| Dates: | 9 August 1997 – 10 May 1998 |
| Continentalcup4 Qualifiers: | Crystal Palace |
| League Topscorer Section: | Top scorers |
| League Topscorer: | Dion Dublin Michael Owen Chris Sutton (18 goals each) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Peter Schmeichel (16 clean sheets) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (25 October 1997) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (24 August 1997) |
| Highest Scoring: | (25 August 1997) |
| Total Goals: | 1019 |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Longest Wins: | 10 games[1] Arsenal |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 18 games Arsenal |
| Longest Losses: | 8 games Crystal Palace |
| Longest Winless: | 15 games Crystal Palace |
| Highest Attendance: | 55,306 (28 March 1998) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 7,668 (23 September 1997) |
| Attendance: | 11,100,919[2] |
| Average Attendance: | 29,213 |
| Nextseason: | 1998–99 |
The 1997–98 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the FA Premier League. It saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991[3] and, in so doing, became only the second team to win The Double for the second time.
It was Arsenal's first full season under French manager Arsène Wenger, who became the third manager to win the Premier League. Wenger followed in the footsteps of Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish and, while both Ferguson and Dalglish were Scottish, Wenger was the first manager from outside the British Isles to win a league title in England.
At the end of the 1997–98 FA Premier League season, a record total of nine English teams qualified for European competition.
Premiership champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, while UEFA Cup places went to Liverpool, Leeds United, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. Qualifying for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup were Chelsea (as defending champions) and FA Cup runners-up Newcastle United. Crystal Palace, while finishing bottom, qualified for the Intertoto Cup.[4]
Manchester United led the table for most of the season, before a dip in form during the final two months of the campaign saw Arsenal overtake them in April, taking advantage of games in hand, and win the league title with two matches remaining, although the gap between the champions and runners-up was a single point in the final table as Arsenal lost their final two fixtures and Alex Ferguson’s men won both of theirs. Arsenal then completed the double by winning the FA Cup. Despite the sudden dismissal of FA Cup winning player-manager Ruud Gullit, Chelsea won the League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup under new player-manager Gianluca Vialli.
The gap between the Premier League and Division One of the Football League was highlighted at the end of 1997–98 when all three newly promoted teams were relegated. Crystal Palace were confined to bottom place in the final table having won just two home games all season and lost most of their games in the second half of the campaign. Barnsley's first season in the top division ended in relegation, although they did reach the FA Cup quarter finals and knock out Manchester United in the Fifth Round. Bolton Wanderers went down on goal difference, with 17th place being occupied by Everton: despite preserving top flight football for the 45th season running, Howard Kendall quit as manager at Goodison Park after his third spell in charge.
Another mark of the gap was that the three relegated teams in the previous season took the top three places in the 1997–98 Football League. Had Sunderland not lost the play-off final to Charlton Athletic on penalty shootout, the 20 teams from 1998–99 Premier League would have been exactly the same as those in the 1996–97 Premier League.
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Bolton Wanderers (returning after a season's absence), Barnsley (playing in the top flight for the first and only time) and Crystal Palace (playing in the top flight after a two year absence). They replaced Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, who were relegated to the First Division after top flight spells of one, two and three years respectively.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | Arsenal Stadium | 38,419 | ||
| Aston Villa | Birmingham | Villa Park | 42,573 | |
| Barnsley | Barnsley | Oakwell | 23,287 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn | Ewood Park | 31,367 | |
| Bolton Wanderers | Bolton | Reebok Stadium | 28,723 | |
| Chelsea | London | Stamford Bridge | 42,055 | |
| Coventry City | Coventry | Highfield Road | 23,489 | |
| Crystal Palace | London | Selhurst Park | 26,074 | |
| Derby County | Derby | Pride Park Stadium | 33,597 | |
| Everton | Goodison Park | 40,569 | ||
| Leeds United | Leeds | Elland Road | 40,242 | |
| Leicester City | Leicester | Filbert Street | 22,000 | |
| Liverpool | Liverpool | Anfield | 45,522 | |
| Manchester United | Manchester | Old Trafford | 55,385 | |
| Newcastle United | Newcastle upon Tyne | St James' Park | 52,387 | |
| Sheffield Wednesday | Sheffield | Hillsborough Stadium | 39,732 | |
| Southampton | Southampton | The Dell | 15,200 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | London | White Hart Lane | 36,240 | |
| West Ham United | London | Boleyn Ground | 35,647 | |
| Wimbledon | London | Selhurst Park | 26,074 |
A list of personnel and kits of the clubs in the 1997–98 FA Premier League.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nottingham Forest | Stuart Pearce | End of caretaker spell | 8 May 1997 | Pre-season | Dave Bassett | 8 May 1997 |
| Everton | Dave Watson | 10 May 1997 | Howard Kendall | 10 May 1997 | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | Tony Parkes | 1 June 1997 | Roy Hodgson | 1 June 1997 | ||
| Southampton | Graeme Souness | Resigned | Dave Jones | 23 June 1997 | ||
| Sheffield Wednesday | David Pleat | Sacked | 3 November 1997[5] | 20th | Peter Shreeves (caretaker) | 3 November 1997 |
| Peter Shreeves (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 14 November 1997 | 19th | Ron Atkinson (caretaker) | 14 November 1997 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Gerry Francis | Resigned | 19 November 1997 | 16th | Christian Gross | 19 November 1997 |
| Chelsea | Ruud Gullit | Sacked | 12 February 1998 | 2nd |  Gianluca Vialli | 12 February 1998 |
| Aston Villa | Brian Little | Resigned | 24 February 1998 | 15th | John Gregory | 25 February 1998 |
| Crystal Palace | Steve Coppell | Promoted to director of football | 13 March 1998 | 20th | Attilio Lombardo (caretaker) | 13 March 1998 |
| Attilio Lombardo | Resigned | 29 April 1998 | Ron Noades Ray Lewington (caretakers) | 29 April 1998 | ||
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dion Dublin | Coventry City | 18 | |
| Michael Owen | Liverpool | |||
| Chris Sutton | Blackburn Rovers | |||
| 4 | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal | 16 | |
| Kevin Gallacher | Blackburn Rovers | |||
| Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Leeds United | |||
| 7 | Andy Cole | Manchester United | 15 | |
| John Hartson | West Ham United | |||
| 9 | Darren Huckerby | Coventry City | 14 | |
| 10 | Paulo Wanchope | Derby County | 13 |
See main article: List of Premier League hat-tricks.
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coventry City | Chelsea | 3–2 (A) | [6] | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | Aston Villa | 4–0 (A) | [7] | |||
| 4 P | Chelsea | Barnsley | 6–0 (A) | [8] | ||
| Arsenal | Leicester City | 3–3 (A) | [9] | |||
| Arsenal | Bolton Wanderers | 4–1 (H) | [10] | |||
 | Liverpool | Chelsea | 4–2 (H) | [11] | ||
| Manchester United | Barnsley | 7–0 (H) | [12] | |||
| Sheffield Wednesday | Bolton Wanderers | 5–0 (H) | [13] | |||
| | Chelsea | Derby County | 4–0 (H) | [14] | ||
 | Chelsea | Tottenham Hotspur | 6–1 (A) | [15] | ||
| Everton | Bolton Wanderers | 3–2 (H) | [16] | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | Aston Villa | 5–0 (H) | [17] | |||
| Liverpool | Sheffield Wednesday | 3–3 (A) | [18] | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | Leicester City | 5–3 (A) | [19] | |||
| Coventry City | Leeds United | 3–3 (A) | [20] | |||
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | Wimbledon | 6–2 (A) | [21] |
Note: 4 Player scored 4 goals; P Player scored a perfect hat-trick; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
| August | Roy Hodgson | Blackburn Rovers | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal |
| September | Martin O'Neill | Leicester City | ||
| October | Alex Ferguson | Manchester United | Paulo Wanchope | Derby County |
| November | George Graham | Leeds United | Andy Cole Kevin Davies | Manchester United Southampton |
| December | Roy Hodgson | Blackburn Rovers | Steve McManaman | Liverpool |
| January | Howard Kendall | Everton | Dion Dublin | Coventry City |
| February | Gordon Strachan | Coventry City | Chris Sutton | Blackburn Rovers |
| March |  Arsène Wenger | Arsenal |  Alex Manninger | Arsenal |
| April | Emmanuel Petit | Arsenal | ||
| Award | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League Manager of the Season | Arsène Wenger[22] | Arsenal | |
| Premier League Player of the Season | Michael Owen | Liverpool | |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | Dennis Bergkamp[23] | Arsenal | |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Michael Owen[24] | Liverpool | |
| FWA Footballer of the Year | Dennis Bergkamp[25] | Arsenal |
| PFA Team of the Year | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Nigel Martyn (Leeds United) | ||||||||||||
| Defence | Gary Neville (Manchester United) | Gary Pallister (Manchester United) | Colin Hendry (Blackburn Rovers) | Graeme Le Saux (Chelsea) | |||||||||
| Midfield | David Beckham (Manchester United) | Nicky Butt (Manchester United) | David Batty (Newcastle United) | Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) | |||||||||
| Attack | Michael Owen (Liverpool) | Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) | |||||||||||
Roy Keane