During the 1997–98 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary In the 1997–98 season, Wigan didn't start the campaign very well and by the end of November, sat in the bottom four and were favourites to go down before the season started and it seemed a possibility at that stage. By 21 February, their fortunes didn't really improve and were still in the relegation battle in 17th and two points clear of the relegation zone. From then onwards, Wigan went on a great run of form to end the season with seven wins from their final 15 league games and finished in a satisfying 11th place.

Transfers In PlayerPosFromFeeDateNotes Scott Green DF Bolton Wanderers £300,000 30 June 1997 David Lee MF Bolton Wanderers £250,000 18 July 1997 Pat McGibbon DF Manchester United £250,000 30 July 1997 Paul Warne FW Wroxham £25,000 30 July 1997 Brendan O'Connell MF Charlton Athletic £120,000 8 August 1997 Jorg Smeets MF Heracles Almelo £100,000 1 October 1997 Carl Bradshaw DF Norwich City Free 3 October 1997 Neil Mustoe MF Manchester United Undisclosed 7 January 1998 Stuart Barlow FW Oldham Athletic £45,000 26 March 1998

Out PlayerPosToFeeDateNotes John Pender DF Rochdale £11,500 22 July 1997 Graham Lancashire FW Rochdale £40,000 2 October 1997 Andy Saville FW Cardiff City £60,000 31 October 1997 Tony Black MF Accrington Stanley Released 31 October 1997 Charlie Bishop MF Northampton Town £20,000 12 December 1997

Loans in PlayerPosFromDateDurationNotes Drewe Broughton FW Norwich City 15 August 1997 One month Neil Woods FW Grimsby Town 6 November 1997 One month Graham Branch DF Tranmere Rovers 24 December 1997 One month Neil Whitworth DF Kilmarnock 11 March 1998 End of season Rob Newman DF Norwich City 26 March 1998 End of season

Loans out PlayerPosToDateDurationNotes Steve Morgan DF Bury 26 September 1997 One month

Results Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Pre-season DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes 17 July 1997 WroxhamA3–2 20 July 1997 WrexhamN0–0 (lost 1–3 on pens) 23 July 1997 Isle of Man XIN4–1 25 July 1997 Oldham AthleticN1–0 30 July 1997 Huddersfield TownH0–2 1 August 1997 West Bromwich AlbionH2–0

Football League Second Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1997 Wycombe WanderersH5–24,706O'Connell (3), Green, Kilford 16 August 1997 BournemouthA0–13,799 23 August 1997 Plymouth ArgyleH1–13,761Lowe 30 August 1997 Bristol CityA0–39,255 2 September 1997 Carlisle UnitedA0–15,352 8 September 1997 WrexhamH3–23,872O'Connell, Lowe, Jones (pen) 13 September 1997 BlackpoolH3–05,517Johnson, Lowe (2) 20 September 1997 Northampton TownA0–16,570 27 September 1997 FulhamH2–14,951Johnson, Greenall 4 October 1997 Grimsby TownA1–24,623Lowe 11 October 1997 ChesterfieldA3–24,673O'Connell, Greenall, Lowe 18 October 1997 Luton TownH1–14,466Jones (pen) 21 October 1997 GillinghamH1–43,214Lee 25 October 1997 MillwallA1–17,986Jones 1 November 1997 York CityH1–13,701Greenall 4 November 1997 Oldham AthleticA1–35,446Lowe 8 November 1997 Southend UnitedA0–12,716 22 November 1997 Preston North EndH1–45,649Kilford 29 November 1997 WatfordA1–29,455Jones 2 December 1997 Bristol RoversH3–02,738Kilford, Lowe (2) 13 December 1997 BurnleyA2–09,520Lee, Jones 20 December 1997 BrentfordH4–03,301Lowe, Smeets (2), Kilford 26 December 1997 WrexhamA2–24,577Smeets, Kilford 28 December 1997 Carlisle UnitedH0–24,511 10 January 1998 Wycombe WanderersA2–15,549Martínez, Lee 17 January 1998 Bristol CityH0–35,078 24 January 1998 Plymouth ArgyleA2–34,345Kilford, Lee 31 January 1998 BlackpoolA2–05,288Warne, Lydiate (own goal) 7 February 1998 Northampton TownH1–13,579Morgan 14 February 1998 Grimsby TownH0–23,548 21 February 1998 FulhamA0–27,791 24 February 1998 Luton TownA1–14,403Jones 28 February 1998 ChesterfieldH2–13,017Lowe, Jones (pen) 7 March 1998 York CityA2–23,536Greenall, Jones 14 March 1998 Oldham AthleticH1–04,277Kilford 17 March 1998 Southend UnitedH1–32,616Lowe 21 March 1998 WalsallA0–13,169 28 March 1998 Preston North EndA1–110,171Lowe 4 April 1998 WatfordH3–24,262Barlow, Lowe, Kilford 7 April 1998 BournemouthH1–02,798Lee 10 April 1998 Bristol RoversA0–56,038 13 April 1998 BurnleyH5–14,926Barlow, Lowe (2), Warne, Kilford 18 April 1998 BrentfordA2–04,480Bradshaw (pen), Kilford 21 April 1998 WalsallH2–02,725Barlow, Jones 24 April 1998 MillwallH0–04,045 2 May 1998 GillinghamA0–010,361

Final league table

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst15 November 1997 Carlisle UnitedA1–05,182JonesSecond6 December 1997 York CityH2–14,021Martínez, LeeThird3 January 1998 Blackburn RoversA2–422,402Lee, Lowe

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst (1st leg) 12 August 1997 ChesterfieldH1–23,413LeeFirst (2nd leg) 26 August 1997 ChesterfieldA0–1 (lost 1–3 on agg)4,076

Football League Trophy

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst (Northern)9 December 1997 Lincoln CityH2–01,467Jones (2, 1 pen)Second (Northern)20 January 1998 Rotherham UnitedH3–01,495Jones (2), LoweQuarter final (Northern)27 January 1998 BlackpoolA0–11,687

Squad Note: Numbers in brackets are appearances as a substitute. + Players' appearances and goals by competitionNat.Pos.PlayerAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLeagueFA CupOtherIncludes appearances and goals in the League Cup and Football League Trophy.Total FW 9 3 0 0 0 0 9 3 DF 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0 MF 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (2) 0 DF 27 (1) 1 1 0 0 0 28 (1) 1 DF 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0 FW 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (3) 0 DF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 GK 17 0 1 0 2 0 20 0 GK 29 0 2 0 3 0 34 0 MF 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0 DF 1 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 2 (2) 0 DF 37 (1) 1 3 0 4 0 44 (1) 1 DF 39 4 3 0 5 0 47 4 DF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 MF 18 (2) 2 2 0 2 0 22 (2) 2 FW 28 (5) 9 3 1 4 4 35 (5) 14 MF 29 (1) 10 3 0 2 (2) 0 34 (3) 10 FW 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (2) 0 FW 41 (2) 5 3 2 5 1 49 (2) 8 FW 42 (1) 16 2 (1) 1 5 1 49 (2) 18 MF 26 (7) 1 2 1 3 (1) 0 31 (8) 2 DF 32 (3) 0 3 0 3 0 38 (3) 0 DF 13 1 1 0 3 0 17 1 MF 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 DF 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 MF 17 5 1 0 2 0 20 5 MF 32 (6) 0 1 0 4 0 37 (6) 0 FW 0 (5) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (6) 0 DF 34 (4) 0 1 (1) 0 3 (1) 0 38 (6) 0 MF 10 (13) 3 1 0 3 0 14 (13) 3 FW 3 (22) 2 0 0 0 (2) 0 3 (24) 2 DF 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (3) 0 FW 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

References