1997–98 Aston Villa F.C. season explained

See main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present).

Club:	Aston Villa
Season:	1997–98
Manager:	Brian Little (until 24 February) John Gregory (from 25 February)
Chairman:	Doug Ellis
Stadium:	Villa Park
League:	Premiership
League Result:	7th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fifth round
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Third round
Cup3:	UEFA Cup
Cup3 Result:	Quarter-finals
League Topscorer:	Dwight Yorke (12)
Season Topscorer:	Dwight Yorke (14)
Average Attendance:	36,137
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Prevseason:	1996–97
Nextseason:	1998–99

In the 1997–98 English football season, Aston Villa competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

When Brian Little resigned as Aston Villa manager in February, Villa were 15th in the Premiership and were starting to look like outside bets for relegation.^[1] Ruud Gullit, recently sacked by Chelsea, was linked with the vacancy, but the surprise choice for the job was Wycombe manager John Gregory, a former Villa coach.^[2] He influenced a late run of form which saw Villa climb to seventh place, and for the second season running Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking.^[3]

There were debut appearances for Gareth Barry (365), Simon Grayson (48), Stan Collymore (46), Darren Byfield (7), Richard Walker (6), Matthew Ghent, Paul Crichton and Lee Collins.^[4]

Final league table

See main article: 1997–98 FA Premier League.

Transfers

Transferred in

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee
13 May 1997				£7,000,000
26 June 1997				£1,300,000
27 November 1997		David Curtolo		£30,000
				£8,330,000

Transferred out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee
1 July 1997			Everton	£750,000
29 August 1997				£500,000
1 September 1997				Free transfer
9 December 1997				£150,000
26 March 1998				£1,000,000
				£2,400,000

Loaned out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Loan End
1 August 1997				23 August 1997
26 March 1998				26 April 1998

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure

£8,330,000

Income

£2,400,000

Balance

£5,930,000

Squad

First Team

	Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth (Age)	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Apps	Gls
Goalkeepers
1					1997 7, df=yes		28 February 1992	Free transfer	169	0
13					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1991		24	0
29					1997 7, df=yes		7 August 1997	Loan	-	-
29*					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1997		-	-
30					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995		0	0
31					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1996		0	0
Defenders
2					1997 7, df=yes		6 January 1995	£1,450,000	63	1
3					1997 7, df=yes		7 August 1991	£1,100,000	225	15
4	Gareth Southgate (c)				1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995	£3,500,000	77	3
5					1997 7, df=yes		12 July 1991	£40,000	176	10
14					1997 7, df=yes		10 March 1995	£1,000,000	104	3
15					1997 7, df=yes		2 August 1996	£1,700,000	39	0
16					1997 7, df=yes		26 June 1997	£1,300,000	-	-
19					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1996		7	0
20					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995		22	0
21					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1997		-	-
24*					1997 7, df=yes		1 January 1998		-	-
Midfielders
6					1997 7, df=yes		26 July 1993	£2,100,000	172	11
7					1997 7, df=yes		21 December 1994	£1,000,000	96	9
8					1997 7, df=yes		5 July 1995	£3,250,000	82	5
17					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995		10	0
18					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995	£4.000.000	25	5
24					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995		4	0
Forwards
9					1997 7, df=yes		26 June 1995	£3,500,000	85	24
10					1997 7, df=yes	Signal Hill	19 July 1991	£120,000	237	82
11					1997 7, df=yes		13 May 1997	£7,000,000	-	-
12					1997 7, df=yes		24 February 1996	£1,890,000	28	4
22					1997 7, df=yes		1 January 1998		-	-
23					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1995		3	0
25					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1997		-	-
27					1997 7, df=yes		1 July 1997		-	-

Results

Aston Villa's score comes first^[5]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Leicester City	A	0–1	20,304
13 August 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	0–4	37,112
23 August 1997	Newcastle United	A	0–1	36,783
27 August 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–3	26,317	Yorke 27', Collymore 58'
30 August 1997	Leeds United	H	1–0	39,027	Yorke 67'
13 September 1997	Barnsley	A	3–0	18,649	Ehiogu 25', Draper 50', Taylor 72'
20 September 1997	Derby County	H	2–1	35,444	Yorke 72', Joachim 75'
22 September 1997	Liverpool	A	0–3	34,843
27 September 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–2	32,044	Staunton 32', Taylor 49'
4 October 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–0	24,186	Milošević 12'
18 October 1997	Wimbledon	H	1–2	32,087	Taylor 45'
26 October 1997	Arsenal	A	0–0	38,061
1 November 1997	Chelsea	H	0–2	39,372
8 November 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	21,097	Joachim 86'
22 November 1997	Everton	H	2–1	36,389	Milošević 37', Ehiogu 56'
29 November 1997	West Ham United	A	1–2	24,976	Yorke 47'
6 December 1997	Coventry City	H	3–0	33,250	Collymore 21', Hendrie 71', Joachim 85'
15 December 1997	Manchester United	A	0–1	55,151
20 December 1997	Southampton	H	1–1	29,343	Taylor 64'
26 December 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	4–1	38,644	Draper 38', 68', Collymore 81', 89'
28 December 1997	Leeds United	A	1–1	36,287	Milošević 85'
10 January 1998	Leicester City	H	1–1	36,429	Joachim 87'
17 January 1998	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–5	24,834
1 February 1998	Newcastle United	H	0–1	38,266
7 February 1998	Derby County	A	1–0	30,251	Yorke 90'
18 February 1998	Manchester United	H	0–2	39,372
21 February 1998	Wimbledon	A	1–2	13,131	Milošević 41'
28 February 1998	Liverpool	H	2–1	39,372	Collymore 10', 65'
8 March 1998	Chelsea	A	1–0	33,018	Joachim 51'
11 March 1998	Barnsley	H	0–1	29,519
14 March 1998	Crystal Palace	H	3–1	33,781	Taylor 1', Milošević pen 14', 35'
28 March 1998	Everton	A	4–1	36,471	Joachim 12', Charles 62', Yorke pen 72', 81'
4 April 1998	West Ham United	H	2–0	39,372	Joachim 76', Milošević 82'
11 April 1998	Coventry City	A	2–1	22,792	Yorke 5', 48'
18 April 1998	Southampton	A	2–1	15,238	Hendrie 6', Yorke 60'
25 April 1998	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–3	38,392	Taylor 57'
2 May 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3–1	34,177	Yorke 21', Hendrie 25', Joachim 50'
10 May 1998	Arsenal	H	1–0	39,372	Yorke 37' (pen)

FA Cup

See main article: 1997–98 FA Cup.

League Cup

See main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup.

UEFA Cup

See main article: 1997–98 UEFA Cup.

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External links

• Aston Villa official website
• avfchistory.co.uk 1997–98 season

Notes and References

1. Web site: Little resigns from Villa. BBC Sport. 24 February 1998. 22 November 2013.
2. Web site: Ex-backroom boy gets Villa job. BBC Sport. 25 February 1998. 22 November 2013.
3. http://www.worldfootball.net/teams/aston-villa/1998/2/ Aston Villa 1997/1998
4. Web site: Aston Villa's Seasons. AVFC History.
5. http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=154&teamTabs=results&season_id=127 Soccerbase: 1997–98 Aston Villa results