1997–98 Swindon Town F.C. season

Swindon Town
1997–98 season
ChairmanRikki Hunt
ManagerSteve McMahon
StadiumCounty Ground
First Division18th
FA CupThird round
League CupFirst round
Top goalscorerHay (14)
Average home league attendance10,298

During the 1997–98 English football season, Swindon Town F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

Swindon started the season brilliantly and at the end of October they were top of the table but it all started to go downhill after hammering Oxford 4–1 in December, when Swindon managed just three more wins from the remaining 26 league games which also included an embarrassing FA Cup home defeat to non-league Stevenage. They finished the season in a lowly 18th position, and the pressure on McMahon to resign was immense, but chairman Rikki Hunt refused to sack him.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
16 Huddersfield Town 46 14 11 21 50 72 −22 53
17 Bury 46 11 19 16 42 58 −16 52
18 Swindon Town 46 14 10 22 42 73 −31 52
19 Port Vale 46 13 10 23 56 66 −10 49
20 Portsmouth 46 13 10 23 51 63 −12 49
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Swindon Town's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1997 Crewe Alexandra H 2–0 8,334 Allison, Finney (pen)
16 August 1997 Reading A 1–0 9,338 Hay
23 August 1997 Huddersfield Town H 1–1 7,683 Hay
30 August 1997 Stoke City A 2–1 23,000 Allison, Hay
2 September 1997 Ipswich Town A 1–2 11,246 Allison
7 September 1997 Nottingham Forest H 0–0 13,051
13 September 1997 Tranmere Rovers H 2–1 6,811 Walters, Casper
20 September 1997 West Bromwich Albion A 0–0 16,237
27 September 1997 Manchester City A 0–6 26,646
4 October 1997 Port Vale H 4–2 8,048 Hay (3), Taylor
11 October 1997 Bury H 3–1 7,640 Hay (2), Gooden
18 October 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–3 21,794 Hay (pen)
21 October 1997 Sunderland A 0–0 27,553
25 October 1997 Norwich City H 1–0 9,256 Hay
31 October 1997 Portsmouth A 1–0 8,707 Hay
5 November 1997 Queens Park Rangers H 3–1 10,132 Walters, Taylor, Hay
8 November 1997 Bradford City H 1–0 10,029 Cowe
15 November 1997 Stockport County A 2–4 7,694 Hay, Leitch
22 November 1997 Middlesbrough H 1–2 15,228 Ndah
28 November 1997 Charlton Athletic A 0–3 13,769
6 December 1997 Oxford United H 4–1 10,902 Wilsterman (own goal), Walters (pen), Finney, Gooden
13 December 1997 Sheffield United A 1–2 18,115 Finney
20 December 1997 Birmingham City H 1–1 10,334 Finney
26 December 1997 Nottingham Forest A 0–3 26,500
28 December 1997 Ipswich Town H 0–2 10,609
11 January 1998 Crewe Alexandra A 0–2 4,176
17 January 1998 Reading H 0–2 9,500
24 January 1998 Bradford City A 1–1 15,130 Hay
28 January 1998 Stoke City H 1–0 6,683 Robinson
31 January 1998 Huddersfield Town A 0–0 10,028
7 February 1998 West Bromwich Albion H 0–2 9,861
10 February 1998 Tranmere Rovers A 0–3 5,288
17 February 1998 Port Vale A 1–0 5,925 Collins
21 February 1998 Manchester City H 1–3 12,280 Cowe
28 February 1998 Bury A 0–1 5,002
7 March 1998 Portsmouth H 0–1 9,100
11 March 1998 Middlesbrough A 0–6 29,581
14 March 1998 Queens Park Rangers A 2–1 13,486 Walters (pen), Onoura
18 March 1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–0 7,770
21 March 1998 Stockport County H 1–1 6,684 McDonald
4 April 1998 Charlton Athletic H 0–1 7,845
11 April 1998 Oxford United A 1-2 8,005 Ndah (pen)
13 April 1998 Sheffield United H 1–1 5,956 Walters
18 April 1998 Birmingham City A 0–3 17,016
25 April 1998 Norwich City A 0–5 18,443
3 May 1998 Sunderland H 1–2 14,868 Walters

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 3 January 1998 Stevenage Borough H 1–2 9,422 Walters

League Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 First Leg 13 August 1997 Watford H 0–2 6,271
R1 Second Leg 26 August 1997 Watford A 1–1 (lost 1–3 on agg) 7,712 Leitch

Squad

[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK  ENG Fraser Digby
DF  ENG Brian Borrows
DF  NIR Alan McDonald
DF  ENG Craig Taylor
DF  ENG Mark Robinson
MF  ENG Ty Gooden
MF  ENG Darren Bullock
MF  ENG Mark Walters
MF  SCO Scott Leitch
FW  SCO Chris Hay
FW  ENG Steve Finney
FW  ENG Wayne Allison
MF  SCO Lee Collins
MF  FRA Philippe Cuervo
FW  ENG George Ndah
GK  ENG Steve Mildenhall
MF  ENG Kevin Watson
DF  ENG Frédéric Darras
DF  ENG Jason Drysdale
DF  ENG David Kerslake
MF  ENG David Thompson (on loan from Liverpool)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF  ENG Ian Culverhouse
MF  ENG Bobby Howe
FW  ENG Steve Cowe
DF  ENG Chris Casper (on loan from Manchester United)
FW  ENG Iffy Onuora
DF  ENG Mark Seagraves
DF  ENG Sol Davis
MF  ENG Alex Smith
GK  AUS Frank Talia
GK  TRI Tony Warner (on loan from Liverpool)
MF  ENG Stuart Elliott (on loan from Newcastle United)
MF  ENG Steve McMahon
MF  ENG Robin Hulbert
FW  ENG Alex Meechan
MF  NIR Paul McAreavey
MF  WAL Michael Pattimore
DF  ENG Phil King
DF  ENG Adam Willis

References

  1. ^ "Swindon Town 1997-1998 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  2. ^ "All Swindon Town players: 1998".