1997–98 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Nottingham Forest
1997–98 season
Chairman Nigel Wray
Manager Dave Bassett
Stadium City Ground
First Division 1st (champions)
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Second round
Top goalscorer League: van Hooijdonk (29)
All: van Hooijdonk (34)
Average home league attendance 20,584

During the 1997–98 English football season, Nottingham Forest F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

Nottingham Forest got re-promoted to the Premier League, much thanks to the striking partnership of Pierre van Hooijdonk and Kevin Campbell. In the end, Forest had a four-point margin down to the 3rd positioned-team Sunderland, prompting an immediate return to the top flight.

Final league table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest (C) 46 28 10 8 82 42+40 94 Promotion to 1998–99 FA Premier League
2 Middlesbrough (P) 46 27 10 9 77 41+36 91
3 Sunderland 46 26 12 8 86 50+36 90 Qualification to First Division play-offs
4 Charlton Athletic (P) 46 26 10 10 80 49+31 88
5 Ipswich Town 46 23 14 9 77 43+34 83
6 Sheffield United 46 19 17 10 69 54+15 74
7 Birmingham City 46 19 17 10 60 35+25 74
8 Stockport County 46 19 8 19 71 69+2 65
9 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 18 11 17 57 53+4 65
10 West Bromwich Albion 46 16 13 17 50 566 61
11 Crewe Alexandra 46 18 5 23 58 657 59
12 Oxford United 46 16 10 20 60 644 58
13 Bradford City 46 14 15 17 46 5913 57
14 Tranmere Rovers 46 14 14 18 54 573 56
15 Norwich City 46 14 13 19 52 6917 55
16 Huddersfield Town 46 14 11 21 50 7222 53
17 Bury 46 11 19 16 42 5816 52
18 Swindon Town 46 14 10 22 42 7331 52
19 Port Vale 46 13 10 23 56 6610 49
20 Portsmouth 46 13 10 23 51 6312 49
21 Queens Park Rangers 46 10 19 17 51 6312 49
22 Manchester City (R) 46 12 12 22 56 571 48 Relegation to 1998–99 Second Division
23 Stoke City (R) 46 11 13 22 44 7430 46
24 Reading (R) 46 11 9 26 39 7839 42

Updated to games played on 3 May 1998.
Source: Statto.com
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.

Results

Nottingham Forest's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
9 August 1997 Port ValeA1–012,533Campbell
15 August 1997 Norwich CityH4–116,524van Hooijdonk, Thomas (2), Campbell
23 August 1997 Oxford UnitedA1–09,486Mustoe
30 August 1997 Queens Park RangersH4–018,804van Hooijdonk (3), Saunders
3 September 1997 Manchester CityH1–323,681Campbell
7 September 1997 Swindon TownA0–013,051
13 September 1997 Sheffield UnitedA0–124,536
20 September 1997 PortsmouthH1–017,292van Hooijdonk
27 September 1997 Stoke CityH1–019,018Campbell
3 October 1997 Huddersfield TownA2–011,258Cooper, Saunders
18 October 1997 Tranmere RoversH2–217,009van Hooijdonk, Gemmill
21 October 1997 West Bromwich AlbionH1–019,243Campbell
24 October 1997 ReadingA3–312,610van Hooijdonk (2, 1 pen), Campbell
1 November 1997 Crewe AlexandraH3–118,268Campbell, van Hooijdonk (2)
4 November 1997 BuryA0–26,137
8 November 1997 SunderlandA1–133,160Hjelde
15 November 1997 Birmingham CityH1–019,610Campbell
22 November 1997 Charlton AthleticH5–218,532van Hooijdonk (3), Woan, Campbell
26 November 1997 MiddlesbroughA0–030,143
29 November 1997 Ipswich TownA1–017,580Campbell
6 December 1997 Bradford CityH2–217,943Cooper, Bonalair
14 December 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–224,635A Johnson
20 December 1997 Stockport CountyH2–116,701van Hooijdonk (pen), Stone
26 December 1997 Swindon TownH3–026,500Campbell (2), A Johnson
28 December 1997 Manchester CityA3–231,839van Hooijdonk (2 pens), Campbell
10 January 1998 Port ValeH2–117,639van Hooijdonk (2)
17 January 1998 Norwich CityA0–117,059
24 January 1998 Queens Park RangersA1–013,220Cooper
31 January 1998 Oxford UnitedH1–318,392van Hooijdonk (pen)
7 February 1998 PortsmouthA1–015,033Chettle
17 February 1998 Huddersfield TownH3–018,231van Hooijdonk (2), Bonalair
21 February 1998 Stoke CityA1–116,899Thomas-Moore
24 February 1998 Tranmere RoversA0–07,377
1 March 1998 MiddlesbroughH4–025,286van Hooijdonk (2, 1 pen), Campbell, Cooper
4 March 1998 SunderlandH0–329,009
7 March 1998 Crewe AlexandraA4–15,759Bart-Williams, Campbell (3)
14 March 1998 BuryH3–018,846Lucketti (own goal), van Hooijdonk, Rogers
21 March 1998 Birmingham CityA2–124,663van Hooijdonk (2)
28 March 1998 Charlton AthleticA2–415,815Campbell (2)
1 April 1998 Sheffield UnitedH3–021,512Thomas, Campbell (2)
5 April 1998 Ipswich TownH2–122,292Cooper, van Hooijdonk
11 April 1998 Bradford CityA3–017,248Campbell, Gemmill, Bart-Williams
13 April 1998 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–022,863Johnson, van Hooijdonk, Campbell
18 April 1998 Stockport CountyA2–29,892van Hooijdonk, Johnson
26 April 1998 ReadingH1–029,302Bart-Williams
3 May 1998 West Bromwich AlbionA1–123,013Stone

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R33 January 1998 Charlton AthleticA1–413,827van Hooijdonk

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 First Leg 11 August 1997 Doncaster RoversA8–04,547Thomas, Saunders (2), Hjelde (2), van Hooijdonk (2), Allen
R1 Second Leg 27 August 1997 Doncaster RoversH2–1 (won 10-1 on agg)9,908Guinan, van Hooijdonk
R2 First Leg 17 September 1997 WalsallH0–17,841
R2 Second Leg 24 September 1997 WalsallA2–2 (lost 2-3 on agg)6,037van Hooijdonk, Armstrong

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[2]

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

No. Position Player
England GK Dave Beasant
England GK Mark Goodlad
Wales GK Mark Crossley
Switzerland GK Marco Pascolo
England DF Steve Chettle
England DF Colin Cooper
England DF Andy Dawson
England DF Des Lyttle
England DF Alan Rogers
England DF Stuart Thom
Scotland DF Chris Doig
France DF Thierry Bonalair
Norway DF Jon-Olav Hjelde
England MF Chris Allen
England MF Craig Armstrong
England MF Chris Bart-Williams
England MF Richard Cooper
England MF John Finnigan
England MF Richard Hodgson
England MF Bobby Howe
No. Position Player
England MF Steve Melton
England MF Steve Stone
England MF Geoff Thomas
England MF Andy Todd
England MF Ian Woan
Wales MF Christian Edwards
Wales MF Glyn Hodges
Wales MF Andy Johnson
Scotland MF Scot Gemmill
Republic of Ireland MF John Burns
Australia MF Gareth Edds
England FW Kevin Campbell
England FW Steve Guinan
England FW Marlon Harewood
England FW Paul McGregor
England FW Ian Thomas-Moore
Republic of Ireland FW David Freeman
Netherlands FW Pierre van Hooijdonk
Spain FW Carlos Merino

Left club permanently 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
Northern Ireland GK Alan Fettis (to Blackburn Rovers)
England DF Vance Warner (to Rotherham United)
England MF Paul Smith (to Lincoln City)
No. Position Player
Wales MF David Phillips (to Huddersfield Town)
Northern Ireland MF Damien Johnson (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
Wales FW Dean Saunders (to Sheffield United)

Left club on loan 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
Wales GK Mark Crossley (on loan to Millwall)
England MF Chris Allen (on loan to Luton Town)
No. Position Player
England MF John Finnigan (on loan to Lincoln City)
England FW Marlon Harewood (on loan to FC Haka)

References