1997–98 Ipswich Town F.C. season explained

Club:	Ipswich Town
Season:	1997–98
Manager:	George Burley
Chairman:	David Sheepshanks
Stadium:	Portman Road
League:	First Division
League Result:	5th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fourth round
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Quarter-finals
Cup3:	Play-offs
Cup3 Result:	Semi-finals
League Topscorer:	David Johnson (20)
Season Topscorer:	David Johnson (22)
Highest Attendance:	22,088 (vs Chelsea, 7 Jan 1998, League Cup)
Lowest Attendance:	8,031 (vs Torquay United, 16 Sep 1997, League Cup)
Average Attendance:	14,972
Prevseason:	1996–97
Nextseason:	1998–99

During the 1997–98 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

For the second season running, Ipswich reached the playoffs, having won 16 of their last 20 games, but lost to Charlton Athletic who went on to be promoted.

First-team squad

Reserve squad

Competitions

Football League First Division

See main article: 1997–98 Football League First Division.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Ipswich Town's score comes first

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997		A	0–0	17,614
23 August 1997		A	1–2	13,913	Dyer
30 August 1997		H	1–1	13,512	Stein
2 September 1997		H	2–1	11,394	Venus, Sonner
13 September 1997		A	2–2	9,313	Edmondson (o.g), Dyer
20 September 1997		H	2–3	11,219	Scowcroft, Holland
26 September 1997		A	1–2	18,911	Stein
4 October 1997		H	1–0	14,587	Mathie
18 October 1997		A	0–1	7,594
21 October 1997		A	0–0	4,730
25 October 1997		H	2–0	10,452	Tanner (pen), Dozzell
28 October 1997		A	1–1	16,778	Holland
1 November 1997		A	0–3	12,606
4 November 1997		H	0–2	8,828
9 November 1997		H	2–2	9,687	Legg, Gregory
15 November 1997		A	1–1	21,937	Johnson
22 November 1997		A	4–0	9,400	Holland, Johnson, Scowcroft, Naylor
29 November 1997		H	0–1	17,725
2 December 1997		H	1–1	13,865	Johnson
6 December 1997		A	1–1	5,720	Johnson
13 December 1997		H	2–0	11,759	Cundy, Johnson
20 December 1997		A	3–1	5,784	Mathie (2), Johnson
26 December 1997		H	0–1	17,510
28 December 1997		A	2–0	11,639	Johnson (pen), Petta
10 January 1998		H	0–0	12,709
17 January 1998		A	1–1	30,081	Johnson
27 January 1998		A	3–2	12,402	Holland, Scowcroft, Cundy
31 January 1998		H	2–1	11,855	Mathie (2)
7 February 1998		A	1–1	11,416	Holland
14 February 1998		H	5–1	10,597	Holland, Johnson (2), Mathie, Naylor
18 February 1998		A	2–1	27,156	Mathie, Dyer
21 February 1998		H	5–0	21,858	Mathie (3), Petta (2)
24 February 1998		H	5–2	11,927	Mathie, Johnson (3), Holland
28 February 1998		A	2–2	34,501	Petta, Dyer
3 March 1998		A	1–0	14,120	Holland
7 March 1998		H	3–1	19,827	Stockwell, Cundy, Johnson
14 March 1998		A	1–0	8,939	Johnson
21 March 1998		H	3–0	21,546	Johnson, Holland, Scowcroft
28 March 1998		H	1–0	18,952	Scowcroft
5 April 1998		A	1–2	22,292	Scowcroft
11 April 1998		H	0–0	18,032
13 April 1998		A	1–0	15,040	Johnson
18 April 1998		H	5–1	16,212	Johnson (2), Petta (2), Mathie
25 April 1998		A	1–0	7,830	Stockwell
28 April 1998		H	2–0	21,249	Holland, Mathie
3 May 1998		H	3–2	19,070	Johnson, Stockwell, Mathie

First Division play-offs

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers

SF First Leg	10 May 1998		H	0–1	21,681
SF Second Leg	13 May 1998		A	0–1	15,585

FA Cup

See main article: 1997–98 FA Cup.

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers

R3	3 January 1998		A	1–1		Stockwell
R3 Replay	13 January 1998		H	1–0		Johnson
R4	24 January 1998		H	1–1		Johnson
R4 Replay	3 February 1998		A	0–1

League Cup

See main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup.

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers

R1 First Leg	13 August 1997		A	1–0	6,598	Venus
R1 Second Leg	26 August 1997		H	3–1 (won 4–1 on agg)	10,989	Stein, Brown (o.g), Scowcroft
R2 First Leg	16 September 1997		H	1–1	8,031	Stockwell
R2 Second Leg	23 September 1997		A	3–0 (won 4–1 on agg)	3,598	Holland (2), Dyer
R3	14 October 1997		H	2–0	22,173	Mathie, Taricco
R4	18 November 1997		A	2–1	5,723	Dozzell, Mowbray
QF	7 January 1998		H	2–2 (lost 4–1 on penalties)	22,088	Taricco, Mathie

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Ref
1 August 1997	MF	Matt Holland	Bournemouth	£800,000	^[1]
1 August 1997	DF	Mark Venus	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£150,000	^[2]
1 August 1997	GK	Lee Bracey	Bury	£40,000	^[3]
14 August 1997	DF	David Kerslake	Tottenham Hotspur	Free transfer	^[4]
31 October 1997	FW	David Whyte	Reading	Free transfer	^[5]
13 November 1997	FW	David Johnson	Bury	£1,100,000	^[6]
12 March 1998	DF	Jamie Clapham	Tottenham Hotspur	£300,000	^[7]

Loans in

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
22 August 1997	FW	Mark Stein	Chelsea	22 October 1997	^[8]
2 October 1997	MF	Jason Dozzell	Tottenham Hotspur	20 November 1997	^[9]
3 November 1997	DF	Andy Legg	Birmingham City	3 December 1997	^[10]
9 January 1998	DF	Jamie Clapham	Tottenham Hotspur	12 March 1998

Transfers out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Ref
31 May 1997	MF	John Wark	Retired		^[11]
1 July 1997	MF	Lee Norfolk	North Shore United	Free transfer	^[12]
1 July 1997	DF	Kevin Ellis	King's Lynn Town	Free transfer	^[13]
1 July 1997	MF	Steve Sedgley	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£500,000	^[14]
21 July 1997	GK	Craig Forrest	West Ham United	£500,000	^[15]
1 August 1997	DF	Tony Vaughan	Manchester City	£1,350,000	^[16]
13 November 1997	DF	Chris Swailes	Bury	£200,000	^[17]
30 November 1997	FW	David Whyte	Free agent	Released
9 March 1998	DF	David Kerslake	Swindon Town	Free transfer
26 March 1998	FW	Neil Gregory	Colchester United	£50,000	^[18]

Loans out

Date from	Pos	Name	From	Date until	Ref
17 October 1997	DF	Wayne Brown	Colchester United	8 November 1997	^[19]
26 November 1997	FW	Neil Gregory	Peterborough United	26 December 1997
11 December 1997	DF	David Kerslake	Wycombe Wanderers	9 March 1998
1 January 1998	FW	Neil Gregory	Colchester United	2 March 1998
6 March 1998	MF	John Kennedy	Morecambe	31 May 1998	^[20]

Awards

Player awards

width=0%	Award	width=0%	Player	width=0%	Ref
Player of the Year	Matt Holland	^[21]

PFA First Division Team of the Year

width=0%	Player	width=0%	Ref
Kieron Dyer	^[22]
Mauricio Taricco

Notes and References

1. News: Matt Holland at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 5 February 2020.
2. Web site: Mark Venus at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
3. News: Lee Bracey at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 19 April 2020.
4. Web site: David Kerslake at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
5. Web site: David Whyte at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
6. News: Forest chase Johnson . BBC Sport . BBC . 4 January 2001 . 4 January 2014.
7. Web site: Jamie Clapham at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
8. Web site: Mark Stein at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
9. Web site: Jason Dozzell at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
10. Web site: Andy Legg at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
11. Wark, "Career statistics", pp. 171–176
12. Web site: Lee Norfolk. Pride of Anglia. 2008-09-29.
13. Web site: Kevin Ellis at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 20 April 2020.
14. Web site: Steve Sedgley at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 20 April 2020.
15. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=17768 "Craig Forrest"
16. Web site: Tony Vaughan at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 20 April 2020.
17. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/football/john_ley/sftips.xml Ipswich transfer info
18. Web site: Neil Gregory at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 20 April 2020.
19. Web site: Wayne Brown at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 20 April 2020.
20. Web site: John Kennedy at Soccerbase . Soccerbase . 6 February 2020.
21. Web site: Matt Holland career statistics . Soccerbase . 26 October 2007 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20071001110154/http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=3567 . 2007-10-01 .
22. Book: Barry J. . Hugman . The 1998–99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . 1998 . Queen Anne Press . Harpenden . 978-1-85291-588-9 . 352.