During the 1997–98 English football season,

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their ...

competed in the

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

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 John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and TNT Sports. As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his ti ...

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 Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for TNT Sports. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and ...

remained loyal to his employers despite endless speculation of a move to a bigger club. West Ham finished 8th in the final table, just one place short of

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

qualification. Holding on to Hartson and Ferdinand gave

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

's men an even more enhanced chance of achieving that goal next time round.

Final league table

;Results summary ;Results by matchday

Results

''West Ham United's score comes first''

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad

(captain)

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Transfers

In

Out

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

Statistics

Appearances and goals

, - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, ''Goalkeepers'' , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, ''Defenders'' , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, ''Midfielders'' , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, ''Forwards'' , - ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center, Players who left the club permanently or on loan during the season , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 West Ham United F.C. season West Ham United F.C. seasons

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...