1997–98 West Ham United F.C. season

Season summary

After last season's near miss with relegation, West Ham United looked more convincing than they had done for years during 1997-98. John Hartson matured into one of the best strikers in the Premiership, with his partner Paul Kitson also providing a steady supply of goals. Young centre-back Rio Ferdinand remained loyal to his employers despite endless speculation of a move to a bigger club. Things at Upton Park were looking better than they had done in a long time.

West Ham finished 8th in the final table - just one place short of UEFA Cup qualification. Holding on to Hartson and Ferdinand gave Harry Redknapp's men an even more enhanced chance of achieving that goal next time round.

Final league table

Updated to games played on 10 May 1998.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions and were the League Cup winners.
² As Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, their Cup Winners' Cup place as FA Cup winners defaulted to Newcastle United, the losing finalists.
³ Despite being relegated, Crystal Palace qualified for the 1998 Intertoto Cup.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results Summary

Source: 1997-98 FA Premier League table

Results by round

Source: 11v11.com: 1997-98 West Ham United results
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

West Ham United's score comes first

Squad

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

Left club during season

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

Reserve squad

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

Out

Transfers in: £8,600,000 Transfers out: £7,500,000 Total spending: £1,100,000

Starting 11

Considering starts in all competitions Considering a 4-3-1-2 formation

GK: #22, Craig Forrest, 20

RB: #2, Tim Breacker, 24

CB: #15, Rio Ferdinand, 46

CB: #19, Ian Pearce, 39

LB: #6, David Unsworth, 41

CM: #18, Frank Lampard, 38

CM: #11, Steve Lomas, 42

CM: #17, Stan Lazaridis, 34

AM: #29, Eyal Berkovic, 45

CF: #10, John Hartson, 42

CF: #24, Samassi Abou, 16