1997–98 Luton Town F.C. season

The 1997–98 season was the 112th season in the history of Luton Town F.C. It was Luton Town's 77th consecutive season in the Football League, and their 80th overall. It was their second season back in the Football League Third Division following relegation in the 1995–96 season.

This article covers the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998.

Season summary During the 1997–98 English football season, Luton Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division. It was the second full season of Lennie Lawrences's spell as Luton Town manager. Hopes were high for promotion following Luton's 3rd place finish the previous season, however injuries to key players in September and October saw Luton Town fall into the relegation zone. They subsequently spent the season battling at the wrong end of the division. Luton were in the relegation zone as late as April and only secured their safety following a 2–2 draw with Brentford in the second last game of the season. Luton's survival was due in no small part to the arrival of Rory Allen on loan from Tottenham Hotspur F.C.. Allen arrived at the end of March with Luton Town sitting 23rd in the table with only 8 games remaining. Allen scored 6 goals in that time which resulted in 5 wins and 1 draw for Luton Town

Final league table

Results Luton Town's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League Second Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 09 August 1997 BlackpoolAway0–16,547 18 August 1997 Southend UnitedHome1–05,140 Stuart Douglas 23 August 1997 FulhamAway0–08,142 30 August 1997 Oldham AthleticHome1–15,404Tony Thorpe 02 September 1997 MillwallHome0–25,781 09 September 1997 Northampton TownAway0–17,246 13 September 1997 AFC BournemouthAway1–14,561Dwight Marshall 20 September 1997 WrexhamHome2–55,241Steve Davis, Phil Gray 27 September 1997 Bristol CityAway0–38,509 04 October 1997 WatfordHome0–49,041 11 October 1997 Plymouth ArgyleHome3–04,931Tony Thorpe (2), Simon Davies 18 October 1997 Wigan AthleticAway1–14,466David Oldfield 21 October 1997 Carlisle UnitedAway1–04,341Alan White 25 October 1997 BrentfordHome2–05,972Graham Alexander, Tony Thorpe 01 November 1997 Wycombe WanderersAway2–26,219David Oldfield, Tony Thorpe 04 November 1997 BurnleyHome2–35,315Graham Alexander (2) 08 November 1997 Preston North EndHome1–35,767Tony Thorpe 22 November 1997 WalsallHome0–14,726 29 November 1997 York CityAway2–13,636Graham Alexander, Tony Thorpe 02 December 1997 GillinghamHome2–24,408Steve Davis, Tony Thorpe 13 December 1997 ChesterfieldAway0–04,358 20 December 1997 Bristol RoversHome2–45,266Chris Allen, David Oldfield 26 December 1997 NorthamptonHome2–28,035David Oldfield, Tony Thorpe 28 December 1997 MillwallAway2–07,461Steve Davis, Tony Thorpe 03 January 1998 Southend UnitedAway2–15,056Graham Alexander (2) 10 January 1998 BlackpoolHome3–05,574Tony Thorpe (3) 17 January 1998 Oldham AthleticAway1–26,057Graham Alexander 24 January 1998 FulhamHome1–48,366Tony Thorpe 31 January 1998 AFC BournemouthHome1–25,466Marvin Johnson 07 February 1998 WrexhamAway1–23,527Steve Davis 14 February 1998 WatfordAway1–115,182Marvin Johnson 21 February 1998 Bristol CityHome0–06,405 24 February 1998 Wigan AthleticHome1–14,403David Oldfield 28 February 1998 Plymouth ArgyleAway2–04,846Andrew Fotiadis, Sean Evers 03 March 1998 Preston North EndAway0–16,992 07 March 1998 Wycombe WanderersHome0–06,114 14 March 1998 BurnleyAway1–19,656Mitchell Thomas 21 March 1998 Grimsby TownHome2–25,722Sean Evers, Steve Davis 28 March 1998 WalsallAway3–23,922David Oldfield, Rory Allen, Dwight Marshall 04 April 1998 York CityHome3–05,541Graham Alexander(pen), David Oldfield, Phil Gray 07 April 1998 Grimsby TownAway1–04,455Rory Allen 11 April 1998 GillinghamAway1–26,846Rory Allen 14 April 1998 ChesterfieldHome3–05,884Dwight Marshall, Rory Allen, David Oldfield 18 April 1998 Bristol RoversAway1–28,038David Oldfield 25 April 1998 BrentfordAway2–26,596Dwight Marshall, Rory Allen 02 May 1998 Carlisle UnitedHome3–26,729Sean Evers, (og), Rory Allen

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR1 15 November 1997 Torquay UnitedHome0–13,446

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR1 1st leg 12 August 1997 Colchester UnitedAway1–02,840Tony ThorpeR1 2nd leg 26 August 1997 Colchester UnitedHome1–12,816Tony ThorpeR2 1st leg 16 September 1997 West Bromwich AlbionHome1–13,437Stuart DouglasR2 2nd leg 23 September 1997 West Bromwich AlbionAway2–47,227Steve Davis, Tony Thorpe

Football League Trophy

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersSR206 January 1998 BrentfordHome2–13,106Tony Thorpe, David OldfieldSQF27 January 1998 FulhamAway2–15,103Dwight Marshall, Tony ThorpeSSF17 February 1998 AFC BournemouthAway0–15,367

Squad

Player statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMF David Oldfield4591041305310MF Paul McLaren41 (2)010402048 (2)0DF Steve Davis395004020455DF Graham Alexander398102020448MF Gary Waddock34 (2)010400 (2)039 (4)0DF Mitchell Thomas28 (2)100202032 (2)1FW Tony Thorpe27 (1)14102 (1)21 (1)031 (3)16GK Kelvin Davis320000010330DF Alan White26 (2)110103031 (2)1FW Dwight Marshall19 (10)400212023 (10)5DF Darren Patterson2300 (1)0003026 (1)0MF Sean Evers14 (8)300203019 (8)3MF Simon Davies8 (11)10 (1)03 (1)03014 (13)1DF Julian James23 (1)010100025 (1)0FW Stuart Douglas5 (11)1003 (1)0008 (12)1FW Phil Gray14 (3)200100 (1)015 (4)2MF Chris Allen141000030171GK Ian Feuer130101020170FW Andrew Fotiadis5 (11)11000006 (11)1DF Bryan Small160000000160DF Marvin Johnson12 (1)200300015 (1)2MF Matthew Spring6 (6)01000007 (6)0DF Richard Harvey6 (1)0102 (1)01010 (2)0DF Gary Doherty1 (8)00 (1)000001 (9)0FW Rory Allen8600000086DF Gavin McGowan6 (2)00000006 (2)0FW Liam George10000 (2)00 (1)01 (3)0GK Andy Dibble1000200030DF Stuart Fraser1000000010GK Nathan Abbey0000100010MF Robert Kean0 (1)00000000 (1)0MF Paul Showler0 (1)00000000 (1)0DF Trevor Peake0 (1)00000000 (1)0—own goal—1—0—0—0—1

References