# 1997–98 Chester City F.C. season

The 1997–98 season was the 60th season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester City, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
Also, it was the third season spent in the Third Division, after the relegation from the Second Division in 1995. Alongside competing in the Football League the club also participated in the FA Cup, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

## Football League

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 64 | 55 | +9 | 65 |
| 13 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 61 | 62 | −1 | 61 |
| 14 | Chester City | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 60 | 61 | −1 | 61 |
| 15 | Exeter City | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 68 | 63 | +5 | 60 |
| 16 | Cambridge United | 46 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 63 | 57 | +6 | 60 |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by matchday

| 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 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Result | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | D | L | D | W | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | D |
| Position | 1 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 14 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 9 August | Lincoln City | H | W | 2–0 | Flitcroft, Bennett | 2,478 |
| 23 August | Cambridge United | H | D | 1–1 | Bennett | 2,167 |
| 30 August | Barnet | A | L | 1–2 | Simpson (o.g.) | 1,790 |
| 2 September | Scunthorpe United | A | L | 1–2 | Bennett | 2,633 |
| 5 September | Hull City | H | W | 1–0 | Bennett | 2,271 |
| 13 September | Shrewsbury Town | H | W | 2–0 | Bennett (2) | 2,853 |
| 16 September | Cardiff City | A | W | 2–0 | Alsford, Davidson (pen) | 3,949 |
| 20 September | Mansfield Town | A | L | 1–4 | Davidson (pen) | 2,183 |
| 27 September | Rotherham United | A | L | 2–4 | Alsford, Priest | 3,061 |
| 4 October | Hartlepool United | H | W | 3–1 | Whelan, Bennett, Murphy | 2,163 |
| 11 October | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | W | 2–0 | Bennett (2) | 2,402 |
| 18 October | Torquay United | A | L | 1–3 | Richardson | 2,047 |
| 21 October | Scarborough | A | L | 1–4 | Thomas | 1,451 |
| 25 October | Macclesfield Town | H | D | 1–1 | Priest | 3,245 |
| 1 November | Rochdale | H | W | 4–0 | McDonald, Bennett, Rimmer (2) | 2,431 |
| 4 November | Notts County | A | W | 2–1 | McDonald, Bennett | 3,104 |
| 8 November | Leyton Orient | A | L | 0–1 | | 3,894 |
| 18 November | Peterborough United | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,612 |
| 26 November | Swansea City | H | W | 2–0 | Flitcroft (pen), Thomas | 1,510 |
| 29 November | Exeter City | H | D | 1–1 | Rimmer | 2,288 |
| 2 December | Doncaster Rovers | A | L | 1–2 | Jones | 864 |
| 13 December | Darlington | H | W | 2–1 | McDonald, Alsford | 1,812 |
| 19 December | Colchester United | A | L | 0–2 | | 1,867 |
| 26 December | Hull City | A | W | 2–1 | Whelan, Thomas | 6,807 |
| 28 December | Scunthorpe United | H | W | 1–0 | Priest | 2,263 |
| 10 January | Lincoln City | A | W | 3–1 | Priest, Jenkins, Rimmer | 2,913 |
| 17 January | Barnet | H | L | 0–1 | | 2,479 |
| 24 January | Cambridge United | A | W | 2–1 | Rimmer, McDonald | 2,473 |
| 27 January | Cardiff City | H | D | 0–0 | | 1,757 |
| 31 January | Shrewsbury Town | A | D | 1–1 | Woods | 3,002 |
| 7 February | Mansfield Town | H | L | 0–1 | | 2,055 |
| 14 February | Hartlepool United | A | D | 0–0 | | 2,186 |
| 21 February | Rotherham United | H | W | 4–0 | Murphy, Alsford, Priest (2) | 2,432 |
| 24 February | Torquay United | H | L | 1–3 | Woods | 2,163 |
| 28 February | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | L | 2–3 | Flitcroft, Murphy | 2,510 |
| 3 March | Leyton Orient | H | D | 1–1 | Richardson | 1,650 |
| 7 March | Rochdale | A | D | 1–1 | Murphy | 1,955 |
| 14 March | Notts County | H | L | 0–1 | | 2,753 |
| 21 March | Peterborough United | A | L | 1–2 | McDonald | 4,817 |
| 28 March | Swansea City | A | L | 0–2 | | 2,500 |
| 4 April | Exeter City | A | L | 0–5 | | 2,965 |
| 11 April | Doncaster Rovers | H | W | 2–1 | Flitcroft (pen), Rimmer | 1,593 |
| 13 April | Darlington | A | L | 0–1 | | 1,901 |
| 18 April | Colchester United | H | W | 3–1 | Whelan, Fisher, Rimmer | 1,780 |
| 25 April | Macclesfield Town | A | L | 2–3 | Whelan, Thomas | 5,982 |
| 2 May | Scarborough | H | D | 1–1 | Rimmer | 2,719 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 15 November | Winsford United (6) | H | W | 2–1 | Richardson, Priest | 3,885 |
| Second round | 5 December | Wrexham (3) | H | L | 0–2 | | 5,224 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round first leg | 11 August | Carlisle United (3) | H | L | 1–2 | Woods | 2,367 |
| First round second leg | 18 August | Carlisle United (3) | A | L | 0–3 | | 4,208 |

## Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 9 December | Scunthorpe United (4) | A | L | 1–2 | Flitcroft | 813 |

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FL Trophy | FL Trophy |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| | Wayne Brown | 16 | – | 13 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Ronnie Sinclair | 35 | – | 33 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| Field players ||||||||||||
| | Julian Alsford | 44 | 4 | 39 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Gary Bennett | 41+4 | 11 | 37+4 | 11 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Ross Davidson | 27+1 | 2 | 24 | 2 | 0+1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Ryan Dobson | 6 | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Neil Fisher | 34+6 | 1 | 29+6 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | David Flitcroft | 48+1 | 5 | 43+1 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
| | Martin Giles | 8+2 | – | 8+2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Iain Jenkins | 39 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Jonathan Jones | 3+6 | 1 | 2+5 | 1 | 0+1 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Rod McDonald | 23+10 | 5 | 21+10 | 5 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| | Matt McKay | 3+2 | – | 3+2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Andy Milner | 1+2 | – | 1 | – | 0+2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | John Murphy | 19+10 | 4 | 19+8 | 4 | 0+1 | – | 0+1 | – | – | – |
| | Chris Priest | 40 | 7 | 37 | 6 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Nick Richardson | 46+3 | 3 | 41+3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Stuart Rimmer | 29+9 | 8 | 26+8 | 8 | 1+1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Andy Shelton | 0+2 | – | 0+2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Gary Shelton | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Rod Thomas | 29+13 | 4 | 25+13 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Spencer Whelan | 40 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Matt Woods | 24+7 | 3 | 24+5 | 2 | – | – | 0+2 | 1 | – | – |
| | Darren Wright | 3+3 | – | 3+2 | – | – | – | – | – | 0+1 | – |
| | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Total | 51 | 64 | 46 | 60 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |