1997–98 Reading F.C. season

Reading

1997–98 season
Chairman	John Madejski
Manager	Terry Bullivant until 18 March 1998 Alan Pardew (caretaker-manager) Tommy Burns from 25 March 1998
Stadium	Elm Park
First Division	24th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Quarter-finals

During the 1997–98 English football season, Reading F.C. competed in the Football League First Division. It was their first season under new manager Terry Bullivant, but due to poor results, Bullivant was sacked in March 1998. Alan Pardew was caretaker-manager for seven days before the club appointed Tommy Burns.

Season summary

The 1997–98 season was another struggle for Reading, as they sucomed to relegation to the Second Division

Squad

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

No. Position Player GK Jamie Ashdown GK Sal Bibbo GK Nick Hammond GK Scott Howie GK Steve Mautone GK Nick Colgan (Loan from Chelsea) DF Andy Bernal DF Paul Bodin DF Martyn Booty DF Gareth Davies DF Paddy Kelly (Loan from Newcastle United) DF Andy Legg DF Keith McPherson DF Linvoy Primus DF Steve Swales DF Michael Thorp DF Dariusz Wdowczyk DF Barry Hunter MF Darren Caskey

No. Position Player MF Jimmy Crawford MF Byron Glasgow MF Stuart Gray MF Lee Hodges MF Ray Houghton MF Michael Meaker MF Stuart Lovell MF Phil Parkinson MF Michael O'Neill FW Carl Asaba FW Jason Bowen FW Paul Brayson FW Robert Fleck FW Jamie Lambert FW Jim McIntyre FW Trevor Morley FW Neville Roach FW Martin Williams

Transfers^[1]

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee
15 July 1997	MF		Ray Houghton	Crystal Palace	Free
1 August 1997	DF		Linvoy Primus	Barnet	£250,000
1 August 1997	MF		Lee Hodges	Barnet	£250,000
7 August 1997	FW		Carl Asaba	Brentford	£800,000
23 September 1997	FW		David Whyte	Charlton Athletic	Non-contract
26 December 1997	FW		Jason Bowen	Birmingham City	£200,000
20 February 1998	DF		Andy Legg	Birmingham City	£75,000
26 March 1998	MF		Stuart Gray	Celtic	£100,000
26 March 1998	FW		Jim McIntyre	Kilmarnock	£440,000
26 March 1998	FW		Paul Brayson	Newcastle United	£100,000
26 March 1998	GK		Scott Howie	Motherwell	£30,000
26 March 1998	MF		Jimmy Crawford	Newcastle United	£50,000
26 March 1998	FW		Robert Fleck	Norwich City	£50,000

Loan in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until
29 August 1997	FW		Mark Robins	Leicester City	26 September 1997
5 September 1997	DF		Lee Sandford	Sheffield United	04 October1997
26 February 1998	GK		Nick Colgan	Chelsea	31 May 1998
1 March 1998	MF		Michael O'Neill	Coventry City	3 May 1998
26 March 1998	DF		Paddy Kelly	Newcastle United	31 May 1998

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
10 August 1995	FW		Lee Nogan	Grimsby Town	£170,000
10 August 1995	FW		David Whyte	Ipswich Town	Monthly
21 November 1997	MF		Paul Holsgrove	Crewe Alexandra	Non-contract
1 March 1998	MF		Ben Smith	Yeovil Town	Unknown

Released

Date	Position	Nationality	Name
31 May 1998	DF		Steve Swales
31 May 1998	FW		Trevor Morley
31 May 1998	MF		Alan Pardew
31 May 1998			Andy Freeman
31 May 1998	MF		Michael Meaker
31 May 1998	DF		Dariusz Wdowczyk
31 May 1998			Michael Thorp
31 May 1998	DF		Paul Bodin
30 June 1998	GK		Sal Bibbo

Results

Football League First Division

Main article: 1997–98 Football League

Results

Bury v Reading

9 August 1997	Bury	1 – 1	Reading	Gigg Lane
	Armstrong  52'	[ Report]	Swales 13'

Reading v Swindon Town

16 August 1997	Reading	0 – 1	Swindon Town	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Hay  18'

Birmingham City v Reading

23 August 1997	Birmingham City	3 – 0	Reading	St Andrew's
	Devlin  38' Bruce  81' Ndlovu  88'	[ Report]	Bernal  68'

Reading v Bradford City

30 August 1997	Reading	0 – 3	Bradford City	Elm Park
	Lawrence  10' Pepper  17', 66'	[ Report]

Reading v Queens Park Rangers

2 September 1997	Reading	1 – 2	Queens Park Rangers	Elm Park
	Hodges  10'	[ Report]	Spencer  71' Swales  72' (o.g.)

West Bromwich Albion v Reading

7 September 1997	West Bromwich Albion	1 – 0	Reading	The Hawthorns
	Hunt  79'	[ Report]

Reading v Oxford United

13 September 1997	Reading	2 – 1	Oxford United	Elm Park
	Asaba  21' Hodges  61'	[ Report]	Jemson  2'

Tranmere Rovers v Reading

20 September 1997	Tranmere Rovers	6 – 0	Reading	Prenton Park
	Morrissey  4' Kelly  10', 41' L.Jones  20' G.Jones  38' Thompson  59'	[ Report]

Portsmouth v Reading

27 September 1997	Portsmouth	0 – 2	Reading	Fratton Park
		[ Report]	Hodges  15' Williams  88'

Reading v Sunderland

4 October 1997	Reading	4 – 0	Sunderland	Elm Park
	Asaba  16', 26' Williams  60' Lambert  64'	[ Report]

Reading v Crewe Alexandra

11 October 1997	Reading	3 – 3	Crewe Alexandra	Elm Park
	Asaba  35', 60' Westwood  43' (o.g.)	[ Report]	Westwood  13' Little  20' Adebola  31'

Manchester City v Reading

18 October 1997	Manchester City	0 – 0	Reading	Maine Road
		[ Report]

Norwich City v Reading

21 October 1997	Norwich City	0 – 0	Reading	Carrow Road
		[ Report]

Reading v Nottingham Forest

24 October 1997	Reading	3 – 3	Nottingham Forest	Elm Park
	Williams  57' (pen.) Lambert  73' Primus  78'	[ Report]	van Hooijdonk  3', 48' (pen.) Beasant  56' Campbell  65'

Port Vale v Reading

1 November 1997	Port Vale	0 – 0	Reading	Vale Park
		[ Report]

Reading v Sheffield United

4 November 1997	Reading	0 – 1	Sheffield United	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Patterson  52'

Reading v Stockport County

8 November 1997	Reading	1 – 0	Stockport County	Elm Park
	Morely  42' (pen.)	[ Report]

Huddersfield Town v Reading

15 November 1997	Huddersfield Town	1 – 0	Reading	Alfred McAlpine Stadium
	Dalton  73'	[ Report]

Reading v Ipswich Town

22 November 1997	Reading	0 – 4	Ipswich Town	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Holland  26' Johnson  30' Scowcroft  49' Naylor  87'

Stoke City v Reading

29 November 1997	Stoke City	1 – 2	Reading	Britannia Stadium
	Thorne  81'	[ Report]	Morley  32' (pen.), 59'

Reading v Charlton Athletic

6 December 1997	Reading	2 – 0	Charlton Athletic	Elm Park
	Hodges  9' Morely  36' (pen.)	[ Report]

Middlesbrough v Reading

13 December 1997	Middlesbrough	4 – 0	Reading	Riverside Stadium
	Hignett  77', 90' Beck  79', 84'	[ Report]

Reading v Wolverhampton Wanderers

20 December 1997	Reading	0 – 0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Elm Park
	Bodin  37'	[ Report]	Simpson  42'

Reading v West Bromwich Albion

26 December 1997	Reading	2 – 1	West Bromwich Albion	Elm Park
	McDermott  1' (o.g.) Williams  27)'	[ Report]	Kilbane  77'

Queens Park Rangers v Reading

28 December 1997	Queens Park Rangers	1 – 1	Reading	Loftus Road
	Spencer  15' Maddix  78'	[ Report]	Morely  64' Asaba  78'

Reading v Bury

10 January 1998	Reading	1 – 1	Bury	Elm Park
	Lucketti  29' (o.g.)	[ Report]	Jepson  76' Gray  87'

Swindon Town v Reading

17 January 1998	Swindon Town	0 – 2	Reading	The County Ground
		[ Report]	Lovell  9' Lambert  14'

Bradford City v Reading

27 January 1998	Bradford City	4 – 1	Reading	Valley Parade
	Lawrence  24' Edinho  32', 68' Blake  62'	[ Report]	Asaba  2'

Reading v Birmingham City

31 January 1998	Reading	2 – 0	Birmingham City	Elm Park
	Hodges  74' Asaba  83'	[ Report]	Furlong  66' Marsden  69'

Reading v Tranmere Rovers

7 February 1998	Reading	1 – 3	Tranmere Rovers	Elm Park
	Williams  75'	[ Report]	Irons  10' Kelly  65' Branch  72'

Sunderland v Reading

17 February 1998	Sunderland	4 – 1	Reading	Stadium of Light
	Quinn  21' Rae  22' Phillips  46', 61'	[ Report]	Bowen  53'

Reading v Portsmouth

21 February 1998	Reading	0 – 1	Portsmouth	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Whitbread  83'

Reading v Manchester City

24 February 1998	Reading	3 – 0	Manchester City	Elm Park
	Hodges  8' Houghton  29' Asaba  89'	[ Report]

Crewe Alexandra v Reading

28 February 1998	Crewe Alexandra	1 – 0	Reading	Gresty Road
	Rivers  11'	[ Report]

Stockport County v Reading

3 March 1998	Stockport County	5 – 1	Reading	Edgeley Park
	Byrne  10', 32' Angell  11', 70' Grant  23'	[ Report]	Williams  80' (pen.)

Reading v Port Vale

7 March 1998	Reading	0 – 3	Port Vale	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Mills  7' Talbot  19' Jansson  82'

Sheffield United v Reading

14 March 1998	Sheffield United	4 – 0	Reading	Bramall Lane
	Stuart  44' Marcelo  46' Taylor  54' Quinn  90'	[ Report]

Oxford United v Reading

17 March 1998	Oxford United	3 – 0	Reading	Manor Ground
	Beauchamp  44', 70' Gray  77'	[ Report]

Reading v Huddersfield Town

21 March 1998	Reading	0 – 2	Huddersfield Town	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Stewart  73', 88'

Ipswich Town v Reading

28 March 1998	Ipswich Town	1 – 0	Reading	Portman Road
	Scowcroft  39'	[ Report]	Legg  45' Bernal  68'

Reading v Stoke City

4 April 1998	Reading	2 – 0	Stoke City	Elm Park
	O'Neill  32' Meaker  48'	[ Report]

Charlton Athletic v Reading

10 April 1998	Charlton Athletic	3 – 0	Reading	The Valley
	Mendonca  6' Mortimer  44' Bright  79'	[ Report]

Reading v Middlesbrough

13 April 1998	Reading	0 – 1	Middlesbrough	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Branca  8' Hignett  90'

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Reading

18 April 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3 – 1	Reading	Molineux
	Muscat  9' Goodman  69', 90'	[ Report]	Brayson  44'

Nottingham Forest v Reading

26 April 1998	Nottingham Forest	1 – 0	Reading	City Ground
	Bart-Williams  87'	[ Report]

Reading v Norwich City

3 May 1998	Reading	0 – 1	Norwich City	Elm Park
		[ Report]	Bellamy  57'

League table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Nottingham Forest	46		18	2	3	52	20		10	8	5	30	22		82	42	+ 40		94
2	Middlesbrough	46		17	4	2	51	12		10	6	7	26	29		77	41	+ 36		91
3	Sunderland	46		14	7	2	49	22		12	5	6	37	28		86	50	+ 36		90
4	Charlton Athletic	46		17	5	1	48	17		9	5	9	32	32		80	49	+ 31		88
5	Ipswich Town	46		14	5	4	47	20		9	9	5	30	23		77	43	+ 34		83
6	Sheffield United	46		16	5	2	44	20		3	12	8	25	34		69	54	+ 15		74
7	Birmingham City	46		10	8	5	27	15		9	9	5	33	20		60	35	+ 25		74
8	Stockport County	46		14	6	3	46	21		5	2	16	25	48		71	69	+ 2		65
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46		13	6	4	42	25		5	5	13	15	28		57	53	+ 4		65
10	West Bromwich Albion	46		9	8	6	27	26		7	5	11	23	30		50	56	– 6		61
11	Crewe Alexandra	46		10	2	11	30	34		8	3	12	28	31		58	65	– 7		59
12	Oxford United	46		12	6	5	36	20		4	4	15	24	44		60	64	– 4		58
13	Bradford City	46		10	9	4	26	23		4	6	13	20	36		46	59	– 13		57
14	Tranmere Rovers	46		9	8	6	34	26		5	6	12	20	31		54	57	– 3		56
15	Norwich City	46		9	8	6	32	27		5	5	13	20	42		52	69	– 17		55
16	Huddersfield Town	46		9	5	9	28	28		5	6	12	22	44		50	72	– 22		53
17	Bury	46		7	10	6	22	22		4	9	10	20	36		42	58	– 16		52
18	Swindon Town	46		9	6	8	28	25		5	4	14	14	48		42	73	– 31		52
19	Port Vale	46		7	6	10	25	24		6	4	13	31	42		56	66	– 10		49
20	Portsmouth	46		8	6	9	28	30		5	4	14	23	33		51	63	– 12		49
21	Queens Park Rangers	46		8	9	6	28	21		2	10	11	23	42		51	63	– 12		49
22	Manchester City	46		6	6	11	28	26		6	6	11	28	31		56	57	– 3		48
23	Stoke City	46		8	5	10	30	40		3	8	12	14	34		44	74	– 30		46
24	Reading	46		8	4	11	27	31		3	5	15	12	47		39	78	– 39		42

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup

Cheltenham Town v Reading

13 January 1998 Third Round	Cheltenham Town	1 – 1	Reading	Whaddon Road
	Watkins  22' (pen.)	[ Report]	Morley  71'

Reading v Cheltenham Town

20 January 1998 Third Round Reply	Reading	2 – 1	Cheltenham Town	Elm Park
	Morley  38' Booty  72'	[ Report]	Walker  51'

Cardiff City v Reading

24 January 1998 Fourth Round	Cardiff City	1 – 1	Reading	Ninian Park
	Nugent  47'	[ Report]	Asaba  56'

Reading v Cardiff City

3 February 1998 Fourth Round Reply	Reading	1 – 1 (4 – 3 p)	Cardiff City	Elm Park
	Morley  56'	[ Report]	Dale  40'

Sheffield United v Reading

13 February 1998 Fifth Round	Sheffield United	1 – 0	Reading	Bramall Lane
	Sandford  87'	[ Report]

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup

Reading v Swansea City

12 September 1998 First Round 1st Leg	Reading	2 – 0	Swansea City	Elm Park
	Lambert  58' Roach  75'

Swansea City v Reading

26 August 1998 First Round 2nd Leg	Swansea City	1 – 1 (1 – 3 agg.)	Reading	Vetch Field
	Coates  49' Edwards  78'		Asaba  54'

Reading v Peterborough United

16 September 1998 Second Round 1st Leg	Reading	0 – 0	Peterborough United	Elm Park

Peterborough United v Reading

14 October 1998 Second Round 2nd Leg	Peterborough United	0 – 2 (0 – 2 agg.)	Reading	London Road
	Payne  1'		Asaba  51' Williams  70'

Reading v Wolverhampton Wanderers

14 October 1998 Third Round	Reading	4 – 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Elm Park
	Williams  33' (o.g.) Parkinson  34' Meaker  46' McPherson  54'		Bull  44', 57'

Leeds United v Reading

18 November 1998 Fourth Round	Leeds United	2 – 3	Reading	Elland Road
19:45	Wetherall  16' Bowyer  54'		Asaba  9' Williams  66' Morley  85'	Attendance: 15,069 Referee: Graham Barber

Reading v Middlesbrough

6 January 1998 Quarter-finals	Reading	0 – 1	Middlesbrough	Elm Park
19:45			Hignett  89'	Attendance: 13,072 Referee: George Cain

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Jamie Ashdown	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	GK		Sal Bibbo	3	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
	GK		Nick Hammond	24	0	18+0	0	4+0	0	2+0	0
	GK		Scott Howie	7	0	7+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	GK		Steve Mautone	19	0	14+0	0	0+0	0	5+0	0
	DF		Andy Bernal	45	0	34+0	0	5+0	0	6+0	0
	DF		Paul Bodin	6	0	3+1	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	DF		Martyn Booty	35	2	24+1	1	5+0	1	4+1	0
	DF		Gareth Davies	22	0	17+1	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
	DF		Andy Legg	10	0	10+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF		Keith McPherson	30	2	24+0	1	0+0	0	6+0	1
	DF		Linvoy Primus	42	1	36+0	1	1+0	0	5+0	0
	DF		Steve Swales	42	1	26+5	1	5+0	0	6+0	0
	DF		Michael Thorp	4	0	0+3	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	DF		Dariusz Wdowczyk	7	0	3+2	0	0+0	0	1+1	0
	MF		Darren Caskey	26	0	19+4	0	0+1	0	1+1	0
	MF		Jimmy Crawford	6	0	5+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Byron Glasgow	2	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Stuart Gray	7	0	7+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Lee Hodges	36	7	20+4	7	4+1	0	6+1	0
	MF		Ray Houghton	35	1	20+5	1	2+2	0	5+1	0
	MF		Stuart Lovell	18	1	8+7	1	2+1	0	0+0	0
	MF		Michael Meaker	26	2	16+5	1	0+2	0	3+0	1
	MF		Michael O'Neill	9	0	9+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Phil Parkinson	47	1	36+1	0	5+0	0	5+0	1
	FW		Carl Asaba	42	12	31+1	8	3+0	1	7+0	3
	FW		Jason Bowen	20	1	11+3	1	5+0	0	0+1	0
	FW		Paul Brayson	6	1	2+4	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW		Robert Fleck	5	0	3+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW		Jamie Lambert	43	4	33+1	3	3+0	0	6+0	1
	FW		Jim McIntyre	6	0	6+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW		Trevor Morley	30	8	17+6	4	5+0	3	2+0	1
	FW		Neville Roach	13	1	0+8	0	0+0	0	4+1	1
	FW		Martin Williams	36	7	25+4	6	1+1	0	3+2	1
Players who appeared for Reading who left during the season:
	GK		Nick Colgan	11	0	5+0	0	4+0	0	2+0	0
	DF		Paddy Kelly	3	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF		Lee Sandford	5	0	5+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF		Paul Holsgrove	3	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
	FW		Mark Robins	5	0	5+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	First Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW			Carl Asaba	8	1	3	12
2	FW			Trevor Morley	4	3	1	8
3	FW			Martin Williams	6	0	1	7
	MF			Lee Hodges	7	0	0	7
5	FW			Jamie Lambert	3	0	1	4
				Own goal	3	0	1	4
7	MF			Michael Meaker	1	0	1	2
8	DF			Linvoy Primus	1	0	0	1
	DF			Steve Swales	1	0	0	1
	MF			Ray Houghton	1	0	0	1
	MF			Stuart Lovell	1	0	0	1
	FW			Jason Bowen	1	0	0	1
	MF			Michael O'Neill	1	0	0	1
	FW			Paul Brayson	1	0	0	1
15	DF			Martyn Booty	0	1	0	1
	DF			Keith McPherson	0	0	1	1
	MF			Phil Parkinson	0	0	1	1
	FW			Neville Roach	0	0	1	1
				TOTALS	39	5	11	55

Disciplinary record

Number	Nation	Position	Name	First Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		DF	Andy Bernal	3	2	1	0	0	0	4	2
		DF	Martyn Booty	3	0	1	0	2	0	6	0
		DF	Gareth Davies	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
		DF	Andy Legg	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
		DF	Keith McPherson	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
		DF	Linvoy Primus	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
		DF	Steve Swales	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
		DF	Dariusz Wdowczyk	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
		MF	Michael Meaker	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
		MF	Ray Houghton	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		MF	Lee Hodges	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		MF	Phil Parkinson	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
		MF	Darren Caskey	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
		MF	Stuart Lovell	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
		FW	Carl Asaba	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1
		FW	Jason Bowen	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
		FW	Robert Fleck	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		FW	Jim McIntyre	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
		FW	Jamie Lambert	7	0	2	0	1	0	10	0
		FW	Trevor Morley	4	0	1	0	2	0	7	0
		FW	Martin Williams	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
			TOTALS	65	4	6	0	7	0	78	4

References

Soccerbase.com