1997–98 Hibernian F.C. season

Season 1997–98 was an unqualified disaster for Hibs, as the club was relegated to the First Division by finishing bottom of the Premier Division. There was also disappointment in the cup competitions, as the club were beaten by First Division club Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup, and Dundee United in the League Cup. Manager Jim Duffy was sacked and replaced by Alex McLeish midway through the season.

Hibernian
1997–98 season
ManagerJim Duffy
(until 2 February)[1]
Alex McLeish
(from 11 February)[1]
Premier Division10th (relegated)
Scottish CupR3
League CupR3
Top goalscorerLeague: Crawford, 9
All: Crawford, 9
Lavety, 9
Highest home attendance15565[2]
Lowest home attendance9126[2]
Average home league attendance12025[2] (up 1464)

League season

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Hibs got off to a good start to the season, winning 2–1 against Celtic on the opening day, with Chic Charnley scoring a memorable winning goal.[3] The season "rapidly turned into a nightmare", however.[3] With the club four points adrift at the bottom of the league, manager Jim Duffy was sacked after a 6–2 defeat by Motherwell.[4] Alex McLeish was hired as Duffy's replacement, but he was unable to save the club from relegation to the First Division.[3]

Results

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3 August 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 2–1 Celtic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Power   24'
Charnley   75'
Mackay   29' Attendance: 13,051
17 August 1997 Premier Division Dundee United 1–1 Hibernian Tannadice Park, Dundee
Winters   22' Tosh   77' Attendance: 7,344
23 August 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 4–0 Kilmarnock Easter Road, Edinburgh
Crawford   6'
Lavety   24'
Baker   64' (o.g.)
McGinlay   90'
Attendance: 9,559
13 September 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 5–2 Dunfermline Athletic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Charnley   25', 79'
Lavety   31'
Crawford   38'
McGinlay   55'
Millar   16' (pen.)
Petrie   80'
Attendance: 10,070
20 September 1997 Premier Division Motherwell 1–1 Hibernian Fir Park, Motherwell
Coyne   80' Rougier   46' Attendance: 7,420
27 September 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 1–1 St Johnstone Easter Road, Edinburgh
Crawford   2' Farquhar   16' Attendance: 11,172
4 October 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 3–4 Rangers Easter Road, Edinburgh
McGinlay   28'
Lavety   43'
Crawford   46'
Negri   26' (pen.), 58'
Gascoigne   51'
Albertz   52'
Attendance: 15,237
18 October 1997 Premier Division Aberdeen 2–0 Hibernian Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Glass   5'
Dodds   37' (pen.)
Attendance: 11,708
25 October 1997 Premier Division Kilmarnock 2–1 Hibernian Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Roberts   54'
Nevin   57'
Larusson   80' Attendance: 7,541
1 November 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 1–3 Dundee United Easter Road, Edinburgh
Crawford   85' Olofsson   26', 88'
McSwegan   90'
Attendance: 10,110
22 November 1997 Premier Division St Johnstone 1–0 Hibernian McDiarmid Park, Perth
Scott   2' Attendance: 5,403
29 November 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 1–1 Motherwell Easter Road, Edinburgh
Dods   75' Coyle   90' Attendance: 9,999
7 December 1997 Premier Division Rangers 1–0 Hibernian Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Negri   51' Attendance: 48,070
13 December 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 2–2 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh
Walker   2', 83' Dodds   43'
Jess   68'
Attendance: 10,001
20 December 1997 Premier Division Celtic 5–0 Hibernian Celtic Park, Glasgow
Burley   23', 90'
Wieghorst   38'
McNamara   48'
Larsson   64'
Attendance: 49,094
27 December 1997 Premier Division Hibernian 0–1 Kilmarnock Easter Road, Edinburgh
Wright   43' Attendance: 10,543
17 January 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 0–1 St Johnstone Easter Road, Edinburgh
Grant   83' Attendance: 9,126
31 January 1998 Premier Division Motherwell 6–2 Hibernian Fir Park, Motherwell
Arnott   10'
Weir   23'
Garcin   43'
McCulloch   81', 89'
Coyne   88'
Crawford   4'
Lavety   8'
Attendance: 6,169
7 February 1998 Premier Division Aberdeen 3–0 Hibernian Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Newell   40'
Jess   57'
Miller   59'
Attendance: 12,043
21 February 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 1–2 Rangers Easter Road, Edinburgh
Lavety   19' Negri   35'
Albertz   88'
Attendance: 13,968
24 February 1998 Premier Division Dundee United 1–1 Hibernian Tannadice Park, Dundee
Dow   73' (o.g.) Hughes   75' Attendance: 7,989
28 February 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 0–1 Celtic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Rieper   25' Attendance: 15,137
14 March 1998 Premier Division St Johnstone 1–1 Hibernian McDiarmid Park, Perth
McQuillan   62' Rougier   90' (pen.) Attendance: 6,472
Referee: McCluskey
21 March 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 1–0 Motherwell Easter Road, Edinburgh
Lavety   34' Attendance: 10,582
28 March 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 1–1 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh
Rougier   90' (pen.) Jess   68' Attendance: 12,966
1 April 1998 Premier Division Rangers 3–0 Hibernian Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
McCoist   56'
Thern   58'
Durie   75'
Attendance: 48,488
25 April 1998 Premier Division Celtic 0–0 Hibernian Celtic Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 49,500
2 May 1998 Premier Division Hibernian 1–2 Dundee United Easter Road, Edinburgh
Brebner   31' Olofsson   72', 78' Attendance: 13,413
9 May 1998 Premier Division Kilmarnock 1–1 Hibernian Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Roberts   15' Crawford   90' Attendance: 12,393

Final table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
6 Aberdeen 36 9 12 15 39 53 −14 39
7 Dundee United 36 8 13 15 43 51 −8 37
8 Dunfermline Athletic 36 8 13 15 43 68 −25 37
9 Motherwell 36 9 7 20 46 64 −18 34
10 Hibernian (R) 36 6 12 18 38 59 −21 30 Relegation to the First Division
Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Scottish League Cup

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Results

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9 August 1997 Scottish League Cup Hibernian 3–1 Alloa Athletic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Lavety   9'
Charnley   29'
McGinlay   49'
Irvine   50' Attendance: 6,807
20 August 1997 Scottish League Cup Dundee United 2–1
AET
Hibernian Tannadice Park, Dundee
Zetterlund   90'
McSwegan   92'
Lavety   3' Attendance: 7,692
Referee: McCluskey

Scottish Cup

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Results

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24 January 1998 Scottish Cup Hibernian 1–2 Raith Rovers Easter Road, Edinburgh
McGinlay   22' Millar   10', 21' Attendance: 11,481

Transfers

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Player stats

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During the 1997–98 season, Hibs used 32 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[5]

No. Pos Nat Player Total Premier Division Scottish Cup League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ISL Olafur Gottskalksson 17 0 16 0 0 0 1 0
GK   SCO Bryan Gunn 12 0 12 0 0 0 0 0
GK   SCO Chris Reid 10 0 8 0 1 0 1 0
DF   BEN Jean-Marc Adjovi-Bocco 32 0 29 0 1 0 2 0
DF   SCO Shaun Dennis 6 0 5 0 1 0 0 0
DF   SCO Darren Dods 32 1 29 1 1 0 2 0
DF   SCO David Elliot 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
DF   SCO John Hughes 27 1 25 1 0 0 2 0
DF   SCO Stuart McCaffrey 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
DF   SCO Jamie McQuilken 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
DF   SCO Willie Miller 34 0 31 0 1 0 2 0
DF   SCO Michael Renwick 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
DF   SCO Brian Welsh 17 1 17 1 0 0 0 0
MF   SCO Scott Bannerman 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
MF   SCO Grant Brebner 9 1 9 1 0 0 0 0
MF   SCO Chic Charnley 23 4 20 3 1 0 2 1
MF   SCO Graeme Donald 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
MF   SCO Andy Dow 35 0 32 0 1 0 2 0
MF   SCO Brian Grant 7 0 5 0 0 0 2 0
MF   SCO Kevin Harper 29 1 27 1 1 0 1 0
MF   SCO Chris Jackson 16 0 15 0 1 0 0 0
MF   ISL Bjarni Larusson 7 1 7 1 0 0 0 0
MF   SCO Pat McGinlay 36 6 33 4 1 1 2 1
MF   SCO Greg Miller 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 0
MF   SCO Eric Paton 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF   TRI Tony Rougier 31 3 30 3 0 0 1 0
FW   SCO Stephen Crawford 38 9 35 9 1 0 2 0
FW   SCO Barry Lavety 29 9 26 7 1 0 2 2
FW   SCO Kenny Miller 7 0 7 0 0 0 0 0
FW   EIR Lee Power 6 1 5 1 0 0 1 0
FW   SCO Paul Tosh 16 1 15 1 0 0 1 0
FW   SCO Andy Walker 9 3 8 3 1 0 0 0

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Manager History for Hibernian". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Average Home League Game Attendances". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Hardie, David (21 November 2009). "Chic Charnley slams old boss Alex McLeish over time at Hibs". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Football: Duffy is sacked by Hibernian". The Independent. 3 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Hibernian 1997/1998 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
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