1997–98 Chelsea F.C. season

Chelsea
1997–98 season
Chairman Ken Bates
Manager Ruud Gullit (until 12 February)
Gianluca Vialli (from 12 February)
Premiership 4th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Winners
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winners
Top goalscorer League: Vialli/Flo (11)
All: Vialli (19)
Highest home attendance 34,845 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 10 May)
Lowest home attendance 29,075 (vs. Blackpool, 19 Apr)
Average home league attendance 32,901
Home colours
Away colours

The 1997-98 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 83rd competitive season, their 9th consecutive season in the English top flight and 92nd year as a club.

Season summary

With conceding goals being a major issue last season, Chelsea signed Dutch international goalkeeper Ed de Goey, who proved to be a relative success. Chelsea's only other major signings were young Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo and Uruguayan international midfielder Gustavo Poyet from Real Zaragoza, who added more goals from an otherwise very defensive midfield. Chelsea were well on course for a top-five finish and success in the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Coca-Cola Cup when manager Ruud Gullit was sacked on 12 February following a dispute with chairman Ken Bates. His job went to 33-year-old striker Gianluca Vialli, who took on the role of player-manager and achieved instant success - within three months of his appointment, Vialli had guided the Blues to glory on the continent and at Wembley. This success gave Chelsea fans hope that the following season could spell the end of their title wait which began in 1955.

Final league table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Arsenal (C) 38 23 9 6 68 33 +35 78 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Manchester United 38 23 8 7 73 26 +47 77 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Liverpool 38 18 11 9 68 42 +26 65 1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
4 Chelsea 38 20 3 15 71 43 +28 63 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round 1
5 Leeds United 38 17 8 13 57 46 +11 59 1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
6 Blackburn Rovers 38 16 10 12 57 52 +5 58
7 Aston Villa 38 17 6 15 49 48 +1 57
8 West Ham United 38 16 8 14 56 57 1 56
9 Derby County 38 16 7 15 52 49 +3 55
10 Leicester City 38 13 14 11 51 41 +10 53
11 Coventry City 38 12 16 10 46 44 +2 52
12 Southampton 38 14 6 18 50 55 5 48
13 Newcastle United 38 11 11 16 35 44 9 44 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round 2
14 Tottenham Hotspur 38 11 11 16 44 56 12 44
15 Wimbledon 38 10 14 14 34 46 12 44
16 Sheffield Wednesday 38 12 8 18 52 67 15 44
17 Everton 38 9 13 16 41 56 15 40
18 Bolton Wanderers (R) 38 9 13 16 41 61 20 40 Relegation to 1998–99 Football League First Division
19 Barnsley (R) 38 10 5 23 37 82 45 35
20 Crystal Palace (R) 38 8 9 21 37 71 –34 33 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round 3
Relegation to the 1998–99 Football League First Division

Updated to games played on 10 May 1998.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions and were the League Cup winners.
2 As Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their Cup Winners' Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Newcastle United, the losing finalists.
3 Despite being relegated, Crystal Palace qualified for the 1998 Intertoto Cup.
(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 Summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
38 20 3 15 71 43 +28 63 13 2 4 37 14 +23 7 1 11 34 29 +5

Source: 1997-98 FA Premier League table

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHHAAAHHHHAH
Result L W W W W L D W L W L W W L W W W D W D L W L W L L L L W L W L W W W L L W
Position 14 11 6 4 3 5 5 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 3 4 4

Source: 11v11.com: 1997-98 Chelsea results
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Premier League

FA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
4 January 1998 3 Manchester UnitedH3-534,792Le Saux, Vialli (2)

League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
15 October 1997 3 Blackburn RoversH1-118,671 Di Matteo
After extra time, Chelsea won on 4-1 on penalties
19 November 1997 4 SouthamptonH2-120,968Morris, Flo
7 January 1998 QF Ipswich TownA2-222,088Le Saux, Flo
After extra time, Chelsea won on 4-1 on penalties
28 January 1998 SF ArsenalA1-238,144Hughes
18 February 1998 SF ArsenalH3-134,330Petrescu, Di Matteo, Hughes
29 March 1998 F MiddlesbroughN2-077,698Sinclair, Di Matteo

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
8 September 1997 1 Slovan BratislavaH2-023,067Danny Granville, Di Matteo
2 October 1997 1 Slovan BratislavaA2-013,850Di Matteo, Vialli
23 October 1997 2 TromsøA2-36,438Vialli (2)
6 November 1997 2 TromsøH7-129,363Leboeuf, Petrescu (2), Vialli (3), Zola
5 March 1998 QF Real BetisA2-131,000Flo (2)
19 March 1998 QF Real BetisH3-132,300Sinclair, Di Matteo, Zola
2 April 1998 SF VicenzaA0-119,319
16 April 1998 SF VicenzaH3-133,810Poyet, Zola, Hughes
13 May 1998 F VfB StuttgartN1-030,216Zola

First team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

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

No. Position Player
1 Netherlands GK Ed de Goey
2 Romania DF Dan Petrescu
3 Nigeria DF Celestine Babayaro
5 France DF Frank Leboeuf
6 Scotland DF Steve Clarke
7 France DF Bernard Lambourde
8 Uruguay MF Gustavo Poyet
9 Italy FW Gianluca Vialli
10 Wales FW Mark Hughes
11 England MF Dennis Wise (captain)
12 England DF Michael Duberry
13 England GK Kevin Hitchcock
14 England DF Graeme Le Saux
15 England DF David Lee
16 Italy MF Roberto Di Matteo
17 England DF Danny Granville
No. Position Player
18 England DF Andy Myers
19 Norway FW Tore André Flo
20 Jamaica DF Frank Sinclair[2]
21 England MF Paul Hughes
22 England FW Mark Nicholls
23 Russia GK Dmitri Kharine
24 England MF Eddie Newton
25 Italy FW Gianfranco Zola
26 France DF Laurent Charvet (on loan from Cannes)
28 England MF Jody Morris
29 England DF Neil Clement
31 Republic of Ireland GK Nick Colgan
32 Scotland MF Steven Hampshire
33 England FW Joe Sheerin
34 England MF Nick Crittenden
35 England DF Jon Harley

Left club 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
30 Norway GK Frode Grodas (to Tottenham Hotspur)
4 Netherlands DF Ruud Gullit (retired)
No. Position Player
England MF David Rocastle (on loan to Hull City)

Reserve squad

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

No. Position Player
- England DF Stephen Broad
- England DF John Terry
No. Position Player
- England DF Mark Stein

Statistics

No. Pos Nat Player TotalPremier League FA Cup Football League Cup Cup Winners Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Netherlands Ed de Goey 42 0 28 0 1 0 4 0 9 0
2 DF Romania Dan Petrescu 42 8 31 5 1 0 3 1 7 2
3 DF Nigeria Celestine Babayaro 13 0 8 0 0 0 1+1 0 3 0
4 MF Netherlands Ruud Gullit 10 0 0+6 0 0 0 3+1 0 0 0
5 DF France Frank Leboeuf 46 6 32 5 1 0 4 0 9 1
6 DF Scotland Steve Clarke 40 1 22+4 1 1 0 4+2 0 7 0
7 DF France Bernard Lambourde 13 0 5+2 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
8 MF Uruguay Gustavo Poyet 18 5 11+3 4 0 0 0 0 4 1
9 FW Italy Gianluca Vialli 33 19 14+7 11 0+1 2 2+1 0 8 6
10 FW Wales Mark Hughes 39 12 25+4 9 1 0 3+3 2 3 1
11 MF England Dennis Wise 39 3 26 3 0 0 4 0 9 0
12 DF England Michael Duberry 33 0 23 0 1 0 3 0 6 0
13 GK England Kevin Hitchcock 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
14 DF England Graeme Le Saux 34 3 26 1 1 1 4 1 3 0
15 DF England David Lee 3 0 1 0 0 0 0+2 0 0 0
16 MF Italy Roberto Di Matteo 43 10 28+2 4 1 0 4 3 8 3
17 DF England Danny Granville 20 1 9+4 0 0 0 3 0 4 1
18 DF England Andy Myers 17 0 11+1 0 0+1 0 1 0 3 0
19 FW Norway Tore André Flo 44 15 16+18 11 1 0 3+1 2 5 2
20 DF Jamaica Frank Sinclair 32 2 20+2 1 0 0 4+1 1 5 0
21 MF England Paul Hughes 11 0 5+4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
22 FW England Mark Nicholls 24 3 8+11 3 1 0 2 0 2 0
23 GK Russia Dmitri Kharine 10 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 MF England Eddie Newton 29 0 17+1 0 0 0 3+1 0 7 0
25 FW Italy Gianfranco Zola 40 12 23+4 8 1 0 4 0 8 4
26 DF France Laurent Charvet 13 2 7+4 2 0 0 1 0 1 0
28 MF England Jody Morris 14 2 9+2 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
32 FW Scotland Steven Hampshire 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
34 MF England Nick Crittenden 3 0 0+2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
35 DF England Jon Harley 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Statistics taken from . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .

Transfers

In

Out

References

  1. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/chelsea.htm
  2. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally.
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