1997–98 Stockport County F.C. season
# 1997–98 Stockport County F.C. season

During the 1997–98 English football season, Stockport County F.C. competed in the First Division.

## Season summary

Stockport's return to the second flight after an absence of 60 years appeared to be in danger of being written off as a failure before a ball had been kicked, as manager Dave Jones, who had led County to promotion and the League Cup semi-final the previous season, left to join Southampton, taking his assistant John Sainty, goalkeeper Paul Jones and defender Lee Todd with him to The Dell. Gary Megson was recruited from Blackpool as his replacement. Three points from the opening seven games left Stockport facing relegation, but four straight wins after that lifted Stockport up to eighth, signalling the end of their relegation fears for the season. These fears were replaced with hopes of finally reaching the top flight, but ultimately County's poor away form saw them finish in eighth, nine points off the play-offs. Of course, this was still as success, for this was Stockport's highest-ever placing in England's footballing ladder while at the same time this season was Manchester City's worst season in their history.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nottingham Forest (C, P) | 46 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 82 | 42 | +40 | 94 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Middlesbrough (P) | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 77 | 41 | +36 | 91 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 3 | Sunderland | 46 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 86 | 50 | +36 | 90 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 4 | Charlton Athletic (O, P) | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 80 | 49 | +31 | 88 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 5 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 83 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 6 | Sheffield United | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 69 | 54 | +15 | 74 | Qualification for the First Division play-offs |
| 7 | Birmingham City | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 60 | 35 | +25 | 74 | |
| 8 | Stockport County | 46 | 19 | 8 | 19 | 71 | 69 | +2 | 65 | |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 65 | |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 61 | |
| 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 | |
| 16 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 50 | 72 | −22 | 53 | |
| 17 | Bury | 46 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 52 | |
| 18 | Swindon Town | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 42 | 73 | −31 | 52 | |
| 19 | Port Vale | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 56 | 66 | −10 | 49 | |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 51 | 63 | −12 | 49 | |
| 21 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 51 | 63 | −12 | 49 | |
| 22 | Manchester City (R) | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 56 | 57 | −1 | 48 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 23 | Stoke City (R) | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 44 | 74 | −30 | 46 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 24 | Reading (R) | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 39 | 78 | −39 | 42 | Relegation to the Second Division |

## Results

Stockport County's scores comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |

### First Division

* Stockport County 3–1 Manchester City (Cook, Angell, Armstrong)
* Manchester City 4–1 Stockport County

## Squad

    Squad at end of season

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 | Eric Nixon |
| — | DF | ENG | Sean Connelly |
| — | DF | ENG | Mike Flynn |
| — | DF | ENG | Jim Gannon |
| — | DF | ENG | Simon Travis |
| — | DF | ENG | Ronnie Wallwork (on loan from Manchester United) |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Woodthorpe |
| — | DF | WAL | Damon Searle |
| — | DF | SCO | Tom Bennett |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | SCO | Martin McIntosh |
| — | MF | ENG | Chris Byrne |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Cook |
| — | MF | ENG | Kevin Cooper |
| — | MF | ENG | Tony Dinning |
| — | MF | WAL | Wayne Phillips |
| — | FW | ENG | Brett Angell |
| — | FW | ENG | Aaron Wilbraham |
| — | FW | IRL | Stephen Grant |

### Left club during season

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 | WAL | Neil Edwards (to Rochdale) |
| — | DF | ENG | Matthew Bound (to Swansea City) |
| — | MF | ENG | Chris Marsden (to Birmingham City) |
| — | MF | ENG | Lee Richardson (on loan from Oldham Athletic) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | IRL | Eddie McGoldrick (on loan from Manchester City) |
| — | FW | ENG | Alun Armstrong (to Middlesbrough) |
| — | FW | AUS | Vasilios Kalogeracos (to Perth Glory) |
