1997–98 Reading F.C. season explained

Club:	Reading
Season:	1997–98
Manager:	Terry Bullivant Alan Pardew Tommy Burns
Chairman:	John Madejski
Stadium:	Elm Park
League:	First Division
League Result:	24th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fifth Round vs Sheffield United
Cup2:	EFL Cup
Cup2 Result:	Fifth Round vs Middlesbrough
League Topscorer:	Carl Asaba (8)
Season Topscorer:	Carl Asaba (12)
Pattern La1:	_blue_hoops
Pattern B1:	_bluehoops3
Pattern Ra1:	_blue_hoops
Pattern So1:	_white_hoops
Socks1:	0000ff
Prevseason:	1996–97
Nextseason:	1998–99

The 1997–98 season was Reading's 127th year in existence and fourth consecutive season in the First Division,^[1] and covered the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998. Reading finished the season in 24th position, resulting in relegation back to the Second Division. In the Football League Cup, Reading were knocked out by Middlesbrough at the Fifth Round stage, whilst in the FA Cup, Sheffield United knocked Reading out at the Fifth Round stage.

Season events

Reading started the season under new manager Terry Bullivant, with Bullivant resigning on 18 March 1998.^[2] Alan Pardew was appointed caretaker-manager for seven days before Tommy Burns was appointed as the club's new manager on 26 March 2008.^[3]

Squad

Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (Age^[4])	Signed from	Signed in	Contract ends	Apps.	Goals
Goalkeepers
Steve Mautone		GK	1998 5, df=yes	West Ham United	1997		34	0
Jamie Ashdown		GK	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1998		0	0
Sal Bibbo		GK	1998 5, df=yes	Sheffield United	1996		9	0
Nick Hammond		GK	1998 5, df=yes	Plymouth Argyle	1996		31	0
Nick Colgan		GK	1998 5, df=yes	loan from Chelsea	1998	1998	5	0
Scott Howie		GK	1998 5, df=yes	Motherwell	1998		7	0
Defenders
Andy Bernal		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Sydney Olympic	1994		174	2
Martyn Booty		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Crewe Alexandra	1996		70	2
Keith McPherson		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Northampton Town	1990
Linvoy Primus		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Barnet	1997		43	1
Steve Swales		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Scarborough	1995		56	1
Michael Thorp		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1995		9	0
Barry Hunter		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Wrexham	1996		29	2
Dariusz Wdowczyk		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Celtic	1994		104	0
Stuart Gray		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Celtic	1998		7	0
Paddy Kelly		DF	1998 5, df=yes	loan from Newcastle United	1998	1998	3	0
Paul Bodin		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Swindon Town	1996		45	1
Gareth Davies		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Crystal Palace	1997		22	0
Andy Legg		DF	1998 5, df=yes	Birmingham City	1998		10	0
Midfielders
Darren Caskey		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Tottenham Hotspur	1996		79	3
Andy Freeman		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1995		1	0
Byron Glasgow		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1996		8	0
Lee Hodges		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Barnet	1997		35	6
Jamie Lambert		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1992		151	20
Phil Parkinson		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Bury	1992		255	11
Michael O'Neill		MF	1998 5, df=yes	loan from Coventry City	1998		9	1
Jim Crawford		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Newcastle United	1998		6	0
Ray Houghton		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Crystal Palace	1997		35	1
Michael Meaker		MF	1997 5, df=yes	Queens Park Rangers	1995		73	3
Forwards
Stuart Lovell		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1990
Carl Asaba		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Brentford	1997		42	12
Paul Brayson		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Newcastle United	1998		6	1
Trevor Morley		FW	1998 5, df=yes	West Ham United	1995		91	38
Martin Williams		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Luton Town	1995		86	12
Robert Fleck		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Norwich City	1998		5	0
Jim McIntyre		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Kilmarnock	1998		6	0
Jason Bowen		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Birmingham City	1997		20	1
Out on loan
Neville Roach		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Trainee	1996		16	2
Left during the season
Lee Sandford		DF	1998 5, df=yes	loan from Sheffield United	1997	1997	5	0
Paul Holsgrove		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Millwall	1994		86	7
Ben Smith		MF	1998 5, df=yes	Arsenal	1996		1	0
David Whyte		FW	1998 5, df=yes	Charlton Athletic	1997		0	0
Mark Robins		FW	1998 5, df=yes	loan from Leicester City	1997	1997	5	0

Left club during season

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
15 July 1997	MF		Ray Houghton	Crystal Palace	Free
1 August 1997	DF		Linvoy Primus	Barnet	£250,000
1 August 1997	MF		Lee Hodges	Barnet	£250,000
7 August 1997	FW		Carl Asaba	Brentford	£800,000
23 September 1997	FW		David Whyte	Charlton Athletic	Free
11 December 1997	DF		Gareth Davies	Crystal Palace	£175,000
26 December 1997	FW		Jason Bowen	Birmingham City	£200,000
20 February 1998	DF		Andy Legg	Birmingham City	£75,000
26 March 1998	GK		Scott Howie	Motherwell	£30,000	^[5]
26 March 1998	DF		Stuart Gray	Celtic	£100,000	^[6]
26 March 1998	MF		Jim Crawford	Newcastle United	£50,000	^[7]
26 March 1998	FW		Paul Brayson	Newcastle United	£100,000	^[8]
26 March 1998	FW		Robert Fleck	Norwich City	£50,000	^[9]
26 March 1998	FW		Jim McIntyre	Kilmarnock	£440,000	^[10]

Loan in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
29 August 1997	FW		Mark Robins	Leicester City	26 September 1997
5 September 1997	DF		Lee Sandford	Sheffield United	4 October 1997
26 February 1998	GK		Nick Colgan	Chelsea	End of Season
1 March 1998	MF		Michael O'Neill	Coventry City	End of Season
26 March 1998	DF		Paddy Kelly	Newcastle United	End of Season

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 August 1997	FW		Lee Nogan	Grimsby Town	£100,000
31 October 1997	FW		David Whyte	Ipswich Town	Undisclosed
21 November 1997	MF		Paul Holsgrove	Crewe Alexandra	Undisclosed
1 March 1998	MF		Ben Smith	Yeovil Town	Undisclosed

Released

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	Joined	Date
30 June 1998	GK		Sal Bibbo	Havant & Waterlooville
30 June 1998	DF		Michael Thorp
30 June 1998	DF		Steve Swales	Hull City
30 June 1998	DF		Dariusz Wdowczyk	Polonia Warsaw
30 June 1998	DF		Paul Bodin	Bath City
30 June 1998	MF		Andy Freeman
30 June 1998	MF		Alan Pardew	Retired
30 June 1998	MF		Michael Meaker	Bristol Rovers
30 June 1998	FW		Stuart Lovell	Hibernian
30 June 1998	FW		Trevor Morley	Sogndal

Results

First Division

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

Table

FA Cup

See main article: 1997–98 FA Cup.

League Cup

See main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup.

Squad statistics

^[11]

Appearances and goals

|-|colspan="14"|Players away on loan:|-|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season:|}

Goal scorers

width=60	Place	width=60	Position	width=60	Nation	width=150	Name	width=150	First Division	width=100	FA Cup	width=100	League Cup	width=80	Total
1	FW		Carl Asaba	8	1	3	12
2	FW		Trevor Morley	5	3	1	9
3	FW		Martin Williams	6	0	2	8
4	MF		Lee Hodges	6	0	0	6
5	MF		Jamie Lambert	3	0	1	4
			Own goal	3	0	1	4
7	MF		Michael Meaker	1	0	1	2
8	MF		Jason Bowen	1	0	0	1
	FW		Paul Brayson	1	0	0	1
	MF		Ray Houghton	1	0	0	1
	FW		Stuart Lovell	1	0	0	1
	MF		Michael O'Neill	1	0	0	1
	DF		Linvoy Primus	1	0	0	1
	DF		Steve Swales	1	0	0	1
	DF		Martyn Booty	0	1	0	1
	DF		Keith McPherson	0	0	1	1
	MF		Phil Parkinson	0	0	1	1
	FW		Neville Roach	0	0	1	1
Total				39	5	12	56

Clean sheets

width=60	Place	width=60	Position	width=60	Nation	width=150	Name	width=150	First Division	width=100	FA Cup	width=100	League Cup	width=80	Total
1	GK		Nick Hammond	7	0	0	7
2	GK		Steve Mautone	4	0	0	4
3	GK		Scott Howie	1	0	0	1
TOTALS				12	0	0	12

Disciplinary record

Position	Nation	Name	First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
DF		Andy Bernal	6	2	0	0	0	0	6	2
DF		Martyn Booty	4	0	1	0	2	0	7	0
DF		Keith McPherson	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
DF		Linvoy Primus	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
DF		Steve Swales	4	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
DF		Dariusz Wdowczyk	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF		Paul Bodin	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
DF		Gareth Davies	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF		Andy Legg	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1
MF		Darren Caskey	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
MF		Lee Hodges	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF		Jamie Lambert	8	0	1	0	1	0	10	0
MF		Phil Parkinson	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
MF		Michael O'Neill	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF		Ray Houghton	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF		Michael Meaker	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
FW		Stuart Lovell	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW		Carl Asaba	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1
FW		Trevor Morley	4	0	1	0	2	0	7	0
FW		Martin Williams	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
FW		Robert Fleck	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW		Jim McIntyre	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW		Jason Bowen	2	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
Players away on loan:
Players who left Reading during the season:
Total			73	5	6	0	7	0	86	5

References

• Soccerbase.com

Notes and References

1. News: History . Statto . 31 May 2020 . 5 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150505201314/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/reading/history . dead .
2. Web site: Football: Bullivant ends Reading rule . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-bullivant-ends-reading-rule-1151144.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . independent.co.uk/ . Independent . 2 June 2020 . 19 March 1998.
3. Web site: Football: Burns takes the reins at Reading . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-burns-takes-the-reins-at-reading-1152570.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . independent.co.uk/ . Independent . 2 June 2020 . 26 March 1998.
4. Age as of the end of the season
5. Web site: Scott Howie . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
6. Web site: Stuart Gray . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
7. Web site: Jim Crawford . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
8. Web site: Paul Brayson . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
9. Web site: Robert Fleck . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
10. Web site: Jim McIntyre . readingfc.co.uk/ . Reading F.C. . 3 June 2020.
11. Web site: Season 1997-98. royalsrecord. 4 June 2020.