1997–98 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1997–98 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Brian Little (until 24 February) ; John Gregory (from 25 February)
Stadium	Villa Park
Premiership	7th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Third round
UEFA Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Yorke (12); All: Yorke (14)
Average home league attendance	36,137

During the 1997–98 English football season, Aston Villa competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

When Brian Little resigned as Aston Villa manager in February, Villa were 15th in the Premiership and were starting to look like outside bets for relegation.^[1] Ruud Gullit, recently sacked by Chelsea, was linked with the vacancy, but the surprise choice for the job was Wycombe manager John Gregory, a former Villa coach.^[2] He influenced a late run of form which saw Villa climb to seventh place and become the lowest-placed English team to achieve automatic UEFA Cup qualification.^[3]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	17	6	15	49	48	+1	57	9	3	7	26	24	+2	8	3	8	23	24	−1

Source: 1997–98 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	D	L	D	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W
Position	18	20	20	20	19	12	9	11	14	8	11	13	14	15	11	13	11	12	12	11	10	10	12	15	13	14	15	14	13	13	12	11	9	8	8	8	7	7

Source: 11v11.com: 1997–98 Aston Villa results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Aston Villa's score comes first^[4]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Leicester City	A	0–1	20,304
13 August 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	0–4	37,112
23 August 1997	Newcastle United	A	0–1	36,783
27 August 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–3	26,317	Yorke 27', Collymore 58'
30 August 1997	Leeds United	H	1–0	39,027	Yorke 67'
13 September 1997	Barnsley	A	3–0	18,649	Ehiogu 25', Draper 50', Taylor 72'
20 September 1997	Derby County	H	2–1	35,444	Yorke 72', Joachim 75'
22 September 1997	Liverpool	A	0–3	34,843
27 September 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–2	32,044	Staunton 32', Taylor 49'
4 October 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–0	24,186	Milošević 12'
18 October 1997	Wimbledon	H	1–2	32,087	Taylor 45'
26 October 1997	Arsenal	A	0–0	38,061
1 November 1997	Chelsea	H	0–2	39,372
8 November 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	21,097	Joachim 86'
22 November 1997	Everton	H	2–1	36,389	Milošević 37', Ehiogu 56'
29 November 1997	West Ham United	A	1–2	24,976	Yorke 47'
6 December 1997	Coventry City	H	3–0	33,250	Collymore 21', Hendrie 71', Joachim 85'
15 December 1997	Manchester United	A	0–1	55,151
20 December 1997	Southampton	H	1–1	29,343	Taylor 64'
26 December 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	4–1	38,644	Draper 38', 68', Collymore 81', 89'
28 December 1997	Leeds United	A	1–1	36,287	Milošević 85'
10 January 1998	Leicester City	H	1–1	36,429	Joachim 87'
17 January 1998	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–5	24,834
1 February 1998	Newcastle United	H	0–1	38,266
7 February 1998	Derby County	A	1–0	30,251	Yorke 90'
18 February 1998	Manchester United	H	0–2	39,372
21 February 1998	Wimbledon	A	1–2	13,131	Milošević 41'
28 February 1998	Liverpool	H	2–1	39,372	Collymore 10', 65'
8 March 1998	Chelsea	A	1–0	33,018	Joachim 51'
11 March 1998	Barnsley	H	0–1	29,519
14 March 1998	Crystal Palace	H	3–1	33,781	Taylor 1', Milošević pen 14', 35'
28 March 1998	Everton	A	4–1	36,471	Joachim 12', Charles 62', Yorke pen 72', 81'
4 April 1998	West Ham United	H	2–0	39,372	Joachim 76', Milošević 82'
11 April 1998	Coventry City	A	2–1	22,792	Yorke 5', 48'
18 April 1998	Southampton	A	2–1	15,238	Hendrie 6', Yorke 60'
25 April 1998	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–3	38,392	Taylor 57'
2 May 1998	Sheffield Wednesday	A	3–1	34,177	Yorke 21', Hendrie 25', Joachim 50'
10 May 1998	Arsenal	H	1–0	39,372	Yorke 37' (pen)

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1998	Portsmouth	A	2–2	16,013	Staunton 41', Grayson 88'
R3R	14 January 1998	Portsmouth	H	1–0	23,355	Milošević 21'
R4	24 January 1998	West Bromwich Albion	H	4–0	39,372	Grayson 4', Yorke 61', 64', Collymore 72'
R5	14 February 1998	Coventry City	H	0–1	36,979

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	15 October 1997	West Ham United	A	0–3	20,360

UEFA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st leg	16 September 1997	Bordeaux	A	0–0	16,800
R1 2nd leg	30 September 1997	Bordeaux	H	1–0 (won 1–0 on agg)	33,072	Milošević 111'
R2 1st leg	21 October 1997	Athletic Bilbao	A	0–0	46,000
R2 2nd leg	4 November 1997	Athletic Bilbao	H	2–1 (won 2–1 on agg)	35,915	Taylor 28', Yorke 50'
R3 1st leg	25 November 1997	Steaua Bucharest	A	1–2	24,000	Yorke 54'
R3 2nd leg	9 December 1997	Steaua Bucharest	H	2–0 (won 3–2 on agg)	35,102	Milošević 71', Taylor 85'
QF 1st leg	3 March 1998	Atlético Madrid	A	0–1	45,000
QF 2nd leg	17 March 1998	Atlético Madrid	H	2–1 (lost on away goals)	39,163	Taylor 72', Collymore 74'

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[5]^[6]^[7]

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Mark Bosnich
2	DF	Gary Charles
3	DF	Steve Staunton
4	DF	Gareth Southgate
5	DF	Ugo Ehiogu
7	MF	Ian Taylor
8	MF	Mark Draper
9	FW	Savo Milošević^{[notes 1]}
10	FW	Dwight Yorke
11	FW	Stan Collymore
12	FW	Julian Joachim

No.	Position	Player
13	GK	Michael Oakes
14	DF	Alan Wright
15	DF	Fernando Nélson
16	DF	Simon Grayson
17	MF	Lee Hendrie
20	DF	Riccardo Scimeca
22	FW	Darius Vassell
24	DF	Gareth Barry
25	FW	Darren Byfield^{[notes 2]}
27	FW	Richard Walker

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
6	MF	Andy Townsend^{[notes 3]} (to Middlesbrough)
18	MF	Saša Ćurčić (to Crystal Palace)
24	MF	Scott Murray (to Bristol City)

No.		Position	Player
29		GK	Paul Crichton (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
31		GK	Stuart Brock (to Kidderminster Harriers)

Reserve squad

The following players made most of their appearances this season for the reserves, and did not appear for the first-team, or only appeared for the first-team in friendlies.

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

No.	Position	Player
19	DF	David Hughes
21	DF	Lee Collins
23	FW	Neil Davis
30	GK	Adam Rachel
	GK	Marcus Hahnemann (on trial)
	GK	Saša Ilić^{[notes 4]} (on trial from St Leonard Stamcroft)
	DF	Guy Hadland
	DF	Tommy Jaszczun

No.		Position	Player
		DF	Aaron Lescott
		DF	Ben Petty
		DF	Leslie Hines
		DF	Danny Tiatto (on trial from Baden)
		MF	Darren Middleton
		MF	Alan Kirby
		MF	Daragh Sheridan
		FW	Alan Lee

Youth squad

The following players spent most of the season playing for the youth team, and did not appear for the first team, but may have appeared for the reserve team.

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

No.	Position	Player
29	GK	Matthew Ghent
	GK	Nikki Bull
	GK	Michael Price
	DF	Michael Blackwood
	DF	Liam Folds
	DF	Reuben Hazell
	DF	Jamie Kearns
	DF	Dominic Reece
	DF	Martin Ridley
	DF	Stuary Thornley
	DF	Gary McSeveney
	DF	Bradley Blackburn
	DF	Jlloyd Samuel^{[notes 5]}
	MF	Mark Appleby
	MF	David Berks

No.		Position	Player
		MF	David Harding
		MF	Alex Meredith
		MF	Luke Prince
		MF	Nathan Pulisciano
		MF	Jay Smith
		MF	Michael Standing
		MF	Philip Tongue
		MF	Gregory Walters
		MF	Gavin Melaugh
		MF	David Curtolo
		FW	Stephen Evans
		FW	Darius Vassell
		FW	Brian Mulholland
			J Smallman
			Wood

Trainees

The following players were signed to Aston Villa as trainees, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.

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

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Philip Elias

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Matthew George

Schoolboys

The following players were signed to Aston Villa as associated schoolboys, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.

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

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Boaz Myhill^{[notes 6]}
		DF	Jon Bewers
		DF	Calum Davenport
		MF	Bertie Brayley
			Liam Bell
			Jonathan Britton
			David Court
			James Halliday
			Daniel Impey
			Ben Jackson
			Peter McConnell

No.		Position	Player
			Owain Prosser
			Ashley Pulisciano
			Martin Reeves
			Jonathan Rhule
			Matthew Roberts
			Jordan Ryan
			Stephen Stock
			Martin Tranter
			Matthew Tucker
			Anthony Watson

Other players

The following players were signed to Aston Villa on unknown contractual terms, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.

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

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Anders Rotevatn (on trial)
		DF	Jordan Stewart
		MF	Kenny Pavey (on trial from Sittingbourne)
		MF	Jamie Shore (on trial from Norwich City)

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Christian Hansson (on trial from Landskrona BoIS)
		FW	Henrik Nebrelius (on trial from Ystads IF)
			Bank

Statistics

Starting 11

No.	Pos.	Name	MS
1	GK	Mark Bosnich	42
15	RB	Fernando Nélson	28
5	CB	Ugo Ehiogu	48
4	CB	Gareth Southgate	43
3	CB	Steve Staunton	38
14	LB	Alan Wright	48
8	CM	Mark Draper	43
16	CM	Simon Grayson	36
7	CM	Ian Taylor	42
10	SS	Dwight Yorke	40
11	CF	Stan Collymore	34

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
27 November 1997	MF	David Curtolo	Västerås SK	£30,000
5 June 1998	MF	Alan Thompson	Bolton Wanderers	£4,500,000
24 June 1998	MF	Fabio Ferraresi	Cesena	Free transfer
24 June 1998	DF	David Unsworth	West Ham United	£3,000,000

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
29 August 1997	MF	Andy Townsend	Middlesbrough	£500,000
1 September 1997	GK	Stuart Brock	Kidderminster Harriers	Free transfer
9 December 1997	MF	Scott Murray	Bristol City	£150,000
26 March 1998	MF	Saša Ćurčić	Crystal Palace	£1,000,000
1 July 1998	FW	Savo Milošević	Real Zaragoza	£3,500,000
3 July 1998	DF	Steve Staunton	Liverpool	Free transfer
7 July 1998	DF	Fernando Nélson	Porto	£1,100,000

Transfers in:

£7,530,000

Transfers out:

£6,250,000

Total spending:

£1,280,000

References

↑ "Little resigns from Villa". BBC Sport. 24 February 1998. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ "Ex-backroom boy gets Villa job". BBC Sport. 25 February 1998. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ Aston Villa 1997/1998. WorldFootball.net. Accessed 2 March 2012.
↑ Soccerbase: 1997–98 Aston Villa results
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/avilla.htm
↑ http://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/1998
↑ http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/1997-98.html

Notes

↑ Milošević was born in Bijeljina, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina).
↑ Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.
↑ Townsend was born in Maidstone, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1989.
↑ Ilić was born in Melbourne, Australia, but also qualified to represent FR Yugoslavia internationally and would make his international debut for FR Yugoslavia in December 1998.
↑ Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-18, U-20, and U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.
↑ Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, and U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.

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[1] "Little resigns from Villa". BBC Sport. 24 February 1998. Retrieved 22 November 2013.

[2] "Ex-backroom boy gets Villa job". BBC Sport. 25 February 1998. Retrieved 22 November 2013.

[3] Aston Villa 1997/1998. WorldFootball.net. Accessed 2 March 2012.

[4] Soccerbase: 1997–98 Aston Villa results

[5] ttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1997-1998/faprem/avilla.htm

[6] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/1998

[7] ttp://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/1997-98.html

[8] Milošević was born in Bijeljina, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina).

[9] Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.

[10] Townsend was born in Maidstone, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1989.

[11] Ilić was born in Melbourne, Australia, but also qualified to represent FR Yugoslavia internationally and would make his international debut for FR Yugoslavia in December 1998.

[12] Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-18, U-20, and U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.

[13] Myhill was born in Modesto, California, United States, but was raised in England from the age of 1, qualifying to represent any of the home nations. He represented England at U-17, and U-18, and U-20 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2008.