1997–98 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Wigan Athletic
1997–98 season
ChairmanDave Whelan
ManagerJohn Deehan
StadiumSpringfield Park
Second Division11th
FA CupThird round
League CupFirst round
Auto Windscreens ShieldQuarter finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Lowe (16)
All: Lowe (18)
Average home league attendance3,968

Season summary

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In the 1997–98 season, Wigan didn't start the campaign very well and by the end of November, sat in the bottom four and were favourites to go down before the season started and it seemed a possibility at that stage. By 21 February, their fortunes didn't really improve and were still in the relegation battle in 17th and two points clear of the relegation zone. From then onwards, Wigan went on a great run of form to end the season with seven wins from their final 15 league games and finished in a satisfying 11th place.

Transfers

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Player Pos From Fee Date Notes
Scott Green DF Bolton Wanderers £300,000 30 June 1997 [1]
David Lee MF Bolton Wanderers £250,000 18 July 1997 [1]
Pat McGibbon DF Manchester United £250,000 30 July 1997 [1]
Brendan O'Connell MF Charlton Athletic £120,000 8 August 1997 [1]
Neil Mustoe MF Manchester United Undisclosed 7 January 1998 [1]
Stuart Barlow FW Oldham Athletic £45,000 26 March 1998 [1]
Player Pos To Fee Date Notes
John Pender DF Rochdale £11,500 22 July 1997 [1]
Graham Lancashire FW Rochdale £40,000 2 October 1997 [1]
Andy Saville FW Cardiff City £60,000 31 October 1997 [1]
Charlie Bishop MF Northampton Town £20,000 12 December 1997 [1]

Loans in

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Player Pos From Date Duration Notes
Drewe Broughton FW Norwich City 15 August 1997 One month
Neil Woods FW Grimsby Town 6 November 1997 One month
Graham Branch DF Tranmere Rovers 24 December 1997 One month
Rob Newman DF Norwich City 26 March 1998 End of season

Loans out

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Player Pos To Date Duration Notes
Steve Morgan DF Bury 26 September 1997 One month


Results

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Wigan Athletic's score comes first[2]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Second Division

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1997 Wycombe Wanderers H 5–2 4,706 O'Connell (3), Green, Kilford
16 August 1997 Bournemouth A 0–1 3,799
23 August 1997 Plymouth Argyle H 1–1 3,761 Lowe
30 August 1997 Bristol City A 0–3 9,255
2 September 1997 Carlisle United A 0–1 5,352
8 September 1997 Wrexham H 3–2 3,872 O'Connell, Lowe, Jones (pen)
13 September 1997 Blackpool H 3–0 5,517 Johnson, Lowe (2)
20 September 1997 Northampton Town A 0–1 6,570
27 September 1997 Fulham H 2–1 4,951 Johnson, Greenall
4 October 1997 Grimsby Town A 1–2 4,623 Lowe
11 October 1997 Chesterfield A 3–2 4,673 O'Connell, Greenall, Lowe
18 October 1997 Luton Town H 1–1 4,466 Jones (pen)
21 October 1997 Gillingham H 1–4 3,214 Lee
25 October 1997 Millwall A 1–1 7,986 Jones
1 November 1997 York City H 1–1 3,701 Greenall
4 November 1997 Oldham Athletic A 1–3 5,446 Lowe
8 November 1997 Southend United A 0–1 2,716
22 November 1997 Preston North End H 1–4 5,649 Kilford
29 November 1997 Watford A 1–2 9,455 Jones
2 December 1997 Bristol Rovers H 3–0 2,738 Kilford, Lowe (2)
13 December 1997 Burnley A 2–0 9,520 Lee, Jones
20 December 1997 Brentford H 4–0 3,301 Lowe, Smeets (2), Kilford
26 December 1997 Wrexham A 2–2 4,577 Smeets, Kilford
28 December 1997 Carlisle United H 0–2 4,511
10 January 1998 Wycombe Wanderers A 2–1 5,549 Martínez, Lee
17 January 1998 Bristol City H 0–3 5,078
24 January 1998 Plymouth Argyle A 2–3 4,345 Kilford, Lee
31 January 1998 Blackpool A 2–0 5,288 Warne, Lydiate (own goal)
7 February 1998 Northampton Town H 1–1 3,579 Morgan
14 February 1998 Grimsby Town H 0–2 3,548
21 February 1998 Fulham A 0–2 7,791
24 February 1998 Luton Town A 1–1 4,403 Jones
28 February 1998 Chesterfield H 2–1 3,017 Lowe, Jones (pen)
7 March 1998 York City A 2–2 3,536 Greenall, Jones
14 March 1998 Oldham Athletic H 1–0 4,277 Kilford
17 March 1998 Southend United H 1–3 2,616 Lowe
21 March 1998 Walsall A 0–1 3,169
28 March 1998 Preston North End A 1–1 10,171 Lowe
4 April 1998 Watford H 3–2 4,262 Barlow, Lowe, Kilford
7 April 1998 Bournemouth H 1–0 2,798 Lee
10 April 1998 Bristol Rovers A 0–5 6,038
13 April 1998 Burnley H 5–1 4,926 Barlow, Lowe (2), Warne, Kilford
18 April 1998 Brentford A 2–0 4,480 Bradshaw (pen), Kilford
21 April 1998 Walsall H 2–0 2,725 Barlow, Jones
24 April 1998 Millwall H 0–0 4,045
2 May 1998 Gillingham A 0–0 10,361

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
9 Bournemouth 46 18 12 16 57 52 +5 66
10 Chesterfield 46 16 17 13 46 44 +2 65
11 Wigan Athletic 46 17 11 18 64 66 −2 62
12 Blackpool 46 17 11 18 59 67 −8 62
13 Oldham Athletic 46 15 16 15 62 54 +8 61
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
First 15 November 1997 Carlisle United A 1–0 5,182 Jones
Second 6 December 1997 York City H 2–1 4,021 Martínez, Lee
Third 3 January 1998 Blackburn Rovers A 2–4 22,402 Lee, Lowe

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
First (1st leg) 12 August 1997 Chesterfield H 1–2 3,413 Lee
First (2nd leg) 26 August 1997 Chesterfield A 0–1 (lost 1–3 on agg) 4,076

Football League Trophy

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
First (Northern) 9 December 1997 Lincoln City H 2–0 1,467 Jones (2, 1 pen)
Second (Northern) 20 January 1998 Rotherham United H 3–0 1,495 Jones (2), Lowe
Quarter final (Northern) 27 January 1998 Blackpool A 0–1 1,687

Squad

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[4] 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 Lee Butler
- GK   NIR Roy Carroll
- DF   ENG Charlie Bishop
- DF   ENG Carl Bradshaw
- DF   ENG Graham Branch
- DF   ITA Pasquale Bruno
- DF   ENG Neil Fitzhenry
- DF   ENG Scott Green
- DF   ENG Colin Greenall
- DF   ENG Sean Hessey
- DF   NIR Pat McGibbon
- DF   ENG Rob Newman (on loan from Norwich City)
- DF   ENG Steve Morgan
- DF   CAN Kevin Sharp
- DF   ENG Neil Whitworth (on loan from Kilmarnock)
- MF   ENG Tony Black
- MF   ESP Isidro Díaz
- MF   ENG Darren Garner
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF   ENG Gavin Johnson
- MF   ENG Ian Kilford
- MF   ESP Roberto Martínez
- MF   ENG Neil Mustoe
- MF   ENG Brendan O'Connell
- MF   ENG Paul Rogers
- MF   NED Jorg Smeets
- FW   ENG Stuart Barlow
- FW   ENG Drewe Broughton (on loan from Norwich City)
- FW   ENG Graeme Jones
- FW   ENG Graham Lancashire
- FW   ENG David Lee
- FW   ENG David Lowe
- FW   ENG Andy Saville
- FW   ENG Paul Warne
- FW   ENG Neil Woods (on loan from Grimsby Town)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1998). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1998–99. London: Headline. pp. 542–554. ISBN 978-0-7472-7652-4.
  2. ^ "Wigan Athletic 1997–1998". Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ^ "England 1997–98". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  4. ^ "All Wigan Athletic players: 1998".