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
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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	Promotion to 1998–99 FA Premier League
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	56	−6	61
11	Crewe Alexandra	46	18	5	23	58	65	−7	59
12	Oxford United	46	16	10	20	60	64	−4	58
13	Bradford City	46	14	15	17	46	59	−13	57
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	14	18	54	57	−3	56
15	Norwich City	46	14	13	19	52	69	−17	55
16	Huddersfield Town	46	14	11	21	50	72	−22	53
17	Bury	46	11	19	16	42	58	−16	52
18	Swindon Town	46	14	10	22	42	73	−31	52
19	Port Vale	46	13	10	23	56	66	−10	49
20	Portsmouth	46	13	10	23	51	63	−12	49
21	Queens Park Rangers	46	10	19	17	51	63	−12	49
22	Manchester City (R)	46	12	12	22	56	57	−1	48	Relegation to 1998–99 Second Division
23	Stoke City (R)	46	11	13	22	44	74	−30	46
24	Reading (R)	46	11	9	26	39	78	−39	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

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Port Vale	A	1–0	12,533	Campbell
15 August 1997	Norwich City	H	4–1	16,524	van Hooijdonk, Thomas (2), Campbell
23 August 1997	Oxford United	A	1–0	9,486	Mustoe
30 August 1997	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–0	18,804	van Hooijdonk (3), Saunders
3 September 1997	Manchester City	H	1–3	23,681	Campbell
7 September 1997	Swindon Town	A	0–0	13,051
13 September 1997	Sheffield United	A	0–1	24,536
20 September 1997	Portsmouth	H	1–0	17,292	van Hooijdonk
27 September 1997	Stoke City	H	1–0	19,018	Campbell
3 October 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	2–0	11,258	Cooper, Saunders
18 October 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–2	17,009	van Hooijdonk, Gemmill
21 October 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	19,243	Campbell
24 October 1997	Reading	A	3–3	12,610	van Hooijdonk (2, 1 pen), Campbell
1 November 1997	Crewe Alexandra	H	3–1	18,268	Campbell, van Hooijdonk (2)
4 November 1997	Bury	A	0–2	6,137
8 November 1997	Sunderland	A	1–1	33,160	Hjelde
15 November 1997	Birmingham City	H	1–0	19,610	Campbell
22 November 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	5–2	18,532	van Hooijdonk (3), Woan, Campbell
26 November 1997	Middlesbrough	A	0–0	30,143
29 November 1997	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	17,580	Campbell
6 December 1997	Bradford City	H	2–2	17,943	Cooper, Bonalair
14 December 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	24,635	A Johnson
20 December 1997	Stockport County	H	2–1	16,701	van Hooijdonk (pen), Stone
26 December 1997	Swindon Town	H	3–0	26,500	Campbell (2), A Johnson
28 December 1997	Manchester City	A	3–2	31,839	van Hooijdonk (2 pens), Campbell
10 January 1998	Port Vale	H	2–1	17,639	van Hooijdonk (2)
17 January 1998	Norwich City	A	0–1	17,059
24 January 1998	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	13,220	Cooper
31 January 1998	Oxford United	H	1–3	18,392	van Hooijdonk (pen)
7 February 1998	Portsmouth	A	1–0	15,033	Chettle
17 February 1998	Huddersfield Town	H	3–0	18,231	van Hooijdonk (2), Bonalair
21 February 1998	Stoke City	A	1–1	16,899	Thomas-Moore
24 February 1998	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–0	7,377
1 March 1998	Middlesbrough	H	4–0	25,286	van Hooijdonk (2, 1 pen), Campbell, Cooper
4 March 1998	Sunderland	H	0–3	29,009
7 March 1998	Crewe Alexandra	A	4–1	5,759	Bart-Williams, Campbell (3)
14 March 1998	Bury	H	3–0	18,846	Lucketti (own goal), van Hooijdonk, Rogers
21 March 1998	Birmingham City	A	2–1	24,663	van Hooijdonk (2)
28 March 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	2–4	15,815	Campbell (2)
1 April 1998	Sheffield United	H	3–0	21,512	Thomas, Campbell (2)
5 April 1998	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	22,292	Cooper, van Hooijdonk
11 April 1998	Bradford City	A	3–0	17,248	Campbell, Gemmill, Bart-Williams
13 April 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–0	22,863	Johnson, van Hooijdonk, Campbell
18 April 1998	Stockport County	A	2–2	9,892	van Hooijdonk, Johnson
26 April 1998	Reading	H	1–0	29,302	Bart-Williams
3 May 1998	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	23,013	Stone

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1998	Charlton Athletic	A	1–4	13,827	van Hooijdonk

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	11 August 1997	Doncaster Rovers	A	8–0	4,547	Thomas, Saunders (2), Hjelde (2), van Hooijdonk (2), Allen
R1 Second Leg	27 August 1997	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–1 (won 10-1 on agg)	9,908	Guinan, van Hooijdonk
R2 First Leg	17 September 1997	Walsall	H	0–1	7,841
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1997	Walsall	A	2–2 (lost 2-3 on agg)	6,037	van 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
		GK	Dave Beasant
		GK	Mark Goodlad
		GK	Mark Crossley
		GK	Marco Pascolo
		DF	Steve Chettle
		DF	Colin Cooper
		DF	Andy Dawson
		DF	Des Lyttle
		DF	Alan Rogers
		DF	Stuart Thom
		DF	Chris Doig
		DF	Thierry Bonalair
		DF	Jon-Olav Hjelde
		MF	Chris Allen
		MF	Craig Armstrong
		MF	Chris Bart-Williams
		MF	Richard Cooper
		MF	John Finnigan
		MF	Richard Hodgson
		MF	Bobby Howe

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Steve Melton
		MF	Steve Stone
		MF	Geoff Thomas
		MF	Andy Todd
		MF	Ian Woan
		MF	Christian Edwards
		MF	Glyn Hodges
		MF	Andy Johnson
		MF	Scot Gemmill
		MF	John Burns
		MF	Gareth Edds
		FW	Kevin Campbell
		FW	Steve Guinan
		FW	Marlon Harewood
		FW	Paul McGregor
		FW	Ian Thomas-Moore
		FW	David Freeman
		FW	Pierre van Hooijdonk
		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
		GK	Alan Fettis (to Blackburn Rovers)
		DF	Vance Warner (to Rotherham United)
		MF	Paul Smith (to Lincoln City)

No.		Position	Player
		MF	David Phillips (to Huddersfield Town)
		MF	Damien Johnson (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
		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
		GK	Mark Crossley (on loan to Millwall)
		MF	Chris Allen (on loan to Luton Town)

No.		Position	Player
		MF	John Finnigan (on loan to Lincoln City)
		FW	Marlon Harewood (on loan to FC Haka)

References

Nottingham Forest Football Club

The Club	The Club History Statistics Seasons Women's team Players Internationals

Stadia	Forest Recreation Ground Trent Bridge Town Ground City Ground

Rivalries	Nottingham derby East Midlands derby (Brian Clough Trophy) Leicester City rivalry

Nottingham Forest F.C. seasons

1865–66 1866–67 1867–68 1868–69 1869–70 1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–1980

1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900

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 1919–1920

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 1939–1940

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 1959–1960

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 1979–1980

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 1999–2000

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

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

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