1997–98 Stoke City F.C. season
Stoke City 1997–98 football season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1997–98 season was Stoke City's 91st season in the Football League and the 35th in the second tier. It was also Stoke's first season at the Britannia Stadium.
1997–98 season | ||
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Chairman | Peter Coates | |
Manager | Chic Bates, Chris Kamara, Alan Durban | |
Stadium | Britannia Stadium | |
Football League First Division | 23rd (46 Points) | |
FA Cup | Third Round | |
League Cup | Third Round | |
Top goalscorer | League: Peter Thorne (12) All: Peter Thorne (16) | |
Highest home attendance | 26,664 vs Manchester City (3 May 1998) | |
Lowest home attendance | 8,423 vs Oxford United (4 November 1997) | |
Average home league attendance | 15,015 | |
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With Stoke now at a new home after 119 years at the Victoria Ground the hope was it would be the start of a new era for the club. Following Lou Macari's departure, his assistant Chic Bates was appointed as manager but the first league match in the Britannia Stadium was lost 2–1 against Swindon Town. Results were generally quite good and by the end of October Stoke were in a play-off position. However performances completely dropped off and the club dropped down the table like a stone and on 10 January 1998 Birmingham City beat Stoke 7–0 at home which sparked ugly scenes from some angry supporters. Bates and Peter Coates left as Stoke headed for relegation. Chris Kamara came in but was sacked after winning just one of his 14 matches in charge. Former manager Alan Durban returned for the final few matches which saw Stoke needing to beat Manchester City on the final day to stay up. They lost 5–2 and fell into the third tier.[1]