# 1997–98 Derby County F.C. season

The 1997–98 English football season was Derby County's second consecutive season in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

## Season summary

Derby County began life at their new stadium by progressing further on the previous season's solid 12th-place finish. Jim Smith's team emerged as surprise contenders for a UEFA Cup place, and European qualification (for the first time in over 20 years) was still a possibility on the final day of the season. But results didn't go Derby's way, and that final European place went to Aston Villa.
The end-of-season arrival of Argentine defender Horacio Carbonari gave Derby fans fresh hope of challenging for a place in Europe.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 57 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 8 | West Ham United | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 56 | 57 | −1 | 56 | |
| 9 | Derby County | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 55 | |
| 10 | Leicester City | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 53 | |
| 11 | Coventry City | 38 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 52 | |
* ↑ Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: 1997–98 FA Premier League table

### Results by round

| 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 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | L | L | W | W |
| Position | 19 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |

## Results

Derby County's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1997 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–1 | 23,557 | |
| 23 August 1997 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 25,886 | |
| 30 August 1997 | Barnsley | H | 1–0 | 27,232 | Eranio (pen) |
| 13 September 1997 | Everton | H | 3–1 | 27,828 | Hunt, C Powell, Sturridge |
| 20 September 1997 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 35,444 | Baiano |
| 24 September 1997 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 5–2 | 22,391 | Baiano (2), Laursen, Wanchope, Burton |
| 27 September 1997 | Southampton | H | 4–0 | 25,625 | Eranio, Wanchope, Baiano, Sturridge |
| 6 October 1997 | Leicester City | A | 2–1 | 19,585 | Baiano (2) |
| 18 October 1997 | Manchester United | H | 2–2 | 30,014 | Baiano, Wanchope |
| 22 October 1997 | Wimbledon | H | 1–1 | 28,595 | Baiano |
| 25 October 1997 | Liverpool | A | 0–4 | 38,017 | |
| 1 November 1997 | Arsenal | H | 3–0 | 30,004 | Wanchope (2), Sturridge |
| 8 November 1997 | Leeds United | A | 3–4 | 33,572 | Sturridge (2), Asanović |
| 22 November 1997 | Coventry City | H | 3–1 | 29,351 | Baiano, Eranio (pen), Wanchope |
| 29 November 1997 | Chelsea | A | 0–4 | 34,544 | |
| 6 December 1997 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | 29,300 | Mikloško (own goal), Sturridge |
| 14 December 1997 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 3–3 | 23,037 | Eranio, Baiano (2) |
| 17 December 1997 | Newcastle United | A | 0–0 | 36,289 | |
| 20 December 1997 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–0 | 26,590 | |
| 26 December 1997 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 30,232 | Eranio (pen) |
| 28 December 1997 | Barnsley | A | 0–1 | 18,686 | |
| 11 January 1998 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 3–1 | 27,823 | Sturridge (2), Wanchope |
| 17 January 1998 | Wimbledon | A | 0–0 | 13,031 | |
| 31 January 1998 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–1 | 30,187 | Sturridge, Wanchope |
| 7 February 1998 | Aston Villa | H | 0–1 | 30,251 | |
| 14 February 1998 | Everton | A | 2–1 | 34,876 | Štimac, Wanchope |
| 21 February 1998 | Manchester United | A | 0–2 | 55,170 | |
| 28 February 1998 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 3–0 | 30,203 | Wanchope (2), Rowett |
| 15 March 1998 | Leeds United | H | 0–5 | 30,217 | |
| 28 March 1998 | Coventry City | A | 0–1 | 18,705 | |
| 5 April 1998 | Chelsea | H | 0–1 | 30,062 | |
| 11 April 1998 | West Ham United | A | 0–0 | 25,155 | |
| 13 April 1998 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–0 | 29,126 | Wanchope, Burton (2), Baiano |
| 18 April 1998 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–3 | 18,101 | Bohinen |
| 26 April 1998 | Leicester City | H | 0–4 | 29,855 | |
| 29 April 1998 | Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 38,121 | |
| 2 May 1998 | Southampton | A | 2–0 | 15,202 | Dailly, Sturridge |
| 10 May 1998 | Liverpool | H | 1–0 | 30,492 | Wanchope |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1998 | Southampton | H | 2–0 | 27,992 | Baiano, C Powell |
| R4 | 24 January 1998 | Coventry City | A | 0–2 | 22,824 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 16 September 1997 | Southend United | A | 1–0 | 4,011 | Wanchope |
| R2 2nd Leg | 1 October 1997 | Southend United | H | 5–0 | 18,490 | Rowett (2), Wanchope, Sturridge, Trollope |
| R3 | 15 October 1997 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | 20,390 | Wanchope (2) |
| R4 | 18 November 1997 | Newcastle United | H | 0–1 | 27,364 | |

## 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 |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Russell Hoult |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Gary Rowett |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Chris Powell |
| 4 | MF | JAM | Darryl Powell |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Dean Yates |
| 6 | MF | CRO | Igor Štimac (captain) |
| 7 | MF | NED | Robin van der Laan |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Dean Sturridge |
| 9 | FW | CRC | Paulo Wanchope |
| 10 | MF | IRL | Rory Delap |
| 11 | FW | NED | Ron Willems |
| 14 | MF | NOR | Lars Bohinen |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Marc Bridge-Wilkinson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | DEN | Jacob Laursen |
| 18 | MF | IRL | Lee Carsley |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Steve Elliott |
| 20 | MF | ITA | Stefano Eranio |
| 21 | GK | EST | Mart Poom |
| 22 | DF | SCO | Christian Dailly |
| 23 | DF | CRC | Mauricio Solís |
| 24 | FW | JAM | Deon Burton |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Rob Kozluk |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Jonathan Hunt |
| 27 | FW | ITA | Francesco Baiano |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Craig Smith |
| 29 | GK | ENG | Richard Knight |

### Left club during 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 |
| 10 | MF | CRO | Aljoša Asanović (to Napoli) |
| 12 | FW | ENG | Ashley Ward (to Barnsley) |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Paul Simpson (to Wolves) |
| 15 | MF | WAL | Paul Trollope (to Fulham) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Matt Carbon (to West Bromwich Albion) |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Sean Flynn (to West Bromwich Albion) |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Wayne Sutton (to Woking) |
| — | FW | ENG | Nick Wright (to Carlisle United) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Boden |
| — | DF | ENG | Andrew Tretton |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | CRC | Mauricio Solís |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
| 20 May 1997 | MF | Stefano Eranio | Milan | Free transfer |
| 1 August 1997 | FW | Francesco Baiano | Fiorentina | £650,000 |
| 6 August 1997 | FW | Deon Burton | Portsmouth | £1,000,000 |
| 6 February 1998 | MF | Rory Delap | Carlisle United | £200,000 |
| 25 March 1998 | MF | Lars Bohinen | Blackburn Rovers | £1,450,000 |
| 23 May 1998 | DF | Horacio Carbonari | Rosario Central | £2,700,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos | Name | To | Fee |
| 12 June 1997 | GK | Martin Taylor | Wycombe Wanderers | Free transfer |
| 6 August 1997 | MF | Sean Flynn | West Bromwich Albion | £260,000 |
| 7 August 1997 | MF | Kevin Cooper | Stockport County | £150,000 |
| 4 September 1997 | FW | Ashley Ward | Barnsley | £1,300,000 |
| 1 November 1997 | DF | Andrew Tretton | Chesterfield | Non-contract |
| 11 November 1997 | MF | Paul Simpson | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £75,000 |
| 27 November 1997 | MF | Paul Trollope | Fulham | £600,000 |
| 29 December 1997 | MF | Aljoša Asanović | Napoli | £350,000 |
| 26 January 1998 | DF | Matt Carbon | West Bromwich Albion | £800,000 |
| 12 February 1998 | FW | Nick Wright | Carlisle United | Transfer |
    Transfers in: £6,000,000
    Transfers out: £3,535,000
    Total spending: £2,465,000