During the 1997–98 English football season, Sheffield United competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary On 5 August 1997, Nigel Spackman was appointed as permanent manager of Sheffield United and his side had a good start to the season but huge losses and high wages from the previous season's promotion failure led to enforced sales of key personnel. The final straw being the sale of both of the club's top scoring strikers (Brian Deane – 11 league goals – went to S.L. Benfica & Jan Åge Fjørtoft – 9 league goals – to Barnsley) on the same day. Even though leaving midseason, Deane would go on to become the team's top scorer that year, such was the lack of replacements. Spackman was unhappy over this and resigned in March 1998, leaving Thompson and Slade in caretaker charge until the end of the season. The Blades finished in the playoffs but came up short in the playoff semi-finals against Sunderland, losing 3–2 on aggregate.

Final league table

Results Sheffield United's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 10 August 1997 SunderlandH2–017,324Fjørtoft, Borbokis 16 August 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–023,102 23 August 1997 PortsmouthH2–115,895Fjørtoft (2) 30 August 1997 Huddersfield TownA0–014,268 13 September 1997 Nottingham ForestH1–024,536Taylor 20 September 1997 Oxford UnitedA4–27,514Deane, Fjørtoft (pen), Holdsworth, Whitehouse 27 September 1997 Birmingham CityH0–020,553 5 October 1997 MiddlesbroughA2–130,000Deane, Whitehouse 18 October 1997 Queens Park RangersH2–218,006Borbokis, Marcelo 21 October 1997 Stockport CountyH5–116,241Whitehouse, Fjørtoft (3), Deane 25 October 1997 West Bromwich AlbionA0–217,311 1 November 1997 Tranmere RoversH2–116,578Tiler, Taylor 4 November 1997 ReadingA1–08,132Patterson 9 November 1997 Ipswich TownA2–29,695Taylor, Ward 15 November 1997 Manchester CityH1–123,850Deane 18 November 1997 Bradford CityA1–116,127Deane 22 November 1997 Port ValeA0–08,017 29 November 1997 Crewe AlexandraH1–016,973Fjørtoft 2 December 1997 Stoke CityH3–214,347Taylor, Fjørtoft, Deane 6 December 1997 Norwich CityA1–211,745Deane 9 December 1997 Charlton AthleticA1–29,868Marker 13 December 1997 Swindon TownH2–118,115Holdsworth, Saunders 20 December 1997 BuryA1–16,012Deane 26 December 1997 Stoke CityA2–219,723Taylor, Deane 28 December 1997 Charlton AthleticH4–118,677Taylor, Saunders, Deane, Marker 10 January 1998 SunderlandA2–436,391Saunders, Taylor 17 January 1998 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–022,144Marcelo 27 January 1998 Huddersfield TownH1–116,535Saunders 31 January 1998 PortsmouthA1–112,003Knight (own goal) 7 February 1998 Oxford UnitedH1–016,881Ford 22 February 1998 Birmingham CityA0–217,965 25 February 1998 Queens Park RangersA2–29,560Saunders, Stuart 28 February 1998 Bradford CityH2–117,848Taylor (2) 3 March 1998 Ipswich TownH0–114,120 14 March 1998 ReadingH4–015,473Stuart, Marcelo, Taylor, Quinn 21 March 1998 Manchester CityA0–028,496 28 March 1998 Port ValeH2–115,860Marcelo, Saunders 1 April 1998 Nottingham ForestA0–321,512 7 April 1998 MiddlesbroughH1–018,421Saunders 11 April 1998 Norwich CityH2–216,915Stuart, Borbokis 13 April 1998 Swindon TownA1–15,956Marcelo 18 April 1998 BuryH3–016,056Stuart (pen), Saunders (2) 25 April 1998 West Bromwich AlbionH2–421,248Stuart (pen), Marcelo 28 April 1998 Tranmere RoversA3–37,526Quinn, Saunders, Devlin 30 April 1998 Crewe AlexandraA1–25,759Hamilton 3 May 1998 Stockport CountyA0–19,683

First Division play-offs

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersSF First Leg 10 May 1998 SunderlandH2–123,800Marcelo, BorbokisSF Second Leg 13 May 1998 SunderlandA0–2 (lost 2–3 on agg)40,092

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR33 January 1998 BuryH1–114,009FjørtoftR3R13 January 1998 BuryA2–14,920Saunders, FjørtoftR424 January 1998 Ipswich TownA1–114,654SaundersR4R3 February 1998 Ipswich TownH1–014,144Hutchison (pen)R513 February 1998 ReadingH1–017,845SandfordQF7 March 1998 Coventry CityA1–123,084MarceloQFR17 March 1998 Coventry CityH1–1 (won 3–1 on pens)29,034HoldsworthSF5 April 1998 Newcastle UnitedN0–153,452

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR1 First Leg 12 August 1997 WrexhamA1–13,644BorbokisR1 Second Leg 26 August 1997 WrexhamH3–1 (won 4–2 on agg)7,181Deane, Whitehouse, FjørtoftR2 First Leg 16 September 1997 WatfordA1–17,154ScottR2 Second Leg 23 September 1997 WatfordH4–0 (won 5–1 on agg)7,511Day (own goal), Whitehouse (2), DeaneR314 October 1997 WalsallA1–28,239Borbokis

Players First-team squad Squad at end of season

Notes

References