The 1997–98 English football season was Aston Villa's 6th season in the Premier League.

When Brian Little resigned as Aston Villa manager in February, Villa were 15th in the Premier League and were starting to look like outside bets for relegation. Ruud Gullit, recently sacked by Chelsea, was linked with the vacancy, but the surprise choice for the job was Wycombe manager John Gregory, a former Villa coach. He influenced a late run of form which saw Villa climb to seventh place, and for the second season running Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking.Aston Villa 1997/1998. WorldFootball.net. Accessed 2 March 2012.

There were debut appearances for Gareth Barry (365), Simon Grayson (48), Stan Collymore (46), Darren Byfield (7), Richard Walker (6), Matthew Ghent, Paul Crichton and Lee Collins.

Final league table

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Transfers

Transferred in DatePosPlayerFromFee 13 May 1997 CF Stan Collymore Liverpool £7,200,000 26 June 1997 RB Simon Grayson Leicester City £1,300,000 27 November 1997 CM David Curtolo Västerås £315,000£8,515,000

Loaned in DatePosPlayerFromLoan End 7 August 1997 GK Paul Crichton West Bromwich Albion 13 August 1997

Transferred out DatePosPlayerToFee 1 July 1997 LM Gareth Farrelly Everton£750,000 29 August 1997 CM Andy Townsend Middlesbrough £500,000 1 September 1997 GK Stuart Brock Kidderminster Free transfer 9 December 1997 RM Scott Murray Bristol City £150,000 26 March 1998 DM Saša Ćurčić Crystal Palace £1,000,000£2,400,000

Loaned out DatePosPlayerToLoan End 1 August 1997 CF Neil Davis Tranmere Rovers 23 August 1997 26 March 1998 LB David Hughes Carlisle United 26 April 1998

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure £8,330,000

Income £2,400,000

Balance £5,930,000

Squad First Team # Name Position Nationality Place of birth Date of birth (age) Signed from Date signed Fee Apps Gls Goalkeepers 1 Mark Bosnich GK Liverpool Sydney Croatia 28 February 1992 Free transfer 169 0 13 Michael Oakes GK Northwich Academy 1 July 1991 24 0 29 Paul Crichton GK Pontefract West Bromwich Albion 7 August 1997 Loan - - 29* Matthew Ghent GK Burton upon Trent Academy 1 July 1997 - - 30 Adam Rachel GK Birmingham Academy 1 July 1995 0 0 31 Stuart Brock GK West Bromwich Academy 1 July 1996 0 0 Defenders 2 Gary Charles RB Newham Derby County 6 January 1995 £1,450,000 63 1 3 Steve Staunton LB Dundalk Liverpool 7 August 1991 £1,100,000 225 15 4 Gareth Southgate (c) CB Watford Crystal Palace 1 July 1995 £3,500,000 77 3 5 Ugo Ehiogu CB Hackney West Bromwich Albion 12 July 1991 £40,000 176 10 14 Alan Wright LB Ashton-under-Lyne Blackburn Rovers 10 March 1995 £1,000,000 104 3 15 Fernando Nélson RB Porto Sporting 2 August 1996 £1,700,000 39 0 16 Simon Grayson RB Ripon Leicester City 26 June 1997 £1,300,000 - - 19 David Hughes LB Wrexham Academy 1 July 1996 7 0 20 Riccardo Scimeca CB Leamington Spa Academy 1 July 1995 22 0 21 Lee Collins LB Birmingham Academy 1 July 1997 - - 24* Gareth Barry LB Hastings Academy 1 January 1998 - - Midfielders 6 Andy Townsend CM Maidstone Chelsea 26 July 1993 £2,100,000 172 11 7 Ian Taylor CM Birmingham Sheffield Wednesday 21 December 1994 £1,000,000 96 9 8 Mark Draper CM Long Eaton Leicester City 5 July 1995 £3,250,000 82 5 17 Lee Hendrie RM Solihull Academy 1 July 1995 10 0 18 Saša Ćurčić DM Belgrade Bolton Wanderers 1 July 1995 £4.000.000 25 5 24 Scott Murray RM Fraserburgh Academy 1 July 1995 4 0 Forwards 9 Savo Milošević CF Bijeljina Partizan 26 June 1995 £3,500,000 85 24 10 Dwight Yorke CF Canaan Signal Hill 19 July 1991 £120,000 237 82 11 Stan Collymore CF Tittensor Liverpool 13 May 1997 £7,000,000 - - 12 Julian Joachim CF Peterborough Leicester City 24 February 1996 £1,890,000 28 4 22 Darius Vassell CF Birmingham Academy 1 January 1998 - - 23 Neil Davis CF Bloxwich Academy 1 July 1995 3 0 25 Darren Byfield CF Sutton Coldfield Academy 1 July 1997 - - 27 Richard Walker CF Bloxwich Academy 1 July 1997 - -

Results Aston Villa's score comes firstSoccerbase: 1997–98 Aston Villa results

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1997 Leicester CityA0–120,304 13 August 1997 Blackburn RoversH0–437,112 23 August 1997 Newcastle UnitedA0–136,783 27 August 1997 Tottenham HotspurA2–326,317Yorke 27', Collymore 58' 30 August 1997 Leeds UnitedH1–039,027Yorke 67' 13 September 1997 BarnsleyA3–018,649Ehiogu 25', Draper 50', Taylor 72' 20 September 1997 Derby CountyH2–135,444Yorke 72', Joachim 75' 22 September 1997 LiverpoolA0–334,843 27 September 1997 Sheffield WednesdayH2–232,044Staunton 32', Taylor 49' 4 October 1997 Bolton WanderersA1–024,186Milošević 12' 18 October 1997 WimbledonH1–232,087Taylor 45' 26 October 1997 ArsenalA0–038,061 1 November 1997 ChelseaH0–239,372 8 November 1997 Crystal PalaceA1–121,097Joachim 86' 22 November 1997 EvertonH2–136,389Milošević 37', Ehiogu 56' 29 November 1997 West Ham UnitedA1–224,976Yorke 47' 6 December 1997 Coventry CityH3–033,250Collymore 21', Hendrie 71', Joachim 85' 15 December 1997 Manchester UnitedA0–155,151 20 December 1997 SouthamptonH1–129,343Taylor 64' 26 December 1997 Tottenham HotspurH4–138,644Draper 38', 68', Collymore 81', 89' 28 December 1997 Leeds UnitedA1–136,287Milošević 85' 10 January 1998 Leicester CityH1–136,429Joachim 87' 17 January 1998 Blackburn RoversA0–524,834 1 February 1998 Newcastle UnitedH0–138,266 7 February 1998 Derby CountyA1–030,251Yorke 90' 18 February 1998 Manchester UnitedH0–239,372 21 February 1998 WimbledonA1–213,131Milošević 41' 28 February 1998 LiverpoolH2–139,372Collymore 10', 65' 8 March 1998 ChelseaA1–033,018Joachim 51' 11 March 1998 BarnsleyH0–129,519 14 March 1998 Crystal PalaceH3–133,781Taylor 1', Milošević pen 14', 35' 28 March 1998 EvertonA4–136,471Joachim 12', Charles 62', Yorke pen 72', 81' 4 April 1998 West Ham UnitedH2–039,372Joachim 76', Milošević 82' 11 April 1998 Coventry CityA2–122,792Yorke 5', 48' 18 April 1998 SouthamptonA2–115,238Hendrie 6', Yorke 60' 25 April 1998 Bolton WanderersH1–338,392Taylor 57' 2 May 1998 Sheffield WednesdayA3–134,177Yorke 21', Hendrie 25', Joachim 50' 10 May 1998 ArsenalH1–039,372Yorke 37' (pen)

FA Cup

League Cup

UEFA Cup

References

External links Aston Villa official website avfchistory.co.uk 1997–98 season