The 1997–98 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 97th season of competitive football, their 28th (and 20th consecutive) in the top flight of English football, and their sixth in the FA Premier League. It was the first season to feature Dave Jones as the club's manager – the first appointed by new chairman Rupert Lowe, who took over from Guy Askham at the end of 1996–97. The campaign was the Saints' best in the league since 1994–95, as the club finished 12th in the table after two seasons in which they avoided relegation by a single point. Outside the league, however, the club faired less positively – they were eliminated from the FA Cup in the third round after just one game, and only made it to the fourth round of the League Cup.
After taking over from Graeme Souness in June, Jones added two players from his former Stockport County squad: goalkeeper Paul Jones and left-back Lee Todd. He would continue to add new players throughout the campaign, including breaking the club's transfer record with the £2 million signing of striker David Hirst, as well as selling numerous players – many from Souness' tenure. After a poor start to the league campaign which saw them drop into the relegation zone almost immediately, Southampton's form began to pick up following Hirst's arrival in October. As a result, they picked up a number of key wins over high-profile opposition and climbed the table, briefly making it into the top half before finishing in 12th place, eight points clear of the drop zone.
Outside the league, Southampton were eliminated from the FA Cup at the first hurdle for the second season in a row, losing their third round tie to FA Premier League rivals Derby County 0–2 at Pride Park Stadium. In the League Cup, the Saints beat Brentford in both legs of their second round tie, progressing 5–1 on aggregate over a side who would be relegated to the Third Division that season. In the third round they won 2–1 against Barnsley, who had just been promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history (but would be relegated again at the end of the year). The club were eliminated in the fourth round after extra time by Chelsea, who would go on to win the competition after beating First Division promotees Middlesbrough in the final.
Southampton used 31 players during the 1997–98 season and had 11 different goalscorers. Matt Le Tissier finished as the club's top goalscorer for a second season in a row (and seventh and last time overall) with 14 goals in all competitions. Kevin Davies and Egil Østenstad finished just behind Le Tissier on 12 and 11 goals, respectively. New goalkeeper Paul Jones made the most appearances for the club during the campaign and won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award at the end of the year. The average league attendance at The Dell during 1997–98 was 15,159. The highest attendance was 15,255 against Tottenham Hotspur in the league in October and the lowest was 8,004 against Brentford in the League Cup in September.
Background and transfers
Ahead of the 1997–98 season, Southampton changed managers for the fourth time in just three years, when Graeme Souness resigned on 24 May 1997 due to disagreements with the club's new chairman Rupert Lowe related to potential spending in the summer transfer window.[1] On the same day, the club's director of football Lawrie McMenemy also left, claiming that he "shared the frustrations" of Souness, while on-loan midfielder Eyal Berkovic – who was set to sign a permanent deal for the Saints – explained that he did not want to stay at the club without Souness.[1] The next day, the Southampton Independent Supporters Association launched a campaign calling for Souness to be reinstated as manager and the new board, led by Lowe, to resign.[2] A month after Souness' resignation, the club announced that Dave Jones, who had just helped Stockport County achieve promotion to the First Division and reach the semi-finals of the League Cup,[3] would be taking over as Southampton manager.[4]
Maik Taylor was sold to Fulham in November after less than a year at the club.
Jones brought two players with him from Stockport County to sign for Southampton: goalkeeper Paul Jones, who had just played every game in Stockport's promotion-winning season, for £900,000,[5] and left-back Lee Todd, who had also been a prominent part of the same team, for £850,000.[6] His only other signing prior to the season starting was Norwegian striker Stig Johansen, who joined from Bodø/Glimt at the beginning of August for £600,000.[7] The next week, Jones made his first sale as Dutch centre-back Ulrich van Gobbel (who had signed for Souness' side just ten months earlier) was sold for £800,000 to club Feyenoord – a loss of £500,000 on his signing less than a year previously.[8]
In the new year, left-back Simon Charlton – having lost his place in the team to new arrival Todd and in-form Francis Benali – was sold to Birmingham City in the First Division after a month-long loan spell, for a fee of £200,000.[19]John Beresford was signed as his replacement from Newcastle United a month later, with Jones paying £1.5 million for him – a new club record fee for a defender.[20] Later in February, another left-back, Matthew Robinson, moved to local rivals Portsmouth for £50,000, having made just 17 appearances over a four-season career in the Southampton first team.[21] On transfer deadline day in March, Australian midfielder Robbie Slater joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for £75,000,[22] and the Saints signed Italian midfielder Cosimo Sarli from Torino, although he failed to make an appearance for the first team and was released the following February.[23]
Southampton had a poor opening start to the 1997–98 FA Premier League campaign, losing their first two games against recently promoted Bolton Wanderers and reigning champions Manchester United and failing to score in either game.[27] After another loss, 1–3 at home to title challengers Arsenal, the Saints won their first match of the season when they beat Crystal Palace (another team recently promoted from the First Division) 1–0 at The Dell, with Kevin Davies scoring his first goal for the club.[27] Defeats at Chelsea and Coventry City saw the club drop to the bottom of the league table by mid-September.[28] After securing only their fourth point of the campaign with a 1–1 draw at home to Liverpool, the Saints lost 0–2 at home to Leeds United, before suffering their heaviest defeat of the campaign when Derby County – in their new Pride Park Stadium – thrashed the South Coast side 4–0, scoring all four goals in the last 15 minutes of the tie.[29] By the end of September, the club were still bottom of the table, already four points away from safety.[30]
The Saints picked up one of their season's three 3-goal wins at the beginning of October, beating West Ham United 3–0 at The Dell, with goals from Egil Østenstad, Davies and Jason Dodd coming in a single 15-minute spell early in the second half.[29] Another 0–1 loss at Blackburn Rovers followed, before the side fought back twice from trailing positions to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–2, with new striker David Hirst scoring twice on only his second appearance since joining the previous week.[29] This started a short winning run of three games, which included a 2–0 away victory over Everton, who were also struggling in the bottom quarter of the table, and a 4–1 home win over Barnsley, who had been recently promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history.[29] Following these three consecutive wins, Southampton had risen from 19th to 14th place in the league table.[31] Three marginal defeats followed, however, as the Saints succumbed 1–2 at Newcastle United, 2–3 to Sheffield Wednesday, and 0–1 at Wimbledon.[29][32]
Mid-December saw Southampton beat Leicester City 2–1 at The Dell, with a 2nd-minute Matt Le Tissier opener followed by full-back Francis Benali scoring the first and only senior goal of his career, heading in a free kick from Le Tissier.[32] A 1–1 draw at Aston Villa followed just before Christmas, during which a late goal from a Le Tissier free kick was disallowed after being taken from the wrong position.[32] The Saints ended 1997 with another 1–1 draw, at Crystal Palace, followed by a 1–0 win over Chelsea,[32] after which they had climbed up to 13th in the FA Premier League standings.[33] This was followed at the beginning of 1998 by a repeat of the first two fixtures of the season – a goalless draw at Bolton Wanderers, in which the Saints played with ten men for almost an hour following Benali's dismissal, was followed by a 1–0 home win over back-to-back title hopefuls Manchester United.[32] Another convincing defeat at Arsenal was followed by a hard-fought 3–2 win over Liverpool in which Østenstad and Hirst both scored in the last six minutes to give the club their first win at Anfield since 1981.[32][34]
Securing their place around the mid-table area, Southampton secured another run of three consecutive wins starting in late-February: first, they beat top-four side Blackburn Rovers 3–0 at home, with Østenstad scoring twice; the next week, they beat another top-half side, Leeds United, 1–0 at Elland Road; and finally, they won 2–1 against Everton despite Ken Monkou being sent off after just 36 minutes.[35] After losing 3–4 at Barnsley, who were fighting for survival from relegation, the Saints picked up their penultimate win of the campaign over Newcastle United, winning 2–1 at The Dell thanks to a late Le Tissier penalty given for handball.[35] The side's form suffered during April, as they picked up just one point from four games in a "pulsating and totally absorbing" 3–3 draw at Leicester City, losing against Sheffield Wednesday, Wimbledon and Aston Villa in the other three games.[35] A final 4–2 win over West Ham United was followed by a 0–2 loss at home to Derby County and a final day 1–1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.[35] Southampton finished the season in 12th place with 14 wins, six draws and 18 defeats, marking their highest finish in the league since 10th in the 1994–95 season under manager Alan Ball.[35]
Southampton entered the 1997–98 FA Cup in an away tie against fellow FA Premier League side Derby County, just over three months after a 0–4 loss at the new Pride Park Stadium in the league.[36]Kevin Davies created a couple of chances to score in the first half, but it was the hosts who came closest to breaking the deadlock through Francesco Baiano and others.[36] It took until the 68th minute for the first goal, when Baiano converted a penalty given for a foul on him by Carlton Palmer – Southampton club historians claim that Palmer "had not even attempted a tackle and no contact was made", crediting Baiano's "amateur dramatics" for gaining the spot kick.[36] Five minutes later, Chris Powell scored a second to put Derby through to the fourth round and eliminate the Saints at the first hurdle.[36]
Southampton entered the 1997–98 League Cup in the second round against Brentford, who were struggling in the lower regions of the Second Division table. In the first game at The Dell, the FA Premier League hosts eased past the third tier side 3–1, with Ken Monkou, Kevin Davies and Micky Evans all on the scoresheet.[37] A 2–0 win in the return leg at Griffin Park – both goals scored in the first half by Matt Le Tissier – saw the club through.[37] An all-Premier League affair in the third round saw Southampton beat recent promotees Barnsley 2–1 at Oakwell, with Davies scoring a winner in the final two minutes after the game had been level for over an hour.[37] Another top-flight side, Chelsea, hosted the Saints in the fourth round. Davies opened the scoring shortly after the half-time break, but Tore André Flo equalised just ten minutes later.[37] With replays having recently been abandoned in the tournament, the tie went to extra time, when Jody Morris scored just before the end of the second period to put Chelsea through.[37]
Outside the league and cup competitions, Southampton played three additional matches during the second half of the 1997–98 season. The first was a friendly against Conference side Woking in January, which ended in a 1–1 draw (Kevin Davies scored for the visitors).[26] A second friendly, at Southern League side Dorchester Town, ended in a 2–0 win for the Saints through a David Hirst brace.[26] The final match took place two days after the end of the league season, against recently-crowned La Liga champions FC Barcelona. The Spanish hosts won the tie 4–0, with two goals from Iván de la Peña in the first half followed by second-half goals from Mario Rosas and Luis Cembranos.[38]
^"Phil Warner". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
^"Andy Williams". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
Bibliography
Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003), Bull, David (ed.), In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN0-9534474-3-X
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