# 1997–98 Swindon Town F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Swindon Town F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

Swindon started the season brilliantly and at the end of October they were top of the table but it all started to go downhill after hammering Oxford 4–1 in December, when Swindon managed just three more wins from the remaining 26 league games which also included an embarrassing FA Cup home defeat to non-league Stevenage. They finished the season in a lowly 18th position, and the pressure on McMahon to resign was immense, but chairman Rikki Hunt refused to sack him.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 16 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 50 | 72 | −22 | 53 |
| 17 | Bury | 46 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 52 |
| 18 | Swindon Town | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 42 | 73 | −31 | 52 |
| 19 | Port Vale | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 56 | 66 | −10 | 49 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 51 | 63 | −12 | 49 |

## Results

Swindon Town's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 2–0 | 8,334 | Allison, Finney (pen) |
| 16 August 1997 | Reading | A | 1–0 | 9,338 | Hay |
| 23 August 1997 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–1 | 7,683 | Hay |
| 30 August 1997 | Stoke City | A | 2–1 | 23,000 | Allison, Hay |
| 2 September 1997 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 11,246 | Allison |
| 7 September 1997 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–0 | 13,051 | |
| 13 September 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–1 | 6,811 | Walters, Casper |
| 20 September 1997 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–0 | 16,237 | |
| 27 September 1997 | Manchester City | A | 0–6 | 26,646 | |
| 4 October 1997 | Port Vale | H | 4–2 | 8,048 | Hay (3), Taylor |
| 11 October 1997 | Bury | H | 3–1 | 7,640 | Hay (2), Gooden |
| 18 October 1997 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | 21,794 | Hay (pen) |
| 21 October 1997 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | 27,553 | |
| 25 October 1997 | Norwich City | H | 1–0 | 9,256 | Hay |
| 31 October 1997 | Portsmouth | A | 1–0 | 8,707 | Hay |
| 5 November 1997 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 3–1 | 10,132 | Walters, Taylor, Hay |
| 8 November 1997 | Bradford City | H | 1–0 | 10,029 | Cowe |
| 15 November 1997 | Stockport County | A | 2–4 | 7,694 | Hay, Leitch |
| 22 November 1997 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–2 | 15,228 | Ndah |
| 28 November 1997 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–3 | 13,769 | |
| 6 December 1997 | Oxford United | H | 4–1 | 10,902 | Wilsterman (own goal), Walters (pen), Finney, Gooden |
| 13 December 1997 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 18,115 | Finney |
| 20 December 1997 | Birmingham City | H | 1–1 | 10,334 | Finney |
| 26 December 1997 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 26,500 | |
| 28 December 1997 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–2 | 10,609 | |
| 11 January 1998 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 0–2 | 4,176 | |
| 17 January 1998 | Reading | H | 0–2 | 9,500 | |
| 24 January 1998 | Bradford City | A | 1–1 | 15,130 | Hay |
| 28 January 1998 | Stoke City | H | 1–0 | 6,683 | Robinson |
| 31 January 1998 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–0 | 10,028 | |
| 7 February 1998 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–2 | 9,861 | |
| 10 February 1998 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–3 | 5,288 | |
| 17 February 1998 | Port Vale | A | 1–0 | 5,925 | Collins |
| 21 February 1998 | Manchester City | H | 1–3 | 12,280 | Cowe |
| 28 February 1998 | Bury | A | 0–1 | 5,002 | |
| 7 March 1998 | Portsmouth | H | 0–1 | 9,100 | |
| 11 March 1998 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–6 | 29,581 | |
| 14 March 1998 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–1 | 13,486 | Walters (pen), Onoura |
| 18 March 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 7,770 | |
| 21 March 1998 | Stockport County | H | 1–1 | 6,684 | McDonald |
| 4 April 1998 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–1 | 7,845 | |
| 11 April 1998 | Oxford United | A | 1-2 | 8,005 | Ndah (pen) |
| 13 April 1998 | Sheffield United | H | 1–1 | 5,956 | Walters |
| 18 April 1998 | Birmingham City | A | 0–3 | 17,016 | |
| 25 April 1998 | Norwich City | A | 0–5 | 18,443 | |
| 3 May 1998 | Sunderland | H | 1–2 | 14,868 | Walters |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1998 | Stevenage Borough | H | 1–2 | 9,422 | Walters |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 First Leg | 13 August 1997 | Watford | H | 0–2 | 6,271 | |
| R1 Second Leg | 26 August 1997 | Watford | A | 1–1 (lost 1–3 on agg) | 7,712 | Leitch |

## 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 | Fraser Digby |
| — | DF | ENG | Brian Borrows |
| — | DF | NIR | Alan McDonald |
| — | DF | ENG | Craig Taylor |
| — | DF | ENG | Mark Robinson |
| — | MF | ENG | Ty Gooden |
| — | MF | ENG | Darren Bullock |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Walters |
| — | MF | SCO | Scott Leitch |
| — | FW | SCO | Chris Hay |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Finney |
| — | FW | ENG | Wayne Allison |
| — | MF | SCO | Lee Collins |
| — | MF | FRA | Philippe Cuervo |
| — | FW | ENG | George Ndah |
| — | GK | ENG | Steve Mildenhall |
| — | MF | ENG | Kevin Watson |
| — | DF | ENG | Frédéric Darras |
| — | DF | ENG | Jason Drysdale |
| — | DF | ENG | David Kerslake |
| — | MF | ENG | David Thompson (on loan from Liverpool) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Culverhouse |
| — | MF | ENG | Bobby Howe |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Cowe |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Casper (on loan from Manchester United) |
| — | FW | ENG | Iffy Onuora |
| — | DF | ENG | Mark Seagraves |
| — | DF | ENG | Sol Davis |
| — | MF | ENG | Alex Smith |
| — | GK | AUS | Frank Talia |
| — | GK | TRI | Tony Warner (on loan from Liverpool) |
| — | MF | ENG | Stuart Elliott (on loan from Newcastle United) |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve McMahon |
| — | MF | ENG | Robin Hulbert |
| — | FW | ENG | Alex Meechan |
| — | MF | NIR | Paul McAreavey |
| — | MF | WAL | Michael Pattimore |
| — | DF | ENG | Phil King |
| — | DF | ENG | Adam Willis |