849 Sutton, Gallacher
14 September 1997 Leeds United H 3–4 21,956 Gallacher, Sutton (pen), Dahlin
20 September 1997 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–0 26,573
24 September 1997 Leicester City A 1–1 19,921 Sutton
28 September 1997 Coventry City H 0–0 19,086
4 October 1997 Wimbledon A 1–0 15,600 Sutton
18 October 1997 Southampton H 1–0 24,130 Sherwood
25 October 1997 Newcastle United A 1–1 36,716 Sutton
1 November 1997 Barnsley A 1–1 18,665 Sherwood
8 November 1997 Everton H 3–2 25,397 Gallacher, Duff, Sherwood
22 November 1997 Chelsea H 1–0 27,683 Croft
30 November 1997 Manchester United A 0–4 55,175
6 December 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 3–1 25,503 Gallacher, Sutton, Wilcox
13 December 1997 Arsenal A 3–1 38,147 Wilcox, Gallacher, Sherwood
20 December 1997 West Ham United H 3–0 21,653 Ripley, Duff (2)
26 December 1997 Sheffield Wednesday A 0–0 33,502
28 December 1997 Crystal Palace H 2–2 23,872 Gallacher, Sutton
11 January 1998 Derby County A 1–3 27,823 Sutton
17 January 1998 Aston Villa H 5–0 24,834 Sherwood, Gallacher (3), Ripley
31 January 1998 Liverpool A 0–0 43,890
7 February 1998 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–3 30,388
21 February 1998 Southampton A 0–3 15,162
28 February 1998 Leicester City H 5–3 24,854 Dahlin, Sutton (3), Hendry
11 March 1998 Leeds United A 0–4 32,933
14 March 1998 Everton A 0–1 33,423
31 March 1998 Barnsley H 2–1 24,179 Dahlin, Gallacher
6 April 1998 Manchester United H 1–3 30,547 Sutton (pen)
11 April 1998 Bolton Wanderers A 1–2 25,000 Duff
13 April 1998 Arsenal H 1–4 28,212 Gallacher
18 April 1998 West Ham United A 1–2 24,733 Wilcox
25 April 1998 Wimbledon H 0–0 24,848
29 April 1998 Chelsea A 1–0 33,311 Gallacher
2 May 1998 Coventry City A 0–2 18,794
10 May 1998 Newcastle United H 1–0 29,300 Sutton

FA Cup

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Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 3 January 1998 Wigan Athletic H 4–2 22,402 McGibbon (own goal), Gallacher (2), Sherwood
R4 26 January 1998 Sheffield Wednesday A 3–0 15,940 Sutton, Sherwood, Duff
R5 14 February 1998 West Ham United A 2–2 25,729 Gallacher, Sutton
R5R 25 February 1998 West Ham United H 1–1 (lost 4–5 on pens) 21,972 Ripley

League Cup

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Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg 17 September 1997 Preston North End H 6–0 22,564 Dahlin (2), Sutton, Gallacher, Andersson, Bohinen
R2 2nd Leg 30 September 1997 Preston North End A 0–1 (won 6–1 on agg) 11,472
R3 15 October 1997 Chelsea A 1–1 (lost 1–4 on pens) 18,671 McKinlay

Squad

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[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ENG Tim Flowers
2 DF   SCO Callum Davidson
3 DF   IRL Jeff Kenna
4 MF   ENG Tim Sherwood (captain)
5 DF   SCO Colin Hendry
6 DF   NOR Tore Pedersen
7 MF   ENG Stuart Ripley
8 FW   SCO Kevin Gallacher
9 FW   ENG Chris Sutton
10 FW   SWE Martin Dahlin
11 MF   ENG Jason Wilcox
13 GK   AUS John Filan
14 FW   SWE Anders Andersson
15 MF   ENG Garry Flitcroft
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 FW   DEN Per Pedersen
17 MF   SCO Billy McKinlay
20 DF   ENG Gary Croft
22 DF   FRA Patrick Valéry
24 DF   SUI Stéphane Henchoz
25 MF   IRL Damien Duff
26 DF   ENG Marlon Broomes
32 GK   WAL Anthony Williams
33 GK   NIR Alan Fettis
34 FW   ENG James Beattie
35 MF   NIR Damien Johnson
36 MF   ENG Wayne Gill
37 DF   ENG Adam Reed

Left club during season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
12 MF   NOR Lars Bohinen (to Derby County)
18 DF   ENG Ian Pearce (to West Ham United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF   WAL Chris Coleman (to Fulham)
21 MF   GRE Giorgos Donis (to AEK Athens)

Reserve squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
- GK   ENG Gareth Stewart
- DF   IRL Graham Coughlan
- DF   IRL Peter Murphy
- DF   ENG Leam Richardson
- DF   ENG Martin Taylor
- DF   IRL David Worrell
- MF   ENG Ryan Baldacchino
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF   ENG David Dunn
- MF   NIR Darren Dunning
- MF   ENG Andy McAvoy
- MF   ENG Ian Richards
- MF   ENG Luke Staton
- FW   NIR Gary Hamilton
- FW   WAL James Thomas

Transfers

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In

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Date Pos Name From Fee
17 June 1997 DF Stéphane Henchoz HSV £3,000,000
24 June 1997 DF Patrick Valéry Bastia Free transfer
8 July 1997 FW Martin Dahlin Roma £2,500,000
8 July 1997 FW Anders Andersson Malmö FF £500,000
1 August 1997 GK John Filan Coventry City £700,000
8 September 1997 DF Tore Pedersen FC St. Pauli £500,000
10 September 1997 GK Alan Fettis Nottingham Forest £300,000
10 February 1998 DF Callum Davidson St Johnstone £1,750,000
21 May 1998 MF Jimmy Corbett Gillingham £525,000

Out

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Date Pos Name To Fee
21 July 1997 MF Matty Holmes Charlton Athletic £250,000
1 August 1997 MF Graham Fenton Leicester City £1,100,000
1 August 1997 DF Nicky Marker Sheffield United Signed
1 August 1997 DF Paul Warhurst Crystal Palace Signed
8 August 1997 DF Graeme Le Saux Chelsea £7,000,000
11 August 1997 DF Henning Berg Manchester United £5,000,000
18 September 1997 DF Ian Pearce West Ham United £2,300,000
22 September 1997 MF Giorgos Donis AEK Athens Free transfer
1 December 1997 DF Chris Coleman Fulham £2,000,000
25 March 1998 MF Lars Bohinen Derby County £1,450,000
Transfers in:   £9,775,000
Transfers out:   £19,100,000
Total spending:   £9,325,000

Statistics

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Starting 11

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Considering starts in all competitions[4][5]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Carling Premiership Manager of the Month 1997/98". Premier League. Archived from the original on 9 December 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Blackburn Rovers 1997-1998 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. ^ "FootballSquads - Blackburn Rovers - 1997/98". www.footballsquads.co.uk.
  4. ^ "All Blackburn Rovers players: 1998". www.11v11.com.
  5. ^ "Blackburn Rovers in FA Premier League 1997/1998 campaign". Football-Lineups.
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