The 1997–98 Premiership 1 was the eleventh season of the top tier of the English rugby union league system, currently known as PREM Rugby, and the first to be sponsored by Allied Dunbar, having previously been sponsored by Courage Brewery. The end of the previous season had seen a wide scale restructuring of the old league system, with the two leagues (formerly National Division 1 and 2) being renamed as Premiership 1 and Premiership 2, with Allied Dunbar agreeing to sponsor the top two divisions for £7,500,000. Wasps were defending champions and Richmond and Newcastle Falcons the promoted sides.
Newly promoted Newcastle Falcons finished as league champions for the first time in their history, just one point clear of runners up Saracens. Only one side was relegated this season, with Bristol enduring a nightmare season and dropping down to the 1998–99 Premiership 2, in what would be their first season outside of the top flight since the leagues began.
Structure Each side played one another twice, in a round robin system, home and away, to make a total of twenty-two matches for each team. The bottom side would be automatically relegated to Premiership 2 (formerly known as National Division 1).
Participating teams
TeamStadiumCapacityCity/AreaPrevious seasonBathRecreation Ground8,300 (1,000 seats)Bath, Somerset2ndBristolMemorial Stadium8,500 (1,200 seats)Bristol10thGloucesterKingsholm12,000Gloucester, Gloucestershire7thHarlequinsThe Stoop9,000 (2,000 seats)Twickenham, London3rdLeicester TigersWelford Road17,000Leicester, Leicestershire4thLondon IrishThe Avenue6,600Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey9thNewcastle FalconsKingston Park6,900Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and WearPromoted from National 2 (2nd)Northampton SaintsFranklin's Gardens9,000Northampton, Northamptonshire8thRichmondAthletic Ground, Richmond7,300 (1,300 seats)Richmond, LondonPromoted from National 2 (1st)SaleHeywood Road4,800 Sale, Greater Manchester5thSaracensVicarage Road 22,000Watford, Hertfordshire6thWaspsLoftus Road 18,439Shepherd's Bush, LondonChampions
Final table
Fixtures & Results Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20
Week 21
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26
Newcastle Falcons are champions.
Attendances ClubHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Bath 11 80,100 7,282 8,200 5,500 88% Bristol 11 39,653 3,605 5,601 1,547 42% Gloucester 11 83,473 7,588 10,574 5,689 63% Harlequins 11 64,930 5,903 8,897 4,127 66% Leicester Tigers 11 141,446 12,859 16,900 8,678 76% London Irish 11 40,900 3,718 5,000 1,500 56% Newcastle Falcons 11 55,251 5,023 11,750 2,638 62% Northampton Saints 11 71,661 6,515 8,989 4,600 72% Richmond 11 39,718 3,611 6,500 2,000 49% Sale 11 39,800 3,618 4,500 2,500 75% Saracens 11 102,335 9,303 19,764 3,722 42% Wasps 11 64,179 5,834 9,700 3,791 32%
Leading scorers Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who did not earn international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.
Most points Source: Rank Player ClubPoints1 Michael LynaghSaracens2792 Mark MapletoftGloucester2753 Gareth ReesWasps253 Joel StranskyLeicester Tigers5 Niall WoodsLondon Irish2376 Rob AndrewNewcastle Falcons2267 Shane HowarthSale2248 Paul GraysonNorthampton Saints2109 Jon CallardBath18310 Thierry LacroixHarlequins169
Most tries Source: Rank Player ClubTries1 Dominic ChapmanRichmond172 Tom BeimSale143 Gary ArmstrongNewcastle Falcons134 Scott QuinnellRichmond105 Will GreenwoodLeicester Tigers9 Pat LamNorthampton Saints Andy NicolBath Daren O'LearyHarlequins911 players8
See also 1997–98 Premiership 2 1997–98 National League 1 1997–98 National League 2 North 1997–98 National League 2 South
Note
References
External links Official site