1897–98 in English football

The 1897–98 season was the 27th season of competitive football in England.

Honours

Competition	Winner
First Division	Sheffield United (1)
Second Division	Burnley
FA Cup	Nottingham Forest (1)
Home Championship	England

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Football League

First Division

Sheffield United won the First Division to become champions of English football for the only time in their history.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Sheffield United	30	17	8	5	56	31	1.806	42
2	Sunderland	30	16	5	9	43	30	1.433	37
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	14	7	9	57	41	1.390	35
4	Everton	30	13	9	8	48	39	1.231	35
5	The Wednesday	30	15	3	12	51	42	1.214	33
6	Aston Villa	30	14	5	11	61	51	1.196	33
7	West Bromwich Albion	30	11	10	9	44	45	0.978	32
8	Nottingham Forest	30	11	9	10	47	49	0.959	31
9	Liverpool	30	11	6	13	48	45	1.067	28
10	Derby County	30	11	6	13	57	61	0.934	28
11	Bolton Wanderers	30	11	4	15	28	41	0.683	26
12	Preston North End	30	8	8	14	35	43	0.814	24
13	Notts County	30	8	8	14	36	46	0.783	24
14	Bury	30	8	8	14	39	51	0.765	24
15	Blackburn Rovers	30	7	10	13	39	54	0.722	24
16	Stoke	30	8	8	14	35	55	0.636	24

Second Division

This was the final season of using 'Test Matches' to decide relegation and promotion between the divisions. The Second Division was won by Burnley; both they and runners-up Newcastle United were promoted to the expanded First Division, rendering the results of the end of season Test Matches meaningless. From the 1898–99 season onwards, automatic relegation and promotion of the bottom two/top two sides from each division was introduced.

Luton Town replaced Burton Wanderers.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Burnley[1]	30	20	8	2	80	24	3.333	48
2	Newcastle United[1]	30	21	3	6	64	32	2.000	45
3	Manchester City	30	15	9	6	66	36	1.833	39
4	Newton Heath	30	16	6	8	64	35	1.829	38
5	Woolwich Arsenal	30	16	5	9	69	49	1.408	37
6	Small Heath	30	16	4	10	58	50	1.160	36
7	Leicester Fosse	30	13	7	10	46	35	1.314	33
8	Luton Town	30	13	4	13	68	50	1.360	30
9	Gainsborough Trinity	30	12	6	12	50	54	0.926	30
10	Walsall	30	12	5	13	58	58	1.000	29
11	Blackpool	30	10	5	15	49	61	0.803	25
12	Grimsby Town	30	10	4	16	52	62	0.839	24
13	Burton Swifts	30	8	5	17	38	69	0.551	21
14	Lincoln City	30	6	5	19	43	82	0.524	17
15	Darwen	30	6	2	22	31	76	0.408	14
16	Loughborough	30	6	2	22	24	87	0.276	14

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

References

1. Promoted to the expanded First Division