1997–98 Bradford City A.F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Bradford City A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Bradford City

1997–98 season
Chairman	Geoffrey Richmond
Manager	Chris Kamara (until 6 January) Paul Jewell (from 6 January)
Stadium	Valley Parade
First Division	13th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Steiner/Edinho (10) All: Steiner/Edinho (11)
Average home league attendance	15,564
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Season summary

In the 1997–98 season, Bradford started well with 13 points from a possible 15 which saw the Bantams top of the table after five games, but results declined and chairman Geoffrey Richmond sacked Kamara on 6 January, three days after a 2–0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.^[1]

Richmond turned to Jewell, who was by now Kamara's assistant, and he won his first game 2–1 to Stockport County. In his 21 games in charge, Jewell won six games and drew five to guide Bradford to 13th, their highest position since Jewell had joined the club. He was rewarded with a permanent contract when others expected Richmond to turn to a big name.^[2]

Final league table

Main article: 1997–98 Football League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Crewe Alexandra	46	18	5	23	58	65	−7	59
12	Oxford United	46	16	10	20	60	64	−4	58
13	Bradford City	46	14	15	17	46	59	−13	57
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	14	18	54	57	−3	56
15	Norwich City	46	14	13	19	52	69	−17	55

Source: Statto.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Bradford City's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1997	Stockport County	H	2–1	14,312	Edinho, Steiner
15 August 1997	Stoke City	H	0–0	13,823
23 August 1997	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	13,913	Steiner, Cundy (own goal)
30 August 1997	Reading	A	3–0	7,163	Lawrence, Pepper (2)
2 September 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	2–1	13,159	Edinho, Blake
5 September 1997	Sunderland	H	0–4	16,484
13 September 1997	Middlesbrough	H	2–2	17,767	Steiner, Edinho
21 September 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–4	11,583	Edinho
27 September 1997	Oxford United	A	0–0	6,468
4 October 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	15,236	Steiner, Kulcsar
18 October 1997	Port Vale	A	0–0	7,148
21 October 1997	Portsmouth	A	1–1	6,827	Edinho
25 October 1997	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–0	15,333	Edinho
1 November 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0	16,212
4 November 1997	Birmingham City	A	0–0	14,552
8 November 1997	Swindon Town	A	0–1	10,029
15 November 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–1	16,494
18 November 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–1	16,127	McGinlay
22 November 1997	Manchester City	A	0–1	29,746
29 November 1997	Norwich City	H	2–1	16,637	Steiner (2)
6 December 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	2–2	17,943	Steiner, Pepper
13 December 1997	Bury	H	1–0	15,812	McGinlay
21 December 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–1	8,853
26 December 1997	Sunderland	A	0–2	40,055
28 December 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	17,842	Blake
10 January 1998	Stockport County	A	2–1	8,460	Jacobs, Blake
16 January 1998	Stoke City	A	1–2	10,459	McGinlay
24 January 1998	Swindon Town	H	1–1	15,130	Edinho
27 January 1998	Reading	H	4–1	13,021	Lawrence, Edinho (2), Blake
31 January 1998	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	11,864	Blake
7 February 1998	Charlton Athletic	H	1–0	14,851	Blake
14 February 1998	Middlesbrough	A	0–1	30,165
18 February 1998	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	21,510	Blake
21 February 1998	Oxford United	H	0–0	14,190
24 February 1998	Port Vale	H	2–1	13,293	Melville, Pepper
28 February 1998	Sheffield United	A	1–2	17,848	Steiner
7 March 1998	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	13,281	Steiner
14 March 1998	Birmingham City	H	0–0	16,392
21 March 1998	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–3	9,463	Youds
28 March 1998	Manchester City	H	2–1	17,099	Pepper, Edinho
4 April 1998	Norwich City	A	3–2	13,260	Jacobs, Lawrence, Blake (pen)
11 April 1998	Nottingham Forest	H	0–3	17,248
13 April 1998	Bury	A	0–2	6,570
19 April 1998	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	14,871	Steiner
25 April 1998	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–5	5,054
3 May 1998	Portsmouth	H	1–3	15,890	Ramage

FA Cup

Main article: 1997–98 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	3 January 1998	Manchester City	A	0–2	23,686

League Cup

Main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	12 August 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	1–2	8,720	Steiner
R1 Second Leg	26 August 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1 (lost 2–3 on agg)	8,065	Edinho

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Gary Walsh — GK  ENG Mark Prudhoe — GK  AUS Robert Zabica — DF  ENG Chris Wilder — DF  ENG Eddie Youds — DF  ENG Wayne Jacobs — DF  IRL Andy O'Brien — MF  JAM Jamie Lawrence — MF  ENG Nigel Pepper — MF  ENG Peter Beagrie — MF  ENG Shaun Murray — FW  BRA Edinho — FW  SWE Robert Steiner — MF  ENG Craig Ramage — MF  ENG Robbie Blake — DF  JAM Darren Moore — DF  ENG John Dreyer — MF  AUS George Kulcsar — FW  SCO John McGinlay

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ENG Lee Sinnott (on loan from Oldham Athletic) — DF  SCO Steve McAnespie (on loan from Fulham) — DF  WAL Andy Melville (on loan from Sunderland) — DF  ENG John O'Kane (on loan from Manchester United) — DF  ENG Bryan Small — MF  ENG Paul Bolland — FW  WAL Lawrence Davies — FW  ENG Gareth Grant — DF  ENG Mark Bower — FW  NOR Ole Bjørn Sundgot — FW  NED Dennis Sepp — FW  ENG Craig Midgley — DF  ENG Danny Verity — DF  ENG Richard Liburd — FW  ENG Gordon Watson — DF  ENG Nicky Mohan — DF  ENG Ian McLean — MF  SCO Andrew Patterson

References

1. Nixon, Alan (7 January 1998). "Football: Kamara the rebel sacked". The Free Library. The Mirror. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
2. "Bradford's Jewell role". The Free Library. The Mirror. 27 January 1998. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
3. "Bradford City results for the 1997-1998 season - Statto.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2013.