1997–98 Grimsby Town F.C. season


During the 1997–98 English football season, Grimsby Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

The 1997–98 season saw the return of Alan Buckley as manager, after an unsuccessful period at West Bromwich Albion, for Grimsby's most successful post-war season. In the summer of 1997, Buckley succeeded in bringing in players to the club who were to be instrumental in the club's upcoming season. Former skipper Paul Groves was re-signed from West Bromwich Albion, and Kevin Donovan and David Smith also joined the club from Albion. The mid-season capture of Huddersfield Town midfielder Wayne Burnett proved to be a great bit of business for Buckley. After a seemingly poor start to the League campaign, performances improved, which propelled the club into a promotion battle with Watford, Bristol City and an expensively assembled Fulham. A good run in the League Cup saw The Mariners knock holders Leicester City and fellow Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday out of the competition before finally losing out to Liverpool. A decent run of form had ignited the careers of such younger players as Daryl Clare, Danny Butterfield and Jack Lester who were becoming an integral part of the Blundell Park set-up. The Mariners went on to dump Burnley out of the Football League Trophy Northern section area final, which would see the club book its first trip to Wembley Stadium. The club were drawn against Southern section champions AFC Bournemouth and in a tight game, an equaliser from substitute Kingsley Black took the game into extra time, and in the 112th minute Grimsby secured the game courtesy of a golden goal from Wayne Burnett. This was the first major trophy awarded to the club following its first appearance at Wembley. It took only four weeks for Grimsby to return to the stadium though, this time to face Northampton Town in the Division Two Play Off Final. Town won the game 1–0 thanks to a first half Kevin Donovan goal which gave the club a historic Wembley double and The Mariners promotion back to Division One.

Final league table

Results

Grimsby Town's score comes first

Legend

Football League Second Division

Second Division play-offs

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
SF 1st Leg9 May 1998FulhamA1–113,954Smith
SF 2nd Leg13 May 1998FulhamH1–0 8,689Donovan
F24 May 1998Northampton TownN1–062,988Donovan

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R115 November 1997Shrewsbury TownA1–13,193Southall
R1R25 November 1997Shrewsbury TownH4–03,242Nogan, Herbert, Lester, Jobling
R26 December 1997ChesterfieldH2–24,762Rodger, Nogan
R2R16 December 1997ChesterfieldA2–04,553Lester, Groves
R33 January 1998Norwich CityH3–08,161McDermott, Woods, Donovan
R414 January 1998Leeds UnitedA0–229,598

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 1st Leg12 August 1997Oldham AthleticA0–15,656
R1 2nd Leg26 August 1997Oldham AthleticH5–0 5,078Lester, Livingstone, Donovan
R2 1st Leg17 September 1997Sheffield WednesdayH2–06,429Groves, Livingstone
R2 2nd Leg1 October 1997Sheffield WednesdayA2–3 11,120Nogan, Groves
R314 October 1997Leicester CityH3–17,738Jobling, Livingstone
R418 November 1997LiverpoolA0–328,515

Football League Trophy

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
NR19 December 1997ChesterfieldA1–01,128Nogan
NR26 January 1998Hull CityH1–04,778Butterfield
NQF27 January 1998Scunthorpe UnitedA2–04,596Groves, Burnett
NSF17 February 1998BlackpoolH1–08,027Burnett
NF 1st Leg10 March 1998BurnleyH1–16,064Groves
NF 2nd Leg17 March 1998BurnleyA2–0 10,257Nogan, Donovan
F19 April 1998BournemouthN2–162,432Glass, Burnett

Squad

Transfers

In

Out