1997–98 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1997–98 season was Kilmarnock's final season in the Scottish Premier Division before the formation of the Scottish Premier League in 1998. Kilmarnock also competed in the Scottish Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Kilmarnock

1997–98 season
Manager	Bobby Williamson
Stadium	Rugby Park
Scottish Premier Division	Fourth place
Scottish Cup	Fourth round, lost to Ayr United
League Cup	Third round, lost to Stirling Albion
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Paul Wright (10) All: Wright (12)
Highest home attendance	18,076 v Celtic, Premier Division, 8 April 1998
Lowest home attendance	6,588 v Motherwell, Premier Division, 8 October 1997
Average home league attendance	9,125
Home colours Away colours

Summary

Season

Kilmarnock finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division with 50 points. They reached the third round of the League Cup, losing to Stirling Albion,[1] and the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, losing to rivals Ayr United.[2] Kilmarnock also competed in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, losing to Nice in first round.[3]

Results and fixtures

Kilmarnock's score comes first

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premier Division

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1	2 August 1997	Aberdeen	A	0–0	14,041
2	23 August 1997	Hibernian	A	0–4	9,559
3	13 September 1997	Dundee United	A	2–1	6,883	Wright 15’, 53’ (pen.)
4	21 September 1997	Dunfermline	A	1–1	5,374	Wright 89’ (pen.)
5	24 September 1997	Rangers	H	0–3	15,367
6	27 September 1997	Hearts	H	0–3	7,875
7	4 October 1997	Celtic	A	0–4	48,165
8	8 October 1997	Motherwell	H	2–1	6,588	Vareille 31’ Burke 37’
9	18 October 1997	St. Johnstone	H	0–1	6,572
10	25 October 1997	Hibernian	H	2–1	7,541	Roberts 54’ Nevin 57’
11	1 November 1997	Rangers	A	1–4	49,413	Mitchell 43’
12	8 November 1997	Motherwell	A	1–0	5,346	Roberts 67’ (pen.)
13	15 November 1997	Dundee United	H	1–3	7,402	Roberts 9’
14	23 November 1997	Hearts	A	3–5	15,500	Nevin 5’ Holt 62’ Roberts 76’ (pen.)
15	29 November 1997	Dunfermline	H	2–1	6,667	Nevin 24’, 35’
16	6 December 1997	Celtic	H	0–0	15,632
17	13 December 1997	St. Johnstone	A	1–1	4,385	Mitchell 71’
18	20 December 1997	Aberdeen	H	1–0	8,452	Wright 27’
19	27 December 1997	Hibernian	A	1–0	10,543	Wright 43’
20	3 January 1998	Motherwell	H	4–1	8,724	Wright 8’, 33 Mitchell 44’ Roberts 88’
21	10 January 1998	Dundee United	A	1–1	7,541	Reilly 69’
22	17 January 1998	Hearts	H	2–2	11,079	Wright 40’ Reilly 76’
23	31 January 1998	Dunfermline	A	2–3	4,903	Vareille 31’ Roberts 85’
24	7 February 1998	St. Johnstone	H	1–0	7,408	Reilly 90’
25	21 February 1998	Celtic	A	0–4	49,231
26	24 February 1998	Rangers	H	1–1	15,412	Wright 15’
27	28 February 1998	Aberdeen	A	0–0	10,243
28	14 March 1998	Hearts	A	1–1	15,338	Henry 34’
29	21 March 1998	Dunfermline	H	3–0	8,230	Wright 62’ (pen.) Nevin 65’ McIntyre 69’
30	28 March 1998	St. Johnstone	A	0–1	4,982
31	8 April 1998	Celtic	H	1–2	18,076	Burke 40’
32	11 April 1998	Motherwell	A	1–1	6,209	Holt 28’
33	18 April 1998	Dundee United	H	1–0	7,246	Burke 2’
34	25 April 1998	Aberdeen	H	2–1	8,212	Vareille 33’, 85’
35	2 May 1998	Rangers	A	1–0	50,116	Mitchell 90’
36	9 May 1998	Hibernian	H	1–1	12,393	Roberts 15’

UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
QR	14 August 1997	Shelbourne	H	2–1	9,041	Wright 66’, 90’ (Pen.)
QR	28 August 1997	Shelbourne	A	1–1	8,100	McIntyre 22’
R1	18 September 1997	Nice	A	1–3	10,812	Wright 78’ (Pen.)
R1	2 October 1997	Nice	H	1–1	8,402	Reilly 32’

Scottish League Cup

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R3	20 August 1997	Stirling Albion	A	2–6[4]	2,154	Vareille, Wright

Scottish Cup

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R3	24 January 1998	Stranraer	A	2–0	4,468	Vareille, Roberts
R4	14 February 1998	Ayr United	A	0–2	9,286

Ayrshire Cup

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
Final	13 May 1998	Ayr United	H	4–2[5]	4,652	Millen o.g., Mitchell, Roberts, Kerr

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Rangers	36	21	9	6	76	38	+38	72	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	36	19	10	7	70	46	+24	67	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4	Kilmarnock	36	13	11	12	40	52	−12	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
5	St Johnstone	36	13	9	14	38	42	−4	48
6	Aberdeen	36	9	12	15	39	53	−14	39

Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Division summary

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
Ground	A	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H
Result	D	L	W	D	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	D	D	W	W	W	D	D	L	W	L	D	D	D	W	L	L	D	W	W	W	D
Position	7	9	10	8	6	6	7	8	8	7	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	4

Updated to match(es) played on 25 April 2020. Source: [6]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Transfers

Players in Player From Fee Jerome Vareille FC Mulhouse Free Martin O'Neill Clyde £75,000 Martin Baker St Mirren Swap Deal Pat Nevin Tranmere Rovers £60,000[7] Gordon Marshall Celtic £150,000

Players out Player To Fee Helmut Rahner FC Nürnberg Free Tom Brown St Mirren Swap Deal[8] Gary Tallon Mansfield Town Free Gary McCutcheon Stenhousemuir Loan Dragoje Leković Sporting Gijón Nominal[9] Derek Anderson Ayr United Free Jim McIntyre Reading £440,000[10] Mark Reilly Reading Free[11]

References

1. "Results for Kilmarnock for 1997–98". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
2. "Results for Kilmarnock for 1997–98". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
3. "Results for Kilmarnock for 1997–98". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
4. "Kilmarnock humiliated by first division side Stirling record historic victory". The Herald. The Herald. 21 August 1997. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
5. "Killie (0) 4 - (2) 2 Ayr Utd". KillieFC.com. 13 May 1998. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
6. "Scottish Premiership 1997/1998". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
7. "Kilmarnock finally seal Nevin signing". The Herald. The Herald. 31 July 1997. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
8. Donny Muir. "Do You Remember? Tom Brown 1993–97". killiefc.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
9. "A smart bit of keeping". wsc.co.uk. When Saturday Comes. 3 March 1998. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
10. "When Royals signed seven players on transfer deadline day". BerkshireLive. Reading Post. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
11. "Mark Reilly - Midfielder - Madejski Men". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

External links

• Kilmarnock 1997–98 at Soccerbase.com (select relevant season from dropdown list)