# 1997–98 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

## Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Wigan didn't start the campaign very well and by the end of November, sat in the bottom four and were favourites to go down before the season started and it seemed a possibility at that stage. By 21 February, their fortunes didn't really improve and were still in the relegation battle in 17th and two points clear of the relegation zone. From then onwards, Wigan went on a great run of form to end the season with seven wins from their final 15 league games and finished in a satisfying 11th place.

## Transfers
### In

| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Date |
| Scott Green | DF | Bolton Wanderers | £300,000 | 30 June 1997 |
| David Lee | MF | Bolton Wanderers | £250,000 | 18 July 1997 |
| Pat McGibbon | DF | Manchester United | £250,000 | 30 July 1997 |
| Paul Warne | FW | Wroxham | £25,000 | 30 July 1997 |
| Brendan O'Connell | MF | Charlton Athletic | £120,000 | 8 August 1997 |
| Jorg Smeets | MF | Heracles Almelo | £100,000 | 1 October 1997 |
| Carl Bradshaw | DF | Norwich City | Free | 3 October 1997 |
| Neil Mustoe | MF | Manchester United | Undisclosed | 7 January 1998 |
| Stuart Barlow | FW | Oldham Athletic | £45,000 | 26 March 1998 |

### Out

| Player | Pos | To | Fee | Date |
| John Pender | DF | Rochdale | £11,500 | 22 July 1997 |
| Graham Lancashire | FW | Rochdale | £40,000 | 2 October 1997 |
| Andy Saville | FW | Cardiff City | £60,000 | 31 October 1997 |
| Tony Black | MF | Accrington Stanley | Released | 31 October 1997 |
| Charlie Bishop | MF | Northampton Town | £20,000 | 12 December 1997 |

### Loans in

| Player | Pos | From | Date | Duration |
| Drewe Broughton | FW | Norwich City | 15 August 1997 | One month |
| Neil Woods | FW | Grimsby Town | 6 November 1997 | One month |
| Graham Branch | DF | Tranmere Rovers | 24 December 1997 | One month |
| Rob Newman | DF | Norwich City | 26 March 1998 | End of season |

### Loans out

| Player | Pos | To | Date | Duration | Notes |
| Steve Morgan | DF | Bury | 26 September 1997 | One month | |

## Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1997 | Wycombe Wanderers | H | 5–2 | 4,706 | O'Connell (3), Green, Kilford |
| 16 August 1997 | Bournemouth | A | 0–1 | 3,799 | |
| 23 August 1997 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 1–1 | 3,761 | Lowe |
| 30 August 1997 | Bristol City | A | 0–3 | 9,255 | |
| 2 September 1997 | Carlisle United | A | 0–1 | 5,352 | |
| 8 September 1997 | Wrexham | H | 3–2 | 3,872 | O'Connell, Lowe, Jones (pen) |
| 13 September 1997 | Blackpool | H | 3–0 | 5,517 | Johnson, Lowe (2) |
| 20 September 1997 | Northampton Town | A | 0–1 | 6,570 | |
| 27 September 1997 | Fulham | H | 2–1 | 4,951 | Johnson, Greenall |
| 4 October 1997 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–2 | 4,623 | Lowe |
| 11 October 1997 | Chesterfield | A | 3–2 | 4,673 | O'Connell, Greenall, Lowe |
| 18 October 1997 | Luton Town | H | 1–1 | 4,466 | Jones (pen) |
| 21 October 1997 | Gillingham | H | 1–4 | 3,214 | Lee |
| 25 October 1997 | Millwall | A | 1–1 | 7,986 | Jones |
| 1 November 1997 | York City | H | 1–1 | 3,701 | Greenall |
| 4 November 1997 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–3 | 5,446 | Lowe |
| 8 November 1997 | Southend United | A | 0–1 | 2,716 | |
| 22 November 1997 | Preston North End | H | 1–4 | 5,649 | Kilford |
| 29 November 1997 | Watford | A | 1–2 | 9,455 | Jones |
| 2 December 1997 | Bristol Rovers | H | 3–0 | 2,738 | Kilford, Lowe (2) |
| 13 December 1997 | Burnley | A | 2–0 | 9,520 | Lee, Jones |
| 20 December 1997 | Brentford | H | 4–0 | 3,301 | Lowe, Smeets (2), Kilford |
| 26 December 1997 | Wrexham | A | 2–2 | 4,577 | Smeets, Kilford |
| 28 December 1997 | Carlisle United | H | 0–2 | 4,511 | |
| 10 January 1998 | Wycombe Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 5,549 | Martínez, Lee |
| 17 January 1998 | Bristol City | H | 0–3 | 5,078 | |
| 24 January 1998 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 2–3 | 4,345 | Kilford, Lee |
| 31 January 1998 | Blackpool | A | 2–0 | 5,288 | Warne, Lydiate (own goal) |
| 7 February 1998 | Northampton Town | H | 1–1 | 3,579 | Morgan |
| 14 February 1998 | Grimsby Town | H | 0–2 | 3,548 | |
| 21 February 1998 | Fulham | A | 0–2 | 7,791 | |
| 24 February 1998 | Luton Town | A | 1–1 | 4,403 | Jones |
| 28 February 1998 | Chesterfield | H | 2–1 | 3,017 | Lowe, Jones (pen) |
| 7 March 1998 | York City | A | 2–2 | 3,536 | Greenall, Jones |
| 14 March 1998 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | 4,277 | Kilford |
| 17 March 1998 | Southend United | H | 1–3 | 2,616 | Lowe |
| 21 March 1998 | Walsall | A | 0–1 | 3,169 | |
| 28 March 1998 | Preston North End | A | 1–1 | 10,171 | Lowe |
| 4 April 1998 | Watford | H | 3–2 | 4,262 | Barlow, Lowe, Kilford |
| 7 April 1998 | Bournemouth | H | 1–0 | 2,798 | Lee |
| 10 April 1998 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–5 | 6,038 | |
| 13 April 1998 | Burnley | H | 5–1 | 4,926 | Barlow, Lowe (2), Warne, Kilford |
| 18 April 1998 | Brentford | A | 2–0 | 4,480 | Bradshaw (pen), Kilford |
| 21 April 1998 | Walsall | H | 2–0 | 2,725 | Barlow, Jones |
| 24 April 1998 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 4,045 | |
| 2 May 1998 | Gillingham | A | 0–0 | 10,361 | |

### Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Bournemouth | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 66 |
| 10 | Chesterfield | 46 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 65 |
| 11 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 64 | 66 | −2 | 62 |
| 12 | Blackpool | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 59 | 67 | −8 | 62 |
| 13 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 62 | 54 | +8 | 61 |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| First | 15 November 1997 | Carlisle United | A | 1–0 | 5,182 | Jones |
| Second | 6 December 1997 | York City | H | 2–1 | 4,021 | Martínez, Lee |
| Third | 3 January 1998 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 2–4 | 22,402 | Lee, Lowe |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| First (1st leg) | 12 August 1997 | Chesterfield | H | 1–2 | 3,413 | Lee |
| First (2nd leg) | 26 August 1997 | Chesterfield | A | 0–1 (lost 1–3 on agg) | 4,076 | |

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| First (Northern) | 9 December 1997 | Lincoln City | H | 2–0 | 1,467 | Jones (2, 1 pen) |
| Second (Northern) | 20 January 1998 | Rotherham United | H | 3–0 | 1,495 | Jones (2), Lowe |
| Quarter final (Northern) | 27 January 1998 | Blackpool | A | 0–1 | 1,687 | |

## 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 | ENG | Lee Butler |
| - | GK | NIR | Roy Carroll |
| - | DF | ENG | Charlie Bishop |
| - | DF | ENG | Carl Bradshaw |
| - | DF | ENG | Graham Branch |
| - | DF | ITA | Pasquale Bruno |
| - | DF | ENG | Neil Fitzhenry |
| - | DF | ENG | Scott Green |
| - | DF | ENG | Colin Greenall |
| - | DF | ENG | Sean Hessey |
| - | DF | NIR | Pat McGibbon |
| - | DF | ENG | Rob Newman (on loan from Norwich City) |
| - | DF | ENG | Steve Morgan |
| - | DF | CAN | Kevin Sharp |
| - | DF | ENG | Neil Whitworth (on loan from Kilmarnock) |
| - | MF | ENG | Tony Black |
| - | MF | ESP | Isidro Díaz |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | MF | ENG | Gavin Johnson |
| - | MF | ENG | Ian Kilford |
| - | MF | ESP | Roberto Martínez |
| - | MF | ENG | Neil Mustoe |
| - | MF | ENG | Brendan O'Connell |
| - | MF | ENG | Paul Rogers |
| - | MF | NED | Jorg Smeets |
| - | FW | ENG | Stuart Barlow |
| - | FW | ENG | Drewe Broughton (on loan from Norwich City) |
| - | FW | ENG | Graeme Jones |
| - | FW | ENG | Graham Lancashire |
| - | FW | ENG | David Lee |
| - | FW | ENG | David Lowe |
| - | FW | ENG | Andy Saville |
| - | FW | ENG | Paul Warne |
| - | FW | ENG | Neil Woods (on loan from Grimsby Town) |