| Competition: | First Division |
| Season: | 1997–98 |
| Winners: | Nottingham Forest |
| Promoted: | Nottingham Forest Middlesbrough Charlton Athletic |
| Relegated: | Manchester City Stoke City Reading |
| Matches: | 552 |
| Total Goals: | 1410 |
| League Topscorer: | Kevin Phillips Pierre van Hooijdonk (29 goals each)[1] |
| Biggest Home Win: | (11 March 1998) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (10 January 1998) |
| Highest Scoring: | (22 November 1997) (10 January 1998) (24 February 1998) (3 May 1998) |
| Prevseason: | 1996–97 |
| Nextseason: | 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.
Promoted to Premier League
Relegated to Second Division
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated from Premier League
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25,877 | ||||
| 17,848 | ||||
| 11,840 | ||||
| 15,815 | ||||
| 10,153 | ||||
| 24,500 | ||||
| 30,311 | ||||
| 35,150 | ||||
| 30,000 | ||||
| 24,663 | ||||
| 30,576 | ||||
| 9,500 | ||||
| 19,052 | ||||
| 21,100 | ||||
| 18,439 | ||||
| 14,800 | ||||
| 29,034 | ||||
| 10,841 | ||||
| 27,743 | ||||
| 42,000 | ||||
| 15,728 | ||||
| 16,567 | ||||
| 22,986 | ||||
| 28,525 |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Windscreens | |||||
| Beaver | JCT600 | ||||
| Super League | Birthdays | ||||
| Quaser | Viglen | ||||
| Boldon James | |||||
| Pony | Panasonic | ||||
| Punch | Greene King | ||||
| Brother | |||||
| Cellnet | |||||
| John Faulkner (caretaker) | Pony | Colman's | |||
| Pinnacle | |||||
| Own Brand | Unipart | ||||
| Tunstall Assurance | |||||
| KJC | |||||
| Ericsson | |||||
| Mizuno | Auto Trader | ||||
| Steve Thompson (caretaker) | Le Coq Sportif | Wards | |||
| Adidas | Robinsons | ||||
| Alan Durban (caretaker) | Britannia | ||||
| Asics | Lambtons | ||||
| Mizuno | Nationwide | ||||
| Mizuno | Wirral | ||||
| West Bromwich Building Society | |||||
| Goodyear |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huddersfield Town | Sacked | 6 October 1997 | 24th | 7 October 1997[2] | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | Sacked | 10 November 1997 | 13th | 5 December 1997 | |||
| West Bromwich Albion | Resigned | 4 December 1997 | 4th | 24 December 1997 | |||
| Oxford United | Signed by West Bromwich Albion | 24 December 1997 | 16th | 24 January 1998 | |||
| Bradford City | Sacked | 6 January 1998 | 11th | 6 January 1998 | |||
| Portsmouth | Sacked | 14 January 1998 | 24th | 26 January 1998 | |||
| Stoke City | Mutual consent | 22 January 1998 | 20th | 22 January 1998[3] | |||
| Manchester City | Sacked | 17 February 1998 | 22nd | 18 February 1998[4] | |||
| Sheffield United | Resigned | 2 March 1998 | 5th | 2 July 1998 | |||
| Reading | Resigned | 18 March 1998[5] | 23rd | 25 March 1998[6] | |||
| Stoke City | Mutual consent | 8 April 1998[7] | 24th | 13 May 1998 | |||
| Norwich City | Resigned | 30 April 1998 | 16th | 12 June 1998 |
| Player | For ! | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4–0 | |||||
| 5–2 | |||||
| 4–1 | |||||
| 4–0 | |||||
 | 5–1 | ||||
| 7–0 | |||||
| 4–1 | |||||
| 5–0 | |||||
| 5–0 | |||||
| 5–2 | |||||
 | 4–1 | ||||
 | 4–0 | ||||
| 5–0 |