# 1997–98 Sheffield United F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Sheffield United competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

On 5 August 1997, Nigel Spackman was appointed as permanent manager of Sheffield United and his side had a good start to the season but huge losses and high wages from the previous season's promotion failure led to enforced sales of key personnel. The final straw being the sale of both of the club's top scoring strikers (Brian Deane – 11 league goals – went to S.L. Benfica & Jan Åge Fjørtoft – 9 league goals – to Barnsley) on the same day. Even though leaving midseason, Deane would go on to become the team's top scorer that year, such was the lack of replacements. Spackman was unhappy over this and resigned in March 1998, leaving Thompson and Slade in caretaker charge until the end of the season. The Blades finished in the playoffs but came up short in the playoff semi-finals against Sunderland, losing 3–2 on aggregate.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Charlton Athletic (O, P) | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 80 | 49 | +31 | 88 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 5 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 83 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 6 | Sheffield United | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 69 | 54 | +15 | 74 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 7 | Birmingham City | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 60 | 35 | +25 | 74 | |
| 8 | Stockport County | 46 | 19 | 8 | 19 | 71 | 69 | +2 | 65 | |

## Results

Sheffield United's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 10 August 1997 | Sunderland | H | 2–0 | 17,324 | Fjørtoft, Borbokis |
| 16 August 1997 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–0 | 23,102 | |
| 23 August 1997 | Portsmouth | H | 2–1 | 15,895 | Fjørtoft (2) |
| 30 August 1997 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–0 | 14,268 | |
| 13 September 1997 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–0 | 24,536 | Taylor |
| 20 September 1997 | Oxford United | A | 4–2 | 7,514 | Deane, Fjørtoft (pen), Holdsworth, Whitehouse |
| 27 September 1997 | Birmingham City | H | 0–0 | 20,553 | |
| 5 October 1997 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–1 | 30,000 | Deane, Whitehouse |
| 18 October 1997 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 2–2 | 18,006 | Borbokis, Marcelo |
| 21 October 1997 | Stockport County | H | 5–1 | 16,241 | Whitehouse, Fjørtoft (3), Deane |
| 25 October 1997 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–2 | 17,311 | |
| 1 November 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–1 | 16,578 | Tiler, Taylor |
| 4 November 1997 | Reading | A | 1–0 | 8,132 | Patterson |
| 9 November 1997 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–2 | 9,695 | Taylor, Ward |
| 15 November 1997 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | 23,850 | Deane |
| 18 November 1997 | Bradford City | A | 1–1 | 16,127 | Deane |
| 22 November 1997 | Port Vale | A | 0–0 | 8,017 | |
| 29 November 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–0 | 16,973 | Fjørtoft |
| 2 December 1997 | Stoke City | H | 3–2 | 14,347 | Taylor, Fjørtoft, Deane |
| 6 December 1997 | Norwich City | A | 1–2 | 11,745 | Deane |
| 9 December 1997 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–2 | 9,868 | Marker |
| 13 December 1997 | Swindon Town | H | 2–1 | 18,115 | Holdsworth, Saunders |
| 20 December 1997 | Bury | A | 1–1 | 6,012 | Deane |
| 26 December 1997 | Stoke City | A | 2–2 | 19,723 | Taylor, Deane |
| 28 December 1997 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4–1 | 18,677 | Taylor, Saunders, Deane, Marker |
| 10 January 1998 | Sunderland | A | 2–4 | 36,391 | Saunders, Taylor |
| 17 January 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 22,144 | Marcelo |
| 27 January 1998 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–1 | 16,535 | Saunders |
| 31 January 1998 | Portsmouth | A | 1–1 | 12,003 | Knight (own goal) |
| 7 February 1998 | Oxford United | H | 1–0 | 16,881 | Ford |
| 22 February 1998 | Birmingham City | A | 0–2 | 17,965 | |
| 25 February 1998 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–2 | 9,560 | Saunders, Stuart |
| 28 February 1998 | Bradford City | H | 2–1 | 17,848 | Taylor (2) |
| 3 March 1998 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–1 | 14,120 | |
| 14 March 1998 | Reading | H | 4–0 | 15,473 | Stuart, Marcelo, Taylor, Quinn |
| 21 March 1998 | Manchester City | A | 0–0 | 28,496 | |
| 28 March 1998 | Port Vale | H | 2–1 | 15,860 | Marcelo, Saunders |
| 1 April 1998 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 21,512 | |
| 7 April 1998 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | 18,421 | Saunders |
| 11 April 1998 | Norwich City | H | 2–2 | 16,915 | Stuart, Borbokis |
| 13 April 1998 | Swindon Town | A | 1–1 | 5,956 | Marcelo |
| 18 April 1998 | Bury | H | 3–0 | 16,056 | Stuart (pen), Saunders (2) |
| 25 April 1998 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–4 | 21,248 | Stuart (pen), Marcelo |
| 28 April 1998 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 3–3 | 7,526 | Quinn, Saunders, Devlin |
| 30 April 1998 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–2 | 5,759 | Hamilton |
| 3 May 1998 | Stockport County | A | 0–1 | 9,683 | |

### First Division play-offs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| SF First Leg | 10 May 1998 | Sunderland | H | 2–1 | 23,800 | Marcelo, Borbokis |
| SF Second Leg | 13 May 1998 | Sunderland | A | 0–2 (lost 2–3 on agg) | 40,092 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1998 | Bury | H | 1–1 | 14,009 | Fjørtoft |
| R3R | 13 January 1998 | Bury | A | 2–1 | 4,920 | Saunders, Fjørtoft |
| R4 | 24 January 1998 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–1 | 14,654 | Saunders |
| R4R | 3 February 1998 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 14,144 | Hutchison (pen) |
| R5 | 13 February 1998 | Reading | H | 1–0 | 17,845 | Sandford |
| QF | 7 March 1998 | Coventry City | A | 1–1 | 23,084 | Marcelo |
| QFR | 17 March 1998 | Coventry City | H | 1–1 (won 3–1 on pens) | 29,034 | Holdsworth |
| SF | 5 April 1998 | Newcastle United | N | 0–1 | 53,452 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 First Leg | 12 August 1997 | Wrexham | A | 1–1 | 3,644 | Borbokis |
| R1 Second Leg | 26 August 1997 | Wrexham | H | 3–1 (won 4–2 on agg) | 7,181 | Deane, Whitehouse, Fjørtoft |
| R2 First Leg | 16 September 1997 | Watford | A | 1–1 | 7,154 | Scott |
| R2 Second Leg | 23 September 1997 | Watford | H | 4–0 (won 5–1 on agg) | 7,511 | Day (own goal), Whitehouse (2), Deane |
| R3 | 14 October 1997 | Walsall | A | 1–2 | 8,239 | Borbokis |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of 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 |
| — | GK | ENG | Matthew George |
| — | GK | ENG | Simon Tracey |
| — | GK | WAL | Andy Dibble |
| — | GK | IRL | Alan Kelly |
| — | DF | ENG | Earl Barrett |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Hamilton |
| — | DF | ENG | David Holdsworth |
| — | DF | ENG | David Lee (on loan from Chelsea) |
| — | DF | ENG | Nicky Marker |
| — | DF | ENG | Jon O'Connor (on loan from Everton) |
| — | DF | ENG | Wayne Quinn |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Sandford |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Short |
| — | DF | ENG | Carl Tiler |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Wilder |
| — | DF | IRL | Paul McGrath |
| — | DF | NED | Michel Vonk |
| — | DF | NOR | Roger Nilsen |
| — | DF | GRE | Vasilios Borbokis |
| — | DF | GRE | Traianos Dellas |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Beard |
| — | MF | ENG | Adam Burley |
| — | MF | ENG | Jon Cullen |
| — | MF | ENG | Kevin Davies |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Shaun Derry |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Devlin |
| — | MF | ENG | Bobby Ford |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Hawes |
| — | MF | ENG | Nick Henry |
| — | MF | ENG | Ryan Ludlam |
| — | MF | ENG | Graham Stuart |
| — | MF | ENG | Mitch Ward |
| — | MF | ENG | David White |
| — | MF | ENG | Dane Whitehouse |
| — | MF | ENG | Curtis Woodhouse |
| — | MF | SCO | Don Hutchison |
| — | FW | ENG | Brian Deane |
| — | FW | ENG | Lee Morris |
| — | FW | ENG | Mark Patterson |
| — | FW | ENG | Andy Scott |
| — | FW | WAL | Ian Rush (on loan from Newcastle United) |
| — | FW | WAL | Dean Saunders |
| — | FW | WAL | Gareth Taylor |
| — | FW | SCO | Andy Walker |
| — | FW | NOR | Jan Åge Fjørtoft |
| — | FW | FIN | Ville Lehtinen |
| — | FW | BLR | Pyotr Kachura |
| — | FW | BRA | Marcelo |