1997–98 Bristol Rovers F.C. season

Bristol Rovers
1997–98 season
Chairman	Denis Dunford
Manager	Ian Holloway (player-manager)
Stadium	Memorial Stadium
Second Division	5th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Auto Windscreens Shield	Quarter finals
Top goalscorer	League: Hayles (23); All: Hayles (26)
Average home league attendance	6,413
	← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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

Season summary

The 1997–98 season saw Bristol Rovers reach the playoff places, finishing in 5th place and despite taking a first-leg advantage of 3–1 against Northampton Town, Rovers subsequently lost 3–0 in the second leg and went out 4–3 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
3	Grimsby Town (O, P)	46	19	15	12	55	37	+18	72	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4	Northampton Town	46	18	17	11	52	37	+15	71
5	Bristol Rovers	46	20	10	16	70	64	+6	70
6	Fulham	46	20	10	16	60	43	+17	70
7	Wrexham	46	18	16	12	55	51	+4	70

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Bristol Rovers' score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–1	7,386	Hayles
16 August 1997	York City	A	1–0	3,307	Hayles
23 August 1997	Carlisle United	H	3–1	6,044	Bennett, Hayles, Penrice
30 August 1997	Burnley	A	0–0	9,887
2 September 1997	Bournemouth	A	1–1	5,550	Cureton (pen)
9 September 1997	Walsall	H	2–0	6,225	Ramasut, Hayles
13 September 1997	Gillingham	H	1–2	6,572	Hayles
20 September 1997	Chesterfield	A	0–0	5,309
27 September 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	4–4	5,990	Beadle (2), Hayles, Cureton (pen)
4 October 1997	Wrexham	H	1–0	6,829	Ramasut
14 October 1997	Watford	H	1–2	8,110	Penrice
18 October 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–1	5,836
21 October 1997	Brentford	A	3–2	3,967	Hayles (2), Beadle
25 October 1997	Blackpool	H	0–3	6,183
1 November 1997	Northampton Town	A	1–1	7,264	Cureton
4 November 1997	Bristol City	H	1–2	7,552	Tillson
8 November 1997	Fulham	H	2–3	6,166	Penrice (2)
18 November 1997	Preston North End	A	2–1	7,798	Penrice, Alsop
22 November 1997	Southend United	A	1–1	3,653	Beadle (pen)
29 November 1997	Millwall	H	2–1	5,542	Beadle, Hayles
2 December 1997	Wigan Athletic	A	0–3	2,738
12 December 1997	Grimsby Town	H	0–4	4,801
20 December 1997	Luton Town	A	4–2	5,266	Cureton, Hayles (2), Beadle
26 December 1997	Walsall	A	1–0	6,634	Beadle
28 December 1997	Bournemouth	H	5–3	7,256	Beadle (3), Hayles (2)
10 January 1998	Plymouth Argyle	A	2–1	6,850	Cureton, Hayles
17 January 1998	Burnley	H	1–0	7,208	Cureton
24 January 1998	Carlisle United	A	1–3	5,725	Cureton
31 January 1998	Gillingham	A	1–1	5,593	Cureton (pen)
7 February 1998	Chesterfield	H	3–1	5,481	Bennett, Cureton (2)
14 February 1998	Wrexham	A	0–1	3,716
21 February 1998	Oldham Athletic	H	3–1	5,789	Hayles (2), Ramasut
24 February 1998	Wycombe Wanderers	H	3–1	5,805	Hayles, Beadle, Ramasut
28 February 1998	Watford	A	2–3	12,186	White, Cureton
3 March 1998	Fulham	A	0–1	6,843
7 March 1998	Northampton Town	H	0–2	6,535
10 March 1998	York City	H	1–2	4,289	Ramasut
14 March 1998	Bristol City	A	0–2	17,086
21 March 1998	Preston North End	H	2–2	5,278	Cureton (pen), Hayles
27 March 1998	Southend United	H	2–0	5,323	Tillson, Hayles
4 April 1998	Millwall	A	1–1	5,635	Zabek
10 April 1998	Wigan Athletic	H	5–0	6,038	Hayles, Ramasut, Beadle (3)
13 April 1998	Grimsby Town	A	2–1	5,484	Hayles (2)
18 April 1998	Luton Town	H	2–1	8,038	Beadle, Tillson
25 April 1998	Blackpool	A	0–1	7,057
2 May 1998	Brentford	H	2–1	9,043	Cureton, Hayles

Second Division play-offs


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	10 May 1998	Northampton Town	H	3–1	9,173	Beadle (pen), Bennett, Hayles
SF 2nd Leg	13 May 1998	Northampton Town	A	0–3 (lost 3–4 on agg)	7,501

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	14 November 1997	Gillingham	H	2–2	4,825	Alsop, Holloway
R1R	25 November 1997	Gillingham	A	2–0	4,459	Hayles, Penrice
R2	6 December 1997	Wisbech Town	A	2–0	3,593	Beadle, Hayles
R3	3 January 1998	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	8,610	Beadle
R3R	13 January 1998	Ipswich Town	A	0–1	11,362

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	12 August 1997	Bristol City	A	0–0	9,341
R1 2nd Leg	26 August 1997	Bristol City	H	1–2 (lost 1–2 on agg)	5,872	Alsop

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	8 December 1997	Cambridge United	H	1–0	2,386	Cureton
SR2	6 January 1998	Exeter City	A	2–1	1,851	Bennett, Tillson
SQF	28 January 1998	Walsall	H	0–1 (a.e.t.)	4,165

Squad

^[3] 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	Andy Collett
-	GK	ENG	Shane Higgs
-	GK	WAL	Lee Jones (on loan from Swansea City)
-	DF	ENG	Steve Foster
-	DF	ENG	David Pritchard
-	DF	ENG	Andy Tillson
-	DF	WAL	Jason Perry
-	DF	ENG	Matt Lockwood
-	DF	ENG	Tom White
-	DF	ENG	Brian Gayle
-	DF	ENG	Graeme Power
-	DF	ENG	Luke Basford
-	DF	ENG	Mark Smith
-	DF	ENG	Billy Clark
-	DF	ENG	Lee Martin


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	ENG	Gary Penrice
-	MF	ENG	Ian Holloway (player-manager)
-	MF	WAL	Tom Ramasut
-	MF	ENG	Matt Hayfield
-	MF	ENG	Lee Zabek
-	MF	ENG	Josh Low
-	MF	ENG	Jon French
-	MF	ENG	Lee Archer
-	FW	JAM	Barry Hayles
-	FW	ENG	Jamie Cureton
-	FW	ENG	Peter Beadle
-	FW	ENG	Julian Alsop
-	FW	ENG	Frankie Bennett
-	FW	ENG	Steve Parmenter
-	FW	ENG	David Whyte

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
1 August 1997	DF	Jason Perry	Cardiff City	Free transfer
1 August 1997	DF	Steve Foster	Woking	£150,000
1 August 1997	MF	Gary Penrice	Watford	Free transfer
1 August 1997	FW	Barry Hayles	Stevenage	£250,000

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 August 1997	MF	Paul Miller	Lincoln City	Free transfer
1 August 1997	DF	Andy Gurney	Torquay United	Free transfer
31 October 1997	DF	Billy Clark	Exeter City	Free transfer
1 December 1997	MF	Ryan Morgan	Clevedon Town	Free transfer
8 December 1997	MF	Brian Gayle	Shrewsbury Town	Monthly
13 March 1998	FW	Julian Alsop	Swansea City	£30,000
13 March 1998	FW	Steve Parmenter	Yeovil Town	Free transfer
14 March 1998	FW	David Whyte	Southend United	Signed

Transfers in:

£400,000

Transfers out:

£30,000

Total spending:

£370,000

References

^ "England 1997–98". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
^ "Bristol Rovers 1997-1998 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
^ "Bristol R FC Player Appearances | Past & Present | Soccer Base".

[rsssf-1] "England 1997–98". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[2] "Bristol Rovers 1997-1998 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.

[3] "Bristol R FC Player Appearances | Past & Present | Soccer Base".

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