1997–98 Motherwell F.C. season

Motherwell

1997-98 season
Chairman	John Boyle
Manager	Alex McLeish (Resigned), Harri Kampman
Premier Division	9th
Scottish Cup	Quarter-Finals
League Cup	Fourth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Tommy Coyne (14) All: Owen Coyle (16)
← 1996–97 1998-99 →

The 1997-98 season was Motherwell's 13th consecutive season in the Scottish Premier Division, and their final season before the top division of Scottish Football was reformed as the Scottish Premier League.

First team 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 Scott Thomson GK Stevie Woods DF Kevin Christie DF Stephen Craigan DF Greig Denham DF Gunni Jonsson DF Brian Martin DF Eddie May DF Stephen McMillan DF Rob Newman DF John Philliben DF Franz Resch DF Marko Tuomela MF Billy Davies MF Stefan Lindqvist

No. Position Player MF Éric Garcin MF Shaun McSkimming MF Ian Ross MF Simo Valakari FW Mickey Weir FW Dougie Arnott FW Owen Coyle FW Tommy Coyne FW Mario Dorner FW Willie Falconer FW John Hendry FW Mats Lundgren FW Lee McCulloch FW Eliphas Shivute

Competitions

Scottish Premier League

Results

1 2 August 1997	Dunfermline Athletic	0 – 2	Motherwell	East End Park
			Coyne  63', pen.', 85'	Attendance: 5,746

2 16 August 1997	Motherwell	0 – 1	St. Johnstone	Fir Park
			Grant  65'	Attendance: 5,036

3 23 August 1997	Aberdeen	1 – 3	Motherwell	Pittodrie
	Rowson  26'		Weir  9', 55' Coyne  29'	Attendance: 11,522

4 13 September 1997	Motherwell	2 – 3	Celtic	Fir Park
	Coyne  4', 59' Denham  62'		Burley  57', 75' Donnelly  81'	Attendance: 11,550

5 20 September 1997	Motherwell	1 – 1	Hibernian	Fir Park
	Coyne  80'		Rougier  46'	Attendance: 7,420

6 27 September 1997	Rangers	2 – 2	Motherwell	Ibrox
	Negri  17' Porrini  63'		Coyne  7' Shivute  44'	Attendance: 48,672

7 4 October 1997	Motherwell	1 – 4	Hearts	Fir Park
	Coyne  44' (pen.)		Cameron  6' Adam  13' McCann  20' Hamilton  71'	Attendance: 8,886 Referee: Jim McCluskey

8 8 October 1997	Kilmarnock	2 – 1	Motherwell	Rugby Park
	Vareille  17' Burke  37'		Shivute  44'	Attendance: 6,588

9 18 October 1997	Dundee United	4 – 0	Motherwell	Tannadice Stadium
	Olofsson  2' Winters  14' McSwegan  77' Andy McLaren  87'			Attendance: 7,337

10 25 October 1997	Motherwell	1 – 2	Aberdeen	Fir Park
	Davies  62'		Windass  8', 89'	Attendance: 6,065

11 1 November 1997	St. Johnstone	4 – 3	Motherwell	McDiarmid Park
	Kernaghan  18' O'Neil  33', 60' Grant  49' (pen.)		Hendry  61' (pen.) Davies  66' Coyle  72'	Attendance: 4,566

12 8 November 1997	Motherwell	0 – 1	Kilmarnock	Fir Park
			Roberts  67' (pen.)	Attendance: 5,346

13 15 November 1997	Celtic	0 – 2	Motherwell	Celtic Park
	Blinker  34'		Coyle  28' Weir  90'	Attendance: 48,010

14 22 November 1997	Motherwell	1 – 1	Rangers	Fir Park
	Coyne  80'		McCoist  20'	Attendance: 12,018

15 15 November 1997	Hibernian	1 – 1	Motherwell	Easter Road
	Dods  75'		Coyle  90'	Attendance: 9,999

16 6 December 1997	Hearts	2 – 0	Motherwell	Tynecastle
	Cameron  45' (pen.) Flogel  68'		Christie  45'	Attendance: 12,706

17 13 December 1997	Motherwell	1 – 0	Dundee United	Fir Park
	Coyle  52'			Attendance: 4,555

18 20 December 1997	Motherwell	2 – 0	Dunfermline Athletic	Fir Park
	Coyle  61', 69'			Attendance: 4,607

19 27 December 1997	Aberdeen	3 – 0	Motherwell	Pittodrie
	Windass  63' Jess  83', pen.', 86'			Attendance: 13,038

20 3 January 1998	Kilmarnock	4 – 1	Motherwell	Rugby Park
	Wright  8', 33' Mitchell  44' McPherson  75' Roberts  88'		Coyle  24'	Attendance: 8,724

21 10 January 1998	Motherwell	1 – 1	Celtic	Fir Park
	Falconer  55'		Lambert  61'	Attendance: 12,350

22 17 January 1998	Rangers	1 – 0	Motherwell	Ibrox
	Cleland  23'			Attendance: 49,443

23 31 January 1998	Motherwell	6 – 2	Hibernian	Fir Park
	Arnott  10' Weir  23' Garcin  43' McCulloch  43' Coyne  88'		Crawford  4' Lavety  8' Welsh  43'	Attendance: 6,169

24 7 February 1998	Dundee United	1 – 0	Motherwell	Tannadice
	Olofsson  68'			Attendance: 6,532

25 21 February 1998	Motherwell	2 – 4	Hearts	Fir Park
	Coyle  6' Falconer  37'		Hamilton  38' (58) Fulton  64' Adam  87'	Attendance: 8,375

26 25 February 1998	Motherwell	2 – 1	St. Johnstone	Fir Park
	Coyne  11', 19'		O'Boyle  61' (pen.) Kernaghan  89'	Attendance: 4,517

27 7 March 1998	Dunfermline Athletic	2 – 1	Motherwell	East End Park
	Smith  23', 61'		Coyne  12'	Attendance: 4,811

28 14 March 1998	Motherwell	2 – 1	Rangers	Fir Park
	Coyle  44' Falconer  87'		McCoist  12'	Attendance: 11,779

29 21 March 1998	Hibernian	1 – 0	Motherwell	Easter Road
	Elliot  20' Lavety  34'			Attendance: 10,582

30 28 March 1998	Motherwell	1 – 0	Dundee United	Fir Park
	Coyle  52'			Attendance: 5,012

31 8 April 1998	Hearts	1 – 1	Motherwell	Tynecastle
	McCann  59'		Coyne  79'	Attendance: 14,737

32 11 April 1998	Motherwell	1 – 1	Kilmarnock	Fir Park
	Lindqvist  80'		Holt  28'	Attendance: 6,209 Referee: Jim McCluskey

33 18 April 1998	Hearts	4 – 1	Motherwell	Celtic Park
	Burley  25', 43' Simon Donnelly  49', 62'		McMillan  12'	Attendance: 49,541

34 25 April 1998	Motherwell	1 – 3	Dunfermline Athletic	Fir Park
	Shivute  28'		Smith  28' Ireland  31' Britton  54'	Attendance: 5,745

35 2 May 1998	St. Johnstone	3 – 2	Motherwell	Celtic Park
	Jenkinson  15', 88' McCluskey  70'		Martin  4' Coyle  58' (pen.)	Attendance: 49,541

36 9 May 1998	Motherwell	1 – 2	Aberdeen	Fir Park
	Ross  67'		Dodds  2', pen.', 22'	Attendance: 5,861

Source: ^[1]

Scottish Cup

Third Round 24 January 1998	Dumbarton	1 – 1	Motherwell	Dumbarton
	Sharp  76' (pen.)		McSkimming  47'	Stadium: Boghead Park Attendance: 2,412

Third Round Replay 27 January 1998	Motherwell	1 – 0	Dumbarton	Motherwell
	Coyle  73'			Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 4,204

Fourth Round 14 February 1998	Motherwell	2 – 2	Rangers	Motherwell
	Coyne  19' Gough  77' (o.g.)	[ Report]	Negri  26' Durie  83'	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 12,602

Fourth Round Replay 17 February 1998	Rangers	3 – 0	Motherwell	Glasgow
	Albertz  36', 86' Durie  38'	[ Report]		Stadium: Ibrox Attendance: 42,043

Scottish League Cup

Second Round 9 August 1997	Motherwell	2 – 2 (4 – 1 PENS)	Inverness CT	Motherwell
	Falconer  16' Coyle  22' Martin  103' Davies  104'	[ Report]	Thomson  55' (pen.) Addicoat  87'	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 4,247

Third Round 20 August 1997	Motherwell	3 – 0	Greenock Morton	Motherwell
	Coyle  9', 39', 62'	[ Report]	Anderson  63'	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 4,576

Quarter Finals 10 September 1997	Celtic	1 – 0	Motherwell	Glasgow
	Larsson  29'	[ Report]	Ross  90'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 37,006

Source: ^[1]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	36	22	8	6	64	24	+40	74	UEFA Champions League 1998-99 First qualifying round
2	Rangers	36	21	9	6	76	38	+38	72	1998–99 UEFA Cup Second qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	36	19	10	7	70	46	+24	67	Cup Winners' Cup 1998-99 Qualifying round
4	Kilmarnock	36	13	11	12	40	52	−12	50	1998–99 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
5	St Johnstone	36	13	9	14	38	42	−4	48
6	Aberdeen	36	9	12	15	39	53	−14	39
7	Dundee United	36	8	13	15	43	51	−8	37
8	Dunfermline Athletic	36	8	13	15	43	68	−25	37
9	Motherwell	36	9	7	20	46	64	−18	34
10	Hibernian (R)	36	6	12	18	38	59	−21	30	Relegation to First Division

Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(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.

Statistics

Appearances

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Scottish Premier League		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Scott Thomson	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	GK		Stevie Woods	42	0	35+0	0	4+0	0	3+0	0
	DF		Kevin Christie	25	0	20+1	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
	DF		Stephen Craigan	14	0	9+5	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF		Greig Denham	21	0	18+0	0	0+0	0	3+0	0
	DF		Gunni Jonsson	2	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF		Brian Martin	33	1	26+0	1	4+0	0	3+0	0
	DF		Eddie May	32	0	20+5	0	4+0	0	3+0	0
	DF		Stephen McMillan	41	1	33+1	1	4+0	0	3+0	0
	DF		Rob Newman	15	0	11+0	0	4+0	0	0+0	0
	DF		John Philliben	15	0	10+3	0	0+2	0	0+0	0
	DF		Franz Resch	5	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
	DF		Marko Tuomela	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Billy Davies	19	2	12+5	2	0+1	0	1+0	0
	MF		Éric Garcin	13	1	7+4	1	2+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Stefan Lindqvist	6	1	5+1	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Shaun McSkimming	15	1	11+1	0	3+0	1	0+0	0
	MF		Ian RosS	25	1	16+6	1	0+0	0	0+3	0
	MF		Simo Valakari	31	0	24+3	0	0+2	0	1+1	0
	MF		Mickey Weir	23	4	13+5	4	2+0	0	3+0	0
	FW		Dougie Arnott	10	1	3+4	1	1+2	0	0+0	0
	FW		Owen Coyle	43	16	34+2	11	4+0	1	3+0	4
	FW		Tommy Coyne	41	15	33+1	14	4+0	1	3+0	0
	FW		Mario Dorner	4	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	0+2	0
	FW		Willie Falconer	29	4	21+1	3	4+0	0	3+0	1
	FW		John Hendry	13	1	10+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW		Mats Lundgren	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW		Lee McCulloch	30	2	6+18	2	2+2	0	0+2	0
	FW		Eliphas Shivute	24	3	12+11	3	0+0	0	0+1	0

Source:^[2]

Top scorers

Ranking	Nation	Name	Scottish Premier League	Scottish Cup	Scottish League Cup	Total
1		Owen Coyle	11	1	4	16
2		Tommy Coyne	14	1	0	15
3		Mickey Weir	4	0	0	4
4		Willie Falconer	3	0	1	4
5		Eliphas Shivute	3	0	0	3
6		Billy Davies	2	0	0	2
		Lee McCulloch	2	0	0	2
7		Brian Martin	1	0	0	1
		Stephen McMillan	1	0	0	1
		Stefan Lindqvist	1	0	0	1
		Ian Ross	1	0	0	1
		Dougie Arnott	1	0	0	1
		Éric Garcin	1	0	0	1
		John Hendry	1	0	0	1
		Shaun McSkimming	0	1	0	1
/	/	Own Goals	0	1	0	1
		TOTALS	46	4	5	55

Source:^[2]

Disciplinary record

Nation	Position	Name	Scottish Premier League		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup		Total
	GK	Scott Thomson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	Stevie Woods	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Kevin Christie	4	1	2	0	2	0	8	1
	DF	Stephen Craigan	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	DF	Greig Denham	6	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
	DF	Gunni Jonsson	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	Brian Martin	7	0	0	0	0	1	8	1
	DF	Eddie May	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
	DF	Stephen McMillan	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
	DF	Rob Newman	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	DF	John Philliben	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	DF	Franz Resch	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	Marko Tuomela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	Billy Davies	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
	MF	Éric Garcin	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	Stefan Lindqvist	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	Shaun McSkimming	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	MF	Ian Ross	5	0	0	0	2	1	7	1
	MF	Simo Valakari	7	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
	MF	Mickey Weir	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	FW	Dougie Arnott	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Owen Coyle	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
	FW	Tommy Coyne	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
	FW	Mario Dorner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Willie Falconer	6	0	0	0	1	0	7	0
	FW	John Hendry	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	Mats Lundgren	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Lee McCulloch	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
	FW	Eliphas Shivute	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		TOTALS	75	2	4	0	12	3	91	5

Overall

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Premier Division	—	—	9	2 August 1997	9 May 1998
Template:Fb competition 1997-98 SL Cup	Template:Fb round2 1997-98 SL Cup R2	—	Template:Fb round2 1997-98 SL Cup R3	9 August 1997	10 September 1997
Template:Fb competition 1997-98 SC	Template:Fb round2 1997-98 SC R3	—	Template:Fb round2 1997-98 SC QF	24 January 1998	17 February 1998

Source: Competitions

Scottish Premier League

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
36	9	7	20	46	64	−18	34	6	4	8	26	28	−2	3	3	12	20	36	−16

Source: Fir Park Corner

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
Ground	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	D	D	L	W	W	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	D	D	L	L	L	L
Position	1	5	3	5	5	6	7	7	7	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	7	7	7	7	9	9	9

Source: Fir Park Corner
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results by opponent

Team	Results[3]				Points
	1	2	3	4
Aberdeen	3–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	3
Celtic	2–3	2-0	1-1	1–4	4
Dundee United	0–4	1–0	0–1	1–0	6
Dunfermline Athletic	2–0	2–0	1–2	1–3	6
Heart of Midlothian	1–4	0–2	2–4	1–4	0
Hibernian	1–1	1–1	6–2	1–0	5
Kilmarnock	1–2	0–1	1–4	1–1	1
Rangers	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	5
St. Johnstone	0–1	3–4	2–1	2–3	3

Source: Scottish Premier Division 1997-98 article

See also

• List of Motherwell F.C. seasons

References

Motherwell F.C. seasons 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

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1997–98 in Scottish football « 1996–97 1998–99 » Domestic leagues Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League Domestic cups Scottish Cup (Final) League Cup (Final) Challenge Cup (Final) Junior Cup European competitions Champions League UEFA Cup UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Related to national team Results 1998 World Cup qualifying (Group 4) 1998 World Cup Club seasons Premier Division Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St. Johnstone First Division Airdrieonians Ayr United Dundee Falkirk Greenock Morton Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle Raith Rovers St. Mirren Stirling Albion Second Division Brechin City Clyde Clydebank East Fife Forfar Athletic Inverness Caledonian Thistle Livingston Queen of the South Stenhousemuir Stranraer Third Division Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath Dumbarton East Stirlingshire Montrose Queen's Park Ross County