1997–98 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

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

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.

Final table 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

Players

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Transfers

In DatePlayerFromFee11 July 1997 Steve SedgleyIpswich Town£350,0006 August 1997 Dariusz KubickiSunderlandFree6 August 1997 Mixu Paatelainen Bolton Wanderers£250,0001 September 1997 Isidro Díaz UnattachedFree5 September 1997 Hans SegersUnattachedFree12 September 1997 Jason RobertsHayes£250,00021 October 1997 Dougie FreedmanCrystal Palace£800,00021 October 1997 Kevin MuscatCrystal Palace£200,00011 November 1997 Paul SimpsonDerby County£75,00025 March 1998 Neil EmblenCrystal PalaceUndisclosed25 March 1998 Robbie SlaterSouthampton£50,00026 March 1998 Steve ClaridgeLeicester City£350,000

Out DatePlayerToFeeJune 1997 Robbie DennisonReleasedFreeJune 1997 Brian LawReleasedFreeJune 1997 Dennis PearceReleasedFreeJune 1997 Serge RomanoReleasedFreeJune 1997 Geoff ThomasReleasedFreeJune 1997 Andy ThompsonReleasedFreeJune 1997 Eric YoungReleasedFree7 July 1997 Iwan RobertsNorwich City£850,00011 July 1997 Mark VenusIpswich Town£150,00013 August 1997 Neil EmblenCrystal Palace£1.8 million30 September 1997 Isidro Díaz ReleasedFree21 October 1997 Jamie SmithCrystal Palace£1 million19 February 1998 Jermaine WrightCrewe Alexandra£25,000

Loans in Start datePlayerFromEnd date2 September 1997 Simon ColemanBolton Wanderers2 October 199715 September 1997 Jesús García Sanjuán Real Zaragoza15 December 199710 October 1997 Paul SimpsonDerby County10 November 199717 October 1997 Dougie FreedmanCrystal Palace20 October 199719 March 1998 Stephen Wright RangersEnd of season

Loans out Start datePlayerToEnd date24 October 1997 Glen CroweCardiff City9 December 1997December 1997 Jason RobertsTorquay United5 March 199824 February 1998 Dominic FoleyWatfordEnd of season4 March 1998 Dariusz KubickiTranmere RoversEnd of season25 March 1998 Jason RobertsBristol CityEnd 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.

References