# 1997–98 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Crewe Alexandra F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, in their 75th season in the English Football League.

## Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Crewe were favourites to go straight back down to the Second Division and before Christmas, they were in the relegation zone and looked as though it would be a possibility but a fantastic run of 7 wins from 10 league games from January to the end of February, dramatically rose Crewe from a possible relegation to 12th and 7 points from the play-offs but it proved too much to ask for and Crewe finished a satisfying season in 11th place.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 65 |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 61 |
| 11 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 18 | 5 | 23 | 58 | 65 | −7 | 59 |
| 12 | Oxford United | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 60 | 64 | −4 | 58 |
| 13 | Bradford City | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 46 | 59 | −13 | 57 |

## Results

Crewe Alexandra's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1997 | Swindon Town | A | 0–2 | 8,334 | |
| 16 August 1997 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–3 | 5,234 | Adebola, Rivers |
| 23 August 1997 | Norwich City | A | 2–0 | 11,821 | Rivers, S Smith |
| 2 September 1997 | Bury | H | 1–2 | 4,447 | S Smith (pen) |
| 13 September 1997 | Portsmouth | A | 3–2 | 9,505 | Rivers, Anthrobus, Adebola |
| 16 September 1997 | Port Vale | H | 0–1 | 5,519 | |
| 20 September 1997 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 2–3 | 5,348 | Lunt, Adebola |
| 27 September 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–1 | 4,845 | Anthrobus, Street |
| 4 October 1997 | Birmingham City | A | 1–0 | 16,548 | Rivers |
| 11 October 1997 | Reading | A | 3–3 | 6,685 | Westwood, Little, Adebola |
| 18 October 1997 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–1 | 5,759 | Adebola |
| 21 October 1997 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–0 | 4,730 | |
| 25 October 1997 | Bradford City | A | 0–1 | 15,333 | |
| 29 October 1997 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 27,384 | |
| 1 November 1997 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–3 | 18,268 | Little |
| 4 November 1997 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 5,743 | |
| 8 November 1997 | Oxford United | H | 2–1 | 4,524 | Westwood, Anthrobus |
| 15 November 1997 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–3 | 14,091 | Street, S Smith |
| 22 November 1997 | Stockport County | H | 0–1 | 5,231 | |
| 29 November 1997 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 16,973 | |
| 6 December 1997 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–5 | 4,861 | Charnock, Adebola |
| 13 December 1997 | Stoke City | A | 2–0 | 14,623 | S Smith, Little |
| 20 December 1997 | Sunderland | H | 0–3 | 5,404 | |
| 26 December 1997 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 5,759 | Holsgrove |
| 28 December 1997 | Bury | A | 1–1 | 5,661 | Adebola |
| 11 January 1998 | Swindon Town | H | 2–0 | 4,176 | Little, Street |
| 17 January 1998 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–0 | 15,257 | Little |
| 24 January 1998 | Port Vale | A | 3–2 | 10,571 | S Smith (pen), Whalley, Foran |
| 31 January 1998 | Norwich City | H | 1–0 | 5,559 | Fuglestad (own goal) |
| 7 February 1998 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–3 | 13,429 | Anthrobus, Johnson |
| 14 February 1998 | Portsmouth | H | 3–1 | 5,114 | Little, Garvey, Lunt |
| 17 February 1998 | Birmingham City | H | 0–2 | 5,559 | |
| 21 February 1998 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 3–0 | 7,534 | Rivers, Little (2) |
| 25 February 1998 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–1 | 29,936 | |
| 28 February 1998 | Reading | H | 1–0 | 5,202 | Rivers |
| 3 March 1998 | Oxford United | A | 0–0 | 6,069 | |
| 7 March 1998 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–4 | 5,759 | Little |
| 14 March 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | 24,272 | |
| 21 March 1998 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–3 | 5,252 | |
| 28 March 1998 | Stockport County | A | 1–0 | 8,370 | S Smith |
| 11 April 1998 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–2 | 11,263 | |
| 13 April 1998 | Stoke City | H | 2–0 | 5,759 | Westwood, Lightfoot |
| 18 April 1998 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 40,441 | Charnock |
| 25 April 1998 | Bradford City | H | 5–0 | 5,054 | Anthrobus, Street, Little (3) |
| 30 April 1998 | Sheffield United | H | 2–1 | 5,759 | Anthrobus, Little |
| 3 May 1998 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–3 | 19,105 | Charnock, Garvey |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1998 | Birmingham City | H | 1–2 | 4,607 | Rivers |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 First Leg | 12 August 1997 | Bury | H | 2–3 | 2,618 | Lunt, S Smith |
| R1 Second Leg | 26 August 1997 | Bury | A | 3–3 (lost 5–6 on agg) | 3,296 | Rivers, S Smith, Butler (own goal) |

## 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 | AUS | Jason Kearton |
| — | DF | ENG | Shaun Smith |
| — | DF | ENG | Marcus Bignot |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Unsworth |
| — | DF | ENG | Dave Walton |
| — | MF | ENG | Seth Johnson |
| — | MF | ENG | Phil Charnock |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Rivers |
| — | MF | ENG | Kenny Lunt |
| — | FW | ENG | Colin Little |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Anthrobus |
| — | FW | NGA | Dele Adebola |
| — | DF | ENG | Ashley Westwood |
| — | MF | ENG | Gareth Whalley |
| — | MF | ENG | Kevin Street |
| — | GK | NGA | Ademola Bankole |
| — | DF | ENG | Mark Foran |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Garvey |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Lightfoot |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Holsgrove |
| — | DF | ENG | Julian Watts |
| — | FW | ENG | Jamie Moralee |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Guinan (on loan from Nottingham Forest) |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Pope |
| — | MF | ENG | Jermaine Wright |
| — | FW | WAL | Peter Smith |
| — | MF | ENG | Francis Tierney |
| — | DF | ENG | David Wright |
| — | DF | ENG | John Pemberton |
| — | DF | ENG | Jamie Collins |
| — | DF | ENG | Stephen Foster |
| — | GK | ENG | Neil Cutler |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Macauley |
| — | GK | ENG | Mark Gayle |