1997–98 Sunderland A.F.C. season

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

Sunderland

1997–98 season
Chairman	Bob Murray
Manager	Peter Reid
Stadium	Stadium of Light
First Division	3rd
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Phillips (29) All: Kevin Phillips (35)
Average home league attendance	33,492
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, their first campaign at their new ground, Sunderland finished third in Division One.^[1] After beating Sheffield United in the Football League play-offs semi-final, they reached the final at Wembley with a place in the Premier League at stake. Over 40,000 fans travelled from the North-East to see the game against Charlton Athletic. The match was drawn 4–4 after extra time had been played; Charlton, however, won the game on a penalty shootout, after Michael Gray had his penalty saved by Charlton goalkeeper Saša Ilić.^[2]

Final league table

Main article: 1997–98 Football League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Nottingham Forest (C, P)	46	28	10	8	82	42	+40	94	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Middlesbrough (P)	46	27	10	9	77	41	+36	91
3	Sunderland	46	26	12	8	86	50	+36	90	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Charlton Athletic (O, P)	46	26	10	10	80	49	+31	88
5	Ipswich Town	46	23	14	9	77	43	+34	83

Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Sunderland's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 1997	Sheffield United	A	0–2	17,324
15 August 1997	Manchester City	H	3–1	38,827	Quinn, Phillips, Clark
23 August 1997	Port Vale	A	1–3	8,290	Phillips
30 August 1997	Norwich City	H	0–1	29,204
2 September 1997	Oxford United	H	3–1	27,643	Phillips, Beauchamp (own goal), Melville
5 September 1997	Bradford City	A	4–0	16,484	Gray, Clark, Phillips, Johnston
14 September 1997	Birmingham City	A	1–0	17,478	Gray
20 September 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–1	30,682	Smith
28 September 1997	Middlesbrough	H	1–2	35,384	Ball
4 October 1997	Reading	A	0–4	10,795
18 October 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	3–1	24,782	Smith, Bridges, Clark
21 October 1997	Swindon Town	H	0–0	27,553
25 October 1997	Stoke City	A	2–1	14,587	Clark (2)
1 November 1997	Stockport County	A	1–1	9,474	Clark
4 November 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	0–0	25,455
8 November 1997	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	33,160	Phillips
15 November 1997	Portsmouth	A	4–1	10,702	Quinn, Clark, Johnston, Summerbee
22 November 1997	Bury	A	1–1	7,790	Phillips
29 November 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	3–0	26,674	Clark (2), Phillips
6 December 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	15,266	Quinn
13 December 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–0	29,231	Phillips, Johnston
20 December 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	3–0	5,404	Phillips, Summerbee, Quinn
26 December 1997	Bradford City	H	2–0	40,055	Phillips, Johnston
28 December 1997	Oxford United	A	1–1	8,659	Phillips
10 January 1998	Sheffield United	H	4–2	36,391	Quinn, Rae, Phillips (2)
17 January 1998	Manchester City	A	1–0	31,715	Phillips
28 January 1998	Norwich City	A	1–2	15,940	Clark
31 January 1998	Port Vale	H	4–2	39,258	Johnston, Phillips, Quinn, Carragher (own goal)
7 February 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	27,502	Ball
17 February 1998	Reading	H	4–1	40,579	Quinn, Rae, Phillips (2)
21 February 1998	Middlesbrough	A	1–3	30,227	Clark
24 February 1998	Huddersfield Town	A	3–2	14,615	Johnston (3, 1 pen)
28 February 1998	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	35,114	Williams, Phillips
4 March 1998	Nottingham Forest	A	3–0	29,009	Rae, Johnston, Phillips
7 March 1998	Stockport County	H	4–1	34,870	Quinn (3), Phillips
10 March 1998	Birmingham City	H	1–1	37,602	Johnston
15 March 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	15,355	Phillips
21 March 1998	Portsmouth	H	2–1	38,134	Phillips, Johnston
28 March 1998	Bury	H	2–1	37,425	Clark, Phillips
3 April 1998	Tranmere Rovers	A	2–0	14,116	Phillips, Summerbee
10 April 1998	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–2	40,014	Quinn (2)
13 April 1998	West Bromwich Albion	A	3–3	20,181	Quinn (2), Phillips
18 April 1998	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–1	40,441	Ball, Clark
25 April 1998	Stoke City	H	3–0	41,214	Williams, Phillips (2)
28 April 1998	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	20,902
3 May 1998	Swindon Town	A	2–1	14,868	Phillips (2)

First Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	10 May 1998	Sheffield United	A	1–2	23,800	Ball
SF 2nd Leg	13 May 1998	Sheffield United	H	2–0 (won 3–2 on agg)	40,092	Marker (own goal), Phillips
F	25 May 1998	Charlton Athletic	N	4–4 (lost 6–7 on pens)	77,739	Quinn (2), Phillips, Summerbee

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1998	Rotherham United	A	5–1	11,500	Phillips (4, 1 pen), Quinn
R4	24 January 1998	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–1	14,055

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 First Leg	16 September 1997	Bury	H	2–1	18,775	Williams, Bridges
R2 Second Leg	23 September 1997	Bury	A	2–1 (won 4–2 on agg)	3,928	Smith, Rae
R3	15 October 1997	Middlesbrough	A	0–2	26,451

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   ENG Luke Weaver — GK   ENG Mike Pollitt — GK   FRA Lionel Pérez — GK   NED Edwin Zoetebier — DF   ENG Jody Craddock — DF   ENG Elliott Dickman — DF   ENG Michael Gray — DF   ENG Paul Heckingbottom — DF   ENG Darren Holloway — DF   ENG Chris Makin — DF   ENG Mark Maley — DF   ENG Richard Ord — DF   ENG Martin Scott — DF   ENG Darren Williams — DF   WAL Gareth Hall^[notes 1] — DF   WAL Andy Melville — DF   SCO Allan Johnston — DF   DEN Kim Heiselberg — MF   ENG Steve Agnew

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Sam Aiston — MF   ENG Kevin Ball — MF   ENG Paul Bracewell — MF   ENG Chris Byrne — MF   ENG Lee Clark — MF   ENG Chris Lumsdon — MF   ENG John Mullin — MF   ENG Nicky Summerbee — MF   ENG Paul Thirlwell — MF   SCO David Duke — MF   SCO Alex Rae — FW   ENG Michael Bridges — FW   ENG Danny Dichio — FW   ENG Kevin Phillips — FW   ENG Michael Proctor — FW   ENG Craig Russell — FW   ENG Martin Smith — FW   IRL Niall Quinn

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Division One		Play-offs		FA Cup		Coca-Cola Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
	GK	FRA	Lionel Perez	52	0	46	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
	GK	ENG	Luke Weaver	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	NED	Edwin Zoetebier	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Defenders
	DF	ENG	Jody Craddock	40	0	31+1	0	3	0	2	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Michael Gray	52	2	44+1	2	2	0	2	0	3	0
	DF	WAL	Gareth Hall	2	0	1+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Darren Holloway	37	0	32	0	3	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Chris Makin	31	0	23+2	0	1+1	0	1	0	3	0
	DF	WAL	Andy Melville	10	1	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Richard Ord	15	0	13+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Martin Scott	11	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Darren Williams	43	3	35+1	2	3	0	1	0	3	1
Midfielders
	MF	ENG	Steve Agnew	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Sam Aiston	3	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Kevin Ball	37	4	29+2	3	3	1	0	0	2+1	0
	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell	3	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	Chris Byrne	10	0	4+4	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0
	MF	ENG	Lee Clark	52	13	46	13	3	0	2	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Allan Johnston	47	11	38+2	11	3	0	2	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	Chris Lumsdon	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	John Mullin	6	0	1+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Alex Rae	35	4	24+5	3	0+2	0	2	0	1+1	1
	MF	ENG	Nicky Summerbee	30	4	22+3	3	3	1	2	0	0	0
Forwards
	FW	ENG	Michael Bridges	11	2	6+3	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
	FW	ENG	Danny Dichio	16	0	2+11	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin Phillips	48	35	42+1	29	3	2	2	4	0	0
	FW	IRL	Niall Quinn	39	17	33+2	14	2	2	2	1	0	0
	FW	ENG	Craig Russell	6	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0	2+1	0
	FW	ENG	Martin Smith	18	3	11+5	2	0	0	0	0	1+1	1

References

1. Richard Rundle. . Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
2. . Charlton Athletic F.C. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
3. . Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
4. "All Sunderland players: 1998". www.11v11.com.

Notes

1. Hall was born in Croydon, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 1988.