# 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.

## 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, and the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, losing to rivals Ayr United. Kilmarnock also competed in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, losing to Nice in first round.

## 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 Athletic | A | 1–1 | 5,374 | Wright 89’ (pen.) |
| 5 | 24 September 1997 | Rangers | H | 0–3 | 15,367 | |
| 6 | 27 September 1997 | Heart of Midlothian | 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 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 3–5 | 15,500 | Nevin 5’ Holt 62’ Roberts 76’ (pen.) |
| 15 | 29 November 1997 | Dunfermline Athletic | 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 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–2 | 11,079 | Wright 40’ Reilly 76’ |
| 23 | 31 January 1998 | Dunfermline Athletic | 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 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | 15,338 | Henry 34’ |
| 29 | 21 March 1998 | Dunfermline Athletic | 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’ |

### Scottish League Cup

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| Third round | 20 August 1997 | Stirling Albion | A | 2–6 | 2,154 | Vareille, Wright |

### Scottish Cup

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

### UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup

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

### Ayrshire Cup

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

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | |

### 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 |