SUMMARY
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| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Ave Att: |
| 25 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7,794 |
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Programme Style – 1997/98
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This issue is for the game against Oxford United in October 1997. We won 3-2, the fifth win a row. Brett Angell is featured on the cover, He scored in the game, in a spell in which he hit the target 8 times in 7 games. He finished the 1997/98 season with 23 goals from 51 games.
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McGOLDRICK’S MAINE ROAD SHAME
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There were 21 games left in the league season after we had opened the year with a 2-1 win at Preston in the FA Cup 3rd Round. They produced 8 wins and a total haul of 27 points, and resulted in a final placing of 9th, probably a little better than the average fan might have expected 9 months earlier. Chris Byrne had come into the team just prior to Christmas. A midfielder, he had an eye for goal, and looked to be a good acquisition.
It was needed, as late in January, on our second trip to St Andrews in 3 days, Tom Bennett suffered a horrific leg-break. Bennett had been an integral element of the 1996/97 promotion team, and his partnership with Chris Marsden is still fondly remembered at EP. Marsden had moved to Birmingham early in the autumn, and the midfield was looking decidedly thin. Megson signed Waynne Philips from Wrexham, initially on-loan, but made permanent in the summer. Phillips made precious little impression and headed back to the Racecourse within 8 months.
It was a season in which 29 players turned out. Many of them were transitory, and none more so than the disgraceful two game spell of Eddie McGoldrick. Recounted in fuller detail on my reflections on Maine Road his two outings, (they could never be deigned with the term ‘performance’ or the epithet ‘effort’), are long remembered in the annals of County infamy. There were others who appeared, contributed little and disappeared just as quickly. It was a season of consolidation, and as it came to an end we could reflect that we had competed pretty well at the higher level.
It had also been a season when we had visited some of the grander stadia, and for me none better than the Stadium of Light. I’m a great critic of many of the newly built grounds, but visiting the SoL was a great experience. And we could look forward to more in the 1998/99 season, but not against our nearest and dearest from Maine Road. They took the drop and for the first time would be competing at a lower level. It had been a joy, even in the face of a 4-1 defeat at Maine Road in April, (a game which saw Aaron Wilbraham’s full debut and first goal), to sing:
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The summer saw three signings. Graham Branch, from Tranmere; Carlo Nash from Palace to replace Eric Nixon in goal and then County’s record signing, (and remains so to this day), Ian Moore. Starting at Tranmere he moved for £1m to Forest but failed to make much of an impression. Great things were expected of him at EP, and he got off the mark in his second game with a strike against Hull in the League Cup. But it took him 11 league games to get on the scoresheet. It wasn’t what had been expected, and the lack of goals generally, led to only two wins in that spell. and we were in lower mid table.
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Ian Moore – County’s record signing.
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Moore cost £800,000, It’s a salutary thought that this kind of money equated to around two years budget for the whole team in the days in regional football, and that was 15 or so years later. The shirt that Moore is wearing in the photo is probably my favourite County shirt in all the years I have watched them. Traditional football stripes, and not some kind of designers fancy which have led to some truly dreadful strips.
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It didn’t get much better throughout November and December, with only 4 more wins. During that time Megson brought in Derek McInnes, from Rangers, on loan. He was a quality footballer, and after he returned to Ibrox went on to regain his first team spot and picked up both League and Cup medals. He of course, has gone on to manage Aberdeen for the last seven years. Rob Matthews also arrived from Bury, and added a bit more to the front line. As the year ended, we were looking over our shoulder, standing in 17th place.
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In December the Youth Team faced West Ham at EP in a Youth Cup game. We lost 3-2 but this was against a team featuring Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. WHU went onto win the competition.
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Back to 1997 Forward to 1999 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1998..
THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR
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| Day | Date | Competition | Tier / Round | Opponents | Res | F | A | Crowd | Home Game |
| Sat | 10/01/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Bradford City | L | 1 | 2 | 8,460 | 558 |
| Sat | 31/01/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Queens Park Rangers | W | 2 | 0 | 7,958 | 559 |
| Sat | 14/02/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Stoke City | W | 1 | 0 | 8,701 | 560 |
| Sat | 21/02/98 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Charlton Athletic | W | 3 | 0 | 7,705 | 561 |
| Tue | 24/02/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Norwich City | D | 2 | 2 | 7,471 | 562 |
| Tue | 03/03/98 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Reading | W | 5 | 1 | 6,148 | 563 |
| Sat | 14/03/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Ipswich Town | L | 0 | 1 | 8,939 | 564 |
| Sat | 28/03/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Crewe Alexandra | L | 0 | 1 | 8,370 | 565 |
| Sat | 11/04/98 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | West Bromwich Albion | W | 2 | 1 | 7,943 | 566 |
| Sat | 18/04/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Nottingham Forest | D | 2 | 2 | 9,892 | 567 |
| Sun | 03/05/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Sheffield United | W | 1 | 0 | 9,683 | 568 |
| Tue | 11/08/98 (Highlights) | Worthington Cup | Round 1 (1st Leg) | Hull City | D | 2 | 2 | 3,134 | 569 |
| Sat | 15/08/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Norwich City | L | 0 | 2 | 6,538 | 570 |
| Sat | 29/08/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Crystal Palace | D | 1 | 1 | 7,739 | 571 |
| Sat | 05/09/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Grimsby Town | W | 2 | 0 | 6,199 | 572 |
| Sat | 12/09/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Crewe Alexandra | D | 1 | 1 | 7,302 | 573 |
| Sat | 26/09/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | West Bromwich Albion | D | 2 | 2 | 8,804 | 574 |
| Tue | 29/09/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Huddersfield Town | D | 1 | 1 | 8,023 | 575 |
| Sat | 24/10/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Ipswich Town | L | 0 | 1 | 7,432 | 576 |
| Sun | 08/11/98 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Port Vale | W | 4 | 2 | 7,612 | 577 |
| Sat | 14/11/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Watford | D | 1 | 1 | 8,019 | 578 |
| Tue | 24/11/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Bolton Wanderers | L | 0 | 1 | 8,520 | 579 |
| Sat | 28/11/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Portsmouth | W | 2 | 0 | 7,504 | 580 |
| Sat | 19/12/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Oxford United | W | 2 | 0 | 6,500 | 581 |
| Sat | 26/12/98 | Nationwide Football League – Division 1 | Tier 2 | Barnsley | L | 0 | 1 | 10,263 | 582 |
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