# 1997–98 Bury F.C. season

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

## Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, newly promoted Bury were battling against relegation for most of the campaign and were destined to be heading straight back down by the beginning of February where they sat in the bottom three with only 4 wins from 30 games, but from then on Bury went on an amazing nine game unbeaten run and winning 7 in their final 16 league games to secure survival against the odds.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 15 | Norwich City | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 52 | 69 | −17 | 55 |
| 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 |

## Results

Bury's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1997 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 5,065 | Armstrong |
| 16 August 1997 | Stockport County | A | 0–0 | 7,260 | |
| 23 August 1997 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–0 | 4,657 | |
| 30 August 1997 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–4 | 21,141 | Battersby, Johnson |
| 2 September 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 2–1 | 4,447 | Johnson, Swan |
| 7 September 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–0 | 5,073 | Swan |
| 12 September 1997 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | 11,216 | Johnson |
| 20 September 1997 | Port Vale | A | 1–1 | 6,781 | Swan |
| 27 September 1997 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–3 | 6,439 | Lucketti |
| 4 October 1997 | Stoke City | A | 2–3 | 11,760 | Swan, Gray (pen) |
| 11 October 1997 | Swindon Town | A | 1–3 | 7,640 | Battersby |
| 18 October 1997 | Birmingham City | H | 2–1 | 5,700 | Johnson, Swan |
| 21 October 1997 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 4,602 | Battersby |
| 25 October 1997 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–2 | 10,478 | |
| 1 November 1997 | Norwich City | A | 2–2 | 14,419 | Battersby, Johnrose |
| 4 November 1997 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–0 | 6,137 | Swan, Johnson |
| 8 November 1997 | Portsmouth | H | 0–2 | 5,065 | |
| 15 November 1997 | Oxford United | A | 1–1 | 5,811 | C Swailes |
| 22 November 1997 | Sunderland | H | 1–1 | 7,790 | Lucketti |
| 29 November 1997 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–2 | 11,929 | |
| 6 December 1997 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–1 | 8,016 | |
| 13 December 1997 | Bradford City | A | 0–1 | 15,812 | |
| 20 December 1997 | Sheffield United | H | 1–1 | 6,012 | Johnrose |
| 26 December 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–0 | 9,146 | |
| 28 December 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–1 | 5,661 | Patterson |
| 10 January 1998 | Reading | A | 1–1 | 7,499 | Gray |
| 18 January 1998 | Stockport County | H | 0–1 | 5,699 | |
| 27 January 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | 6,134 | Battersby |
| 31 January 1998 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–0 | 15,312 | |
| 7 February 1998 | Port Vale | H | 2–2 | 5,285 | Battersby, Ellis |
| 14 February 1998 | Manchester City | A | 1–0 | 28,885 | Butler |
| 17 February 1998 | Stoke City | H | 0–0 | 5,802 | |
| 21 February 1998 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–1 | 15,840 | Ellis |
| 25 February 1998 | Birmingham City | A | 3–1 | 20,021 | Rigby, Patterson, Ellis |
| 28 February 1998 | Swindon Town | H | 1–0 | 5,002 | Daws |
| 3 March 1998 | Portsmouth | A | 1–1 | 12,462 | Johnrose |
| 7 March 1998 | Norwich City | H | 1–0 | 5,154 | Jemson (pen) |
| 14 March 1998 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 18,846 | |
| 21 March 1998 | Oxford United | H | 1–0 | 5,159 | Ellis |
| 28 March 1998 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 37,425 | Small |
| 4 April 1998 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–2 | 8,042 | Butler, Ellis |
| 11 April 1998 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–4 | 30,218 | |
| 13 April 1998 | Bradford City | H | 2–0 | 6,570 | Ellis, Daws |
| 18 April 1998 | Sheffield United | A | 0–3 | 16,056 | |
| 25 April 1998 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–1 | 7,830 | |
| 3 May 1998 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–0 | 15,210 | Armstrong |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1998 | Sheffield United | A | 1–1 | 14,009 | Gray |
| R3R | 13 January 1998 | Sheffield United | H | 1–2 | 4,920 | Gray |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 First Leg | 12 August 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 3–2 | 2,618 | Armstrong, Jepson (pen), Johnson |
| R1 Second Leg | 26 August 1997 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 3–3 (won 6–5 on agg) | 3,296 | Gray, Johnson, Battersby (pen) |
| R2 First Leg | 16 September 1997 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 18,775 | Daws |
| R2 Second Leg | 23 September 1997 | Sunderland | H | 1–2 (lost 2–4 on agg) | 3,928 | Johnson |

## 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 |
| — | GK | ENG | Dean Kiely |
| — | DF | ENG | Andy Woodward |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Lucketti |
| — | DF | IRL | Paul Butler |
| — | DF | ENG | Bryan Small (on loan from Bradford City) |
| — | MF | ENG | Nick Daws |
| — | MF | ENG | Lenny Johnrose |
| — | MF | ENG | Gordon Armstrong |
| — | FW | ENG | Tony Battersby |
| — | FW | ENG | Peter Swan |
| — | FW | ENG | Tony Ellis |
| — | MF | ENG | Andy A Gray |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Patterson |
| — | FW | JAM | David Johnson |
| — | DF | WAL | Ian Hughes |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Swailes |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Jemson |
| — | MF | ENG | Rob Matthews |
| — | MF | ENG | Tony Rigby |
| — | FW | ENG | Ronnie Jepson |
| — | FW | SCO | Andy D Gray (on loan from Leeds United) |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Morgan (on loan from Wigan Athletic) |
| — | DF | ENG | Dean West |
| — | MF | ENG | Jason Peake |
| — | MF | ENG | Adrian Randall |
| — | FW | SCO | Paul Dalglish (on loan from Newcastle United) |
| — | FW | ENG | David Pugh |
| — | DF | ENG | Danny Swailes |
| — | DF | ENG | Brian Linighan |
| — | DF | ENG | Matt Barrass |
| — | MF | ENG | Martyn Forrest |