| Club: | Newcastle United |
| Season: | 1997–98 |
| Chairman: | Freddy Shepherd (until 24 March 1998) Sir John Hall (from 24 March 1998) |
| Manager: | Kenny Dalglish |
| Stadium: | St James' Park |
| League: | Premier League |
| League Result: | 13th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Runners-up |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Quarter-finals |
| Cup3: | Champions League |
| Cup3 Result: | Group stage |
| League Topscorer: | Barnes (6) |
| Season Topscorer: | Barnes/Shearer (7) |
| Highest Attendance: | 36,783 (vs. Aston Villa, 23 August) |
| Average Attendance: | 36,672 |
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| Prevseason: | 1996–97 |
| Nextseason: | 1998–99 |
In the 1997–98 football season, Newcastle United played in the FA Premier League. They finished 13th and reached the FA Cup final, losing to Arsenal.
During the summer, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand were sold to Tottenham Hotspur, while in a pre-season friendly match, Alan Shearer sustained a horrific ankle injury which would keep him out for half the season.[1] Manager Kenny Dalglish signed goalkeeper Shay Given, midfielder Temur Ketsbaia, striker John Barnes and veteran striker Ian Rush, the club's eldest player signing at age 36.[2]
The highlight of the 1997–98 season was to be the club's run in the UEFA Champions League, seeing them defeat Barcelona 3–2 after a hat-trick from striker Faustino Asprilla.[3] The club's Premier League form, however, began to suffer following Asprilla's departure from the club in January, and despite the return of Shearer to the starting line-up, he was unable to recapture the form he had found under Kevin Keegan.[4] The club reached the FA Cup final only to fall to a 2–0 defeat by Arsenal.[5]
Controversy surrounded the club in March 1998 when chairman Freddie Shepherd, and deputy chairman Douglas Hall (son of previous chairman Sir John Hall, who had retired during the summer), were filmed in a Spanish brothel making a series of remarks to an undercover tabloid journalist. They ridiculed Shearer, boasted of "ripping off" supporters with the club shirts they sold, and called the women of Newcastle "dogs". Both subsequently resigned, and Sir John Hall returned as acting chairman for the remainder of the season.[6] [7]
Newcastle enjoyed a good run in the 1997–98 FA Cup and reached the final for the first time in 24 years. They never looked like winners, and the final whistle blew with a 2–0 scoreline giving the trophy to opponents Arsenal. But as Arsenal had completed the double, Newcastle entered the 1998–99 Cup Winners' Cup.
Dalglish's cautious brand of football proved unpopular with supporters used to Newcastle's previous swashbuckling style; more importantly this cautious style was not producing results. Many players signed by Dalglish were not considered to match the quality of those who had left the club this season. The team's 13th-place finish gave particular cause for concern, as Newcastle had finished runners-up in the last two seasons and had never finished below sixth since returning to the top flight in 1993. To add insult to injury, only 35 league goals were scored by the club all season.
Despite signing Dietmar Hamann, Nolberto Solano and Gary Speed, several unsuccessful transfer deals along with a poor start to the 1998–99 season led to Dalglish being sacked.[8]
| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1997 | MF |  Paddy Kelly | Celtic | Free |
| June 1997 | GK | Shay Given | Blackburn Rovers | £1,500,000 |
| June 1997 | MF |  Temuri Ketsbaia | AEK Athens | Free |
| July 1997 | FW | Jon Dahl Tomasson | Heerenveen | £2,200,000[9] |
| July 1997 | DF | Stuart Pearce | Nottingham Forest | Free[10] |
| July 1997 | DF |  Alessandro Pistone | Inter Milan | £4,300,000 |
| July 1997 | DF | Brian Pinas | Feyenoord | Free |
| August 1997 | MF | John Barnes | Liverpool | Free |
| August 1997 | FW | Ian Rush | Leeds United | Free |
| October 1997 | FW |  Carlos Gonzalez | Sydney Olympic | Free |
| November 1997 | MF | Ralf Keidel | Schweinfurt 05 | Free |
| November 1997 | FW | Paul Dalglish | Liverpool | Free |
| November 1997 | DF |  David Terrier | West Ham United | Free |
| January 1998 | FW |  Andreas Andersson | Milan | £3,600,000 |
| January 1998 | DF | Andy Griffin | Stoke City | £1,500,000 |
| February 1998 | MF | Gary Speed | Everton | £5,500,000 |
| March 1998 | MF | James Coppinger | Darlington | £250,000 |
| March 1998 | MF | Paul Robinson | Darlington | £250,000 |
| March 1998 | MF | Stephen Glass | Aberdeen | £650,000 |
| March 1998 | DF | Nikos Dabizas | Olympiacos | £1,400,000 |
| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1997 | MF | Lee Clark | Sunderland | £2,500,000[11] |
| July 1997 | DF | Robbie Elliott | Bolton Wanderers | £2,250,000[12] |
| July 1997 | MF | David Ginola | Tottenham Hotspur | £2,000,000[13] |
| July 1997 | FW | Les Ferdinand | Tottenham Hotspur | £6,000,000 |
| August 1997 | MF | Peter Beardsley | Bolton Wanderers | £450,000 |
| January 1998 | FW |  Faustino Asprilla | Parma | £6,200,000 |
| February 1998 | DF | John Beresford | Southampton | £1,500,000 |
| March 1998 | MF | Jim Crawford | Reading | £100,000 |
| March 1998 | FW | Paul Brayson | Reading | Free |
| May 1998 | FW | Brian Pinas | Feyenoord | £150,000 |
| May 1998 | FW | Ian Rush | Wrexham | Free |
| May 1998 | FW | Carlos Gonzalez | Released | Free |
Squad at end of season[14]
The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.
(Substitute appearances in brackets)
| No. | Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | Discipline | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||||
| 1 | GK | Shay Given | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | DF | Warren Barton | 17+6 | 3 | 4+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 28+7 | 3 | 11 | 0 | |
| 3 | DF | John Beresford | 17+1 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 29+2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | |
| 4 | MF | David Batty | 32 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 47 | 2 | 14 | 3 | |
| 5 | DF | Darren Peacock | 19+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 26+3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 6 | DF | Steve Howey | 11+3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 18+5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 7 | MF | Robert Lee | 26+2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 40+2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| 8 | FW | Ian Rush | 6+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | FW | Alan Shearer | 15+2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21+2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | |
| 10 | MF | John Barnes | 22+4 | 6 | 3+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 33+6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | FW | Faustino Asprilla | 8+2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 14+2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11 | MF | Gary Speed | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 12 | DF | Stuart Pearce | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 | 35+1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 14 | MF | Temuri Ketsbaia | 16+15 | 3 | 2+4 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 3+5 | 1 | 22+25 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |
| 15 | GK | Shaka Hislop | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | FW | Jon Dahl Tomasson | 17+6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 6+1 | 0 | 27+8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| 18 | MF | Keith Gillespie | 25+4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 37+6 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |
| 19 | DF | Steve Watson | 27+2 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 40+4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 21 | GK |  Pavel Srníček | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | DF | Des Hamilton | 7+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11+6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | DF | Alessandro Pistone | 28 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 25 | FW | Paul Brayson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | DF |  Philippe Albert | 21+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 34+4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 28 | FW | Aaron Hughes | 4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | DF | Nikos Dabizas | 10+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12+1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 38 | DF | Andy Griffin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 40 | FW | Andreas Andersson | 10+2 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12+3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |