1997–98 Coventry City F.C. season

After a last-day "houdini" act and the bonus of Middlesbrough having 3 points deducted kept Coventry up in the 1996-97 season, manager Gordon Strachan was determined to avoid another season of struggle. He achieved it, and an 11th-place finish was Coventry's highest in four seasons. However, even though they only suffered 10 defeats all season (the fourth least amount, after Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool), they staggeringly drew 16 games which ultimately prevented them from finishing any higher. Their secure finish was helped no end by the loyalty of striker Dion Dublin, who pledged his future to the club after turning down an offer from Blackburn Rovers. Right up to the final day of the season, the Sky Blues were within a shout of a UEFA Cup place, but they were beaten to it by local rivals Aston Villa. The two places above them were occupied by two other local rivals - Derby County and Leicester City.

Final league table

Main article: 1997-98 FA Premier League


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Arsenal (C)	38	23	9	6	68	33	+35	78	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Manchester United	38	23	8	7	73	26	+47	77	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Liverpool	38	18	11	9	68	42	+26	65	1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
4	Chelsea	38	20	3	15	71	43	+28	63	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round ¹
5	Leeds United	38	17	8	13	57	46	+11	59	1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	10	12	57	52	+5	58
7	Aston Villa	38	17	6	15	49	48	+1	57
8	West Ham United	38	16	8	14	56	57	−1	56
9	Derby County	38	16	7	15	52	49	+3	55
10	Leicester City	38	13	14	11	51	41	+10	53
11	Coventry City	38	12	16	10	46	44	+2	52
12	Southampton	38	14	6	18	50	55	−5	48
13	Newcastle United	38	11	11	16	35	44	−9	44	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round ²
14	Tottenham Hotspur	38	11	11	16	44	56	−12	44
15	Wimbledon	38	10	14	14	34	46	−12	44
16	Sheffield Wednesday	38	12	8	18	52	67	−15	44
17	Everton	38	9	13	16	41	56	−15	40
18	Bolton Wanderers (R)	38	9	13	16	41	61	−20	40	Relegation to 1998–99 Football League First Division
19	Barnsley (R)	38	10	5	23	37	82	−45	35	Relegation to 1998–99 Football League First Division
20	Crystal Palace (R)	38	8	9	21	37	71	–34	33	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round ³
20	Crystal Palace (R)	38	8	9	21	37	71	–34	33	Relegation to the 1998–99 Football League First Division

Updated to games played on 10 May 1998.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions and were the League Cup winners.
² As Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their Cup Winners' Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Newcastle United, the losing finalists.
³ Despite being relegated, Crystal Palace qualified for the 1998 Intertoto Cup.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results Summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	12	16	10	46	44	+2	52	8	9	2	26	17	+9	4	7	8	20	27	−7

Source: 1997-98 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	L	D	D	L	W	D	D	D	D	L	D	W	D	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	D	D	D	W	D
Position	1	9	10	12	12	8	11	11	12	12	15	15	12	10	12	15	16	14	16	17	13	16	15	13	12	10	10	10	10	9	10	11	10	11	10	11	11	11

Source: 11v11.com: 1997-98 Coventry City results
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Coventry City's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Chelsea	H	3-2	22,686	Dublin (3)
11 August 1997	Arsenal	A	0-2	37,324
23 August 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	2-2	16,633	Telfer, Huckerby
27 August 1997	West Ham United	H	1-1	18,289	Huckerby
30 August 1997	Manchester United	A	0-3	55,074
13 September 1997	Southampton	H	1-0	18,659	Soltvedt
20 September 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0-0	21,087
24 September 1997	Crystal Palace	H	1-1	15,900	Dublin
28 September 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	0-0	19,086
4 October 1997	Leeds United	H	0-0	17,770
20 October 1997	Barnsley	A	0-2	17,463
25 October 1997	Everton	H	0-0	18,760
1 November 1997	Wimbledon	A	2-1	11,201	Huckerby, Dublin
8 November 1997	Newcastle United	H	2-2	22,679	Dublin (2)
22 November 1997	Derby County	A	1-3	29,351	Huckerby
29 November 1997	Leicester City	H	0-2	18,309
6 December 1997	Aston Villa	A	0-3	33,250
13 December 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	4-0	19,499	Huckerby (2), Breen, Hall
20 December 1997	Liverpool	A	0-1	39,707
26 December 1997	West Ham United	A	0-1	24,532
28 December 1997	Manchester United	H	3-2	23,054	Whelan, Dublin (pen), Huckerby
10 January 1998	Chelsea	A	1-3	34,647	Telfer
17 January 1998	Arsenal	H	2-2	22,864	Whelan, Dublin (pen)
31 January 1998	Bolton Wanderers	A	5-1	25,000	Whelan, Huckerby (2), Dublin (2)
7 February 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-0	18,375	Dublin (pen)
18 February 1998	Southampton	A	2-1	15,091	Whelan, Huckerby
21 February 1998	Barnsley	H	1-0	20,265	Dublin (pen)
28 February 1998	Crystal Palace	A	3-0	21,810	Telfer, Moldovan, Dublin
14 March 1998	Newcastle United	A	0-0	36,767
28 March 1998	Derby County	H	1-0	18,705	Huckerby
4 April 1998	Leicester City	A	1-1	21,137	Whelan
11 April 1998	Aston Villa	H	1-2	22,792	Whelan
13 April 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1-1	33,463	Dublin
19 April 1998	Liverpool	H	1-1	22,721	Dublin (pen)
25 April 1998	Leeds United	A	3-3	36,522	Huckerby (3)
29 April 1998	Wimbledon	H	0-0	17,968
2 May 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	2-0	18,794	Dublin (pen), Boateng
10 May 1998	Everton	A	1-1	40,109	Dublin

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1998	Liverpool	A	3-1	33,888	Huckerby, Dublin, Telfer
R4	24 January 1998	Derby County	H	2-0	22,824	Dublin (2)
R5	14 February 1998	Aston Villa	A	1-0	36,979	Moldovan
QF	7 March 1998	Sheffield United	H	1-1	23,084	Dublin (pen)
QFR	17 March 1998	Sheffield United	A	1-1 (lost 1-3 on pens)	29,034	Telfer

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	16 September 1997	Blackpool	A	0-1	5,884
R2 2nd Leg	1 October 1997	Blackpool	H	3-1 (won 3-2 on agg)	9,565	McAllister (2, 1 pen), Dublin
R3	15 October 1997	Everton	H	4-1	10,087	Hall, Salako (2), Haworth
R4	18 November 1997	Arsenal	A	0-1	30,199

Squad

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Steve Ogrizovic
2	DF	Richard Shaw
3	DF	David Burrows
4	DF	Paul Williams
5	DF	Liam Daish^[3]
6	DF	Gary Breen^[4]
7	FW	Darren Huckerby
8	FW	Noel Whelan
9	FW	Dion Dublin
10	MF	Gary McAllister (captain)
12	DF	Paul Telfer
13	GK	Magnus Hedman
14	MF	Trond Egil Soltvedt
15	MF	Philippe Clement
16	MF	George Boateng^[5]
17	MF	Willie Boland
18	DF	Marcus Hall

No.	Position	Player
19	MF	Martin Johansen
20	MF	Michael O'Neill
21	FW	Andy Ducros
22	FW	Simon Haworth
23	DF	Roland Nilsson
24	FW	Viorel Moldovan
28	MF	Gavin Strachan
29	DF	Scott Goodwin
30	MF	John Eustace
31	FW	Adam Willis
32	DF	Barry Prenderville
33	MF	Chris Barnett
34	MF	Barry Quinn
35	FW	Craig Faulconbridge
36	DF	John Andrews
37	DF	Sam Shilton

Left club during season

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

No.	Position	Player
11	MF	John Salako (to Bolton Wanderers)
15	FW	Kyle Lightbourne (to Stoke City)
16	MF	Kevin Richardson (to Southampton)

No.		Position	Player
24		DF	Brian Borrows (to Swindon Town)
26		GK	Scott Howie (on loan from Motherwell)

Reserve squad

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

No.		Position	Player
-		MF	Martin Devaney

No.		Position	Player
-		FW	Chukki Eribenne

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
19 June 1997	MF	Trond Egil Soltvedt	Rosenborg	£500,000
4 July 1997	FW	Kyle Lightbourne	Walsall	£500,000
7 July 1997	GK	Magnus Hedman	AIK	Free transfer
19 June 1997	MF	Martin Johansen	Copenhagen	Free transfer
29 July 1997	DF	Roland Nilsson	Helsingborgs	£200,000
18 December 1997	DF	George Boateng	Feyenoord	£250,000
2 January 1998	FW	Viorel Moldovan	Grasshoppers	£3,250,000
26 March 1998	MF	Philippe Clement	Racing Genk	£625,000

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
1 July 1997	MF	Chris McMenamin	Peterborough United	Free transfer
4 July 1997	MF	Eoin Jess	Aberdeen	£700,000
14 July 1997	FW	Peter Ndlovu	Birmingham City	£1,600,000
1 August 1997	GK	John Filan	Blackburn Rovers	£700,000
1 August 1997	GK	Jed Sumner	Cambridge United	Free transfer
9 September 1997	MF	Kevin Richardson	Southampton	Transfer
14 November 1997	DF	Brian Borrows	Swindon Town	Free transfer
16 February 1998	FW	Kyle Lightbourne	Stoke City	£500,000

Transfers in:

£5,325,000

Transfers out:

£3,500,000

Total spending:

£1,825,000

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[6]

No.	Pos	Name	MS	Notes
1	GK	Steve Ogrizovic	30
23	RB	Roland Nilsson	39
6	CB	Gary Breen	38
2	CB	Richard Shaw	40
3	LB	David Burrows	42
12	CM	Paul Telfer	39
16	CM	George Boateng	19	Marcus Hall has 25 starts
10	CM	Gary McAllister	18	Noel Whelan has 25 starts
14	AM	Trond Egil Soltvedt	30
9	CF	Dion Dublin	43
7	CF	Darren Huckerby	37

References

↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/coventry-city/1997-1998/results
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/coventry.htm
↑ Daish was born in Portsmouth, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1992.
↑ Breen was born in Barnet, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in June 1996.
↑ Boateng was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana, but qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and would make his international debut for the Netherlands in November 2001.
↑ http://www.11v11.com/teams/coventry-city/tab/players/season/1998

Coventry City Football Club

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Other	Coventry United F.C. Coventry United L.F.C.

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1997–98 in English football

« 1996–97

1998–99 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference
Conference League Cup

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Newcastle United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon

First Division	Birmingham City Bradford City Bury Charlton Athletic Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Middlesbrough Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Stockport County Stoke City Sunderland Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Carlisle United Chesterfield Fulham Gillingham Grimsby Town Luton Town Millwall Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Southend United Walsall Watford Wigan Athletic Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers York City

Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Cambridge United Cardiff City Chester City Colchester United Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Notts County Peterborough United Rochdale Rotherham United Scarborough Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United

Non-League	Newport

Summer 1997 transfers
Winter 1997–98 transfers

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