1997–98 Wimbledon F.C. season

March 2015 September 2020 Wimbledon F.C. 1997–98 Sam Hammam Joe Kinnear Selhurst Park FA Premier League 15th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Third round Carl Cort/Efan Ekoku/Jason Euell/Michael Hughes/Carl Leaburn (4) Jason Euell (8) 16,156 1996–97 1998–99 During the 1997–98 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. They finished 15th in the final table to secure a 13th successive top flight campaign, although their final position was disappointing given their performance earlier in the season. Season summary Despite the early season sale of Dean Holdsworth to Bolton Wanderers, Wimbledon showed the "Crazy Gang" spirit once more as they stayed clear of the relegation zone and spent most of the season in mid table. Manager Joe Kinnear was hopeful that this could finally be the season when Wimbledon achieved a UEFA Cup place, but the team's form steadily deteriorated during the second half of the season. Their 15th-place finish was their worst since reaching the top flight in 1986, though they had never looked to be in any real danger of relegation. Final league table 1997–98 FA Premier League WDN Results summary 5 6 8 18 25 5 8 6 16 21 1997-98 FA Premier League table August 2015 Results by round table b Round Ground H/H/H/A/A/H/H/A/H/A/A/H/H/A/H/A/H/A/A/H/A/H/A/A/H/A/H/H/A/H/H/A/H/A/A/A/H/A Result D/D/L/L/W/L/W/D/L/W/D/W/L/W/L/L/W/D/D/L/L/D/D/W/W/L/L/W/L/D/D/W/D/L/D/D/L/D Position 11/14/17/20/15/18/13/15/15/12/11/9/10/9/10/11/10/11/12/12/14/14/16/15/13/15/15/14/14/14/14/13/13/13/14/14/16/15 Home Away green2 Win yellow2 Draw red2 Loss 1st 2nd 3rd red1 Soccerbase: 1997–98 Wimbledon results August 2015 Results Wimbledon's score comes firsthttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/wimbledon/1997-1998/results Wimbledon results for the 1997-1998 season - Statto.com 11 September 2015 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201820/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/wimbledon/1997-1998/results live Legend WinDrawLoss FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1997 LiverpoolH1–126,106Gayle 23 August 1997 Sheffield WednesdayH1–111,503Euell 27 August 1997 ChelseaH0–222,237 30 August 1997 West Ham UnitedA1–324,516Ekoku 13 September 1997 Newcastle UnitedA3–136,526Cort, Perry, Ekoku 20 September 1997 Crystal PalaceH0–116,747 23 September 1997 BarnsleyH4–17,668Cort, Earle, C Hughes, Ekoku 27 September 1997 Tottenham HotspurA0–026,261 4 October 1997 Blackburn RoversH0–115,600 18 October 1997 Aston VillaA2–132,087Earle, Cort 22 October 1997 Derby CountyA1–128,595Rowett (own goal) 25 October 1997 Leeds UnitedH1–015,718Ardley (pen) 1 November 1997 Coventry CityH1–211,201Cort 10 November 1997 Leicester CityA1–018,553Gayle 22 November 1997 Manchester UnitedH2–526,309Ardley, M Hughes 29 November 1997 Bolton WanderersA0–122,703 7 December 1997 SouthamptonH1–012,009Earle 13 December 1997 EvertonA0–028,533 26 December 1997 ChelseaA1–134,100M Hughes 28 December 1997 West Ham UnitedH1–222,087Solbakken 10 January 1998 LiverpoolA0–238,011 17 January 1998 Derby CountyH0–013,031 31 January 1998 Sheffield WednesdayA1–122,655M Hughes 9 February 1998 Crystal PalaceA3–014,410Leaburn (2), Euell 21 February 1998 Aston VillaH2–113,131Euell, Leaburn 28 February 1998 BarnsleyA1–217,102Euell 11 March 1998 ArsenalH0–122,291 14 March 1998 Leicester CityH2–113,229Roberts, M Hughes 28 March 1998 Manchester UnitedA0–255,306 31 March 1998 Newcastle UnitedH0–015,478 4 April 1998 Bolton WanderersH0–011,356 11 April 1998 SouthamptonA1–014,815Leaburn 13 April 1998 EvertonH0–015,131 18 April 1998 ArsenalA0–538,024 25 April 1998 Blackburn RoversA0–024,848 29 April 1998 Coventry CityA0–017,968 2 May 1998 Tottenham HotspurH2–625,820Fear (2) 10 May 1998 Leeds UnitedA1–138,172Ekoku FA Cup 1997–98 FA Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR34 January 1998 WrexhamH0–06,349R3R13 January 1998 WrexhamA3–29,539Hughes (2), GayleR424 January 1998 Huddersfield TownA1–014,533ArdleyR514 February 1998 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–115,322EuellR5R25 February 1998 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–225,112Jones League Cup 1997–98 Football League Cup +RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 16 September 1997 MillwallH5–16,949Cort (2, 1 pen), Clarke, Euell, CastledineR2 2nd Leg 1 October 1997 MillwallA4–1 (won 9–2 on agg)3,591Euell (2), Castledine, GayleR314 October 1997 Bolton WanderersA0–29,875 Players First-team squad Squad at end of seasonhttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/wimbled.htm FootballSquads - Wimbledon - 1997/98 1 SCO GK Neil SullivanSullivan was born in Sutton, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in 1997. 2 IRL DF Kenny Cunningham 3 ENG DF Alan Kimble 5 ENG DF Dean Blackwell 6 ENG DF Ben ThatcherThatcher was born in Swindon, England and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for Wales in March 2004. 7 WAL MF Ceri Hughes 8 JAM MF Robbie Earle captainEarle was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, and was called up for England without playing, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1997. 9 NGA FW Efan EkokuEkoku was born in Cheetham, England, but also qualified to represent Nigeria internationally and made his international debut for Nigeria in 1994. 10 ENG MF Andy Roberts 11 JAM FW Marcus GayleGayle was born in Hammersmith, London, and represented them at U-18 level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998. 12 ENG DF Chris Perry 13 ENG GK Paul Heald 14 IRL FW Jon GoodmanGoodman was born in Waltham Forest, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1997. 15 ENG DF Alan Reeves 16 NIR MF Michael Hughes 17 SCO DF Brian McAllister 18 ENG MF Neal Ardley 19 ENG MF Stewart Castledine 20 ENG FW Mick Harford 21 SCO DF Duncan JuppJupp was born in Haslemere, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level. 22 ENG FW Andy Clarke 23 ENG FW Jason EuellEuell was born in Lambeth, England, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and would make his international debut for Jamaica in November 2004. 24 ENG MF Peter Fear 26 ENG FW Carl CortCort was born in Southwark, England, but also qualified to represent Guyana internationally and would make his international debut for Guyana in 2011. 27 ENG MF Damien FrancisFrancis was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003. 29 ENG FW Carl Leaburn 30 ENG DF Peter Hawkins 32 IRL DF Mark Kennedy Left club during season 4 WAL MF Vinnie JonesJones was born in Watford, England, but also qualified to represent Wales through his maternal grandfather and made his international debut for Wales in December 1994. to Queens Park Rangers 10 ENG FW Dean Holdsworth to Bolton Wanderers 10 NOR MF Ståle Solbakken to Aalborg Reserve squad 25 ENG DF Andy Pearce 28 ENG FW Richard O'ConnorO'Connor was born in Wandsworth, England, but also qualified to represent Anguilla internationally and would make his international debut for Anguilla in 2000. 31 ENG DF Danny Hodges 33 IRL GK Brendan Murphy Transfers In DatePosNameFromFee2 July 1997MFCeri HughesLuton Town£400,00025 September 1997MFMichael HughesWest Ham United£1,600,00013 October 1997MFStåle SolbakkenLillestrøm£250,0008 January 1998FWCarl LeaburnCharlton Athletic£300,0009 March 1998MFAndy RobertsCrystal Palace£2,000,00026 March 1998MFMark KennedyLiverpool£1,750,000 Out DatePosNameToFee2 June 1997MFØyvind LeonhardsenLiverpool£3,500,0001 August 1997DFScott FitzgeraldMillwall£50,0002 October 1997FWDean HoldsworthBolton Wanderers£3,500,00026 March 1998MFVinnie JonesQueens Park Rangers£750,000 Transfers in: £6,300,000 Transfers out: £7,800,000 Total spending: £1,500,000 Statistics Appearances and goals FA Premier League FA Cup League Cup |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers 1 Neil Sullivan GK SCO 38 0 5 0 1 0 13 Paul Heald GK ENG 0 0 0 0 2 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders 2 Kenny Cunningham DF IRL 33 0 3 0 3 0 3 Alan Kimble DF ENG 24+2 0 3 0 0+1 0 5 Dean Blackwell DF ENG 36 0 4 0 0 0 6 Ben Thatcher DF ENG 23+3 0 3 0 3 0 12 Chris Perry DF ENG 36 1 5 0 3 0 15 Alan Reeves DF ENG 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 17 Brian McAllister DF SCO 4+3 0 0 0 3 0 21 Duncan Jupp DF SCO 3 0 2 0 1 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders 7 Ceri Hughes MF WAL 14+4 1 2 0 2 0 8 Robbie Earle MF JAM 21+1 3 3 0 1 0 10 Andy Roberts MF ENG 12 1 0 0 0 0 16 Michael Hughes MF NIR 29 4 4 2 0 0 18 Neal Ardley MF ENG 32+2 2 5 1 0 0 19 Stewart Castledine MF ENG 3+3 0 1+2 0 3 2 24 Peter Fear MF ENG 5+3 2 2 0 1 0 27 Damien Francis MF ENG 0+2 0 2 0 1 0 32 Mark Kennedy MF IRL 4 0 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards 9 Efan Ekoku FW NGA 12+5 4 0+1 0 1+1 0 11 Marcus Gayle FW ENG 22+9 2 3+1 1 2+1 1 22 Andy Clarke FW ENG 1+12 0 0+4 0 2+1 1 23 Jason Euell FW ENG 14+4 4 2 1 3 3 26 Carl Cort FW ENG 16+6 4 4+1 0 1+1 2 29 Carl Leaburn FW ENG 15+1 4 0 0 0 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players who left the club during the season 4 Vinnie Jones MF WAL 23+2 0 3+1 1 1+1 0 10 Dean Holdsworth FW ENG 4+1 0 0 0 0+1 0 10 Ståle Solbakken MF NOR 4+2 1 1+1 0 0 0 |- |} Notes notes References Category:Wimbledon F.C. seasons Wimbledon