1997–98 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season explained

Season:	1997–98
Mgrtitle:	Manager
Chairman:	Jonathan Hayward, then Sir Jack Hayward (from 7 September)
Chrtitle:	Chairman
League Result:	9th
League Topscorer:	Robbie Keane (11)
Season Topscorer:	Dougie Freedman (13)
Highest Attendance:	28,244 (vs West Brom, 31 January 1998)
Lowest Attendance:	17,862 (vs Fulham, 24 September 1997)
Average Attendance:	23,277 (league only)
Nextseason:	1998–99

The 1997–98 season was the 99th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.

The team finished in ninth position in the league, failing to mount a serious promotion challenge after having finished third in the previous campaign. They did, however, reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in nineteen years, where they lost to eventual double winners Arsenal.

Results

Football League First Division

See also: 1997–98 Football League. A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1997–98 season. Each team played every other team twice: once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.

The provisional fixture list was released on 16 June 1997, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.^[1] Final table

width=30		Team
6	Sheffield United	46	19	17	10	69	54	+15	74
7	Birmingham City	46	19	17	10	60	35	+25	74
8	Stockport County	46	19	8	19	71	69	+2	65
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	18	11	17	57	53	+4	65
10	West Bromwich Albion	46	16	13	17	50	56	-6	61

Source: Statto.com

Results summary

Results by round

FA Cup

League Cup

See also: 1997–98 Football League Cup.

Players

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Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Fee
11 July 1997	Steve Sedgley	Ipswich Town	£350,000^[2]
6 August 1997	Dariusz Kubicki	Sunderland	Free^[3]
6 August 1997		Bolton Wanderers	£250,000
1 September 1997		Unattached	Free
5 September 1997	Hans Segers	Unattached	Free^[4]
12 September 1997	Jason Roberts	Hayes	£250,000^[5]
21 October 1997	Dougie Freedman	Crystal Palace	£800,000^[6]
21 October 1997	Kevin Muscat	Crystal Palace	£200,000
11 November 1997	Paul Simpson	Derby County	£75,000^[7]
25 March 1998	Neil Emblen	Crystal Palace	Undisclosed^[8]
25 March 1998	Robbie Slater	Southampton	£50,000
26 March 1998	Steve Claridge	Leicester City	£350,000^[9]

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee
June 1997	Robbie Dennison	Released	Free^[10]
June 1997	Brian Law	Released	Free
June 1997	Dennis Pearce	Released	Free
June 1997	Serge Romano	Released	Free
June 1997	Geoff Thomas	Released	Free
June 1997	Andy Thompson	Released	Free
June 1997	Eric Young	Released	Free
7 July 1997	Iwan Roberts	Norwich City	£850,000^[11]
11 July 1997	Mark Venus	Ipswich Town	£150,000
13 August 1997	Neil Emblen	Crystal Palace	£1.8 million^[12]
30 September 1997		Released	Free
21 October 1997	Jamie Smith	Crystal Palace	£1 million
19 February 1998	Jermaine Wright	Crewe Alexandra	£25,000^[13]

Loans in

Start date	Player	From	End date
2 September 1997	Simon Coleman	Bolton Wanderers	2 October 1997^[14]
15 September 1997	Jesús García Sanjuán	Real Zaragoza	15 December 1997^[15]
10 October 1997	Paul Simpson	Derby County	10 November 1997^[16]
17 October 1997	Dougie Freedman	Crystal Palace	20 October 1997^[17]
19 March 1998	Stephen Wright	Rangers	End of season^[18]

Loans out

Start date	Player	To	End date
24 October 1997	Glen Crowe	Cardiff City	9 December 1997
December 1997	Jason Roberts	Torquay United	5 March 1998
24 February 1998	Dominic Foley	Watford	End of season^[19]
4 March 1998	Dariusz Kubicki	Tranmere Rovers	End of season^[20]
25 March 1998	Jason Roberts	Bristol City	End of season

Kit

The season retained the home kit of the previous year: a "wolf head" design created using their traditional gold and black colours. A new away kit comprising a white away shirt with a dark green collar and dark green shorts was introduced. Both were manufactured by Puma and sponsored by Goodyear.

Notes and References

News: Complete FA Carling Premiership and Nationwide League fixtures 1997–98 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/complete-fa-carling-premiership-and-nationwide-league-fixtures-199798-1256468.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription. The Independent. 17 June 1997.
Web site: Sedge swoop. The Mirror. 12 July 1997.
Web site: Bargain hunter McGhee. The Mirror. 7 August 1997.
Web site: Magilton makes the switch to Wednesday. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/magilton-makes-the-switch-to-wednesday-1237755.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. 6 September 1997.
Web site: Celtic capture £1.5m Rieper. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/celtic-capture-pounds-15m-rieper-1238983.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription. The Independent. 13 September 1997.
Web site: Sporting Digest. https://archive.today/20130125055016/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4891293.html. dead. 25 January 2013. The Independent. 22 October 1997.
Web site: Kirk out for month. https://web.archive.org/web/20140611123909/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61150125.html. dead. 11 June 2014. The News Letter. 6 November 1997.
Web site: McGhee is halfway to clinching four-timer. Birmingham Post. 26 March 1998.
Web site: Claridge signs for Wolves. https://web.archive.org/web/20140611123937/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17509711.html. dead. 11 June 2014. Birmingham Evening Mail. 26 March 1998.
Web site: Cooper's blunder. https://archive.today/20130125083125/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4856858.html. dead. 25 January 2013. The Independent. 18 May 1997.
Web site: Football. https://archive.today/20130125121152/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4876266.html. dead. 25 January 2013. The Independent. 8 July 1997.
Web site: Coppell chases Pearce. The Mirror. 14 August 1997.
Web site: Ablett gets thumbs up for clash with Blades. Birmingham Post. 20 February 1998.
Web site: The good, the bad and the very bad - Wolves loanees over the years.
Web site: Barnet secure sponsorship deal with Loaded magazine. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/barnet-secure-sponsorship-deal-with-loaded-magazine-football-1239521.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription. The Independent. 16 September 1997.
Web site: No punishment for O'Neill. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/football-no-punishment-for-oneill-1235280.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription. The Independent. 11 October 1997.
Web site: McGhee surviving on borrowed time and players. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/football-mcghee-surviving-on-borrowed-time-and-players-1236596.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription. The Independent. 18 October 1997.
Web site: McGhee to cast net in last throw of the dice. Birmingham Post. 20 March 1998.
Web site: Candid Curle leaves Wolves no room for manoeuvre. Birmingham Post. 25 February 1998.
Web site: Equation is simple one as Wolves lick wounds. Birmingham Post. 4 March 1998.