1997–98 Walsall F.C. season

In the 1997–98 season, Ex-Ajax and Danish international Jan Sorensen took the helm after Nicholl`s departure. Whilst Walsall finished a lowly 19th in Division Two that season, the club reached the fourth round of the League Cup, as well as rampaging through the early rounds of the FA Cup. Lincoln United were dispatched in the first round, before league newcomers Macclesfield Town were beaten 7–0 away and a victory over Peterborough United in the third round was rewarded with a glamour tie away at Manchester United, which Walsall lost 5–1. However, despite the club's cup exploits, a poor finish in the league signalled the end of Sorensen's time at Walsall after just one season.

Final league table

Main article: 1997-98 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Watford	46	13	7	3	36	22	11	9	3	31	19	67	41	+26	88
2	Bristol City	46	16	5	2	41	17	9	5	9	28	22	69	39	+30	85
3	Grimsby Town	46	11	7	5	30	14	8	8	7	25	23	55	37	+18	72
4	Northampton Town	46	14	5	4	33	17	4	12	7	19	20	52	37	+15	71
5	Bristol Rovers	46	13	2	8	43	33	7	8	8	27	31	70	64	+6	70
6	Fulham	46	12	7	4	31	14	8	3	12	29	29	60	43	+17	70
7	Wrexham	46	10	10	3	31	23	8	6	9	24	28	55	51	+4	70
8	Gillingham	46	13	7	3	30	18	6	6	11	22	29	52	47	+5	70
9	Bournemouth	46	11	8	4	28	15	7	4	12	29	37	57	52	+5	66
10	Chesterfield	46	13	7	3	31	19	3	10	10	15	25	46	44	+2	65
11	Wigan Athletic	46	12	5	6	41	31	5	6	12	23	35	64	66	–2	62
12	Blackpool	46	13	6	4	35	24	4	5	14	24	43	59	67	–8	62
13	Oldham Athletic	46	13	7	3	43	23	2	9	12	19	31	62	54	+8	61
14	Wycombe Wanderers	46	10	10	3	32	20	4	8	11	19	33	51	53	–2	60
15	Preston North End	46	10	6	7	29	26	5	8	10	27	30	56	56	±0	59
16	York City	46	9	7	7	26	21	5	10	8	26	37	52	58	–6	59
17	Luton Town	46	7	7	9	35	38	7	8	8	25	26	60	64	–4	57
18	Millwall	46	7	8	8	23	23	7	5	11	20	31	43	54	–11	55
19	Walsall	46	10	8	5	26	16	4	4	15	17	36	43	52	–9	54
20	Burnley	46	10	9	4	34	23	3	4	16	21	42	55	65	–10	52
21	Brentford	46	9	7	7	33	29	2	10	11	17	42	50	71	–21	50
22	Plymouth Argyle	46	10	5	8	36	30	2	8	13	19	40	55	70	–15	49
23	Carlisle United	46	8	5	10	27	28	4	3	16	30	45	57	73	–16	44
24	Southend United	46	8	7	8	29	30	3	3	17	18	49	47	79	–32	43

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Walsall's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Chesterfield	A	1–3	5,193	Platt
16 August 1997	Fulham	H	1–1	4,418	Mountfield
23 August 1997	Gillingham	A	1–2	5,083	Boli
30 August 1997	Southend United	H	3–1	3,304	Boli (3)
2 September 1997	Northampton Town	H	0–2	5,550
9 September 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	6,225
13 September 1997	Preston North End	A	0–0	9,092
20 September 1997	York City	H	2–0	2,972	Boli, Hodge
27 September 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–2	6,207	Boli
4 October 1997	Carlisle United	H	3–1	3,957	Boli (2), Watson
11 October 1997	Wrexham	H	3–0	4,042	Boli, Hodge (pen), Watson
18 October 1997	Brentford	A	0–3	4,874
21 October 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	2–4	3,884	Viveash, Watson
25 October 1997	Bristol City	H	0–0	4,618
1 November 1997	Burnley	A	1–2	9,293	Viveash
4 November 1997	Grimsby Town	H	0–0	2,599
8 November 1997	Watford	H	0–0	5,077
22 November 1997	Luton Town	A	1–0	4,726	Hodge
29 November 1997	Blackpool	H	2–1	3,933	Watson, Boli
3 December 1997	Millwall	A	1–0	4,647	Keates
13 December 1997	Bournemouth	H	2–1	3,548	Boli, Hodge
19 December 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	0–0	4,677
26 December 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	0–1	6,634
28 December 1997	Northampton Town	A	2–3	7,094	Porter, Hodge
10 January 1998	Chesterfield	H	3–2	4,042	Reeves (own goal), Watson (2)
17 January 1998	Southend United	A	1–0	3,310	Watson
31 January 1998	Preston North End	H	1–1	5,377	Hodge (pen)
7 February 1998	York City	A	0–1	2,959
14 February 1998	Carlisle United	A	1–1	4,530	Hodge
21 February 1998	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–1	4,612
24 February 1998	Brentford	H	0–0	3,166
28 February 1998	Wrexham	A	1–2	3,622	Ricketts
3 March 1998	Watford	A	2–1	8,096	Tholot, Blake
7 March 1998	Burnley	H	0–0	5,212
14 March 1998	Grimsby Town	A	0–3	4,916
21 March 1998	Wigan Athletic	H	1–0	3,169	Péron
28 March 1998	Luton Town	H	2–3	3,922	Viveash, Tholot
31 March 1998	Gillingham	H	1–0	3,117	Evans
4 April 1998	Blackpool	A	0–1	4,451
7 April 1998	Fulham	A	1–1	6,733	Boli
11 April 1998	Millwall	H	2–0	3,307	Tholot, Hodge (pen)
14 April 1998	Bournemouth	A	0–1	3,404
18 April 1998	Oldham Athletic	H	0–0	3,562
21 April 1998	Wigan Athletic	A	0–2	2,725
25 April 1998	Bristol City	A	1–2	15,059	Tholot
2 May 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	H	0–1	4,412

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	15 November 1997	Lincoln United	H	2–0	3,279	Watson, Boli
R2	6 December 1997	Macclesfield Town	A	7–0	3,566	Boli (2, 1 pen), Hodge (2, 1 pen), Viveash, Porter (2)
R3	13 January 1998	Peterborough United	A	2–0	12,809	Watson (2)
R4	24 January 1998	Manchester United	A	1–5	54,669	Boli

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	12 August 1997	Exeter City	H	2–0	2,321	Platt, Boli
R1 2nd Leg	26 August 1997	Exeter City	A	1–0 (won 3-0 on agg)	2,467	Boli
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	1–0	7,841	Skinner
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1997	Nottingham Forest	H	2–2 (won 3-2 on agg)	6,037	Watson (2)
R3	14 October 1997	Sheffield United	H	2–1	8,239	Watson, Tiler (own goal)
R4	19 November 1997	West Ham United	A	1–4	17,463	Watson

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	9 December 1997	Barnet	A	2–1	754	Blake, Boli
SR2	6 January 1998	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	5–0	2,562	Watson, Boli (2), Keates, Allan (own goal)
SQF	28 January 1998	Bristol Rovers	A	1–0 (a.e.t.)	4,165	Boli
SSF	17 February 1998	Peterborough United	A	2–1	4,199	Boli, Ricketts
Southern F 1st Leg	10 March 1998	Bournemouth	H	0–2	6,017
Southern F 2nd Leg	17 March 1998	Bournemouth	A	3–2 (lost 3-4 on agg)	8,972	Thomas, Boli, Tholot

Squad

^[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	Jimmy Walker
-	DF	Wayne Evans
-	DF	Adrian Viveash
-	DF	Chris Marsh
-	DF	Derek Mountfield
-	MF	Jean-François Péron
-	MF	Dean Keates
-	MF	Gary Porter
-	FW	Roger Boli
-	FW	John Hodge
-	FW	Andy Watson
-	DF	Ian Roper
-	MF	Mark Blake
-	FW	Didier Tholot

No.	Position	Player
-	FW	Clive Platt
-	MF	John Keister
-	DF	Stuart Ryder
-	MF	Jean-Jacques Eydelie
-	FW	Michael Ricketts
-	MF	Louie Donowa (on loan from Birmingham City)
-	MF	Wayne Thomas
-	MF	Justin Skinner (on loan from Bristol Rovers)
-	FW	John Williams
-	DF	Matt Gadsby
-	FW	Darren Beckford
-	FW	Gijsbert Bos (on loan from Rotherham United)
-	GK	Danny Naisbitt
-	DF	Darren Rogers

References

Walsall Football Club

Players Managers Seasons Records

Home ground	The Chuckery West Bromwich Road Fellows Park Bescot Stadium

Matches	2015 Football League Trophy Final

Walsall F.C. seasons

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 1919–20

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 1939–40

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 1959–60

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 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

001990–91 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 2015–16

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

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

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