Final League Table -
Division I
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1897-98 |
|
Team |
P |
Home |
Away |
₧
|
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
Sheffield
United |
30 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
27 |
14 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
29 |
17 |
42 |
|
Sunderland |
30 |
12 |
2 |
1 |
27 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
16 |
22 |
37 |
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
30 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
36 |
14 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
21 |
27 |
35 |
|
Everton |
30 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
33 |
12 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
15 |
27 |
35 |
|
The Wednesday |
30 |
12 |
0 |
3 |
39 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
12 |
27 |
33 |
|
Aston Villa |
30 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
47 |
21 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
14 |
30 |
33 |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
30 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
25 |
16 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
19 |
29 |
32 |
|
Nottingham Forest |
30 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
30 |
19 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
17 |
30 |
31 |
|
Liverpool |
30 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
27 |
16 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
21 |
29 |
28 |
|
Derby
County |
30 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
40 |
19 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
17 |
42 |
28 |
|
Bolton Wanderers |
30 |
9 |
2 |
4 |
18 |
13 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
10 |
28 |
26 |
|
Preston North End |
30 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
26 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
9 |
28 |
24 |
|
Notts County |
30 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
23 |
23 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
13 |
23 |
24 |
|
Bury |
30 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
25 |
19 |
0 |
5 |
10 |
14 |
32 |
24 |
|
Blackburn Rovers |
30 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
20 |
22 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
19 |
32 |
24 |
|
Stoke |
30 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
21 |
14 |
0 |
5 |
10 |
14 |
41 |
24 |
|
Sunderland
recorded a seven-match winning run from 27 December 1897:
Liverpool (a) 2-0, Preston (h) 1-0, Notts C.
(h) 2-0, Stoke (a) 1-0, Bury (h) 2-1, Liverpool (h) 1-0, Notts C. (a) 1-0,
before drawing 2-2 at West Brom on 19 February 1898.
Sheffield United's biggest winning sequence was
of five matches. |
|
How The League Was Won 1897-98 Season |
|
Timeline |
21
consecutive Saturdays from 4 September 1897 to 22 January 1898, plus
Boxing Day (Monday, 27th December 1897), Good Friday,
8 April 1898 and Easter Monday, 11 April 1898
With no
games allowed in August, there were three
opening games on Wednesday, 1 September 1897 and a fourth on the
following day. An additional
game was
played on the last Monday in September, plus one each on the first Monday
and Thursday in
October, two on Mondays in
November, one each on the two days following Boxing Day (Christmas
Day and New Year's Day were both on a Saturday) and two on Mondays
in January. The
remaining games were played on Saturdays, apart from one on a Monday
and two on a Tuesday in February, one each on a Monday and a
Tuesday, and two on a Thursday in March, and two on a Monday (not
including Easter) and one each on a Tuesday and a Thursday in April,
with the
FA Cup taking precedence on five weekends from the first round on 29
January 1898 to the
final on 16 April 1898 (a week later than the previous season which
had been brought forward to
avoid Easter). There were two weeks between each
round, three weeks before the semi-finals and four before the final. The first test match
was played four days after the final (on a Wednesday), with the
second on the following day. Two games were played on each of the
remaining Saturdays, with the other two played on the Tuesday and
Thursday in-between. The last league game was on Saturday 30 April (Aston
V. 2-0 Nottingham F.),
the same
day as the test matches were concluded (although ultimately rendered
irrelevant as the first division was expanded to 18 clubs).
|
Saturday,
2
April 1898 |
Sheffield United 1
Sunderland 0
Bramall Lane, Sheffield
(20,000)
Johnson |
Sunderland missed their big opportunity to go above
United, who had released Ernest Needham to play for England at
Celtic Park. Defeat left them three points adrift, with three
games left, as opposed to United's two. West Brom's defeat at
Bolton reduced their chances to only being able to win the title
on goal average, but this hope was extinguished, two days later,
when they lost at home to Notts County. |
|
Good Friday, 8 April 1898 |
Bolton Wanderers 0 Sheffield
United 1
Burnden
Park, Bolton
(19,395)
Needham |
Sunderland struggled at Bury, where they lost two players
to injuries early on and United's win at Bolton extended their
lead to five points and secured their first title. |
Bury
1 Sunderland 0
Gigg Lane, Bury
(11,600)
Barbour |
|
|
The Elite League 1897-98 Season
(games between the top four) |
Only Sheffield United retained their top-four placing from the
previous season. Aston Villa, Derby County and Preston North End all
dropped out of the top four. This is not
an official league, with tiebreak criteria, but Sheffield United
have been placed first, due to both their superior Football League
position and their head-to-head record against Everton (4-1 on
aggregate).
Games played between the top two:-
|
Saturday, 5 March 1898 |
Sunderland 3 Sheffield United 1
Newcastle Road, Sunderland
(20,000)
Howell
OG,
Wilson, Leslie
~ Cunningham |
|
Saturday, 2 April 1898 |
Sheffield United 1 Sunderland
0
Bramall
Lane, Sheffield
(20,000)
Johnson |
|
|
The Continuous League
1888-98
(first ten seasons) |
Everton moved ahead of Preston to go back into second place, but
Aston Villa increased their lead at the top to 15 points. This was the
sixth and final
season
of thirty games each, following three of 22 and one of 26 games each, so comparisons with
other seasons have little
relevance. Sunderland still had the highest average points per game
from their eight seasons.
Sunderland reduced Aston Villa's lead to 13 points.
Aston Villa increased their lead to 26 points. |
|
Champions:
Sheffield United |
|
Manager: Joseph
Wostinholm |
|
|
Villa's Fred Wheldon was top scorer with 23 goals.
Fred Spiksley of The Wednesday was
second on the list with 17 and Derby's Steve Bloomer scored 15.
|
|
England and the Football
League 1897-98 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Of the 33 playing positions used
during the active 1897-98 season, Football League players provided
23 of them, and of the nine goals scored, League players scored
seven of them.
Seven of the 16 first division clubs were
represented.
Six Football League games had a direct impact on
two of England's games, on 5 March and 2 April.
As a
result, on 5 March, England took Aston Villa's Charlie Athersmith
and Fred Wheldon, Derby's Jimmy Turner and Sheffield United's Tom
Morren. On 2 April, Villa were again without Athersmith and Wheldon,
Nottingham Forest were without Frank Forman, Sheffield United were
without Ernest Needham and England also took West Brom's Billy
Williams. |
|
