1997–98 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1997–98 season was Stoke City's 91st season in the Football League and the 35th in the second tier. It was also Stoke's first season at the Britannia Stadium.
With Stoke now at a new home after 119 years at the Victoria Ground the hope was it would be the start of a new era for the club. Following Lou Macari's departure, his assistant Chic Bates was appointed as manager but the first league match in the Britannia Stadium was lost 2–1 against Swindon Town. Results were generally quite good and by the end of October Stoke were in a play-off position. However performances completely dropped off and the club dropped down the table like a stone and on 10 January 1998 Birmingham City beat Stoke 7–0 at home which sparked ugly scenes from some angry supporters. Bates and Peter Coates left as Stoke headed for relegation. Chris Kamara came in but was sacked after winning just one of his 14 matches in charge. Former manager Alan Durban returned for the final few matches which saw Stoke needing to beat Manchester City on the final day to stay up. They lost 5–2 and fell into the third tier.

Season review

League

The dawn of a new era at the Britannia Stadium should have been full of hope, but the departure of Lou Macari still not fully explained plus the farcical search for a replacement, left fans wondering what exactly was going on. Many felt the delay in announcing the new manager was a way of boosting season ticket sales with many expecting Sammy McIlroy to be named as the new boss but the silence was deafening and caretaker Chic Bates was left to take care of pre-season training. It soon became clear that Bates was going to be give the role full-time and in July he duly was much to the disappointment of many. Former manager Alan Durban made a return to the club as Bates' assistant to help take away some of his responsibilities. If Stoke had bid farewell to the Victoria Ground in a blaze of glory then the fiasco in opening the Britannia Stadium was a pit of despair. There was transport problems, ticket problems and the opening ceremony against Swindon Town was awful.
The only major signing was that of striker Peter Thorne for £550,000 whilst a small spattering of players arrived from Europe following Jean-Marc Bosman's court victory for footballers contracts. Chairman Peter Coates was now very unpopular with the supporters and there were many protests against him due to Coates not spending his money. Attendances at the new ground were poor and by Christmas Stoke had lost their early season form and were in serious trouble. The slump was brought to head early in the new year when Birmingham City beat Stoke 7–0 at home which prompted ugly scenes at the final whistle as around 2,000 fans invaded the pitch and attempted to enter the directors box. The next match live on TV against Bradford City saw more fan protests and Coates resigned as chairman.
On the pitch Bates was clearly not cut to be a manager and so was replaced by former Bradford boss Chris Kamara. He arrived with bold intentions claiming that he would build a squad good enough to take Stoke into the Premiership, But he sold the only real player of value, Andy Griffin and in his 14 matches in charge only one was won and after an awful 3–0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers he lost his job. Kamara's time at Stoke was a disaster and with Stoke heading for relegation Alan Durban took over for the remaining matches. Three wins in four home matches gave Stoke some hope but a 5–2 defeat against Manchester City on the final day saw the inevitable happen and Stoke were relegated as were Man City despite their big win.

FA Cup

Stoke lost to West Bromwich Albion 3–1 in the third round.

League Cup

Stoke beat Rochdale and Burnley before being knocked out by Leeds United.

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
19 August 1997Birmingham CityA0–220,608
215 August 1997Bradford CityA0–013,823
323 August 1997MiddlesbroughA1–030,122Stewart 60'
430 August 1997Swindon TownH1–223,000Forsyth 34'
53 September 1997West Bromwich AlbionH0–017,500
613 September 1997Stockport CountyH2–111,743Wallace 28', Thorne 50'
720 September 1997Ipswich TownA3–210,665Thorne 13' 30', Stewart 55'
827 September 1997Nottingham ForestA0–119,018
94 October 1997BuryH3–211,760Andrade 63', Forsyth 69', Thorne 73'
1012 October 1997Port ValeH2–120,125Forsyth 5', Keen 34'
1119 October 1997Charlton AthleticA1–112,345Wallace 51'
1222 October 1997Manchester CityA1–025,333Wallace 63'
1325 October 1997SunderlandH1–214,587Stewart 81'
141 November 1997Huddersfield TownA1–310,916Griffin 79'
154 November 1997Oxford UnitedH0–08,423
168 November 1997Wolverhampton WanderersH3–018,490Kavanagh 8', 23', Forsyth 60'
1715 November 1997Queens Park RangersA1–111,923Forsyth 7'
1822 November 1997Tranmere RoversA1–38,009Kavanagh 35'
1929 November 1997ReadingH1–211,103Thorne 81'
202 December 1997Sheffield UnitedA2–314,347Thorne 8', 63'
216 December 1997PortsmouthA0–27,072
2213 December 1997Crewe AlexandraH0–214,623
2320 December 1997Norwich CityA0–012,265
2426 December 1997Sheffield UnitedH2–219,723Forsyth 66', Thorne 86'
2528 December 1997West Bromwich AlbionA1–117,690Thorne 47'
2610 January 1998Birmingham CityH0–714,940
2716 January 1998Bradford CityH2–110,459Forsyth 65', Thorne 42'
2828 January 1998Swindon TownA0–16,683
291 February 1998MiddlesbroughH1–213,242Kavanagh 35'
307 February 1998Ipswich TownH1–111,416Holsgrove 15'
3114 February 1998Stockport CountyA0–18,701
3217 February 1998BuryA0–05,802
3321 February 1998Nottingham ForestH1–116,899Crowe 32'
3425 February 1998Charlton AthleticH1–210,027Kavanagh 42'
351 March 1998Port ValeA0–013,853
364 March 1998Wolverhampton WanderersA1–121,058Crowe 89'
377 March 1998Huddersfield TownH1–212,594Tiatto 90'
3814 March 1998Oxford UnitedA1–57,300Crowe 69'
3921 March 1998Queens Park RangersH2–111,051Dowie 21', Crowe 51'
4028 March 1998Tranmere RoversH0–316,692
414 April 1998ReadingA0–210,448
4211 April 1998PortsmouthH2–115,569Pickering 78', Lightbourne 90'
4313 April 1998Crewe AlexandraA0–25,759
4418 April 1998Norwich CityH2–013,098Sigurðsson 19', Lightbourne 50'
4525 April 1998SunderlandA0–341,214
463 May 1998Manchester CityH2–526,664Thorne 62', 87'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R313 January 1998West Bromwich AlbionA1–317,598Gabbiadini 61'

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R1 1st Leg12 August 1997RochdaleA3–12,509Kavanagh 26', Thorne 67', Forsyth 70'
R1 2nd Leg27 August 1997RochdaleH1–112,768Kavanagh 85'
R2 1st Leg16 September 1997BurnleyA4–04,175Thorne 37', 62', Kavanagh 68', 80'
R2 2nd Leg24 September 1997BurnleyH2–06,041Keen 36', Thorne 71'
R315 November 1997Leeds UnitedH1–316,203Kavanagh 66'

Squad statistics