1997–98 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

English football club season March 2015 April 2026 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 1997–98 Dave Richards David Pleat (until 3 November)Peter Shreeves (caretaker from 3 to 14 November)Ron Atkinson (from 14 November) FA Premier League 16th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Second round Paolo Di Canio (12) Paolo Di Canio (14) 39,427 (vs. Manchester United, FA Premier League) 11,120 (vs. Grimsby Town, League Cup) 28,706 (league) 1996–97 1998–99 The 1997–98 season was Sheffield Wednesday F.C.'s 131st season. They competed in the twenty-team FA Premier League, the top tier of English football, finishing sixteenth. Season summary Having narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup place in 1996–97, the club record £5.7 million signing of Italian striker Paolo Di Canio from Celtic gave Owls fans hopes of another challenge for Europe. But it was not to be, and by the time they lost 6–1 to Manchester United in November, relegation was looking a real possibility. Manager David Pleat was swiftly sacked, and Ron Atkinson – manager of the 1991 promotion and League Cup winning side – returned to the manager's seat on a short-term contract. He achieved safety by a margin of four points, in 16th place on 44 points by virtue of goal difference (three other sides had finished on 44 points), and was disappointed on being told that his contract would not be renewed. He was succeeded by Danny Wilson, a former Owls player who played for them in the early, more successful part of the decade. Final league table 1997–98 FA Premier League SHW Results summary 9 5 5 30 26 3 3 13 22 41 1997-98 FA Premier League table August 2015 Results by round table b Round Ground A/H/A/A/H/A/H/H/A/H/A/H/A/H/H/A/H/A/H/H/A/H/A/H/A/H/H/A/H/A/A/H/A/H/A/A/H/A Result L/L/D/L/W/L/D/L/D/W/L/L/L/W/W/W/W/L/L/D/D/W/W/D/L/D/W/L/W/L/L/W/L/D/L/W/L/L Position 17/18/16/18/15/19/19/19/18/16/17/18/20/19/16/14/13/13/14/14/15/12/11/10/14/12/12/13/12/13/13/13/14/14/14/13/14/16 Home Away green2 Win yellow2 Draw red2 Loss 1st 2nd 3rd red1 11v11.com: 1997-98 Sheffield Wednesday results August 2015 Results Sheffield Wednesday's score comes firstSheffield Wednesday 1997-1998 Results http://www.statto.com/football/teams/sheffield-wednesday/1997-1998/results live https://web.archive.org/web/20130326003628/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/sheffield-wednesday/1997-1998/results 2013-03-26 statto.com Legend WinDrawLoss FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1997 Newcastle UnitedA1–236,711Carbone 13 August 1997 Leeds UnitedH1–331,520Hyde 23 August 1997 WimbledonA1–111,503Di Canio 27 August 1997 Blackburn RoversA2–719,618Carbone (2) 30 August 1997 Leicester CityH1–024,851Carbone (pen) 13 September 1997 LiverpoolA1–234,705Collins 20 September 1997 Coventry CityH0–021,087 24 September 1997 Derby CountyH2–522,391Di Canio, Carbone (pen) 27 September 1997 Aston VillaA2–232,044Collins, Whittingham 4 October 1997 EvertonH3–124,486Carbone (2, 1 pen), Di Canio 19 October 1997 Tottenham HotspurA2–325,097Collins, Di Canio 25 October 1997 Crystal PalaceH1–322,072Collins 1 November 1997 Manchester UnitedA1–655,259Whittingham 8 November 1997 Bolton WanderersH5–025,027Di Canio, Whittingham, Booth (3) 22 November 1997 ArsenalH2–034,373Booth, Whittingham 29 November 1997 SouthamptonA3–215,244Atherton, Collins, Di Canio 8 December 1997 BarnsleyH2–129,086Stefanović, Di Canio 13 December 1997 West Ham UnitedA0–124,344 20 December 1997 ChelseaH1–428,334Pembridge 26 December 1997 Blackburn RoversH0–033,502 28 December 1997 Leicester CityA1–120,800Booth 10 January 1998 Newcastle UnitedH2–129,446Di Canio, Newsome 17 January 1998 Leeds UnitedA2–133,166Newsome, Booth 31 January 1998 WimbledonH1–122,655Mark Pembridge 7 February 1998 Coventry CityA0–118,375 14 February 1998 LiverpoolH3–335,405Carbone, Di Canio, Hinchcliffe 21 February 1998 Tottenham HotspurH1–029,871Di Canio 28 February 1998 Derby CountyA0–330,203 7 March 1998 Manchester UnitedH2–039,427Atherton, Di Canio 14 March 1998 Bolton WanderersA2–324,847Booth, Atherton 28 March 1998 ArsenalA0–138,087 4 April 1998 SouthamptonH1–029,677Carbone 11 April 1998 BarnsleyA1–218,692Stefanović 13 April 1998 West Ham UnitedH1–128,036Magilton 19 April 1998 ChelseaA0–129,075 25 April 1998 EvertonA3–135,497Pembridge (2), Di Canio 2 May 1998 Aston VillaH1–334,177Sanetti 10 May 1998 Crystal PalaceA0–116,876 FA Cup 1997–98 FA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR33 January 1998 WatfordA1–118,306AlexanderssonR3R14 January 1998 WatfordH0–0 (won 5–3 on pens)18,707R426 January 1998 Blackburn RoversH0–315,940 League Cup 1997–98 Football League Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 17 September 1997 Grimsby TownA0–26,429R2 2nd Leg 1 October 1997 Grimsby TownH3–2 (lost 3–4 on agg)11,120Davison (own goal), Di Canio (2) Players First-team squad Squad at end of seasonFootballSquads - Sheffield Wednesday - 1997/98 http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/sheffwed.htm dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101224102432/http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/sheffwed.htm 24 December 2010 footballsquads.co.uk 1 ENG GK Kevin Pressman 2 ENG DF Peter Atherton captain 3 NIR DF Ian NolanNolan was born in Liverpool, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1996. 4 WAL MF Mark Pembridge 5 ENG DF Jon Newsome 6 ENG DF Des Walker 7 ENG FW Guy Whittingham 8 ITA FW Benito Carbone 10 ENG FW Andy Booth 11 ITA FW Paolo Di Canio 12 ENG MF Graham Hyde 13 ENG GK Matt Clarke 14 SCO DF Steve Nicol 15 AUT FW Christian Mayrleb 16 ENG FW Ritchie Humphreys 17 ENG DF Lee Briscoe 18 FR Yugoslavia DF Dejan Stefanović 19 ENG MF Scott Oakes 20 ENG DF Andy Hinchcliffe 21 MKD DF Goce Sedloski 22 BRA DF Emerson Thome 23 GHA FW Junior Agogo 24 NIR MF Jim Magilton 25 NOR MF Petter Rudi 26 SWE MF Niclas Alexandersson 27 ENG DF Earl Barrett 28 IRL MF Alan Quinn 29 ENG MF Krystof Kotylo 30 ITA FW Francesco Sanetti Left club during season 9 ENG FW David Hirst to Southampton 15 FRA DF Patrick Blondeau to Bordeaux 20 ENG MF Wayne Collins to Fulham 21 AUS MF Adem PoricPoric was born in London, England, but also qualified to represent Australia internationally and represented them at U-20 level. to Notts County 22 ENG FW O'Neill Donaldson to Stoke City 26 ZIM GK Bruce GrobbelaarGrobbelaar was born in Durban, South Africa, but was raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from the age of two months and made his international debut for Rhodesia in 1977 and for Zimbabwe in 1980. to Oldham Athletic 27 ENG FW Nigel Clough on loan from Manchester City Reserve squad ENG GK Stuart Jones IRL DF Derek Geary ENG DF Steve Haslam ENG DF Kevin Nicholson ENG DF Michael Simpkins ENG DF Simon Weaver ENG MF Peter Holmes WAL MF Ryan JonesJones was born in Sheffield, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in May 1994. IRL MF Mark McKeeverMcKeever was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level. ENG MF Mark Platts Transfers In DatePosNameFromFee24 June 1997DFPatrick BlondeauAS Monaco£1,800,0006 August 1997FWPaolo Di CanioCeltic£3,000,0009 September 1997MFJim MagiltonSouthampton£1,600,00022 September 1997GKBruce GrobbelaarOxford UnitedNominal2 October 1997MFPetter RudiMolde£800,00017 November 1997DFDerek GearyRivermount BoysSigned5 December 1997MFNiclas AlexanderssonIFK Göteborg£750,0006 December 1997MFAlan QuinnCherry OrchardNominal30 January 1998DFAndy HinchcliffeEverton£3,000,00019 February 1998DFGoce SedloskiHajduk Split£750,00024 February 1998DFEarl BarrettEvertonFree transfer26 March 1998GKStuart JonesWeston-super-Mare£20,00026 March 1998DFEmerson ThomeBenficaSigned30 April 1998FWFrancesco SanettiGenoaFree transfer Out DatePosNameToFee1 August 1997DFDave HercockKettering TownUndisclosed5 August 1997MFOrlando TrustfullVitesse Arnhem£800,0006 August 1997MFRegi BlinkerCeltic£1,500,00017 October 1997FWDavid HirstSouthampton£2,000,0001 November 1997DFSteve LenaghChesterfieldMonthly1 January 1998MFJames SimpkinsChesterfieldNon-contract14 January 1998DFPatrick BlondeauBordeaux£1,200,00022 January 1998MFWayne CollinsFulham£400,00013 March 1998FWO'Neill DonaldsonStoke CityFree transfer27 March 1998MFAdem PoricNotts CountyFree transfer Transfers in: £11,720,000 Transfers out: £5,900,000 Total spending: £5,820,000 Statistics Appearances and goals FA Premier League FA Cup League Cup |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers 1 Kevin Pressman GK ENG 36 0 3 0 2 0 13 Matt Clarke GK ENG 2+1 0 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders 2 Peter Atherton DF ENG 27 3 3 0 1 0 3 Ian Nolan DF NIR 27 0 3 0 2 0 5 Jon Newsome DF ENG 25 2 3 0 1 0 6 Des Walker DF ENG 38 0 3 0 2 0 14 Steve Nicol DF SCO 4+3 0 0 0 0 0 17 Lee Briscoe DF ENG 3+4 0 0 0 1+1 0 18 Dejan Stefanović DF YUG 19+1 2 0 0 1 0 20 Andy Hinchcliffe DF ENG 15 1 0 0 0 0 21 Goce Sedloski DF MKD 3+1 0 0 0 0 0 22 Emerson Thome DF BRA 6 0 0 0 0 0 27 Earl Barrett DF ENG 10 0 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders 4 Mark Pembridge MF WAL 31+3 4 3 0 2 0 12 Graham Hyde MF ENG 14+8 1 1 0 0 0 16 Ritchie Humphreys MF ENG 2+5 0 0+3 0 0+1 0 19 Scott Oakes MF ENG 0+4 0 0+2 0 0 0 24 Jim Magilton MF NIR 13+6 1 1 0 2 0 25 Petter Rudi MF NOR 19+3 0 3 0 0 0 26 Niclas Alexandersson MF SWE 5+1 0 2 1 0 0 28 Alan Quinn MF IRL 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards 7 Guy Whittingham FW ENG 17+11 4 1 0 2 0 8 Benito Carbone FW ITA 28+5 9 2 0 1 0 10 Andy Booth FW ENG 21+2 7 2 0 0 0 11 Paolo Di Canio FW ITA 34+1 12 3 0 2 2 15 Christian Mayrleb FW AUT 0+3 0 0 0 0 0 23 Junior Agogo FW GHA 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 30 Francesco Sanetti FW ITA 1+1 1 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players who left the club during the season 9 David Hirst FW ENG 3+3 0 0 0 0 0 15 Patrick Blondeau DF FRA 5+1 0 0 0 0 0 20 Wayne Collins MF ENG 8+11 5 0 0 2 0 21 Adem Poric MF AUS 0+3 0 0 0 0+1 0 22 O'Neill Donaldson FW ENG 1+4 0 0 0 0 0 27 Nigel Clough FW ENG 1 0 0 0 1 0 |- |} Starting 11 Considering starts in all competitionsAll Sheffield Wednesday players: 1998 https://www.11v11.com/teams/sheffield-wednesday/tab/players/season/1998/ 2021-07-06 www.11v11.com GK: #1, ENG Kevin Pressman, 41 RB: #2, ENG Peter Atherton, 31 CB: #5, ENG Jon Newsome, 29 CB: #6, ENG Des Walker, 43 LB: #3, NIR Ian Nolan, 32 CM: #25, NOR Petter Rudi, 22 CM: #24, NIR Jim Magilton, 16 (#7, ENG Guy Whittingham, and #18, FR Yugoslavia Dejan Stefanović, both have 20 starts) CM: #4, WAL Mark Pembridge, 36 AM: #8, ITA Benito Carbone, 31 CF: #10, ENG Andy Booth, 23 CF: #11, ITA Paolo Di Canio, 39 Notes notes References Jason Dickinson One Hundred Years at Hillsborough The Hallamshire Press/Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Sheffield 1999 244–245, 386 978-1-874718-29-1 Dickinson Jason Brodie, John The Wednesday Boys: A Definitive Who's Who of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club 1880–2005 Pickard Communication Sheffield 346–347, 350 2005 978-0-9547264-9-2 http://www.btinternet.com/~a.drake/owls/recent/p97.htm 1997–98 Players Drake A BT Internet 5 August 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081011145725/http://www.btinternet.com/~a.drake/owls/recent/p97.htm 11 October 2008 dead dmy-all 1997-98 Shef