Looking Back at Season….1997/98

Dipping back into the archives again at another memorable Southern Football League season.

At the end of the 1996/97 season, Forest Green Rovers won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division after winning the South Division title.

At the end of their first season at Premier Division level, the `little` Stroud/Nailsworth club were set to be amongst the non-League elite in the Conference, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Yeovil Town, Stevenage Borough and local rivals Cheltenham Town.

Momentum was with Forest Green under Frank Gregan. However, the 1997/98 season proved a very tight one in the league`s three divisions, with the title only being decided on the last week of the campaign.

Forest Green`s performance in their first season at Premier Division level was truly remarkable.

They topped the table until October 11th and were never out of the top three throughout.

Such was Rovers` prominence in the division – they won 27 of their 42 league games – that their record absorbed defeats against close rivals Merthyr Tydfil, Burton Albion (twice), Dorchester Town and Halesowen Town.

A ten-match unbeaten run at the start of the season was followed by three consecutive defeats. But nine wins on the trot in a twelve-game undefeated run from mid-December, ensured that Forest Green were seldom far from the driver`s seat.

And whilst Burton, Dorchester, Halesowen, Bath City, Worcester City, King`s Lynn and Atherstone United all threatened to challenge, only Merthyr Tydfil were able to keep pace with Rovers.

Indeed, the Martyrs enjoyed their own unbeaten run of fourteen matches and at no time during the season did the Welsh side suffer consecutive defeats under the shrewd guidance of former Hereford United boss Colin Addison.

The championship was only conceded on the final Saturday when Forest Green`s victory over Bath City rendered Merthyr`s result at Ashford Town academic.

The real damage had been done three days earlier when goals from Paul McLoughlin, Alex Sykes and Steve Winter in front of a crowd of 2,891 had felled the Martyrs 3-1 at The Lawn.

At the foot of the table, who had come up with Forest Green as runners-up, ended up going back in the opposite direction as they found the Premier Division a stretch too far.

The Hastings outfit never really recovered from suffering eight straight defeats and a further eight without a win.

St Leonards won only five out of 42 matches and fell just three short of conceding a century of goals.

Ashford Town (Kent), who avoided the drop the previous season only after Sudbury Town withdrew, failed to escape the trap door this time, in spite of new management in Nigel Donn.

They fared only marginally better than St Leonards, winning only eight times and managing just 34 goals – the two relegated clubs finishing 15 points adrift of third-from-bottom Sittingbourne, who, after a helter-skelter season, rallied in March in an effort to pull clear without success in the end.

And victory on the last day of the season could not prevent Bromsgrove Rovers from joining Fisher Athletic, Nuneaton Borough, Stafford Rangers and Weymouth amongst the list of clubs to finish in the Premier Division relegation zone after falling out of the Conference just twelve months earlier.

In the Midland Division, newcomers Blakenall and Wisbech Town, along with Bilston Town, Moor Green, Raunds Town and Solihull Borough all made an early impression on the leader board.

However, by the New Year, the division had become a two-horse race between and Ilkeston Town.

They broke away by ten and four points respectively from Solihull and after that the top two were never seriously challenged.

Grantham, under former Nottingham Forest midfielder and current Corby Town boss Gary Mills, were undefeated in fifteen outings during a spell between mid-December and Easter Saturday.

The run produced twelve straight wins but was brought to an end on Easter Monday when closest rivals Ilkeston beat them 3-2 in front of 1,275 at the New Manor Ground.

Although the triumph still left the Robins trailing the Gingerbreads by six points, it appeared momentarily to shake the confidence of the Lincolnshire side.

Ten points were collected from their remaining six matches, whilst Ilkeston led by the late Keith Alexander, a former Grantham player, mustered a maximum from their last five games.

It was almost enough to pull the Robins abreast of Grantham and only one point separated the teams at 4.45 on May 2nd.

Grantham needed at least a draw against mid-table Stourbridge. Failure would have let in Ilkeston, who were at home to sixth-placed Moor Green.

The Gingerbreads duly achieved their point from a 1-1 draw at the South Kesteven Stadium, thanks to a Mark Harbottle penalty, so, despite Christian Moore`s goal and a 1-0 win against Moor Green, the Robins, who had scored a remarkable 123 goals, had to make do with runners-up spot but promotion with it.

Corby Town finished at the bottom of the Midland Division table that had been depleted by Dudley Town`s withdrawal on the eve of the season.

The Steelmen had to wait until October 25th before gaining their first victory, a tally which they could only double by May 2nd.

Corby`s first win was against Evesham United, the team that eventually finished just once place above them in the table, although with sixteen more points than the Steelmen`s paltry total of fourteen.

Bashley, Chelmsford City, Fisher Athletic, , Weymouth and the two Newport`s – AFC and IoW - were the main contenders for the Southern Division title during most of the campaign.

Bashley and Chelmsford both got off to flyers with eight and six straight wins respectively.

These two teams largely dominated the top of the table during the opening third of the season, with Weymouth and Newport AFC breaking into second spot at the expense of Bashley.

For the most part, Chelmsford set the pace under Colin Norman and Gary Bellamy and led the table by as much as ten points at times, despite undergoing the trauma of losing their New Writtle Street home in early September and they were obliged to fulfil their home fixtures on three different grounds during the season.

The tale of the Southern Division championship`s eventual destiny revolved around a manager.

After a variable start under the guidance of Matt McGowan and then John Crabbe, Weymouth found themselves managerless after the latter resigned.

Former Merthyr Tydfil and Shrewsbury Town boss, Fred Davies, was then appointed and in the 25 matches that followed his appointment, defeat was conceded on only four occasions.

On February 14th, the Terras embarked on a winning run of fifteen consecutive matches that took them through the chasing pack and brought them the title, three points ahead of Chelmsford – and that after losing their final two games!

At the opposite end of the table, Cinderford Town and Yate Town found things pretty tough for most of the season.

They only managed eleven wins between them, and both endured fourteen-match runs without a win.

Tonbridge Angels flirted with the foot of the table for an unfamiliar length of time before collecting fourteen wins to earn respectability.

Baldock Town, Cirencester Town and Weston-super-Mare also found themselves in alien territory before climbing into the comfort zone.

Baldock, under Robbie O`Keefe, collected valuable points at the end of the season to finish twelve points clear of Cinderford, who finished a point in front of Yate.

Thirteen Southern League clubs reached the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and at 4.45pm on Saturday, October 25th, eight clubs went into the hat for the First Round draw which was being shown live on the still fairly new Sky Sports channel.

The eight was reduced to six when Sittingbourne lost in a replay at Hereford United and Gloucester City fell to league rivals Wisbech Town.

Solihull Borough defeated Conference strugglers Stalybridge Celtic, also at the second attempt, whilst Margate, Bromsgrove Rovers, King`s Lynn and Ilkeston Town had all progressed against Isthmian Leaguers Staines Town and Romford, Northern Premier League Hyde United and league rivals Salisbury City respectively.

The First Round presented Margate with a Hartsdown Park encounter against Fulham, who had recently undergone a change of ownership and the new regime had appointed former Liverpool and England star Kevin Keegan as its director of football and Ray Wilkins as manager.

The tie attracted a crowd of 5,100 and the Sky cameras, which earned the Kent club an extra £60,000.

However, despite a valiant effort, Gate were beaten 2-1 after taking the lead courtesy of a Mark Munday penalty.

A Billy Edwards own goal and a second from Rob Scott saw the Cottagers through.

Solihull also drew Football League opposition in Division Three side Darlington at Feethams.

Boro held the Quakers to a 1-1 draw and then the teams produced a 3-3 thriller at Redditch before the visitors won 4-2 on penalties.

That wasn`t quite the end of the story, however, as the Midland Division club accused Darlington of match fixing.

It was said that someone from Solihull had witnessed a Darlington official passing money to the match referee after the first game in the north east.

At an FA inquiry, no evidence was provided to support the accusation and the charge was dismissed.

In an all-Southern League tie, King`s Lynn defeated Bromsgrove Rovers 1-0, and Ilkeston Town dispatched Boston United of the Northern Premier League 2-1 in front of 2,504 at the New Manor Ground – a result that must have delighted Boston player and town resident, manager Keith Alexander!

Wisbech Town took the scalp of Isthmian Leaguers Billericay Town with a fine 3-2 win at the Essex side`s New Lodge.

The Second Round saw King`s Lynn hammered 6-0 at Rotherham United, Fenland neighbours Wisbech performed heroically before going out 2-0 to Bristol Rovers but Ilkeston`s visit to Scunthorpe United`s Glanford Park was more fruitful.

The Robins earned a 1-1 draw, thanks to an Ian Robinson effort, but, despite Christian Moore`s goal, the Iron won the replay 2-1.

The Southern League Cup went to cup battlers Margate for the second time – the first coming back in 1967/68.

Chris Kinnear`s men faced Midland Division side Redditch United in the two-legged final.

Goals from Marc Munday and Paul Sykes gave Gate a 2-0 lead in the first leg at Hartsdown Park, and despite losing 1-0 at the Valley Stadium to Mick Tuohy`s Reds, the Kent side claimed the trophy 2-1 on aggregate.

Kinnear`s side topped the season off with a 1-0 win against Isthmian Premier Division neighbours Gravesend & Northfleet in the final of the Kent Senior Cup, thanks to a goal from Tim Dixon.

The Southern League also played the FA XI at Gloucester City – new England semi-professional international manager John Owens taking charge of the FA teams against the Southern, Northern Premier and Isthmian League selections in 1997/98.

The FA XI, which was made up of players from Conference sides Yeovil Town, Hereford United, Cheltenham Town and Kidderminster Harriers, won 2-1, despite Dorchester Town`s Martin Shepherd giving the Southern League the lead.

The Southern League`s squad was:

Mark Blount (Burton Albion; Chris Burns (Gloucester City), Simon Cooper (Gloucester City), Ryan Cross (Dorchester Town), Allan Davies (Burton Albion), Chris Greenman (Worcester City), Les Hornby (Burton Albion), Paul Hunt (Forest Green Rovers), Lee Middleton (Atherstone United), Ged Murphy (Gresley Rovers), Martin Shepherd (Dorchester Town). Subs: James Hollman (King`s Lynn), Danny Simmonds (Hastings United), Martin Matthews (King`s Lynn), Mark Harrington (Bath City), Matt Coupe (Gloucester City).