1997–98 Football League First Division

First Division
Season	1997–98
Champions	Nottingham Forest
Promoted	Nottingham Forest; Middlesbrough; Charlton Athletic
Relegated	Manchester City; Stoke City; Reading
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,410 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kevin Phillips; Pierre van Hooijdonk; (29 goals each)
Biggest home win	Middlesbrough 6–0 Swindon Town; (11 March 1998)
Biggest away win	Stoke City 0–7 Birmingham City; (10 January 1998)
Highest scoring	Nottingham Forest 5–2 Charlton Athletic; (22 November 1997); Stoke City 0–7 Birmingham City; (10 January 1998); Ipswich Town 5–2 Oxford United; (24 February 1998); Stoke City 2–5 Manchester City; (3 May 1998)
	← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 Football League First Division (referred to as the Nationwide First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the league under its current league division format.

Changes from previous season

Team changes

From First Division

Promoted to Premier League

Relegated to Second Division

To First Division

Promoted from Second Division

Relegated from Premier League

Teams

Stadium and locations

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1997–1998 teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Birmingham City	Birmingham	St Andrew's	25,877
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	17,848
Bury	Bury	Gigg Lane	11,840
Charlton Athletic	Charlton	The Valley	15,815
Crewe Alexandra	Crewe	Gresty Road	10,153
Huddersfield Town	Huddersfield	Alfred McAlpine Stadium	24,500
Ipswich Town	Ipswich	Portman Road	30,311
Manchester City	Manchester	Maine Road	35,150
Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	30,000
Norwich City	Norwich	Carrow Road	24,663
Nottingham Forest	West Bridgford	City Ground	30,576
Oxford United	Oxford	Manor Ground	9,500
Port Vale	Burslem	Vale Park	19,052
Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	21,100
Queens Park Rangers	White City	Loftus Road	18,439
Reading	Reading	Elm Park	14,800
Sheffield United	Sheffield	Bramall Lane	29,034
Stockport County	Stockport	Edgeley Park	10,841
Stoke City	Stoke-on-Trent	Britannia Stadium	27,743
Sunderland	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	42,000
Swindon Town	Swindon	County Ground	15,728
Tranmere Rovers	Birkenhead	Prenton Park	16,567
West Bromwich Albion	West Bromwich	The Hawthorns	22,986
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wolverhampton	Molineux Stadium	28,525

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Birmingham City	Trevor Francis	Steve Bruce	Pony	Auto Windscreens
Bradford City	Paul Jewell	Wayne Jacobs	Beaver	JCT600
Bury	Stan Ternent	Chris Lucketti	Super League	Birthdays
Charlton Athletic	Alan Curbishley	Mark Kinsella	Quaser	Viglen
Crewe Alexandra	Dario Gradi	Gareth Whalley	Adidas	Boldon James
Huddersfield Town	Peter Jackson	Barry Horne	Pony	Panasonic
Ipswich Town	George Burley	Jason Cundy	Punch	Greene King
Manchester City	Joe Royle	Kit Symons	Kappa	Brother
Middlesbrough	Bryan Robson	Nigel Pearson	Erreà	Cellnet
Norwich City	John Faulkner (caretaker)	Matt Jackson	Pony	Colman's
Nottingham Forest	Dave Bassett	Steve Chettle	Umbro	Pinnacle
Oxford United	Malcolm Shotton	Phil Gilchrist	Own Brand	Unipart
Port Vale	John Rudge	Allen Tankard	Mizuno	Tunstall Assurance
Portsmouth	Alan Ball	Adrian Whitbread	Admiral	KJC
Queens Park Rangers	Ray Harford	Steve Morrow	Le Coq Sportif	Ericsson
Reading	Tommy Burns	Phil Parkinson	Mizuno	Auto Trader
Sheffield United	Steve Thompson (caretaker)	David Holdsworth	Le Coq Sportif	Wards
Stockport County	Gary Megson	Mike Flynn	Adidas	Robinsons
Stoke City	Alan Durban (caretaker)	Lárus Sigurðsson	Asics	Britannia
Sunderland	Peter Reid	Kevin Ball	Asics	Lambtons
Swindon Town	Steve McMahon	Brian Borrows	Mizuno	Nationwide
Tranmere Rovers	John Aldridge	Liam O'Brien	Mizuno	Wirral
West Bromwich Albion	Denis Smith	Sean Flynn	Patrick	West Bromwich Building Society
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Mark McGhee	Keith Curle	Puma	Goodyear

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Huddersfield Town	Brian Horton	Sacked	6 October 1997	24th	Peter Jackson	7 October 1997^[2]
Queens Park Rangers	Stewart Houston	Sacked	10 November 1997	13th	Ray Harford	5 December 1997
West Bromwich Albion	Ray Harford	Resigned	4 December 1997	4th	Denis Smith	24 December 1997
Oxford United	Denis Smith	Signed by West Bromwich Albion	24 December 1997	16th	Malcolm Shotton	24 January 1998
Bradford City	Chris Kamara	Sacked	6 January 1998	11th	Paul Jewell	6 January 1998
Portsmouth	Terry Fenwick	Sacked	14 January 1998	24th	Alan Ball	26 January 1998
Stoke City	Chic Bates	Mutual consent	22 January 1998	20th	Chris Kamara	22 January 1998^[3]
Manchester City	Frank Clark	Sacked	17 February 1998	22nd	Joe Royle	18 February 1998^[4]
Sheffield United	Nigel Spackman	Resigned	2 March 1998	5th	Steve Bruce	2 July 1998
Reading	Terry Bullivant	Resigned	18 March 1998^[5]	23rd	Tommy Burns	25 March 1998^[6]
Stoke City	Chris Kamara	Mutual consent	8 April 1998^[7]	24th	Brian Little	13 May 1998
Norwich City	Mike Walker	Resigned	30 April 1998	16th	Bruce Rioch	12 June 1998

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Nottingham Forest (C, P)	46	28	10	8	82	42	+40	94	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Middlesbrough (P)	46	27	10	9	77	41	+36	91	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Sunderland	46	26	12	8	86	50	+36	90	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Charlton Athletic (O, P)	46	26	10	10	80	49	+31	88
5	Ipswich Town	46	23	14	9	77	43	+34	83
6	Sheffield United	46	19	17	10	69	54	+15	74
7	Birmingham City	46	19	17	10	60	35	+25	74
8	Stockport County	46	19	8	19	71	69	+2	65
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	18	11	17	57	53	+4	65
10	West Bromwich Albion	46	16	13	17	50	56	−6	61
11	Crewe Alexandra	46	18	5	23	58	65	−7	59
12	Oxford United	46	16	10	20	60	64	−4	58
13	Bradford City	46	14	15	17	46	59	−13	57
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	14	18	54	57	−3	56
15	Norwich City	46	14	13	19	52	69	−17	55
16	Huddersfield Town	46	14	11	21	50	72	−22	53
17	Bury	46	11	19	16	42	58	−16	52
18	Swindon Town	46	14	10	22	42	73	−31	52
19	Port Vale	46	13	10	23	56	66	−10	49
20	Portsmouth	46	13	10	23	51	63	−12	49
21	Queens Park Rangers	46	10	19	17	51	63	−12	49
22	Manchester City (R)	46	12	12	22	56	57	−1	48	Relegation to the Second Division
23	Stoke City (R)	46	11	13	22	44	74	−30	46
24	Reading (R)	46	11	9	26	39	78	−39	42

Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Semi-finals First leg – 10 May; Second leg – 13 May 1998					Final at Wembley 25 May 1998

3rd	Sunderland	1	2	3

6th	Sheffield United	2	0	2
					3rd	Sunderland	4 (6)

					4th	Charlton Athletic (pen.)	4 (7)
4th	Charlton Athletic	1	1	2

5th	Ipswich Town	0	0	0

Results

Home \ Away	BIR	BRA	BRY	CHA	CRE	HUD	IPS	MCI	MID	NWC	NOT	OXF	PTV	POR	QPR	REA	SHU	STP	STK	SUN	SWI	TRA	WBA	WOL
Birmingham City		0–0	1–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	4–1	2–0	0–1	3–0	0–0	1–0	1–0
Bradford City	0–0		1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–1	0–3	0–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	4–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–4	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–0
Bury	2–1	2–0		0–0	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–3	1–3
Charlton Athletic	1–1	4–1	0–0		3–2	1–0	3–0	2–1	3–0	2–1	4–2	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	5–0	1–0
Crewe Alexandra	0–2	5–0	1–2	0–3		2–5	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–4	2–1	0–1	3–1	2–3	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	0–3	2–0	2–1	2–3	0–2
Huddersfield Town	0–1	1–2	2–0	0–3	2–0		2–2	1–3	0–1	1–3	0–2	5–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–3	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–0
Ipswich Town	0–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	3–2	5–1		1–0	1–1	5–0	0–1	5–2	5–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–2	2–3	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–0
Manchester City	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–2		2–0	1–2	2–3	0–2	2–3	2–2	2–2	0–0	0–0	4–1	0–1	0–1	6–0	1–1	1–0	0–1
Middlesbrough	3–1	1–0	4–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–0		3–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	4–0	1–2	3–1	0–1	3–1	6–0	3–0	1–0	1–1
Norwich City	3–3	2–3	2–2	0–4	0–2	5–0	2–1	0–0	1–3		1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	5–0	0–2	1–1	0–2
Nottingham Forest	1–0	2–2	3–0	5–2	3–1	3–0	2–1	1–3	4–0	2–3		1–3	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–3	3–0	2–2	1–0	3–0
Oxford United	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–4	2–0	0–1		2–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	2–4	3–0	5–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–0
Port Vale	0–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	2–3	4–1	1–3	2–1	0–1	2–2	0–1	3–0		2–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	0–2
Portsmouth	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–3	3–0	0–1	0–3	0–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	3–1		3–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–4	0–1	1–0	2–3	3–2
Queens Park Rangers	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–4	3–2	2–1	0–0	2–0	5–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0		1–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	0–0
Reading	2–0	0–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	0–2	0–4	3–0	0–1	0–1	3–3	2–1	0–3	0–1	1–2		0–1	1–0	2–0	4–0	0–1	1–3	2–1	0–0
Sheffield United	0–0	2–1	3–0	4–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–2	4–0		5–1	3–2	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–4	1–0
Stockport County	2–2	1–2	0–0	3–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	3–2	3–0	3–1	2–0	5–1	1–0		1–0	1–1	4–2	3–1	2–1	1–0
Stoke City	0–7	2–1	3–2	1–2	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–5	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	2–2	2–1		1–2	1–2	0–3	0–0	3–0
Sunderland	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–2	0–1	1–1	3–1	4–2	2–1	2–2	4–1	4–2	4–1	3–0		0–0	3–0	2–0	1–1
Swindon Town	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–2	1–0	0–0	4–1	4–2	0–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–2		2–1	0–2	0–0
Tranmere Rovers	0–3	3–1	0–0	2–2	0–3	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–2	1–2	2–2	2–1	6–0	3–3	3–0	3–1	0–2	3–0		0–0	2–1
West Bromwich Albion	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	2–3	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	3–3	0–0	2–1		1–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–3	2–1	4–2	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	5–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	3–1	0–0	3–4	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–1	0–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kevin Phillips	Sunderland	29
1	Pierre van Hooijdonk	Nottingham Forest	29
3	Kevin Campbell	Nottingham Forest	23
3	Clive Mendonca	Charlton Athletic	23
5	David Johnson	Ipswich Town	20
6	Brett Angell	Stockport County	18
7	Paul Furlong	Birmingham City	15
7	Marcus Stewart	Huddersfield Town	15

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Pierre van Hooijdonk	Nottingham Forest	Queens Park Rangers	4–0	30 August 1997
Pierre van Hooijdonk		Charlton Athletic	5–2	22 November 1997
Kevin Campbell		Crewe Alexandra	4–1	7 March 1998
Clive Mendonca	Charlton Athletic	Norwich City	4–0	17 September 1997
Jan Åge Fjørtoft	Sheffield United	Stockport County	5–1	21 October 1997
Paul Furlong	Birmingham City	Stoke City	7–0	10 January 1998
Paul Furlong	Birmingham City	Stockport County	4–1	27 January 1998
Dougie Freedman	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Norwich City	5–0	10 January 1998
Alex Mathie	Ipswich Town	Norwich City	5–0	21 February 1998
David Johnson	Ipswich Town	Oxford United	5–2	24 February 1998
Niall Quinn	Sunderland	Stockport County	4–1	7 March 1998
Marco Branca	Middlesbrough	Bury	4–0	11 April 1998
Colin Little	Crewe Alexandra	Bradford City	5–0	25 April 1998

References

^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
^ Edwards, John (7 October 1997). "Mystery man replaces Horton". The Mirror. The Free Library. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
^ Metcalf, Rupert (23 January 1998). "Kamara takes charge of Stoke as Bates steps down". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Nixon, Alan (18 February 1998). "Clark sacked, Royle in at City". The Mirror. The Free Library. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
^ Nixon, Alan (19 March 1998). "Bullivant ends Reading rule". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
^ "Burns takes the reins at Reading". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 26 March 1998. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Martin, Andrew (9 April 1998). "Kamara leaves struggling Stoke". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[topscorers-1] "English League Leading Goalscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 31 October 2010.

[2] Edwards, John (7 October 1997). "Mystery man replaces Horton". The Mirror. The Free Library. Retrieved 24 March 2012.

[3] Metcalf, Rupert (23 January 1998). "Kamara takes charge of Stoke as Bates steps down". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[4] Nixon, Alan (18 February 1998). "Clark sacked, Royle in at City". The Mirror. The Free Library. Retrieved 24 March 2012.

[5] Nixon, Alan (19 March 1998). "Bullivant ends Reading rule". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 24 March 2012.

[Burns_takes_the_reins_at_Reading-6] "Burns takes the reins at Reading". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 26 March 1998. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[Kamara_leaves_struggling_Stoke-7] Martin, Andrew (9 April 1998). "Kamara leaves struggling Stoke". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

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v t e Second level English football league seasons
Football League Second Division	1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Football League First Division	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
Football League Championship	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
See also	Football Alliance
List of champions