During the 1997–98 English football season, Doncaster Rovers competed in the Football League Third Division. Doncaster had an awful season finishing bottom of the table and being relegated to the Football Conference. They lost 34 matches, setting a new league record.

Season summary Doncaster suffered the worst season in their history. They were rooted to the bottom of the table for almost the entirety of the season, had to wait 21 matches for a first league victory of the season, won only four league games all season, finished 15 points adrift of 23rd-placed Brighton & Hove Albion and lost 34 league games, the most for any English club in a season – the worst of these defeats being 7–1 at Cardiff City (who finished 21st) and 8–0 at Leyton Orient. This poor form saw Doncaster rightly relegated from the Football League to the Conference for the first time in their history.

Rovers' poor form came amidst a background of gross interference and poor judgement from the board. Player-manager Kerry Dixon was sacked in August; youth-team coach Dave Cowling replaced him, but only managed the club for two games (losing both) before resigning due to interference from chairman Ken Richardson. Cowling was replaced by experienced Uruguayan Danny Bergara, who allowed Richardson to pick the team: Bergara lasted seven games, picking up only two points. Eventually Richardson's right-hand man Mark Weaver appointed himself manager.

In 1999, Richardson was found guilty of conspiracy to set fire to the main stand at the Belle Vue ground in 1995, apparently to compel the club to relocate to a new stadium.

Kit Rovers wore four kits during the season, all produced by new kit manufacturer Olympic Sports. The first, worn from August to September, featured sleeves with jagged red shapes on a white background. An alternate kit, with the jagged red shapes also featured on white panels on the sides of the shorts, was also used during this period. From October to April Rovers wore a red kit with white panels on the sides of the shorts, plain red socks with a white band around the ankle and a buttoned collar; this kit was the only one worn by Doncaster this season to bear the club's crest. During May the club returned to wear the first kit, albeit with completely red shorts. The away kit evoked that worn by the Brazil national side, with a yellow shirt with green collar, sky blue shorts with white panels on the side, and white socks.

None of the kits worn by Doncaster this season carried sponsorship.

Final league table

Results Doncaster's score comes first

Legend

Football League Third Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers19 August 1997 Shrewsbury TownA1–23,029Conlon216 August 1997 Peterborough UnitedH0–51,920323 August 1997 Macclesfield TownA0–32,635430 August 1997 Exeter CityH0–11,18652 September 1997 Leyton OrientH1–41,098Moncrieffe65 September 1997 Mansfield TownA1–12,874Moncrieffe713 September 1997 Scunthorpe UnitedA1–13,378McDonald820 September 1997 Cambridge UnitedH0–01,258927 September 1997 Torquay UnitedA0–21,650104 October 1997 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–32,351Cunningham1111 October 1997 Hartlepool UnitedH2–21,526Moncrieffe (2)1218 October 1997 DarlingtonA1–52,451Moncrieffe 1321 October 1997 Colchester UnitedA1–22,588McDonald1424 October 1997 Swansea CityH0–31,170151 November 1997 ScarboroughA0–42,345164 November 1997 Cardiff CityH1–11,004Moncrieffe178 November 1997 BarnetA1–12,015Warren1818 November 1997 Lincoln CityA1–22,957Moncrieffe1922 November 1997 RochdaleH0–31,5032029 November 1997 Hull CityA0–34,721212 December 1997 Chester CityH2–1846Helliwell, Smith2213 December 1997 Notts CountyA2–54,024Pell, Smith2319 December 1997 Rotherham UnitedH0–33,5332428 December 1997 Leyton OrientA0–84,4372510 January 1998 Shrewsbury TownH1–01,116Moncrieffe2617 January 1998 Exeter CityA1–54,145Pemberton2727 January 1998 Macclesfield TownH0–31,7072830 January 1998 Scunthorpe UnitedA1–22,036Mike293 February 1998 Mansfield TownH0–31,538307 February 1998 Cambridge UnitedA1–22,478Wilson3110 February 1998 Peterborough UnitedA1–04,577Smith3214 February 1998 Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–06,3393321 February 1998 Torquay UnitedH0–11,4243424 February 1998 DarlingtonH0–21,3423528 February 1998 Hartlepool UnitedA1–31,920Rowe363 March 1998 BarnetH0–27393710 March 1998 ScarboroughH1–21,129Rowe3814 March 1998 Cardiff CityA1–72,931Mike3921 March 1998 Lincoln CityH2–42,357George, Donnelly4028 March 1998 RochdaleA1–41,858Tedaldi414 April 1998 Hull CityH1–02,597Mike4211 April 1998 Chester CityA1–21,593Mike4313 April 1998 Notts CountyH1–22,485Messer4418 April 1998 Rotherham UnitedA0–34,3284525 April 1998 Swansea CityA0–03,661462 May 1998 Colchester UnitedH0–13,572

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR115 November 1997 Preston North EndA2–37,953Mike, Hammond

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR1 1st Leg11 August 1997 Nottingham ForestH0–84,547R1 2nd Leg27 August 1997 Nottingham ForestA1–29,908Armstrong (o.g.)

Football League Trophy

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR19 December 1997 RochdaleH0–1580

Squad Appearances for competitive matches only NameLeagueFA CupLeague Cup Football League Trophy TotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Robert Betts2(1)00000002(1)0 John Borg1000000010 Darren Brookes9(2)010200(1)012(3)0 Ian Clark1(1)00000001(1)0 Paul Conlon4(10)10000004(10)1 Harvey Cunningham32(1)1001(1)01034(2)1 Craig Davis150000010160 Robert Debenham4(2)00000004(2)0 Jim Dobbin28(3)010001030(3)0 Mark Donnelly8(1)10000008(1)1 Wayne Dowell1000000010 Paul Edwards5(4)00000005(4)0 David Esdaille9(3)000200011(3)0 Darren Esdaille22(1)000100023(1)0 Gary Finley6(1)00010007(1)0 Daniel George16(2)100000016(2)1 Ian Gore250102010290 Andrew Hammond100(1)1000011 Steve Hawes8(3)00000008(3)0 Mark Hawthorne7(1)00000007(1)0 Ian Helliwell8100001091 Maurice Hilton9(1)010000010(1)0 Gary Hoggeth8000000080 Gary Ingham100002000120 Simon Ireland340101(1)01037(1)0 Martin McDonald152102000182 Gary Messer4(9)10000004(9)1 Adie Mike424112010465 Prince Moncrieffe30(8)810201034(8)8 Tony Parks6000000060 Robert Pell6(4)10000006(4)1 Martin Pemberton24(2)1000(1)00024(3)1 John Ramsay2(8)00(1)00(1)0002(10)0 Zeke Rowe6200000062 Matt Russell4(1)00000004(1)0 Steve Sanders19(6)000201022(6)0 David Smith1000000010 Mike Smith10(10)310101013(10)3 Dominico Tedaldi0(2)10000000(2)1 Rob Thornley1000000010 Andy Thorpe2000000020 Darren Utley2(2)00000002(2)0 Lee Warren441101010471 Dean Williams6010000070 Padi Wilson101000000101

References

External links Doncaster Rovers 1997–98 at Soccerbase.com