1997–98 Everton F.C. season

Everton

1997–98 season
Chairman	Peter Johnson
Manager	Howard Kendall
Stadium	Goodison Park
Premiership	17th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	Ferguson (11)
Average home league attendance	35,376
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

During the 1997–98 English football season, Everton F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

Everton began the season with three significant new signings – Slaven Bilic, John Oster and Gareth Farrelly – but the big news at Goodison Park was the return of Howard Kendall for his third spell as manager.

With financial problems growing and fans growing ever more hostile towards chairman Peter Johnson, Kendall was soon facing the biggest struggle of his managerial career. Everton – top division members continuously since 1954 – were battling against relegation and looked anything but a trophy-winning team that they so often had been during Kendall's earlier spells. They ended up surviving, but only avoided relegation to Division One because they had a greater goal difference than 18th-placed Bolton. That kept Everton up, but Kendall resigned just weeks later and was replaced by the former Rangers manager Walter Smith.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1.	Arsenal	38	23	9	6	68	33	+35	78
2.	Manchester United	38	23	8	7	73	26	+47	77
3.	Liverpool	38	18	11	9	68	42	+26	65
4.	Chelsea	38	20	3	15	71	43	+28	63
5.	Leeds United	38	17	8	13	57	46	+11	59
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
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	38	9	13	16	41	61	–20	40
19.	Barnsley	38	10	5	23	37	82	–45	35
20.	Crystal Palace	38	8	9	21	37	71	–34	32

Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
Relegated to Division 1

Results

Everton's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Crystal Palace	H	1–2	35,716	Ferguson
23 August 1997	West Ham United	H	2–1	34,356	Speed, Stuart
27 August 1997	Manchester United	H	0–2	40,079
1 September 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–0	23,131
13 September 1997	Derby County	A	1–3	27,828	Stuart
20 September 1997	Barnsley	H	4–2	32,659	Speed (2, 1 pen), Cadamarteri, Oster
24 September 1997	Newcastle United	A	0–1	36,705
27 September 1997	Arsenal	H	2–2	35,457	Ball, Cadamarteri
4 October 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–3	24,486	Cadamarteri
18 October 1997	Liverpool	H	2–0	40,112	Ruddock (own goal), Cadamarteri
25 October 1997	Coventry City	A	0–0	18,760
2 November 1997	Southampton	H	0–2	29,565
8 November 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	2–3	25,397	Speed, Ferguson
22 November 1997	Aston Villa	A	1–2	36,389	Speed (pen)
26 November 1997	Chelsea	A	0–2	34,148
29 November 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–2	36,670
6 December 1997	Leeds United	A	0–0	34,869
13 December 1997	Wimbledon	H	0–0	28,533
20 December 1997	Leicester City	A	1–0	20,628	Speed (pen)
26 December 1997	Manchester United	A	0–2	55,167
28 December 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–2	37,149	Ferguson (3)
10 January 1998	Crystal Palace	A	3–1	23,311	Barmby, Ferguson, Madar
18 January 1998	Chelsea	H	3–1	32,355	Speed, Ferguson, Duberry (own goal)
31 January 1998	West Ham United	A	2–2	25,909	Barmby, Madar
7 February 1998	Barnsley	A	2–2	18,672	Ferguson, Grant
14 February 1998	Derby County	H	1–2	34,876	Thomsen
23 February 1998	Liverpool	A	1–1	44,501	Ferguson
28 February 1998	Newcastle United	H	0–0	37,972
7 March 1998	Southampton	A	1–2	15,102	Tiler
14 March 1998	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–0	33,423	Madar
28 March 1998	Aston Villa	H	1–4	36,471	Madar
4 April 1998	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	35,624	Madar
11 April 1998	Leeds United	H	2–0	37,099	Hutchison, Ferguson
13 April 1998	Wimbledon	A	0–0	15,131
18 April 1998	Leicester City	H	1–1	33,642	Madar
25 April 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–3	35,497	Ferguson
3 May 1998	Arsenal	A	0–4	38,269
10 May 1998	Coventry City	H	1–1	40,109	Farrelly

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1998	Newcastle United	H	0–1	20,885

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st leg	16 September 1997	Scunthorpe United	A	1–0	7,145	Farrelly
R2 2nd leg	1 October 1997	Scunthorpe United	H	5–0 (won 6-0 on agg)	11,562	Stuart, Oster, Barmby (2), Cadamarteri
R3	15 October 1997	Coventry City	A	1–4	10,087	Barmby

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 4 MF Danny Williamson 5 DF Dave Watson 6 MF Terry Phelan 7 FW Mickaël Madar 8 FW Nick Barmby 9 FW Duncan Ferguson 10 MF Don Hutchison 11 FW John Spencer (on loan from QPR) 12 DF Craig Short 13 GK Paul Gerrard 14 MF Tony Grant 15 MF Peter Beagrie (on loan from Bradford City) 16 FW Michael Branch 17 MF Gareth Farrelly 18 MF Joe Parkinson

No. Position Player 19 MF John Oster 20 DF Tony Thomas 21 MF Mitch Ward 22 MF Gavin McCann 23 DF Carl Tiler 25 DF Michael Ball 26 FW Graham Allen 27 DF Richard Dunne 28 DF Slaven Bilić 29 FW Danny Cadamarteri 30 FW Phil Jevons 31 GK Thomas Myhre 32 DF John O'Kane 33 GK John O'Toole 34 FW Francis Jeffers

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 1 GK Neville Southall (to Stoke City) 2 DF Earl Barrett (to Sheffield Wednesday) 3 MF Andy Hinchcliffe (to Sheffield Wednesday) 7 MF Graham Stuart (to Sheffield United) 10 MF Gary Speed (to Newcastle United)

No. Position Player 15 DF Claus Thomsen (to AB) 24 DF Jon O'Connor (to Sheffield United) 32 MF Chris Lane (to Hereford United) 35 DF John Hills (to Blackpool)

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 - GK Dean Delany - DF Adam Eaton - DF Adam Farley - MF Matt McKay

No. Position Player - MF Jamie Milligan - MF Mick O'Brien - DF Carl Regan

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
1 July 1997	MF	Gareth Farrelly	Aston Villa	Transfer
1 August 1997	MF	John Oster	Grimsby Town	£1,500,000
6 August 1997	DF	Tony Thomas	Tranmere Rovers	£400,000
15 August 1997	MF	Danny Williamson	West Ham United	Swap
27 November 1997	GK	Thomas Myhre	Viking	£800,000
28 November 1997	MF	Mitch Ward	Sheffield United	£750,000
28 November 1997	DF	Carl Tiler	Sheffield United	£750,000
30 December 1997	FW	Mickaël Madar	Deportivo	Free transfer
28 January 1998	DF	John O'Kane	Manchester United	£400,000
26 February 1998	MF	Don Hutchison	Sheffield United	£1,000,000
26 March 1998	MF	Matt McKay	Chester City	Signed

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
15 August 1997	DF	David Unsworth	West Ham United	Swap
28 November 1997	MF	Graham Stuart	Sheffield United	£500,000
30 January 1998	MF	Andy Hinchcliffe	Sheffield Wednesday	£3,000,000
6 February 1998	MF	Gary Speed	Newcastle United	£5,500,000
13 February 1998	DF	John Hills	Blackpool	Signed
24 February 1998	DF	Earl Barrett	Sheffield Wednesday	Free transfer
26 February 1998	DF	Jon O'Connor	Sheffield United	Transfer
3 March 1998	DF	Claus Thomsen	AB	£500,000
12 March 1998	GK	Neville Southall	Stoke City	Free transfer

Transfers in: £5,600,000

Transfers out: £9,500,000

Total spending: £3,900,000

Statistics

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions^[3][4]

• GK: #31, Thomas Myhre, 23
• RB: #12, Craig Short, 29
• CB: #28, Slaven Bilic, 25
• CB: #5, Dave Watson, 28
• LB: #25, Michael Ball, 23
• RM: #19, John Oster, 19
• CM: #7, Graham Stuart, 17
• CM: #17, Gareth Farrelly, 20
• LM: #10, Gary Speed, 24
• AM: #8, Nick Barmby, 28
• CF: #9, Duncan Ferguson, 31

References

Everton Football Club The club History Players Managers Staff Records and statistics Internationals Seasons All articles Home Stadium Anfield (1884–1892) Goodison Park (1892–present) The Kirkby Project Training Ground Bellefield (1946–2007) Finch Farm (2007–present) Miscellaneous Merseyside derby David France Collection Supporters St Luke's Church EvertonTV Former Players' Foundation Prince Rupert's Tower Founding Fathers of Merseyside Football The Everton Song Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame Affiliated Academies Asia–Pacific Football Academy Chang–Everton Football Academy Affiliates Everton Ladies Everton Tigers (no longer affiliated with Everton F.C.) Book Category Portal Commons

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1997–98 in English football « 1996–97 1998–99 » FA competitions FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final) Premier League and Football League Premier League Football League (First Division Second Division Third Division) League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final) Play-offs (First Division Final Second Division Final Third Division Final) Football Conference Football Conference Conference League Cup Lower leagues Isthmian League Northern Premier League Southern League Wessex League Western League European competitions Champions League UEFA Cup Cup Winners' Cup (Final) Related to national team 1998 FIFA World Cup (UEFA Qualification Group 2 Group G Knockout stage Squad) Glenn Hoddle 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 Football Conference Cheltenham Town Dover Athletic Farnborough Town Gateshead Halifax Town Hayes Hednesford Town Hereford United Kettering Town Kidderminster Harriers Leek Town Morecambe Northwich Victoria Rushden & Diamonds Slough Town Southport Stalybridge Celtic Stevenage Borough Telford United Welling United Woking Yeovil Town Others Newport Summer 1997 transfers Winter 1997–98 transfers