During the 1997–98 English football season, Blackburn Rovers competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary After last season's slip-up, Blackburn Rovers emerged as title contenders under new manager Roy Hodgson, and even sixth place in the final table was enough for a UEFA Cup place. Never below seventh throughout the campaign, Rovers only lost two league matches before New Year as Hodgson picked up the Premier League Manager of the Month awards for both August and December, but faded in the second half of the campaign.

Chris Sutton's continued return to form saw him come joint top of the FA Premier League goalscoring charts with 18 goals, a Premier League Player of the Month award for February and led to him earning a long-awaited international call-up, though he didn't make the final squad for the World Cup after refusing to play for the England B team.

Final league table

Results summary

Results by round

Results Blackburn Rovers' score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1997 Derby CountyH1–023,557Gallacher 13 August 1997 Aston VillaA4–037,112Sutton (3), Gallacher 23 August 1997 LiverpoolH1–130,187Dahlin 25 August 1997 Sheffield WednesdayH7–219,618Gallacher (2), Hyde (own goal), Wilcox, Sutton (2), Bohinen 30 August 1997 Crystal PalaceA2–120,849Sutton, Gallacher 14 September 1997 Leeds UnitedH3–421,956Gallacher, Sutton (pen), Dahlin 20 September 1997 Tottenham HotspurA0–026,573 24 September 1997 Leicester CityA1–119,921Sutton 28 September 1997 Coventry CityH0–019,086 4 October 1997 WimbledonA1–015,600Sutton 18 October 1997 SouthamptonH1–024,130Sherwood 25 October 1997 Newcastle UnitedA1–136,716Sutton 1 November 1997 BarnsleyA1–118,665Sherwood 8 November 1997 EvertonH3–225,397Gallacher, Duff, Sherwood 22 November 1997 ChelseaH1–027,683Croft 30 November 1997 Manchester UnitedA0–455,175 6 December 1997 Bolton WanderersH3–125,503Gallacher, Sutton, Wilcox 13 December 1997 ArsenalA3–138,147Wilcox, Gallacher, Sherwood 20 December 1997 West Ham UnitedH3–021,653Ripley, Duff (2) 26 December 1997 Sheffield WednesdayA0–033,502 28 December 1997 Crystal PalaceH2–223,872Gallacher, Sutton 11 January 1998 Derby CountyA1–327,823Sutton 17 January 1998 Aston VillaH5–024,834Sherwood, Gallacher (3), Ripley 31 January 1998 LiverpoolA0–043,890 7 February 1998 Tottenham HotspurH0–330,388 21 February 1998 SouthamptonA0–315,162 28 February 1998 Leicester CityH5–324,854Dahlin, Sutton (3), Hendry 11 March 1998 Leeds UnitedA0–432,933 14 March 1998 EvertonA0–133,423 31 March 1998 BarnsleyH2–124,179Dahlin, Gallacher 6 April 1998 Manchester UnitedH1–330,547Sutton (pen) 11 April 1998 Bolton WanderersA1–225,000Duff 13 April 1998 ArsenalH1–428,212Gallacher 18 April 1998 West Ham UnitedA1–224,733Wilcox 25 April 1998 WimbledonH0–024,848 29 April 1998 ChelseaA1–033,311Gallacher 2 May 1998 Coventry CityA0–218,794 10 May 1998 Newcastle UnitedH1–029,300Sutton

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR33 January 1998 Wigan AthleticH4–222,402McGibbon (own goal), Gallacher (2), SherwoodR426 January 1998 Sheffield WednesdayA3–015,940Sutton, Sherwood, DuffR514 February 1998 West Ham UnitedA2–225,729Gallacher, SuttonR5R25 February 1998 West Ham UnitedH1–1 (lost 4–5 on pens)21,972Ripley

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 17 September 1997 Preston North EndH6–022,564Dahlin (2), Sutton, Gallacher, Andersson, BohinenR2 2nd Leg 30 September 1997 Preston North EndA0–1 (won 6–1 on agg)11,472R315 October 1997 ChelseaA1–1 (lost 1–4 on pens)18,671McKinlay

Squad

Left club during season

Transfers In DatePosNameFromFee17 June 1997DFStéphane HenchozHSV£3,000,00024 June 1997DFPatrick ValéryBastiaFree transfer8 July 1997FWMartin DahlinRoma£2,500,0008 July 1997FWAnders AnderssonMalmö FF£500,0001 August 1997GKJohn FilanCoventry City£700,0008 September 1997DFTore PedersenFC St. Pauli£500,00010 September 1997GKAlan FettisNottingham Forest£300,00010 February 1998DFCallum DavidsonSt Johnstone£1,750,00021 May 1998MFJimmy CorbettGillingham£525,000

Out DatePosNameToFee21 July 1997MFMatty HolmesCharlton Athletic£250,0001 August 1997MFGraham FentonLeicester City£1,100,0001 August 1997DFNicky MarkerSheffield UnitedSigned1 August 1997DFPaul WarhurstCrystal PalaceSigned8 August 1997DFGraeme Le SauxChelsea£7,000,00011 August 1997DFHenning BergManchester United£5,000,00018 September 1997DFIan PearceWest Ham United£2,300,00022 September 1997MFGeorgios DonisAEK AthensFree transfer1 December 1997DFChris ColemanFulham£2,000,00025 March 1998MFLars BohinenDerby County£1,450,000

Transfers in: £9,775,000 Transfers out: £19,100,000 Total spending: £9,325,000

Statistics Starting 11 Considering starts in all competitions GK: #1, Tim Flowers, 30 RB: #3, Jeff Kenna, 42 CB: #5, Colin Hendry, 39 CB: #24, Stéphane Henchoz, 40 LB: #20, Gary Croft, 24 (#11, Jason Wilcox, has 27 starts) RM: #7, Stuart Ripley, 28 CM: #17, Billy McKinlay, 31 CM: #4, Tim Sherwood, 34 LM: #15, Garry Flitcroft, 31 CF: #8, Kevin Gallacher, 35 CF: #9, Chris Sutton, 41

References