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This article describes the FA Premier League 1997-98 season.

File:Arsene Wenger 1998 Premiership.jpg

Arsene Wenger, lifting the Carling Premiership Trophy on the 4th May, 1998, at Highbury. It became one part of Arsenal's double that season.

The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice. It was their first full season under French manager Arsène Wenger. They were fifth in the Premiership at the turn of the season and 15 points adrift of top place, and even by the beginning of March they were still 11 points short of leaders Manchester United. After making up this points deficit, Arsenal became Premier League champions at the beginning of May after beating Everton 4-0 at home. They then lost their final two games of the season and finished one point ahead of Manchester United. This Arsenal side included several foreign international players such as including French midfielders Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira, as well as Dutch winger Marc Overmars. Arsenal went on to beat Newcastle United in the FA Cup Final, thanks to goals by Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka. Wenger achieved his first double and became the first overseas manger to win the Premiership. He would go on to win the double again in 2002.

Promoted teams

Promoted to the Premiership for the 1997-98 season were Bolton Wanderers (Division One champions with 98 points), Barnsley (runners-up and promoted to the top division for the first time ever) and Crystal Palace.

European qualification

At the end of the 1997-98 FA Premier League season, a record total of eight English teams qualified for European competition.

Team	League Position	Competition
Arsenal	1	UEFA Champions League
Manchester United	2	UEFA Champions League
Liverpool	3	UEFA Cup
Chelsea	4	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Leeds United	5	UEFA Cup
Blackburn Rovers	6	UEFA Cup
Aston Villa	7	UEFA Cup
Newcastle United	13	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Premiership champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, while UEFA Cup places went to Liverpool, Leeds United, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers. Qualifying for the Cup Winners' Cup would be defending champions Chelsea and FA Cup runners-up Newcastle United.

Relegated teams

The gap between the Premier League and Division One of the Football League was highlighted at the end of 1997-98 when all three newly promoted teams were relegated. Crystal Palace were confined to bottom place in the final table having won just two home games all season. Barnsley's first season in the top division ended in relegation, although they did reach the FA Cup quarter finals and knock out Manchester United in the Fifth Round. Bolton Wanderers went down on goal difference, with 17th place being occupied by Everton. Despite preserving top flight football at Everton for the 45th season running, Howard Kendall quit as manager at Goodison Park after his third spell in charge.

Managerial changes

• Aston Villa manager Brian Little resigned in February 1998 and was replaced by John Gregory, previously of Wycombe Wanderers.
• Chelsea sacked Ruud Gullit after a dispute with the board in February 1998 and appointed 33-year-old striker Gianluca Vialli as their new manager.
• Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell was named as Director of football in March and temporarily replaced by 31-year-old midfielder Atilio Lombardo. At the end of the season, Terry Venables was given the manager's job.
• Everton manager Howard Kendall resigned as Everton manager after one season of his third period as manager.
• Sheffield Wednesday sacked David Pleat in October 1997 and named Ron Atkinson as caretaker manager until the end of the season, after which he was replaced by Danny Wilson of Barnsley.
• Tottenham Hotspur manager Gerry Francis resigned in November 1997 and was replaced by Christian Gross of Swiss side Grasshopper Zurich.

Final league table

Final league table for FA Premier League 1997-98 season

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Arsenal	38	23	9	6	68	33	78	CL
2	Manchester United	38	23	8	7	73	26	77	CLQ
3	Liverpool	38	18	11	9	68	42	65	UC
4	Chelsea	38	20	3	15	71	43	63	CWC
5	Leeds United	38	17	8	13	57	46	59	UC
6	Blackburn Rovers	38	16	10	12	57	52	58
7	Aston Villa	38	17	6	15	49	48	57
8	West Ham United	38	16	8	14	56	57	56
9	Derby County	38	16	7	15	52	49	55
10	Leicester City	38	13	14	11	51	41	53
11	Coventry City	38	12	16	10	46	44	52
12	Southampton	38	14	6	18	50	55	48
13	Newcastle United	38	11	11	16	35	44	44	CWC
14	Tottenham Hotspur	38	11	11	16	44	56	44
15	Wimbledon	38	10	14	14	34	46	44
16	Sheffield Wednesday	38	12	8	18	52	67	44
17	Everton	38	9	13	16	41	56	40
18	Bolton Wanderers	38	9	13	16	41	61	40	R
19	Barnsley	38	10	5	23	37	82	35
20	Crystal Palace	38	8	9	21	37	71	32

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Top goal scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Dion Dublin	18	Coventry City F.C.
Michael Owen	18	Liverpool F.C.
Chris Sutton	18	Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Dennis Bergkamp	16	Arsenal F.C.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	16	Leeds United A.F.C.
John Hartson	16	West Ham United

External links

• 1997/98 FA Premier League Review

[[Category:FA Premier League seasons]] [[Category:1998 in football (soccer)]] [[no:FA Premier League 1997–1998]] [[pl:Premiership (1997/1998)]]