1997–98 Oxford United F.C. season

Oxford United
1997–98 season
Manager Denis Smith (until 24 December)
Malcolm Crosby (caretaker from 24 December - 24 January)
Malcolm Shotton (from 24 January)
Stadium Manor Ground
First Division 12th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Fourth round
Top goalscorer League: Beauchamp (13)
All: Beauchamp (19)
Average home league attendance 7,512

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

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Denis Smith resigned in December[1] with the club £10 million in debt and was replaced in January by Malcolm Shotton. His appointment was popular and initially successful, as he led the team out of relegation danger to a creditable 12th-place finish in Division One.

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

Oxford United's score comes first[2]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
9 August 1997 Huddersfield TownH2–07,085Jemson (pen), Aldridge
16 August 1997 Charlton AthleticA2–310,230Purse, Jemson (pen)
23 August 1997 Nottingham ForestH0–19,486
30 August 1997 PortsmouthA1–210,209B Ford
2 September 1997 SunderlandA1–327,643Angel
7 September 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–06,921Beauchamp (2), B Ford
13 September 1997 ReadingA1–29,003Jemson
20 September 1997 Sheffield UnitedH2–47,514Jemson (2)
27 September 1997 Bradford CityH0–06,468
4 October 1997 West Bromwich AlbionA2–115,819Banger, Purse
11 October 1997 Stockport CountyA2–37,333Purse, Aldridge
18 October 1997 Ipswich TownH1–07,594Smith
21 October 1997 MiddlesbroughH1–48,306Purse
25 October 1997 Birmingham CityA0–016,352
1 November 1997 Manchester CityH0–08,592
4 November 1997 Stoke CityA0–010,132
8 November 1997 Crewe AlexandraA1–24,524M Ford
15 November 1997 BuryH1–15,811Banger
22 November 1997 Norwich CityA1–211,241Powell
29 November 1997 Port ValeH2–05,762Beauchamp, Jemson
6 December 1997 Swindon TownA1–410,902M Ford
12 December 1997 Queens Park RangersH3–16,664Jemson, Beauchamp (2)
20 December 1997 Tranmere RoversA2–05,181Massey, Robinson
26 December 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–126,238
28 December 1997 SunderlandH1–18,659Jemson (pen)
10 January 1998 Huddersfield TownA1–510,378Gray
17 January 1998 Charlton AthleticH1–27,234Jemson
24 January 1998 PortsmouthH1–07,402Beauchamp
31 January 1998 Nottingham ForestA3–118,392Beauchamp (2), Weatherstone
7 February 1998 Sheffield UnitedA0–116,881
17 February 1998 West Bromwich AlbionH2–19,412Gilchrist, Francis
21 February 1998 Bradford CityA0–014,190
24 February 1998 Ipswich TownA2–511,824Francis, Donaldson (pen)
28 February 1998 Stockport CountyH3–06,650Davis, Donaldson, Francis
3 March 1998 Crewe AlexandraH0–06,069
7 March 1998 Manchester CityA2–028,720Beauchamp, Cook
14 March 1998 Stoke CityH5–17,300Murphy (2), Francis (2), Beauchamp
17 March 1998 ReadingH3–08,103Beauchamp (2), Gray
21 March 1998 BuryA0–15,159
28 March 1998 Norwich CityH2–07,869Francis, Beauchamp (pen)
4 April 1998 Port ValeA0–36,524
11 April 1998 Swindon TownH2–18,005Francis, Gilchrist
14 April 1998 Queens Park RangersA1–112,859Davis
18 April 1998 Tranmere RoversH1–16,489Cook
25 April 1998 Birmingham CityH0–28,818
3 May 1998 MiddlesbroughA1–430,228Banger

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R33 January 1998 Leeds UnitedA0–420,568

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 First Leg 12 August 1997 Plymouth ArgyleH2–05,083Purse, Logan (own goal)
R1 Second Leg 26 August 1997 Plymouth ArgyleA5–3 (won 7-3 on agg)3,037Beauchamp (2), Jemson, Purse, Murphy
R2 First Leg 16 September 1997 York CityH4–12,923Robinson, Aldridge, Beauchamp (2)
R2 Second Leg 23 September 1997 York CityA2–1 (won 6-2 on agg)1,555Aldridge, Banger
R314 October 1997 Tranmere RoversH1–1 (won 6-5 on pens)3,878Beauchamp
R418 November 1997 Ipswich TownH1–2 (a.e.t.)5,723Beauchamp

Squad

[3] 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 Phil Whitehead
England DF Les Robinson
England DF Phil Gilchrist
England DF Darren Purse
England DF Mike Ford
England MF Joey Beauchamp
England MF David Smith
England MF Martin Gray
England FW Nigel Jemson
England FW Nicky Banger
England FW Matt Murphy
England MF Bobby Ford
England DF Steve Davis
Saint Kitts and Nevis FW Kevin Francis
Netherlands DF Brian Wilsterman
Netherlands GK Arjan van Heusden
England MF Stuart Massey
No. Position Player
England FW Martin Aldridge
France DF Christophe Rémy
England DF Simon Marsh
England MF Paul Powell
England FW Mark Angel
England FW Jamie Cook
England DF Phil Whelan
England FW O'Neill Donaldson
England GK Elliot Jackson
England MF Simon Weatherstone
Wales FW Rob Folland
England DF Andrew Rose
England DF Mark Stevens
Wales MF Tony Wright
Montserrat MF Wayne Dyer
England MF Mickey Lewis

References