1997–98 Chelsea F.C. season

The 1997–98 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 84th competitive season, their 9th consecutive season in the English top flight and 92nd year as a club.

Chelsea

1997–98 season
Chairman	Ken Bates
Manager	Ruud Gullit (until 12 February) Gianluca Vialli (from 12 February)
Premiership	4th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Vialli/Flo (11) All: Vialli (19)
Highest home attendance	34,845 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 10 May)
Lowest home attendance	29,075 (vs. Blackpool, 19 Apr)
Average home league attendance	32,901
Home colours Away colours

Season summary

With conceding goals being a major issue last season, Chelsea signed Dutch international goalkeeper Ed de Goey, who proved to be a relative success. Chelsea's only other major signings were young Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo and Uruguayan international midfielder Gustavo Poyet from Real Zaragoza, who added more goals from an otherwise very defensive midfield. Chelsea were well on course for a top-five finish and success in the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Coca-Cola Cup when manager Ruud Gullit was sacked on 12 February following a dispute with chairman Ken Bates. His job went to 33-year-old striker Gianluca Vialli, who took on the role of player-manager and achieved instant success - within three months of his appointment, Vialli had guided the Blues to glory on the continent and at Wembley. This success gave Chelsea fans hope that the following season could spell the end of their title wait which began in 1955.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Manchester United	38	23	8	7	73	26	+47	77	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Liverpool	38	18	11	9	68	42	+26	65	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Chelsea	38	20	3	15	71	43	+28	63	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
5	Leeds United	38	17	8	13	57	46	+11	59	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 2]
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	10	12	57	52	+5	58

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions. As they were also the League Cup winners, the UEFA Cup berth vacated was awarded to Blackburn Rovers.
2. Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.

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	20	3	15	71	43	+28	63	13	2	4	37	14	+23	7	1	11	34	29	+5

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	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	H	A	H
Result	L	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	D	W	D	L	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	L	W
Position	14	11	6	4	3	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	4	5	5	4	4	4	5	4	4	3	3	4	4

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

Results

Premier League

9 August 1997 1	Coventry City	3–2	Chelsea	Coventry, West Midlands
	Dublin  41', 42', 88'		Sinclair  39' Flo  71'	Stadium: Highfield Road

24 August 1997 2	Barnsley	0–6	Chelsea	Barnsley, South Yorkshire
			Petrescu  25' Poyet  38' Vialli  44', 57', 65', 82'	Stadium: Oakwell

27 August 1997 3	Wimbledon	0–2	Chelsea	Croydon, London
			Di Matteo  60' Petrescu  64'	Stadium: Selhurst Park

30 August 1997 4	Chelsea	4–2	Southampton	Fulham, London
	Petrescu  7' Leboeuf  28' Hughes  31' Wise  34'		Davies  25' Monkou  59'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

13 September 1997 5	Crystal Palace	0–3	Chelsea	Croydon, London
			Hughes  20' Leboeuf  26' (pen.) Le Saux  90'	Stadium: Selhurst Park

21 September 1997 6	Chelsea	2–3	Arsenal	Fulham, London
	Poyet  40' Zola  60'		Bergkamp  45', 59' Winterburn  89'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

24 September 1997 7	Manchester United	2–2	Chelsea	Trafford, Greater Manchester
	Scholes  36' Solskjær  86'		Berg  25' (o.g.) Hughes  68'	Stadium: Old Trafford

27 September 1997 8	Chelsea	1–0	Newcastle United	Fulham, London
	Poyet  75'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

5 October 1997 9	Liverpool	4–2	Chelsea	Liverpool, Merseyside
	Berger  20', 35', 57' Fowler  64'		Zola  22' Poyet  85' (pen.)	Stadium: Anfield

18 October 1997 10	Chelsea	1–0	Leicester City	Fulham, London
	Leboeuf  88'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

26 October 1997 11	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Chelsea	Bolton, Greater Manchester
	Holdsworth  72'			Stadium: Reebok Stadium

1 November 1997 12	Aston Villa	0–2	Chelsea	Birmingham, West Midlands
			Hughes  38' Flo  82'	Stadium: Villa Park

9 November 1997 13	Chelsea	2–1	West Ham United	Fulham, London
	Ferdinand  57' (o.g.) Zola  83'		Hartson  85' (pen.)	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

22 November 1997 14	Blackburn Rovers	1–0	Chelsea	Blackburn, Lancashire
	Croft  11'			Stadium: Ewood Park

26 November 1997 15	Chelsea	2–0	Everton	Fulham, London
	Wise  80' (pen.) Zola  90' (pen.)			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

29 November 1997 16	Chelsea	4–0	Derby County	Fulham, London
	Zola  12', 66', 77' Hughes  35'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

6 December 1997 17	Tottenham Hotspur	1–6	Chelsea	Haringey, London
	Vega  43'		Flo  40', 63', 90' Di Matteo  48' Petrescu  59' Nicholls  78'	Stadium: White Hart Lane

13 December 1997 18	Chelsea	0–0	Leeds United	Fulham, London
				Stadium: Stamford Bridge

20 December 1997 19	Sheffield Wednesday	1–4	Chelsea	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
	Pembridge  71'		Petrescu  30' Vialli  56' Leboeuf  65' (pen.) Flo  84'	Stadium: Hillsborough

26 December 1997 20	Chelsea	1–1	Wimbledon	Fulham, London
	Vialli  8'		Mi. Hughes  28'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

29 December 1997 21	Southampton	1–0	Chelsea	Southampton, Hampshire
	Davies  16'			Stadium: The Dell

10 January 1998 22	Chelsea	3–1	Coventry City	Fulham, London
	Nicholls  65', 70' Di Matteo  78'		Telfer  30'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

18 January 1998 23	Everton	3–1	Chelsea	Liverpool, Merseyside
	Speed  39' Ferguson  62' Duberry  83' (o.g.)	Report	Flo  37'	Stadium: Goodison Park

31 January 1998 24	Chelsea	2–0	Barnsley	Fulham, London
	Vialli  23' Hughes  47'	Report		Stadium: Stamford Bridge

8 February 1998 25	Arsenal	2–0	Chelsea	Islington, London
	S. Hughes  4', 42'			Stadium: Highbury

21 February 1998 26	Leicester City	2–0	Chelsea	Leicester, Leicestershire
	Heskey  3', 89'			Stadium: Filbert Street

28 February 1998 27	Chelsea	0–1	Manchester United	Fulham, London
			P. Neville  31'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

8 March 1998 28	Chelsea	0–1	Aston Villa	Fulham, London
			Joachim  51'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

11 March 1998 29	Chelsea	6–2	Crystal Palace	Fulham, London
	Vialli  15', 44' Zola  17' Wise  84' Flo  89', 90'		Hreiðarsson  7' Bent  87'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

14 March 1998 30	West Ham United	2–1	Chelsea	Newham, London
	T. Sinclair  69' Unsworth  74'		Charvet  54'	Stadium: Boleyn Ground

5 April 1998 31	Derby County	0–1	Chelsea	Derby, Derbyshire
			Hughes  37'	Stadium: Pride Park Stadium

8 April 1998 32	Leeds United	3–1	Chelsea	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Hasselbaink  7', 47' Wetherall  22'		Charvet  11'	Stadium: Elland Road

11 April 1998 33	Chelsea	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Fulham, London
	Flo  75' Vialli  88'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

19 April 1998 34	Chelsea	1–0	Sheffield Wednesday	Fulham, London
	Leboeuf  23' (pen.)			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

25 April 1998 35	Chelsea	4–1	Liverpool	Fulham, London
	Hughes  11', 78' Clarke  67' Flo  72'		Riedle  45'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

29 April 1998 36	Chelsea	0–1	Blackburn Rovers	Fulham, London
			Gallacher  48'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge

2 May 1998 37	Newcastle United	3–1	Chelsea	Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyneside
	Dabizas  39' Lee  42' Speed  59'		Di Matteo  77'	Stadium: St. James' Park

10 May 1998 38	Chelsea	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	Fulham, London
	Vialli  73' Morris  90'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
4 January 1998	3	Manchester United	H	3–5	34,792	Le Saux, Vialli (2)

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 October 1997	3	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–1	18,671	Di Matteo
After extra time, Chelsea won on 4–1 on penalties
19 November 1997	4	Southampton	H	2–1	20,968	Morris, Flo
7 January 1998	QF	Ipswich Town	A	2–2	22,088	Le Saux, Flo
After extra time, Chelsea won on 4–1 on penalties
28 January 1998	SF	Arsenal	A	1–2	38,144	Hughes
18 February 1998	SF	Arsenal	H	3–1	34,330	Petrescu, Di Matteo, Hughes
29 March 1998	F	Middlesbrough	N	2–0	77,698	Sinclair, Di Matteo

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
8 September 1997	1	Slovan Bratislava	H	2–0	23,067	Danny Granville, Di Matteo
2 October 1997	1	Slovan Bratislava	A	2–0	13,850	Di Matteo, Vialli
23 October 1997	2	Tromsø	A	2–3	6,438	Vialli (2)
6 November 1997	2	Tromsø	H	7–1	29,363	Leboeuf, Petrescu (2), Vialli (3), Zola
5 March 1998	QF	Real Betis	A	2–1	31,000	Flo (2)
19 March 1998	QF	Real Betis	H	3–1	32,300	Sinclair, Di Matteo, Zola
2 April 1998	SF	Vicenza	A	0–1	19,319
16 April 1998	SF	Vicenza	H	3–1	33,810	Poyet, Zola, Hughes
13 May 1998	F	VfB Stuttgart	N	1–0	30,216	Zola

First team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  NED Ed de Goey 2 DF  ROU Dan Petrescu 3 DF  NGA Celestine Babayaro 5 DF  FRA Frank Leboeuf 6 DF  SCO Steve Clarke 7 DF  FRA Bernard Lambourde 8 MF  URU Gustavo Poyet 9 FW  ITA Gianluca Vialli 10 FW  WAL Mark Hughes 11 MF  ENG Dennis Wise (captain) 12 DF  ENG Michael Duberry 13 GK  ENG Kevin Hitchcock 14 DF  ENG Graeme Le Saux 15 DF  ENG David Lee 16 MF  ITA Roberto Di Matteo 17 DF  ENG Danny Granville

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  ENG Andy Myers 19 FW  NOR Tore André Flo 20 DF  JAM Frank Sinclair[2] 21 MF  ENG Paul Hughes 22 FW  ENG Mark Nicholls 23 GK  RUS Dmitri Kharine 24 MF  ENG Eddie Newton 25 FW  ITA Gianfranco Zola 26 DF  FRA Laurent Charvet (on loan from Cannes) 28 MF  ENG Jody Morris 29 DF  ENG Neil Clement 31 GK  IRL Nick Colgan 32 MF  SCO Steven Hampshire 33 FW  ENG Joe Sheerin 34 MF  ENG Nick Crittenden 35 DF  ENG Jon Harley

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. Pos. Nation Player 30 GK  NOR Frode Grodas (to Tottenham Hotspur) 4 DF  NED Ruud Gullit (retired)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG David Rocastle (on loan to Hull City)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player - DF  ENG Stephen Broad - DF  ENG John Terry

No. Pos. Nation Player - DF  ENG Mark Stein

Statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		Football League Cup		Cup Winners Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Ed de Goey	42	0	28	0	1	0	4	0	9	0
2	DF		Dan Petrescu	42	8	31	5	1	0	3	1	7	2
3	DF		Celestine Babayaro	13	0	8	0	0	0	1+1	0	3	0
4	MF		Ruud Gullit	10	0	0+6	0	0	0	3+1	0	0	0
5	DF		Frank Leboeuf	46	6	32	5	1	0	4	0	9	1
6	DF		Steve Clarke	40	1	22+4	1	1	0	4+2	0	7	0
7	DF		Bernard Lambourde	13	0	5+2	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
8	MF		Gustavo Poyet	18	5	11+3	4	0	0	0	0	4	1
9	FW		Gianluca Vialli	33	19	14+7	11	0+1	2	2+1	0	8	6
10	FW		Mark Hughes	39	12	25+4	9	1	0	3+3	2	3	1
11	MF		Dennis Wise	39	3	26	3	0	0	4	0	9	0
12	DF		Michael Duberry	33	0	23	0	1	0	3	0	6	0
13	GK		Kevin Hitchcock	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
14	DF		Graeme Le Saux	34	3	26	1	1	1	4	1	3	0
15	DF		David Lee	3	0	1	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0
16	MF		Roberto Di Matteo	43	10	28+2	4	1	0	4	3	8	3
17	DF		Danny Granville	20	1	9+4	0	0	0	3	0	4	1
18	DF		Andy Myers	17	0	11+1	0	0+1	0	1	0	3	0
19	FW		Tore André Flo	44	15	16+18	11	1	0	3+1	2	5	2
20	DF		Frank Sinclair	32	2	20+2	1	0	0	4+1	1	5	0
21	MF		Paul Hughes	11	0	5+4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
22	FW		Mark Nicholls	24	3	8+11	3	1	0	2	0	2	0
23	GK		Dmitri Kharine	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF		Eddie Newton	29	0	17+1	0	0	0	3+1	0	7	0
25	FW		Gianfranco Zola	40	12	23+4	8	1	0	4	0	8	4
26	DF		Laurent Charvet	13	2	7+4	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
28	MF		Jody Morris	14	2	9+2	1	0	0	1	1	2	0
32	FW		Steven Hampshire	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
34	MF		Nick Crittenden	3	0	0+2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
35	DF		Jon Harley	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Statistics taken from . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .

Transfers

In

• Laurent Charvet - Cannes, loan
• Ed de Goey - Feyenoord, £2,250,000, June 1997
• Gus Poyet - Real Zaragoza, free, June 1997
• Tore André Flo - Brann, £300,000, 1997
• Celestine Babayaro - Anderlecht, £2,250,000, 1997
• Bernard Lambourde - Bordeaux, 1997
• Graeme Le Saux - Blackburn Rovers, £5,000,000, August 1997

Out

• David Rocastle - Sabah, released, May 1998

Notes

References

1. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/chelsea.htm
2. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally.