1997–98 AFC Bournemouth season

Bournemouth

1997–98 season
Chairman	Trevor Watkins
Manager	Mel Machin
Stadium	Dean Court
Second Division	9th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Auto Windscreens Shield	Runners up
Top goalscorer	League: S Fletcher (12) All: Robinson/S Fletcher (13)
Average home league attendance	4,732

During the 1997–98 English football season, A.F.C. Bournemouth competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Bournemouth finished again mid-table in 9th place. The main highlight of their season was the Cherries reaching the Football League Trophy final against Grimsby Town but ended up losing 2–1 to a golden goal in their first Wembley appearance.

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

Bournemouth's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Northampton Town	A	2–0	6,384	Vincent, S Fletcher
16 August 1997	Wigan Athletic	H	1–0	16,524	Rolling
23 August 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	1–2	4,986	Robinson
30 August 1997	Blackpool	H	2–0	4,196	Tomlinson, Robinson
2 September 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	1–1	5,550	Robinson (pen)
5 September 1997	Gillingham	A	1–2	5,168	S Fletcher
13 September 1997	Luton Town	H	1–1	4,561	O'Neill
20 September 1997	Bristol City	A	1–1	8,330	Robinson
27 September 1997	Grimsby Town	H	0–1	3,712
4 October 1997	Chesterfield	A	1–1	4,482	Rolling
11 October 1997	Preston North End	A	1–0	8,531	Warren
18 October 1997	Fulham	H	2–1	7,484	Cox (2)
21 October 1997	Millwall	H	0–0	4,752
25 October 1997	Burnley	A	2–2	9,501	Howe, Vincent
1 November 1997	Brentford	H	0–0	4,772
4 November 1997	Wrexham	A	1–2	2,462	Warren
8 November 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–3	5,067
18 November 1997	Southend United	H	2–1	3,019	S Fletcher, Warren
22 November 1997	Carlisle United	H	3–2	3,709	S Fletcher, Beardsmore, O'Neill
29 November 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–1	4,340	Robinson (pen)
2 December 1997	York City	H	0–0	3,365
13 December 1997	Walsall	A	1–2	3,548	Robinson
20 December 1997	Watford	H	0–1	6,081
26 December 1997	Gillingham	H	4–0	5,672	Jones (2), Robinson, Young
28 December 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	3–5	7,256	Jones, Cox, Robinson (pen)
10 January 1998	Northampton Town	H	3–0	4,257	Jones, S Fletcher, Young
17 January 1998	Blackpool	A	0–1	4,550
24 January 1998	Oldham Athletic	H	0–0	4,079
31 January 1998	Luton Town	A	2–1	5,466	Brissett, S Fletcher
7 February 1998	Bristol City	H	1–0	6,623	S Fletcher
14 February 1998	Chesterfield	H	2–0	4,271	Warren (2)
21 February 1998	Grimsby Town	A	1–2	5,456	Warren
24 February 1998	Fulham	A	1–0	7,708	Robinson
28 February 1998	Preston North End	H	0–2	5,009
3 March 1998	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–3	3,545	S Fletcher (2), Vincent
7 March 1998	Brentford	A	2–3	4,973	Rolling (2)
14 March 1998	Wrexham	H	0–1	5,512
21 March 1998	Southend United	A	3–5	4,823	Stein, Bailey, S Fletcher
28 March 1998	Carlisle United	A	1–0	4,951	Stein
4 April 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	H	0–0	4,271
7 April 1998	Wigan Athletic	A	0–1	2,798
11 April 1998	York City	A	1–0	2,840	O'Neill
14 April 1998	Walsall	H	1–0	3,404	S Fletcher
25 April 1998	Burnley	H	2–1	6,527	Robinson (pen), S Fletcher
28 April 1998	Watford	A	1–2	12,834	Stein
2 May 1998	Millwall	A	2–1	7,872	Witter (own goal), Stein

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	15 November 1997	Heybridge Swifts	H	3–0	3,385	Beardsmore, Robinson (2)
R2	7 December 1997	Bristol City	H	3–1	5,687	Carey (own goal), O'Neill, Fletcher
R3	13 January 1998	Huddersfield Town	H	0–1	7,385

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	12 August 1997	Torquay United	H	0–1	3,215
R1 2nd Leg	26 August 1997	Torquay United	A	1–1 (lost 1-2 on agg)	2,278	Rolling

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	6 January 1998	Leyton Orient	H	2–0	1,732	Jones, Robinson (pen)
SQF	27 January 1998	Bristol City	H	1–0	2,124	Vincent
SSF	17 February 1998	Luton Town	H	1–0	5,367	Rolling
Southern F 1st Leg	10 March 1998	Walsall	A	2–0	6,017	Rolling, Beardsmore
Southern F 2nd Leg	17 March 1998	Walsall	H	2–3 (won 4-3 on agg)	8,972	Evans (own goal), Rolling
F	19 April 1998	Grimsby Town	N	1–2	62,432	Bailey

Squad

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	GK	ENG	Jimmy Glass
-	DF	TRI	Ian Cox
-	DF	ENG	Neil Young
-	DF	ENG	Jamie Vincent
-	DF	ENG	Eddie Howe
-	MF	NIR	Steve Robinson
-	MF	ENG	John Bailey
-	MF	ENG	Christer Warren
-	MF	ENG	Russell Beardsmore
-	FW	ENG	Steve Fletcher
-	FW	SCO	John O'Neill
-	DF	FRA	Franck Rolling
-	MF	ENG	Mark Rawlinson

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	ENG	Jason Brissett
-	FW	ENG	Mark Stein
-	FW	ENG	Graeme Tomlinson (on loan from Manchester United)
-	DF	ENG	Paul Teather
-	FW	ENG	Steve Jones (on loan from Charlton Athletic)
-	MF	ENG	Justin Harrington
-	MF	ENG	Michael Dean
-	FW	ENG	David Town
-	FW	ENG	James Hayter
-	DF	SCO	Rob Murray
-	MF	WAL	Carl Fletcher
-	DF	ENG	Anthony Griffin