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1997–98 Manchester City F.C. season

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Manchester City
1997–98 season
ChairmanFrancis Lee
David Bernstein
ManagerFrank Clark (until 17 February)
Joe Royle (from 18 February)
StadiumMaine Road
First Division22nd (relegated)
FA CupFourth round
League CupFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Paul Dickov (9)
All:
Paul Dickov (9)
Highest home attendance32,040 – (25 April vs Queens Park Rangers, First Division)
Lowest home attendance12,563 – (12 August vs Blackpool, League Cup first round)
Average home league attendance28,037

The 1997–98 season was Manchester City's second in the First Division following relegation from the Premier League in 1995–96. The 1996–97 season had been a turbulent one; Five different managers took charge of the team over the course of the season (three permanent appointments and two caretakers), including Steve Coppell, who resigned after just 32 days as manager.[1] Frank Clark became manager in December 1996 and was in charge for the start of the 1997–98 season.

Despite speculation that linked him with a transfer, 1996–97 Player of the Season Georgi Kinkladze stayed at the club, and signed a three-year contract that made him the highest-paid player in Manchester City's history.[2] The highest profile signing was striker Lee Bradbury, who joined from Portsmouth for a club record £3 million.[3] Defender Tony Vaughan arrived from Ipswich Town. His transfer free was decided by tribunal and set at £1.35 million, more than double City's valuation.[4] The club also signed Dutch midfielder Gerard Wiekens from BV Veendam for £500,000.[5] Wiekens had agreed to join the club in March, but the move only took place once the previous season had finished.[6] Departing was Peter Beagrie, sold to Bradford City for £200,000.[7] In an early-season interview with the Sunday Times, Frank Clark bemoaned the difficulty of reducing the size of his squad, which contained 40 senior professionals: "This squad is too big, but a lot of the players are on good contracts which other clubs won't match. You can't blame them for staying." "We've got around 12 very good youngsters whose potential is really encouraging, but they can't get a reserve-team game. Because we've got to fill the reserves with senior pros needing match practice or players we're trying to sell, the youngsters' development is held up."[8]

Joe Royle replaced Frank Clark in February 1998.

Off the field, the club introduced a new badge, and changed the colour of the home shirt to a much deeper shade termed "laser blue". The new kit was made by Kappa; this ended a 63-year association with Umbro.[9]

In its preview of the forthcoming season, The Times listed bookmakers odds that put Manchester City as 6/1 joint second favourites to win the division.[10]

Team kit

[edit]
Home
Away
Third

League

[edit]

The league campaign started with a home match against Portsmouth. Bradbury, Vaughan and Wiekens all made their debuts. The match finished 2–2, with a debut goal for Wiekens.[11] The first away match was a trip to Sunderland, a match that was the first competitive fixture at the Stadium of Light. City lost 3–1 to a team spearheaded by their former striker Niall Quinn. Jason van Blerk made his debut in the match, having signed on a free transfer in the run-up to the fixture.[12] The first league win did not arrive until the fifth match, when Nottingham Forest were beaten at the City Ground.[13] Three games later City's second win of the season was emphatic, 6–0 at home to Swindon Town.

Lee Bradbury cracked a vertebra at the start of October, and coupled with an injury to Uwe Rösler, City were left with few options in attack.[11] The team scored just one goal in October. A succession of reserve strikers were tried; Barry Conlon, Chris Greenacre, Ray Kelly and Gerry Creaney all saw their first action of the season.[11] The situation was exacerbated in late October when Kinkladze crashed his Ferrari, sustaining a back injury that required 30 stitches and caused him to miss two matches.[14] By November City lay in the relegation zone with just 3 wins from 16 matches.[15] A home defeat to Huddersfield Town led to open rebellion amongst the club's supporters. On the tenth anniversary of a match in which the same opposition were beaten 10–1, Manchester City succumbed to a defeat that was last-placed club Huddersfield's first away win of the season.[16] Choruses of "You're not fit to wear the shirt" rang out during the match.[17] Afterward two thousand supporters held a demonstration demanding the resignation of chairman Francis Lee.[18] The season hit a new low with 3–1 away defeat to local rivals Stockport County who were having the best season in their history. The club picked up enough wins here and there to at least stay out of the relegation zone, but then a horrific run of form after Christmas saw the club dumped to the bottom of the table following a 2–1 loss to Ipswich Town in February. This proved the end of the road for Clark, who was sacked later that day and replaced by Joe Royle, who had been out of the game since resigning as Everton manager a year prior.

A run of three wins from Royle's first four matches seemed to get things back on track for City, but then the club's form slumped again, and most damagingly they lost virtually all of their matches against the other teams involved in the relegation struggle. Francis Lee finally resigned during this poor run-in, with David Bernstein replacing him as chairman. A failure to beat Queens Park Rangers in their penultimate match left the Blues needing to defeat Stoke City and hope that at least one of Port Vale and Portsmouth would fail to win their own final matches to preserve their First Division status. In the end, City were able to beat Stoke, however both Port Vale and Portsmouth also won that day to send City into the third tier for the first time in their history.

Table

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
20 Portsmouth 46 13 10 23 51 63 −12 49
21 Queens Park Rangers 46 10 19 17 51 63 −12 49
22 Manchester City (R) 46 12 12 22 56 57 −1 48 Relegation to the Second Division
23 Stoke City (R) 46 11 13 22 44 74 −30 46
24 Reading (R) 46 11 9 26 39 78 −39 42
Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(R) Relegated

Results summary

[edit]
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
46 12 12 22 56 57  −1 48 6 6 11 28 26  +2 6 6 11 28 31  −3

Source: [1]

Matches

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9 August 1997 1 Manchester City 2-2 Portsmouth Manchester
Rösler 16'
Wiekens 55'		 Aloisi 5'
Hall 80'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 30,474
Referee: David Laws
15 August 1997 2 Sunderland 3–1 Manchester City Sunderland
Quinn 17'
Phillips 84'
Clark 89'		 Kinkladze 76' (pen.) Stadium: Stadium of Light
Attendance: 38,827
Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme
22 August 1997 3 Manchester City 1-1 Tranmere Rovers Manchester
Horlock 46' Jones 61' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 26,336
Referee: John Brandwood
29 August 1997 4 Charlton Athletic 2–1 Manchester City London
Van Blerk 67' (o.g.)
Jones 69'		 Wiekens 20' Stadium: The Valley
Attendance: 14,009
Referee: Rob Harris
3 September 1997 5 Nottingham Forest 1-3 Manchester City Nottingham
Campbell 81' Brannan 20', 71'
Dickov 88'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 23,681
Referee: Stephen Finch
12 September 1997 6 Bury 1–1 Manchester City Bury
Johnson 65' Morley 81' Stadium: Gigg Lane
Attendance: 11,216
Referee: Phil Richards
20 September 1997 7 Manchester City 1-2 Norwich City Manchester
Bradbury 27' Adams 38'
Coote 64'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 27,258
Referee: Alan Butler
27 September 1997 8 Manchester City 6-0 Swindon Town Manchester
Kinkladze 7'
Casper 17' (o.g.)
Horlock 37'
Dickov 50', 59'
Bradbury 80'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 26,646
Referee: Roy Pearson
4 October 1997 9 Ipswich Town 1-0 Manchester City Ipswich
Mathie 63' Stadium: Portman Road
Attendance: 14,322
Referee: Mike Bailey
18 October 1997 10 Manchester City 0-0 Reading Manchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 26,488
22 October 1997 11 Manchester City 0-1 Stoke City Manchester
Wallace 63' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 25,333
Referee: Anthony Leake
26 October 1997 12 Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Manchester City Shepherd's Bush, London
Ready 13'
Peacock 33'		 Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 14,451
Referee: Rob Harris
29 October 1997 13 Manchester City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra Manchester
Greenacre 44' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 27,384
Referee: Kevin Lynch
1 November 1997 14 Oxford United 0-0 Manchester City Oxford
Stadium: Kassam Stadium
Attendance: 8,592
Referee: David Orr
4 November 1997 15 Manchester City 2-3 Port Vale Manchester
Wiekens 15'
Dickov 41'		 Snijders 17'
Talbot 45'
Naylor 50'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 24,554
Referee: John Brandwood
7 November 1997 16 Manchester City 0-1 Huddersfield Town Manchester
Edwards 76' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 24,425
Referee: Graham Frankland
15 November 1997 17 Sheffield United 1-1 Manchester City Sheffield
Deane 21' Horlock 90' Stadium: Bramall Lane
Attendance: 23,850
Referee: Paul Rejer
22 November 1997 18 Manchester City 1–0 Bradford City Manchester
Vaughan 90' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 29,746
Referee: Guy Stretton
21 November 1998 19 Stockport County 3-1 Manchester City Stockport
Cook 6'
Armstrong 8'
Angell 30'		 Brannan 49' Stadium: Edgeley Park
Attendance: 11,351
Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme
28 November 1998 20 West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Manchester City West Bromwich
Dickov 55' Stadium: The Hawthorns
Attendance: 17,904
Referee: John Kirkby
6 December 1997 21 Manchester City 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Manchester
Symons 42' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,999
Referee: Clive Wilkes
13 December 1997 22 Birmingham City 2–1 Manchester City Birmingham
O'Connor 90'
Forster 90'		 Shelia 88' Stadium: St Andrew's
Attendance: 21,014
Referee: Andy D'Urso
20 December 1997 23 Manchester City 2-0 Middlesbrough Manchester
Rösler 17' (pen.)
Dickov 32'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,097
Referee: Mike C Bailey
26 December 1997 24 Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Manchester City Crewe
Holsgrove 19' Stadium: Alexandra Stadium
Attendance: 5,759
Referee: Trevor Jones
28 December 1997 25 Manchester City 2-3 Nottingham Forest Manchester
Shelia 56'
Dickov 77'		 van Hooijdonk 31' (pen.), 53' (pen.)
Campbell 50'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 31,839
Referee: Alan Wiley
10 January 1998 26 Portsmouth 0-3 Manchester City Portsmouth
Russell 44'
Kinkladze 51'
Rösler 89'		 Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 13,512
Referee: Paul Taylor
17 January 1998 27 Manchester City 0-1 Sunderland Manchester
Phillips 55' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 31,715
Referee: Matt Messias
28 January 1998 28 Manchester City 2-2 Charlton Athletic Manchester
Dickov 7' (pen.)
Symons 88'		 Jones 74', 90' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 24,058
Referee: Phil Richards
31 January 1998 29 Tranmere Rovers 0–0 Manchester City Birkenhead
Stadium: Prenton Park
Attendance: 12,830
Referee: Clive Wilkes
7 February 1998 30 Norwich City 0–0 Manchester City Norwich
Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 15,274
Referee: Barry Knight
14 February 1998 31 Manchester City 0-1 Bury Manchester
Butler 52' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,885
Referee: Terry Heilbron
18 February 1998 32 Manchester City 1-2 Ipswich Town Manchester
Symons 5' Mathie 83'
Dyer 90'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 27,156
Referee: Graham Frankland
21 February 1998 33 Swindon Town 1-3 Manchester City Swindon
Cowe 71' Rösler 22', 77'
Bradbury 83'		 Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 12,280
Referee: Brian Coddington
24 February 1998 34 Reading 3-0 Manchester City Reading
Hodges 8'
Houghton 29'
Asaba 89'		 Stadium: Elm Park
Attendance: 11,513
Referee: Anthony Bates
28 February 1998 35 Manchester City 1-0 West Bromwich Albion Manchester
Rösler 43' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,460
Referee: Alan Butler
3 March 1998 36 Huddersfield Town 1-3 Manchester City Huddersfield
Dalton 38' (pen.) Wiekens 10'
Briscoe 45'
Tskhadadze 65'		 Stadium: Alfred McAlpine Stadion
Attendance: 15,694
Referee: George Cain
7 March 1998 37 Manchester City 0-2 Oxford United Manchester
Beauchamp 44'
Cook 81'		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,720
Referee: William Burns (referee)
14 March 1998 38 Port Vale 2-1 Manchester City Stoke-on-Trent
Foyle 13'
Ainsworth 73'		 Wiekens 61' Stadium: Vale Park
Attendance: 13,122
Referee: Roger Furnandiz
21 March 1998 39 Manchester City 0-0 Sheffield United Manchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 28,496
Referee: Roy Pearson
28 March 1998 40 Bradford City 2-1 Manchester City Bradford
Pepper 49'
Edinho 66'		 Whitley 24' Stadium: Valley Parade
Attendance: 17,099
Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme
4 April 1998 41 Manchester City 4-1 Stockport County Manchester
Goater 5'
Jobson 32'
Bradbury 37', 57'		 Wilbraham 6' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 31,855
Referee: Rob Harris
11 April 1998 42 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Manchester City Wolverhampton
Margetson 34'
Simpson 85'		 Pollock 13'
Horlock 63'		 Stadium: Molineux Stadium
Attendance: 24,458
Referee: Mark Halsey
13 April 1998 43 Manchester City 0-1 Birmingham City Manchester
Adebola 90' Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 29,569
Referee: Terry Heilbron
17 April 1998 44 Middlesbrough 1-0 Manchester City Middlesbrough
Armstrong 43' Stadium: Riverside Stadium
Attendance: 30,182
Referee: Alan Wiley
25 April 1998 45 Manchester City 2-2 Queens Park Rangers Manchester
Kinkladze 1'
Bradbury 48'		 Sheron 8'
Pollock 21' (o.g.)		 Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 32,040
3 May 1998 46 Stoke City 2-5 Manchester City Stoke-on-Trent
Thorne 62', 87' Goater 32', 71'
Dickov 49'
Bradbury 64'
Horlock 90'		 Stadium: Britannia Stadium
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Mike C Bailey

FA Cup

[edit]

Manchester City entered the FA Cup in the third round, the starting point for all clubs in the top two divisions. Drawn at home to fellow First Division club Bradford City, Manchester City won 2–0.[19] Another home tie followed in the fourth round, against Premier League club West Ham United. City trailed 1–0 at half time, but a solo goal from Georgi Kinkladze levelled the score. A penalty gave City the chance to take the lead, but Uwe Rösler's kick went high over the crossbar.[20] Two minutes later, former City player Steve Lomas scored for West Ham.[21] City lost 2–1 and exited the competition.

Date Round Opponents H / A Venue Result
F – A 		Scorers Attendance
3 January 1998 Third round Bradford City H Maine Road 2 – 0 Brown, Rösler 23,686
25 January 1998 Fourth round West Ham United H Maine Road 1 – 2 Kinkladze 26,495

League Cup

[edit]

Manchester City entered the League Cup in the first round for the first time. In previous years, the club's league position had been sufficient to gain a bye into the second round. Blackpool were the opposition in the first round, for which ties were played over two legs. In the first leg, at Bloomfield Road, City lost 1–0.[22] The return leg was chosen for live television coverage.[23] Kevin Horlock scored with two minutes of normal time remaining to make the score 1–1 on aggregate and take the tie to extra time.[24] No goals were scored in extra time, so the result was decided by a penalty shootout. Horlock and Bradbury's kicks missed, and Blackpool won the shootout 4–2.[25]

Date Round Opponents H / A Venue Result
F – A 		Scorers Attendance
12 August 1997 First round first leg Blackpool A Bloomfield Road 0 – 1 8,084
26 August 1997 First round second leg Blackpool H Maine Road 1 – 0 (aet, 2 – 4 pens) Horlock 12,563

Squad

[edit]

Appearances for competitive matches only, substitute appearances in brackets
Source:[26]

Pos. Name Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
League FA Cup League Cup Total
GK Wales Martyn Margetson 28 0 0 0 2 0 30 0
GK Northern Ireland Tommy Wright 18 0 2 0 0 0 20 0
DF England Paul Beesley 4 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 4 (3) 0
DF England Ian Brightwell 19 (2) 0 2 0 2 0 23 (2) 0
DF England Lee Briscoe 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1
DF England Lee Crooks 3 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (2) 0
DF England Richard Edghill 36 0 1 0 0 0 37 0
DF England Richard Jobson 6 1 0 0 0 0 6 1
DF Republic of Ireland Alan Kernaghan 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
DF England Dave Morley 1 (2) 1 0 0 0 0 1 (2) 0
DF Georgia (country) Murtaz Shelia 12 2 2 0 0 0 14 2
DF Wales Kit Symons 42 2 1 0 1 0 44 2
DF Georgia (country) Kakhaber Tskhadadze 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
DF Australia Jason van Blerk 10 (9) 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 10 (11) 0
DF England Tony Vaughan 19 1 0 0 2 0 21 1
DF/MF Netherlands Gerard Wiekens 35 (2) 5 1 0 2 0 38 (2) 5
MF England Peter Beardsley 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 5 (1) 0
MF England Ian Bishop 4 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 4 (2) 0
MF England Ged Brannan 27 (5) 3 1 0 2 0 32 (5) 3
MF England Michael Brown 18 (8) 0 0 0 1 0 18 (8) 0
MF England Neil Heaney 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
MF Northern Ireland Kevin Horlock 25 5 0 0 2 1 27 6
MF Georgia (country) Georgi Kinkladze 29 (1) 4 2 1 2 0 33 (1) 5
MF Republic of Ireland Eddie McGoldrick 6 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 6 (2) 0
MF Scotland Jamie Pollock 8 1 0 0 0 0 8 1
MF Republic of Ireland Tony Scully 1 (8) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (8) 0
MF England Nicky Summerbee 4 (5) 0 0 0 2 0 6 (5) 0
MF Northern Ireland Jeff Whitley 14 (3) 1 1 0 0 0 15 (3) 1
MF Northern Ireland Jim Whitley 17 (2) 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 18 (3) 0
FW England Lee Bradbury 23 (4) 7 0 0 2 0 25 (4) 7
FW Scotland Gerry Creaney 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FW Republic of Ireland Barry Conlon 1 (6) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (6) 0
FW Scotland Paul Dickov 21 (9) 9 2 0 0 (1) 0 23 (10) 9
FW Bermuda Shaun Goater 7 3 0 0 0 0 7 3
FW England Chris Greenacre 2 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 2 (2) 0
FW Republic of Ireland Ray Kelly 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FW Germany Uwe Rösler 23 (6) 6 2 1 2 0 27 (6) 7
FW England Craig Russell 17 (7) 1 2 0 0 0 19 (7) 1

Transfers

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Buckley, Andy; Burgess, Richard (2000). Blue Moon Rising: The Fall and Rise of Manchester City. Bury: Milo. ISBN 0-9530847-4-4. p. 132.
  2. ^ "Fergie's £15m for Fab Gab". Sunday Mirror. 18 May 1997.
  3. ^ Manchester City F.C. Official Handbook 1997-98, p. 19.
  4. ^ a b "Football". Independent. 17 July 1997.
  5. ^ Manchester City F.C. Official Handbook 1997-98, p. 33.
  6. ^ a b Adam Szreter (14 March 1997). "Merson to be out of action for six weeks". Independent.
  7. ^ a b "Football Round-up". Independent. 3 July 1997.
  8. ^ Louise Taylor (17 August 1997). "Clark attempting to rekindle City's lights". Sunday Times.
  9. ^ James, Gary (2012). Manchester The City Years. Halifax: James Ward. pp. 454–5. ISBN 978-0-9558127-7-4.
  10. ^ "Club-by-Club guide to the Nationwide League - First Division". The Times. 7 August 1997.
  11. ^ a b c Buckley & Burgess, Blue Moon Rising, p. 145.
  12. ^ a b "Stockport chase Robins". Independent. 12 August 1997.
  13. ^ John Lawson (4 September 1997). "Brannan double eases Clark woe". The Guardian. p. 22.
  14. ^ Clayton, David (2005). Kinkladze: The Perfect 10?. Manchester: Parrs Wood Press. p. 113. ISBN 1-903158-60-5.
  15. ^ "English Division One 1997-1998 : Table 09.11.1997". Statto organisation. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  16. ^ Derek Potter (8 November 1997). "Edwards volley sinks City". The Guardian. p. A12.
  17. ^ David Maddock (8 November 1997). "Huddersfield add to City's gloom". The Times.
  18. ^ Derick Allsop (8 November 1997). "City suffer another humiliation". Independent.
  19. ^ "Clark's on the up n' up". Sunday Mirror. 4 January 1998.
  20. ^ Ian Ross (26 January 1998). "Rosler boots a win into the air". The Guardian. p. A3.
  21. ^ Ian Ross (26 January 1998). "Lomas returns to City with interest". The Times.
  22. ^ "Unconvincing City slip up at Blackpool". Independent. 13 August 1997.
  23. ^ "Manchester City 's Coca-Cola Cup first round second leg with Blackpool brought forward". Independent. 14 August 1997.
  24. ^ Mark Pierson (27 August 1997). "Mellon on the spot to see Blackpool through". Independent.
  25. ^ Ian Whittell (27 August 1997). "Kinkladze's injury adds to woe for City". The Times.
  26. ^ James, Manchester City – The Complete Record, pp. 462–3.
  27. ^ "Football Round-Up". Independent. 20 April 1997.
  28. ^ Alan Nixon (31 July 1997). "Kendall poised to offer £7m for Cole". Independent.
  29. ^ Rupert Metcalf (16 August 1997). "Saints dispense with Van Gobbel". Independent.
  30. ^ a b c d "On the move". Independent on Sunday. 15 March 1998.
  31. ^ a b c "On the move". Independent on Sunday. 22 March 1998.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g "Yesterday's deadline-day deals". Independent. 27 March 1998.
  33. ^ "Spurs ponder action on Iversen". Independent. 12 September 1997.
  34. ^ "Shearer set for New Year return". Guardian. 20 September 1997. p. 12.
  35. ^ "On the move". Independent. 21 September 1997.
  36. ^ Gordon Simpson (27 December 1997). "Back in line". Daily Record.
  37. ^ "Pressure mounts for Waddle and his men". Lancashire County Publications. 5 January 1998.
  38. ^ "Sidelines: Gers trade with Hearts flowers". Independent. 28 February 1998.
  39. ^ Richard Burgess (16 March 1998). "Blues boss targets double swoop". Manchester Evening News.
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