1997–98 Football Conference
Football league season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Football Conference season of 1997–98 was the nineteenth season of the Football Conference, also known as the Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons.
Season1997–98
ChampionsHalifax Town (1st Football Conference title)
Direct promotionHalifax Town
Conference League Cup winnersMorecambe
| Season | 1997–98 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Halifax Town (1st Football Conference title) |
| Direct promotion | Halifax Town |
| Conference League Cup winners | Morecambe |
| FA Trophy winners | Cheltenham Town (1st FA Trophy title) |
| Relegated to Level 6 | Gateshead, Slough Town, Stalybridge Celtic |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,344 (2.91 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Geoff Horsfield (Halifax Town), 30 |
| Biggest home win | Farnborough Town – Stalybridge Celtic 6–0 (20 December 1997) |
| Biggest away win | Morecambe – Hereford 1–5 (1 November 1997); Stevenage – Hayes 1–5 (1 September 1997) ; Dover – Kidderminster 0–4 (20 September 1997); Kettering – Rushden & Diamonds 0–4 (21 February 1998); Leek – Kettering 0–4 (31 March 1998) |
| Highest scoring | Hayes – Yeovil Town 6–4 (14 February 1998); Rushden & Diamonds – Farnborough Town 5–5 (13 September 1997) |
| Longest winning run | Halifax Town, 8 matches |
| Longest unbeaten run | Cheltenham Town, 17 matches |
| Longest losing run | Farnborough Town, Stalybridge Celtic, 7 matches |
| Highest attendance | Halifax Town v Cheltenham Town, 6,357 (25 April 1998) |
| Lowest attendance | ? |
| Average attendance | ? |
← 1996–97 1998–99 → | |
Changes since the previous season
- Hereford United (relegated from the Football League 1996–97)
- Cheltenham Town (promoted 1996–97)
- Leek Town (promoted 1996–97)
- Yeovil Town (promoted 1996–97)
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halifax Town (C, P) | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 74 | 43 | +31 | 87 | Promotion to the Football League Third Division |
| 2 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 78 | |
| 3 | Woking | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 72 | 46 | +26 | 74 | |
| 4 | Rushden & Diamonds | 42 | 23 | 5 | 14 | 79 | 57 | +22 | 74 | |
| 5 | Morecambe | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 77 | 64 | +13 | 73 | |
| 6 | Hereford United | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 67 | |
| 7 | Hednesford Town | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 59 | 50 | +9 | 66 | |
| 8 | Slough Town (R) | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 64 | Demoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division[a] |
| 9 | Northwich Victoria | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 63 | 59 | +4 | 60 | |
| 10 | Welling United | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 64 | 62 | +2 | 60 | |
| 11 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 73 | 63 | +10 | 59 | |
| 12 | Hayes | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 62 | 52 | +10 | 58 | |
| 13 | Dover Athletic | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 60 | 70 | −10 | 55 | |
| 14 | Kettering Town | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 53 | 60 | −7 | 52 | |
| 15 | Stevenage Borough | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 59 | 63 | −4 | 51 | |
| 16 | Southport | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 56 | 58 | −2 | 50 | |
| 17 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 56 | 63 | −7 | 47 | |
| 18 | Farnborough Town | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 56 | 70 | −14 | 44 | |
| 19 | Leek Town | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 52 | 67 | −15 | 44 | |
| 20 | Telford United | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 53 | 76 | −23 | 42 | |
| 21 | Gateshead (R) | 42 | 8 | 11 | 23 | 51 | 87 | −36 | 35 | Relegation to the Northern Premier League Premier Division |
| 22 | Stalybridge Celtic (R) | 42 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 48 | 93 | −45 | 29 |
- Slough Town were demoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division due to their ground no longer meeting Football Conference requirements.
Results
Top scorers in order of league goals
| Rank | Player | Club | League | FA Cup | FA Trophy | League Cup | Total[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geoff Horsfield | Halifax Town | 30 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| 2 | Darren Collins | Rushden & Diamonds | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 |
| 3 | Darran Hay | Woking | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| 4 | Mark Cooper | Welling United | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| = | John Norman | Morecambe | 18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 |
| 6 | Neil Grayson | Hereford United & Cheltenham Town | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| 7 | Owen Pickard | Yeovil Town | 17 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| = | Dale Watkins | Cheltenham Town | 17 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 29 |
| = | Mike Bignall | Kidderminster Harriers | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| = | Brendan Burke | Stalybridge Celtic | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| = | Jason Eaton | Cheltenham Town | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| = | David Mehew | Rushden & Diamonds | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| = | Warren Patmore | Yeovil Town | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 14 | Ritchie Hanlon | Welling United | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| = | Martin Randall | Hayes | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| 16 | Jamie Paterson | Halifax Town | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| = | Grant Payne | Woking | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| = | Chris Pearson | Kettering Town | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 19 | Andy Milner | Morecambe | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 20 | Steve Bowey | Gateshead | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| = | Jimmy Strouts | Dover Athletic | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
- Footballtransfers.co.uk contains information on many players on whom there is not yet an article in Wikipedia.