Huddersfield Town F.C. season 1997-98

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Huddersfield Town
Season 1997-98
Manager	Brian Horton (until October 5, 1997) Peter Jackson (from October 8, 1997)
Chairman	Malcolm Asquith
League	Division One
Final league position	16th
FA Cup	Fourth Round
Coca-Cola Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Marcus Stewart (15) All: Marcus Stewart (16)
Highest home attendance	18,186 vs Middlesbrough (26 December 1997)
Lowest home attendance	8,525 vs West Ham United (16 September 1997)

Huddersfield Town's 1997-98 campaign is commonly referred to by Town fans as "The Great Escape" season. Following the dismal start under Brian Horton, Peter Jackson came to the helm in October. By the end of October, Town still had no league win and were miles adrift and seemingly doomed to relegation to Division 2. They eventually recovered to finish 16th in the table under Jackson's leadership.

Contents 1 Squad at the start of the season 2 Review 3 Squad at the end of the season 4 Results 4.1 Division One 4.2 FA Cup 4.3 Coca-Cola Cup

[edit] Squad at the start of the season

No. Position Player -- GK Steve Francis -- GK Derek O'Connor -- DF Sam Collins -- DF Tom Cowan -- DF Jon Dyson -- DF Darren Edmondson -- DF Rob Edwards -- DF Kevin Gray -- DF Thomas Heary -- DF Sean Hessey -- DF Steve Jenkins -- DF Andy Morrison -- DF Robbie Ryan

No. Position Player -- MF Simon Baldry -- MF David Beresford -- MF Marcus Browning -- MF Wayne Burnett -- MF Paul Dalton -- MF Alex Dyer -- MF Lee Makel -- FW Delroy Facey -- FW Ian Lawson -- FW Michael Midwood -- FW Andy Payton -- FW Marcus Stewart

[edit] Review

The start of the season is officially the worst in the entire history of Huddersfield Town. Town won none of their first 14 league games. In fact the only games they won were 2 Coca-Cola Cup ties against Bradford City and more surprisingly Premier League side West Ham United (they eventually lost 3-1 on aggregate against the Hammers) Then manager Brian Horton dropped popular keeper Steve Francis for the televised game against Nottingham Forest, Town lost the game 2-0 and 2 days later Horton was shown the door.

Popular ex-player Peter Jackson was hired 3 days later, but it seemed that Town were semmingly more doomed. In Jackson's first 5 games, Town lost 4 and drew the other, conceding 14 goals and only scoring 3. Then amazingly, Town beat Stoke City 3-1 on November 1 and the fightback began. Jackson brought in experienced players such as Barry Horne, Wayne Allison, David Phillips and Lee Richardson, as well as loan signing Steve Harper from Newcastle United. They then managed to beat Manchester City 1-0 in a televised game at Maine Road in November.

After another severe dip in form during February and March, in which Town lost 5 out of 6, some thought that survival was a bridge too far for Jackson's side. But, a 6 match unbeaten run near the end of the season, followed by a win against West Bromwich Albion confirmed Town's safety. They finished in 16th position and used a record 37 players during that season, includng 4 goalkeepers! The season will always be remembered and referred to as "The Great Escape".

[edit] Squad at the end of the season

No. Position Player -- GK Steve Francis -- GK Steve Harper (on loan from Newcastle United) -- DF Sam Collins -- DF Tom Cowan -- DF Jon Dyson -- DF Darren Edmondson -- DF Rob Edwards -- DF Kevin Gray -- DF Thomas Heary -- DF Sean Hessey -- DF Steve Jenkins -- DF Andy Morrison -- MF Simon Baldry

No. Position Player -- MF David Beresford -- MF Marcus Browning -- MF Paul Dalton -- MF Barry Horne -- MF Chris Hurst -- MF Grant Johnson -- MF David Phillips -- MF Lee Richardson -- FW Wayne Allison -- FW Paul Barnes -- FW Delroy Facey -- FW Ian Lawson -- FW Marcus Stewart

[edit] Results

[edit] Division One

Date	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance
9 August 1997	Oxford United	A	0 - 2		7,085
23 August 1997	Swindon Town	A	1 - 1	Stewart [43]	7,683
30 August 1997	Sheffield United	H	0 - 0		14,268
2 September 1997	Bradford City	H	1 - 2	Stewart [75]	13,159
9 September 1997	Birmingham City	H	0 - 1		9,477
13 September 1997	Ipswich Town	H	2 - 2	Jenkins [41], Dyer [88]	9,313
20 September 1997	Stockport County	A	0 - 3		6,995
27 September 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1 - 1	Stewart [32]	21,723
3 October 1997	Nottingham Forest	H	0 - 2		11,258
14 October 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	0 - 3		9,596
18 October 1997	Sunderland	A	1 - 3	Dalton [45]	24,782
21 October 1997	Port Vale	A	1 - 4	Stewart [86]	5,244
25 October 1997	Portsmouth	H	1 - 1	Dalton [80]	8,985
28 October 1997	Middlesbrough	A	0 - 3		29,965
1 November 1997	Stoke City	H	3 - 1	Richardson [46], Stewart [80], Dalton [90]	10,916
4 November 1997	Tranmere Rovers	A	0 - 1		5,127
7 November 1997	Manchester City	A	1 - 0	Edwards [76]	24,425
15 November 1997	Reading	H	1 - 0	Dalton [73]	12,617
22 November 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	1 - 2	Morrison [89]	16,066
29 November 1997	Bury	H	2 - 0	Dalton [7, 83]	11,929
6 December 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	5 - 2	Stewart [24, 70], Dalton [40, 83 (pen)], Allison [89]	4,861
13 December 1997	Norwich City	H	1 - 3	Stewart [58]	11,436
20 December 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	2 - 0	Dalton [51, 72]	14,619
26 December 1997	Middlesbrough	H	0 - 1		18,186
28 December 1997	Bradford City	A	1 - 1	Dalton [34]	17,842
10 January 1998	Oxford United	H	5 - 1	Gray [21 (og)], Phillips [30], Stewart [41, 55], Allison [59]	10,378
17 January 1998	Birmingham City	A	0 - 0		17,850
27 January 1998	Sheffield United	A	1 - 1	Dalton [24]	16,535
31 January 1998	Swindon Town	H	0 - 0		10,028
7 February 1998	Stockport County	H	1 - 0	Allison [53]	11,121
14 February 1998	Ipswich Town	A	1 - 5	Stewart [37]	10,509
17 February 1998	Nottingham Forest	A	0 - 3		18,231
21 February 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1 - 0	Dyson [90]	12,633
24 February 1998	Sunderland	H	2 - 3	Allison [51], Phillips [57]	14,615
28 February 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	0 - 1		12,908
3 March 1998	Manchester City	H	1 - 3	Dalton [38 (pen)]	15,694
7 March 1998	Stoke City	A	2 - 1	Barnes [15], Stewart [18]	12,594
14 March 1998	Tranmere Rovers	H	3 - 0	Allison [10], Stewart [67], Hill [77 (og)]	10,844
21 March 1998	Reading	A	2 - 0	Stewart [73, 88]	8,593
28 March 1998	Queens Park Rangers	H	1 - 1	Gray [59]	13,681
4 April 1998	Bury	A	2 - 2	Richardson [34 (pen), 71]	8,042
11 April 1998	Crewe Alexandra	H	2 - 0	Allison [42], Johnson [44]	11,263
13 April 1998	Norwich City	A	0 - 5		16,550
18 April 1998	West Bromwich Albion	H	1 - 0	Baldry [12]	11,704
25 April 1998	Portsmouth	A	0 - 3		14,013
3 May 1998	Port Vale	H	0 - 4		15,610

[edit] FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance
13 January 1998	Round 3	Bournemouth	A	1 - 0	Stewart [15]	7,385
24 January 1998	Round 4	Wimbledon	H	0 - 1		14,533

[edit] Coca-Cola Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance
12 August 1997	Round 1 1st Leg	Bradford City	H	2 - 1	Payton [6], Dreyer [45 (og)]	8,735
26 August 1997	Round 1 2nd Leg	Bradford City	A	1 - 1	Burnett [77]	8,065 Huddersfield won 3-2 on aggregate
16 September 1997	Round 2 1st Leg	West Ham United	H	1 - 0	Dyer [75]	8,525
29 September 1997	Round 2 2nd Leg	West Ham United	A	0 - 3		16,137 Huddersfield lost 3-1 on aggregate

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