The 1997–98 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 95th in the Football League. They finished in seventh position in the 24-team Division One, the second tier of the English football league system, missing out on the playoff places on goals scored. Needing to win their last game, at home to Charlton Athletic, and hope that Sheffield United failed to win theirs, Birmingham "were repeatedly foiled in this emotionally-charged game by a brilliant display from Charlton's goalkeeper" Saša Ilić; the game finished goalless. They entered the 1997–98 FA Cup at the third round, losing to Leeds United in the fifth, and entered the League Cup in the first round and lost to Arsenal in the third.

In August 1997, co-owner David Gold took up the post of chairman after Jack Wiseman's retirement.

Football League First Division

Match details

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReport9 August 19971stStoke CityHW2–0Devlin 33', Ndlovu 87'20,608 Individual match reports are linked from this page.23 August 19975thReadingHW3–0Devlin 38', Bruce 81', Ndlovu 88'16,49529 August 19973rdStockport CountyAD2–2Devlin 68', Francis 72'6,2602 September 19973rdTranmere RoversAW3–0Hughes 11', Ndlovu 44', Furlong 65'6,6209 September 19972ndHuddersfield TownAW1–0Furlong 70'9,47714 September 19974thSunderlandHL0–117,47820 September 19977thMiddlesbroughAL1–3Furlong 51'30,12527 September 19977thSheffield UnitedAD0–020,5534 October 19979thCrewe AlexandraHL0–116,54812 October 19976thWolverhampton WanderersHW1–0Marsden 8'17,82218 October 19978thBuryAL1–2Grainger 90'5,70022 October 199712thCharlton AthleticAD1–1Devlin 83'10,07025 October 199712thOxford UnitedHD0–016,35228 October 199711thIpswich TownHD1–1Bruce 81'16,7781 November 199711thQueens Park RangersAD1–1Furlong 42'12,7154 November 199713thBradford CityHD0–014,5548 November 199714thNorwich CityHL1–2Devlin 27' pen.16,46415 November 199714thNottingham ForestAL0–119,61023 November 199714thWest Bromwich AlbionAL0–118,44429 November 199714thPortsmouthHW2–1Furlong (2) 36', 73'17,7386 December 199711thPort ValeAW1–0Cottee 18'7,50913 December 199711thManchester CityHW2–1Forster 90', O'Connor 90'21,01420 December 199711thSwindon TownAD1–1Forster 22'10,90026 December 199710thIpswich TownAW1–0McCarthy 83'17,45928 December 199710thTranmere RoversHD0–019,53310 January 19988thStoke CityAW7–0Hughes (2) 4', 9', Forster 26, Furlong (3) 50', 69', 87', McCarthy 56'14,94017 January 19988thHuddersfield TownHD0–017,85027 January 19987thStockport CountyHW4–1Furlong (3) 7', 31', 90', McCarthy 16'17,11831 January 19989thReadingAL0–210,3157 February 19989thMiddlesbroughHD1–1McCarthy 3'20,63917 February 19989thCrewe AlexandraAW2–0Adebola 42', Hughes 45'5,55922 February 19988thSheffield UnitedHW2–0Grainger 31', Johnson 66'17,96525 February 19989thBuryHL1–3Johnson 90'20,02128 February 19986thWolverhampton WanderersAW3–1Ndlovu (2) 35', 77' pen., Adebola 71'25,5914 March 19988thNorwich CityAD3–3Ndlovu (2) 13', 88', Adebola 44'9,8197 March 19987thQueens Park RangersHW1–0Adebola 68'18,29810 March 19986thSunderlandAD1–1Adebola 50'37,60214 March 19987thBradford CityAD0–016,39221 March 19987thNottingham ForestHL1–2Ndlovu 61' pen.24,66328 March 19987thWest Bromwich AlbionHW1–0Johnson 90'23,2604 April 19987thPortsmouthAD1–1Adebola 84'14,59111 April 19987thPort ValeHD1–1Ndlovu 87'17,19313 April 19987thManchester CityAW1–0Adebola 90'29,56918 April 19987thSwindon TownHW3–0Furlong (2) 9', 34' pen., Hughes 82'17,01625 April 19987thOxford UnitedAW2–0Ford 73' o.g., Furlong 85'8,8183 May 19987thCharlton AthleticHD0–025,877

League table

Results summary

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportThird round4 January 1998Crewe AlexandraAW2–1Furlong 22' pen., 55'4,607Fourth round24 January 1998Stockport CountyHW2–1Hughes 32', 84'15,882Fifth round14 February 1998Leeds UnitedAL2–3Ablett 63', Ndlovu 81'35,463

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceReportFirst round 1st leg12 August 1997GillinghamAW1–0Francis 85'5,246First round 2nd leg26 August 1997GillinghamHW3–04–0 agg.Devlin 68', Ndlovu 75', Furlong 78'7,921Second round 1st leg17 September 1997Stockport CountyHW4–1Hughes 41', Robinson 51', Devlin 77' pen., 87'4,900Second round 2nd leg23 September 1997Stockport CountyAL1–25–3 agg.Furlong 70' pen.2,074Third round14 October 1997ArsenalAL1–4Hey 20'27,097

Transfers

In DatePlayerClubFeeRef July 1997 Peter Ndlovu Coventry City £1.6m August 1997 Jerry Gill Yeovil Town £30,000 August 1997 Howard Forinton Yeovil Town £70,000 August 1997 Tony Hey SC Fortuna Köln £300,000 September 1997 Jon McCarthy Port Vale £1.5m October 1997 Chris Marsden Stockport County £500,000 January 1998 Simon Charlton Southampton £200,000 February 1998 Dele Adebola Crewe Alexandra £1m February 1998 Darren Purse Oxford United £700,000a

a. Purse joined from Oxford United in exchange for £600,000 and Kevin Francis, with Francis valued at £100,000.

Out DatePlayerFeeJoinedRef July 1997 Dave Barnett Free (Dunfermline Athletic) July 1997 Mike Newell £160,000 Aberdeen August 1997 Kenny Brown £40,000 Millwall October 1997 Barry Horne Free Huddersfield Town December 1997 Jason Bowen £200,000 Reading February 1998 Kevin Francis £100,000a Oxford United February 1998 Andy Legg £75,000 Reading March 1998 Paul Devlin £200,000 Sheffield United

Brackets round a club denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired. a. Valued at £100,000 in the deal in which Darren Purse joined Birmingham from Oxford United in exchange for £600,000 plus Francis.

Loan in DatePlayerClubReturnRef November 1997 Tony Cottee Leicester City One month December 1997 Simon Charlton Southampton One month

Loan out DatePlayerClubReturnRef September 1997 Ricky Otto Notts County One month December 1997 Paul Tait Northampton Town One month

Appearances and goals

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK Ian Bennett450305053000GK Kevin Poole1000001000DF Gary Ablett34 (2)0315042 (2)140DF Jon Bass300303 (1)036 (1)010DF Steve Bruce402302045280DF Simon Charlton23 (1)0100024 (1)040DF Jerry Gill3000003000DF Martin Grainger27 (6)2304 (1)034 (7)270DF Michael Johnson22 (16)30 (2)01 (4)023 (22)331DF Darren Purse2 (6)000002 (6)010DF Simon Rea0000000000DF Darren Wassall140005019042MF Paul Devlin 13 (9)50 (1)05318 (10)820MF Tony Hey8 (1)0002110 (1)100MF Chris Holland2 (8)000305 (8)010MF Bryan Hughes34 (6)5324141 (6)810MF Chris Marsden31 (1)1200033 (1)161MF Jon McCarthy414300044440MF Martyn O'Connor32 (1)1303038 (1)130MF Steve Robinson17 (8)00 (1)04121 (9)120FW Dele Adebola16 (1)7000016 (1)710FW Tony Cottee *4 (1)100004 (1)100FW Howard Forinton0 (1)000000 (1)000FW Nicky Forster12 (16)3300015 (16)310FW Kevin Francis 2 (18)10 (2)00 (5)12 (25)230FW Paul Furlong24 (1)15224230 (1)1981FW Peter Ndlovu29 (10)91 (1)15135 (11)1150

+ Players not included in matchday squadsNameMF Jason Bowen MF Barry Horne MF Andy Legg MFRicky OttoMFPaul Tait

See also List of Birmingham City F.C. seasons

Sources

For match dates, league positions and results: For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 430–431. For goal times: For transfers: For discipline: individual player pages linked from Soccerbase omits details of the visit to Nottingham Forest, so cards received in that game are sourced from

References