BladesPod: Reliving the 1997/98 season

[I should coco]

I have never seen us win a shootout, with the other ones I’ve seen being the losses to Arsenal and Huddersfield. I could say that 22 years on I’ve forgiven my dad. But as you probably gather from the fact I’ve taken the time to write the above, I absolutely haven’t.

Having suffered the Huddersfield play off final 'Official most inept penalty shootout in the history of mankind', I do feel for you.

You mentioned your dad at Sheff Uni got you into the Blades, but not when. I'm sure plenty on here recall recall a successful shoot out against Blackburn in 93 that got us into the semi final that never happened. I'm surprised you missed the WHUFC one in 2005 so here is a thread to remind you, although the OP is a bit dodgy and can't be entirely relied on:

Penalty shootouts

Before last night, when did we last win one? Seems like an absolute age. I was quite amazed to listen as Cresswell, Collins and Monty all stuck their penalties away with ease. Along with Simmo's save in sudden death, that's 4 players that often receive a lot of stick but who delivered under...

www.s24su.com

There's also Doyle's 'Lambeth Walk' special in 14/15 although that was away form home, so not many saw it live.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Having suffered the Huddersfield play off final 'Official most inept penalty shootout in the history of mankind', I do feel for you.

You mentioned your dad at Sheff Uni got you into the Blades, but not when. I'm sure plenty on here recall recall a successful shoot out against Blackburn in 93 that got us into the semi final that never happened. I'm surprised you missed the WHUFC one in 2005 so here is a thread to remind you, although the OP is a bit dodgy and can't be entirely relied on:

Penalty shootouts

Before last night, when did we last win one? Seems like an absolute age. I was quite amazed to listen as Cresswell, Collins and Monty all stuck their penalties away with ease. Along with Simmo's save in sudden death, that's 4 players that often receive a lot of stick but who delivered under...

www.s24su.com

There's also Doyle's 'Lambeth Walk' special in 14/15 although that was away form home, so not many saw it live.

Ha, yes I’ve always managed to not actually be at the ones we’ve won – Blackburn in ‘93 I can remember listening as Pembo got the winner, and the various other minor ones would have also been listened to. My dad would have been living in Sheffield 1965-69 – I’ve been going from the 90/91 season onwards.

To be fair, having missed seeing so many of them live, I guess I was “treated” to two shootouts’ worth at the playoff final.

 

[Revolution]

Ha, yes I’ve always managed to not actually be at the ones we’ve won – Blackburn in ‘93 I can remember listening as Pembo got the winner, and the various other minor ones would have also been listened to. My dad would have been living in Sheffield 1965-69 – I’ve been going from the 90/91 season onwards.

To be fair, having missed seeing so many of them live, I guess I was “treated” to two shootouts’ worth at the playoff final.

Speaking of missing things we won, I was thinking about our cup record in the 1990s, and my attendance at those games. I worked out the following:

1990 3 v Bournemouth W 2-0 - saw it
1990 4 v Watford D1-1 - saw it
1990 4R v Watford W 2-1 - missed it
1990 5 v Barnsley D2-2 - saw it
1990 5R v Barnsley D 0-0 - missed it
1990 52R v Barnsley W 1-0 - missed it
1990 QF v Man Utd L0-1 - saw it
1991 3 v Luton L 1-3 - saw it
1992 3 v Luton W 4-0 - saw it
1992 4 v Charlton D 0-0 - saw it
1992 4R v Charlton W 3-1 - missed it
1992 5 v Chelsea L 0-1 - saw it
1993 3 v Burnley D2-2 - saw it
1993 3R v Burnley W4-2 - missed it
1993 4 v Hartlepool W 1-0 - missed it
1993 5 v Man Utd W 2-1 - missed it (saw it on TV)
1993 QF v Blackburn D 0-0 - missed it
1993 QFR v Blackburn D2-2 (won on pens) - saw it
1993 SF v Pigs L 2-1 - saw it
1994 3 v Man Utd L 0-1 - saw it
1995 3 v Man Utd L 0-2 - saw it
1996 3 v Arsenal D 1-1 - saw it
1996 3R v Arsenal W 1-0 - saw it
1996 4 v Villa L 0-1 - saw it
1997 3 v Norwich L 0-1 - saw it
1998 3 v Bury D 1-1 - saw it
1998 3R v Bury W 2-1 - missed it
1998 4 v Ipswich D 1-1 - saw it
1998 4R v Ipswich W 1-0 - missed it
1998 5 v Reading W 1-0 - missed it
1998 QF v Coventry D 1-1 - saw it
1998 QFR v Coventry D 1-1 (won on pens) - saw it
1998 SF v Newcastle L 0-1 - saw it

I was out of the UK in 1999 so missed the cup run that year.

So of the 22 FA Cup games I saw, we won 3, drew 10 (and won 2 of those on pens) and lost 9. I saw every game we lost.
And of the 11 FA Cup games I missed, we won 9, drew 2, and lost zero.

I was cursed.

 

[Large Mendonca]

A brilliant pod this guys - to go into the detail you did for something over 20 years ago, and (more or less) pre-internet. Top effort

 

[Sithblade]

When Roger Nilsen joined us there were clips shown of him scoring two 25 yard blockbusters for Norway. So we expected him to be a decent goal threat, unfortunately they were scored against San Marino.

Found it on YouTube, 10 goals for Norway and Jostein got 0.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Found it on YouTube, 10 goals for Norway and Jostein got 0.

Great find. You will hear as well the pronunciation of Roger as “Roe-ga”. Motson was right all along!

 

[borbokis]

I remember the Coventry match, I was there, I was on the pitch at the end! Loved listening to this, brought back some memories!

 

[Bergen Blade]

Will listen to this tonight. The below picture is from the 'Scandinavian Blades' fanzine, a piece on how much our line up changed during that season:

 

[Beans]

I remember the Coventry match, I was there, I was on the pitch at the end! Loved listening to this, brought back some memories!

Username checks out.

Will listen to this tonight. The below picture is from the 'Scandinavian Blades' fanzine, a piece on how much our line up changed during that season:


View attachment 74340

Excellent, cheers for this. And it wasn't exactly rotation was it...

Tracey - still here but benched for Kelly
Borbokis - injured? He played the first leg of the playoffs but not the second I don't think...
Quinn - still there
McGrath - injured, never played again
Tiler - sold
Holdsworth - still there
Patterson - sold
Marker - still there
Fjortoft - sold
Deane - sold
Whitehouse - injured, never played again

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Will listen to this tonight. The below picture is from the 'Scandinavian Blades' fanzine, a piece on how much our line up changed during that season:


View attachment 74340

I was thinking that today. The sides vs Sunderland that bookended the season were really very different, only 3 outfield players started both games – plus I think we at that point had a different formation with 4 at the back.

Tracey
Wilder
Quinn
Sandford
Holdsworth
Marker
Ford
Hamilton
Devlin
Saunders
Marcelo

The changes had not helped, but I do think the injuries to Whitehouse in particular, and to McGrath, really changed the dynamic of the team, alongside other gradual changes made in November:

• Hutchison was available for the first few months but didn’t start till the Tranmere game at the start of November (when Marker deputised for McGrath)
• This was around the same time Taylor was tried alongside Deane, which I felt started to make us a little more direct
• Then McGrath finally had to stop after the Ipswich game
• Then Whitehouse got his injury, prompting the immediate megatrade of Stuart plus £500k for Tiler & Ward
• Then Saunders arrived, changing the dynamic further

That was basically all in a month, and we weren’t the same again. Plenty people pinpoint the Deane/Fjortoft moment as being a season killer, but I think the signs were already there – with the brief exception of the Charlton game, which felt at the time like the first properly good performance since the Middlesbrough away game two months before. I don’t think we’d have been promoted had we kept either Deane or Fjortoft, or indeed both.

 

[Bergen Blade]

I was thinking that today. The sides vs Sunderland that bookended the season were really very different, only 3 outfield players started both games – plus I think we at that point had a different formation with 4 at the back.

Tracey
Wilder
Quinn
Sandford
Holdsworth
Marker
Ford
Hamilton
Devlin
Saunders
Marcelo

The changes had not helped, but I do think the injuries to Whitehouse in particular, and to McGrath, really changed the dynamic of the team, alongside other gradual changes made in November:

• Hutchison was available for the first few months but didn’t start till the Tranmere game at the start of November (when Marker deputised for McGrath)
• This was around the same time Taylor was tried alongside Deane, which I felt started to make us a little more direct
• Then McGrath finally had to stop after the Ipswich game
• Then Whitehouse got his injury, prompting the immediate megatrade of Stuart plus £500k for Tiler & Ward
• Then Saunders arrived, changing the dynamic further

That was basically all in a month, and we weren’t the same again. Plenty people pinpoint the Deane/Fjortoft moment as being a season killer, but I think the signs were already there – with the brief exception of the Charlton game, which felt at the time like the first properly good performance since the Middlesbrough away game two months before. I don’t think we’d have been promoted had we kept either Deane or Fjortoft, or indeed both.

We were brilliant in some of the first few matches, but there was a weakness in terms of creativity with that midfield that started. When Patterson was sold he had a go at the club, saying too many transfer rumours ruined the atmosphere within the club. We had numerous trialists as well in a squad that was pretty big. This was a reserve game line up in October:

George
Dellas Marker Sandford
Short - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nilsen
Ward Hutchinson Henry
Taylor Katchouro​

 

[Bergen Blade]

Yeah I think so. The best info I could find on it was a bit in the Independent that says he "worked without a contract and when questioned on the subject always said he was in negotiations". Not sure how you can be permanent on a rolling contract but then I suppose it's hardly surprising given what else happened that season.



I'd love more info on this. It seems strange that Deane would only sign a 1-year deal here, so much so that you have to think that it was the club's decision to only give him a 1-year contract. I wonder if we had the option to extend or something like that. Or, as per above, our board were just making stupid decisions left and right.

I think we discussed a 3 year deal with Spackman, but although he was given the reins he never signed the deal. His playing contract may have been part of the problem - those wages may have been higher than the new manager wages?

Regarding Deane I think he had offers from abroad, but we persuaded him to come to us in the hope that we'd get promoted and then being able to keep him on improved terms. To make him sign we also had to agree to a release clause that was unfortunately met in January by Benfica. I think Leeds also wanted him to join us as his contract was up, and if he'd joined a foreign club directly Leeds wouldn't have got a fee for him.

 

[Silent Blade]

Tracey - still here but benched for Kelly

Tracey was number 1 choice until December. He played 27 league games plus 2 play offs

Kelly played in 19 league games

 

[Aganarama]

This was one time I would have been genuine ITK (well before mobile phones). We’d gone down to the Lane shop and in the car park was a swish red Merc. Out got two guys. One looked like Brian Deane. Thought it was uncanny but given there were no rumours (i.e. Clubcall ad on Teletext) thought nothing more of it.
Then the next day United announced the coup of signing Deane...

 

[Bladeaway]

What a season. The first one I can properly remember. Some great players.

The football looks pretty old school by today’s standards. But just look at this pass from Borbokis:


I still can’t work out why we finished above Birmingham that season.

According to Wikipedia, goal difference has been used as the deciding factor since 1975 in the English league!

The league table itself on all quoted sources I can find online all has us with +15 and Birmingham with +25, and many sources have a little key at the bottom explaining that goal difference is used as the deciding factor. And if you look at the premier league table from that season it is clearly goal difference that separates teams. What on earth is going on? Perhaps the goal difference has been typed in wrongly somewhere online and then the error has been copied to multiple sources? Did we actually have a better GD?

Does anyone have a programme from near the end of the season with a table in it?

Or did we make the Playoffs by mistake??

 

[Beans]

What a season. The first one I can properly remember. Some great players.

The football looks pretty old school by today’s standards. But just look at this pass from Borbokis:


I still can’t work out why we finished above Birmingham that season.

According to Wikipedia, goal difference has been used as the deciding factor since 1975 in the English league!

The league table itself on all quoted sources I can find online all has us with +15 and Birmingham with +25, and many sources have a little key at the bottom explaining that goal difference is used as the deciding factor. And if you look at the premier league table from that season it is clearly goal difference that separates teams. What on earth is going on? Perhaps the goal difference has been typed in wrongly somewhere online and then the error has been copied to multiple sources? Did we actually have a better GD?

Does anyone have a programme from near the end of the season with a table in it?

Or did we make the Playoffs by mistake??

Can’t remember when it changed but Goals Scored was the first tiebreaker in Division 1 in 1997/98. Stockport also finished a place higher than Wolves for the same reason.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Can’t remember when it changed but Goals Scored was the first tiebreaker in Division 1 in 1997/98. Stockport also finished a place higher than Wolves for the same reason.

It was the first season Goals Scored was the tie-breaker across the Football League, aimed at encouraging “more exciting football”. It remained the following year and saw Bury (-25 GD) go down from Division One in third bottom rather than Port Vale (-30 GD). Bury of course were at the time managed by Neil Warnock. It was all switched back to goal difference after just two seasons’ use though for 1999/2000. Bury were actually level with 4 teams on points, but scoring only 35 across the season saw them the lowest placed of those 4.

The relegated Bury team contained a few future Blades: Darren Bullock, Andy Woodward, Chris Lucketti, Lauren D’Jaffo, Carl Serrant, Paul Hall, and both ex- and future-Blade Adrian Littlejohn. Ex-Blades Mark Patterson and John Reed were also in that squad. Paddy Kenny didn’t play but was on the books, but randomly a keeper that played that season for Bury was Bruce Grobbelaar, who I’ve just discovered Warnock signed when he was at Plymouth too.

“It was my least favourite football club, if I’m honest,” said Warnock in an interview last year.

 

[S6 Blade]

Morning all,

Was originally planning to do this during the international break, but now seems like as good a time as any... Roygbiv and I take a very deep dive into the 1997/98 season, in what turned into a mammoth podcast that will hopefully fill a bit of your time...

I wanted to do this season as it was a particularly wild one in United's modern history - it was also the first season I can remember being fully hooked on football, and obsessively following every game, so it holds some special personal memories as well as the wider-reaching ones. So so much happened in this one season: Nigel Spackman, Deane/Fjortoft being sold, Dane Whitehouse's injury, the FA Cup run and that amazing night at Bramall Lane with Alan Kelly's heroics, Vas Borbokis, Wayne Quinn, Marcelo, Dean Saunders's cheeky throw-in goal... Spackman quitting, Mike McDonald being hounded out, McCabe becoming chairman... Hamilton Ricard, Georgi Kinkladze, Paul Gascoigne, a fan attacking the linesman at Portsmouth, and a playoff semi-final against Sunderland.

Lots to talk about! I've split it into 5 parts, timestamped below, if you entirely-justifiably would like to listen to it in chunks. I had a great time researching, revisiting and recording this, and I hope you enjoy it too.

Part 1: Summer of 1997 - Kendall leaves, Spackman takes over
Part 2 (13:44): A great start to the season
Part 3 (47:04): Deane/Fjortoft sold, and the fallout
Part 4 (1:12:30): THAT cup quarter-final, Alan Kelly the hero on St Patrick's Day
Part 5: (1:37:25): The end of the season, and the playoff semi-final



Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/bladespod/id1309198119?mt=2

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6wLq5qaiQ123cLHHMnTixJ

Cheers for the shoutout in Part 4.

 

[Bergen Blade]

When Roger Nilsen joined us there were clips shown of him scoring two 25 yard blockbusters for Norway. So we expected him to be a decent goal threat, unfortunately they were scored against San Marino.

Think he scored 11 goals in one season for Viking a bit before joining us. Some of them were penalties.

 

[Revolution]

Really enjoyed the pod: thanks fellas.

thought it was worth trying to document the bewildering series of ins and outs that year:

signed pre season: Deane,Borbokis, McGrath, Marker

10 August - Quinn league debut
13 August - Dellas signed
26 August - White final appearance- retired close season due to injury
24 September - Marcelo signed
About 25 October - Beard on loan to Southend until 26 December
21 November - Scott sold
22 November - Whitehouse career ended by Gareth Ainsworth
28 November - Ford signed
28 November: Stuart signed in swap for Ward, Tiler and some cash
29 November - Woodhouse league debut
About 13 December - Walker loaned to Hibs until February
2 December - Saunders signed
11 December - Patterson sold
19 December - Lee signs on loan
15 January - Black Thursday: Deane and Fjortoft sold
16 January- Barrett signed on loan
17 January - Morris league debut
18 January - Lee’s loan ends
26 January- Derry signed
26 January - Cullen signed
23 February - Barrett’s loan ends; Rush signed on loan
About 24 February- Walker loaned to Raith Rovers to end of season
27 February- Hutchison swapped for O’Connor and cash
13 March - Devlin signed
22 March - Rush loan ends
25 March - Wilder signed
26 March - Hamilton signed
17 April - McGrath retired (last played 9 November)

 

[Benji]

Excellent episode, got me through my first day of lockdown working from home. Please do the triple assault season next, would love to hear your guys take on what is the most exciting (until recently) seasons since I was born a blade. Cheers, keep up the good work.

 

[tincan]

Some of Jan Age's finishes that season are amongst the best by ever a Blade

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Alan Kelly has been putting up some home training videos on twitter: here he is in the 1993/94 Frankenstein kit.

 

[Harry's Game]

Just listened to the Podcast Beans great entertainment but I have to say I am blaming you and Roygbiv for all the mentions of the start of Kevin McCabes reign for summing him back out of the bottle like some sort of shit Genie.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Prompted by seeing something similar on the 87/88 thread, I’ve just remembered that I still have my copy of my Match wall chart.

Some things that immediately stand out:

• we used so many players that season that I had to overwrite 4 players over existing ones we’d presumably sold to fit in the Thompson signings and unexpected returns of Sandford/Short – I think I’ve grafted Chris Wilder onto what had been Andy Walker...
• Earl Barrett absolutely did not have the amazing loan spell Match magazine claimed. Similarly, Rush was not a consistent set of 7s.
• A little linked to what I mentioned earlier in this thread about there being a genuine debate on whether to drop Fjortoft at times in the season, his average rating (again, claimed by Match) was comparatively low at 6.2
• In contrast Petr Katchouro was highly accurately rated as 5.7 for the season...

 

[Beans]

Unreal effort that LoughboroBlade. I do seem to remember Earl Barrett being very good in his loan spell (although perhaps my judgement of players at this stage of my life was not at its best, coughrogernilsencough). Maybe not to those levels...

Were you / are you tempted to add the penalty scorers/miss-ers below the Coventry game in the Cup Results section? There's room...

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Were you / are you tempted to add the penalty scorers/miss-ers below the Coventry game in the Cup Results section? There's room...

It is very tough to spot, but having asterisked the result, your eyes should be directed to the bottom right of that panel.

*Won 3-1 on penalties (Nilsen, Ford, Quinn)

 

[Beans]

It is very tough to spot, but having asterisked the result, your eyes should be directed to the bottom right of that panel.

*Won 3-1 on penalties (Nilsen, Ford, Quinn)

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