1997–98 Arsenal L.F.C. season

Arsenal Ladies
1997–98 season
Chairman	Peter Hill-Wood
Manager	Terry Howard
Stadium	Hayes Lane
Premier League	Second Place
FA Cup	Winners
Premier League Cup	Winners
London County Cup	Runners Up
Biggest win	0–12 (vs Canary Racers, FA Cup, 11 January 1998); 0–12 (vs Clapton, London County Cup, 08 October 1997)
Biggest defeat	3–1 (vs Everton, Premier League, 16 November 1997)
Home colours	Away colours

The 1997–98 season was Arsenal Ladies Football Club's 11th season since forming in 1987. The club participated in the National Division of the FA Women's Premier League, finishing in second place, behind Everton, who lifted the League title after Arsenal could only draw 3–3 with Croydon.^[1] They won the Premier League Cup and the FA Cup by defeating Croydon in both finals, but lost to Millwall in the London County Cup Final.^[2]

Terry Howard took over as first team coach of the team at the start of the season after Vic Akers took up the job of kit manager with the Arsenal Men's Team, whilst also becoming general manager for the women's team.^[3] However, Terry resigned after just one season, citing 'circumstances' which 'dictated that he leave the club at the end of the season'.^[4]

Squad information & statistics

First team squad

Name	Date of birth (age)	Since	Signed from
Goalkeepers
Lesley Higgs	(1965-10-25)25 October 1965 (aged 32)	1997	Wembley
Sarah Reed	(1980-05-12)12 May 1980 (aged 18)	1996	Wembley
Sara King		1996
Defenders
Kirsty Pealling	(1975-04-14)14 April 1975 (aged 23)	1987	Arsenal Academy
Faye White	(1978-02-02)2 February 1978 (aged 20)	1996	Three Bridges
Clare Wheatley	(1971-02-04)4 February 1971 (aged 27)	1995	Chelsea
Carol Harwood	(1965-12-01)1 December 1965 (aged 32)	1997	Wembley
Kim Jerray-Silver	(1977-10-06)6 October 1977 (aged 20)	1996	Wembley
Jenny Canty	(1976-03-22)22 March 1976 (aged 22)	1991	Limehouse
Vicki Slee	(1973-03-09)9 March 1973 (aged 25)	1991	Millwall Lionesses
Michelle Curley	(1972-04-30)30 April 1972 (aged 26)	1988	Arsenal Academy
Kelley Few	(1971-10-17)17 October 1971 (aged 26)	1991	Romford
Tammy Scrivens	(1978-08-11)11 August 1978 (aged 19)	1997	Mill Hill United
Beth Lovell	January 1980	1995	Arsenal Academy
Jo Moruzzi		1995	Arsenal Academy
Midfielders
Sian Williams (c)	(1968-02-02)2 February 1968 (aged 30)	1990	Millwall Lionesses
Tina Mapes	(1971-01-21)21 January 1971 (aged 27)	1997	Croydon
Emma Coss	(1979-05-09)9 May 1979 (aged 19)	1992	Arsenal Academy
Linda Watt	(1973-05-19)19 May 1973 (aged 25)	1995	Watford
Robyn Davies-Patrick	(1975-08-29)29 August 1975 (aged 22)	1996
Sharon Barber		1988	Tottenham
Forwards
Marieanne Spacey	(1966-02-13)13 February 1966 (aged 32)	1993	Wimbledon
Rachel Yankey	(1979-12-01)1 December 1979 (aged 18)	1996	Mill Hill United
Nina Downham	(1980-12-31)31 December 1980 (aged 17)	1998	Millwall Lionesses
Sheuneen Ta	(1985-07-21)21 July 1985 (aged 12)	1997	Arsenal Academy
Natasha Daly	(1979-11-29)29 November 1979 (aged 18)	1996	Mill Hill United
Emma Hastings	(1977-11-24)24 November 1977 (aged 20)	1995	Dunstable
Yvette Rean	(1969-04-11)11 April 1969 (aged 29)	1995	Watford
Kara Lee Reynolds		1996	Texas Lightning
Liz Benham		1996	Croydon
Pat Pile		1989	Hackney
Emma Burke		1995	Arsenal Academy

Goalscorers

Rank	Position	Name	Premier League	FA Cup	PL Cup	LC Cup	Total
1	FW	Marieanne Spacey	14	9	5	0	28
2	Unknown Goalscorers		4	0	0	17	21
3	FW	Rachel Yankey	7	5	3	0	15
4	FW	Natasha Daly	9	1	2	0	12
5	MF	Tina Mapes	3	1	1	0	5
6	MF	Sian Williams	3	1	0	0	4
6	DF	Kelley Few	2	1	1	0	4
7	DF	Kirsty Pealling	2	0	1	0	3
7	DF	Faye White	1	1	1	0	3
8	DF	Kim Jerray-Silver	2	0	0	0	2
	DF	Carol Harwood	3	0	0	0	3
	FW	Nina Downham	2	0	0	0	2
9	DF	Tammy Scrivens	1	0	0	0	1
9	FW	Emma Hastings	1	0	0	0	1
Total			54	19	14	17	104

Clean sheets

Rank	Name	Premier League	FA Cup	PL Cup	LC Cup	Total
1	Sarah Reed	3	3	2	0	8
2	Unknown Goalkeepers	2	0	0	1	3
3	Lesley Higgs	0	0	0	0	0
3	Sara King	0	0	0	0	0
Total		5	3	2	1	11

Transfers, loans and other signings

Transfers in

Announcement date	Position	Player	From club
1997^[5]	DF	Carol Harwood	Wembley
1997^[6]	MF	Tina Mapes	Croydon
1997^[7]	GK	Lesley Higgs	Wembley
1997	DF	Tammy Scrivens	Mill Hill United
1998^[8]	FW	Nina Downham	Millwall Lionesses

Transfers out

Announcement date	Position	Player	To club
1997	MF	Joanne Broadhurst	Croydon
1997	FW	Kelly Smith	Seton Hall Pirates
1997	DF	Gill Wylie	Croydon
1997	FW	Siobhan Kane	Castle Rovers
1997	DF	Lisa Spry	Croydon
1997	MF	Laura Ray
1998^[9]	MF	Sharon Barber	Croydon

Club

Kit

Supplier: Nike / Sponsor: JVC^[10]

Home

Away

Competitions

FA Women's Premier League National Division

Partial league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Everton (C)	18	13	4	1	54	14	+40	43
2	Arsenal	18	12	4	2	55	22	+33	40
3	Doncaster Belles	18	12	2	4	54	18	+36	38
4	Croydon	18	10	5	3	47	14	+33	35
5	Millwall Lionesses	18	8	5	5	37	15	+22	29

Source: FA WPL
(C) Champions

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
18	12	4	2	55	22	+33	40	7	2	0	31	9	+22	5	2	2	24	13	+11

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	H
Result	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	D	W	W
Position	4	2	2	1	1	3	4	4	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2

Source: FA WPL
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

07 September 1997 1	Arsenal	2–2	Everton	Bromley
14:00 BST	Spacey 40' (pen.), 75'	Report	Halfpenny Marley 85'	Stadium: Hayes Lane

14 September 1997 2	Bradford City	1–3	Arsenal
14:00 BST	Garside	Report	Scrivens 30' Daly 49'

28 September 1997 3	Tranmere Rovers	2–4	Arsenal
14:00 BST	20'	Report	Daly 53' Spacey 70'

05 October 1997 4	Arsenal	3–0	Liverpool	Bromley
14:00 BST	Mapes 15' Jerray-Silver 29' Yankey 55'	Report		Stadium: Hayes Lane

08 October 1997 5	Arsenal	1–0	Millwall Lionesses	Potters Bar
19:30 BST		Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

02 November 1997 6	Doncaster Belles	2–1	Arsenal
14:00 BST	55' 89'	Report	Spacey 21'

16 November 1997 7	Everton	3–1	Arsenal	Crosby
	Thomas 18' Burke 44', 88'	Report	Harwood 20'	Stadium: Rossett Park

03 December 1997 8	Berkhamsted Town	1–7	Arsenal	Berkhamsted
19:45 GMT	Burton	Report	Spacey Daly Mapes Yankey	Stadium: Broadwater

07 December 1997 9	Liverpool	0–2	Arsenal
12:00 GMT		Report	Harwood Daly

14 December 1997 10	Arsenal	9–1	Wembley	Potters Bar
13:00 GMT	Spacey 15', 18' Daly Yankey Pealling Williams	Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

18 March 1998 11	Arsenal	3–1	Berkhamsted Town	Potters Bar
		Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

01 April 1998 12	Millwall Lionesses	1–1	Arsenal
	70'	Report	Hastings 25'

05 April 1998 13	Wembley	1–3	Arsenal
		Report	Few Williams Downham

08 April 1998 14	Croydon	2–2	Arsenal
	Britton 43' Broadhurst 71' (pen.)	Report	Spacey 65' Yankey 80'

26 April 1998 15	Arsenal	5–0	Tranmere Rovers	Potters Bar
14:00 BST	Williams 14' Mapes 30' Daly 55' Pealling Downham	Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

30 April 1998 16	Arsenal	3–3	Croydon	Potters Bar
	Harwood Yankey Few 90'	Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

08 May 1998 17	Arsenal	4–2	Bradford City	Highbury
19:00 BST	Spacey Jerray-Silver White	Report		Stadium: Highbury Referee: Mr Lomas

10 May 1998 18	Arsenal	1–0	Doncaster Belles	Highbury
	Spacey 22'	Report		Stadium: Highbury Referee: R. Whyte

FA Women's Cup

11 January 1998 Fourth round	Canary Racers	0–12	Arsenal	Attleborough
13:30 GMT		Report	Spacey Yankey Williams Mapes Daly	Stadium: Attleborough Town FC Attendance: 400

01 February 1998 Fifth round	Southampton Saints	0–1	Arsenal
		Report	Spacey 20'

01 March 1998 Quarter-finals	Doncaster Belles	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal
	Jackson 90+1'	Report	Spacey 70' White 103'

29 March 1998 Semi-finals	Arsenal	1–0	Millwall Lionesses	Norbiton
	Yankey 78'	Report		Stadium: Kingsmeadow

04 May 1998 Final	Arsenal	3–2	Croydon	Bermondsey
	Spacey 17' Yankey 52' Pealling 82' Harwood 85' Few 90+2'	Report	Broadhurst 10' (pen.) Wylie 49' Powell 55' Britton 73'	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 2,205 Referee: Alan Wiley

FA Women's Premier League Cup

19 October 1997 First round	Arsenal	6–2	Huddersfield Town	Bromley
14:00 BST	Mapes 13' Spacey 37', 63', 69', 80' Pealling 68'	Report	Mitchell 22' Knight 24'	Stadium: Hayes Lane

23 November 1997 Second round	Arsenal	2–1	Millwall Lionesses	Bromley
14:00 GMT	Spacey 55' Daly 85'	Report	Chapman 17'	Stadium: Hayes Lane

21 December 1997 Quarter-finals	Arsenal	4–0	Berkhamsted Town	Potters Bar
13:30 GMT	Daly White Jerray-Silver	Report		Stadium: The Lantern Stadium

25 January 1998 Semi-finals	Bradford City	2–2 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Arsenal	Guiseley
12:30 GMT	Garside 20' (pen.), 40'	Report	Yankey 8' Reed 20' Few 70'	Stadium: Nethermoor Park Referee: C Bassindale
	Penalties
			Yankey Pealling Williams Spacey

22 March 1998 Final	Arsenal	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Croydon	Barnet
14:30 GMT		Report		Stadium: Underhill Stadium Referee: Mr AJ Rock
	Penalties
	Slee Williams White Yankey Spacey		Broadhurst Powell Bampton Wylie Davis

London County Cup

20 November 1997 Second round	Clapton	0–12	Arsenal
19:45 GMT		Report

22 February 1998 Semi-finals	Wimbledon	1–4	Arsenal
		Report

06 May 1998 Final	Arsenal	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Millwall Lionesses	Croydon
		Report		Stadium: Croydon Sports Arena

References

^ Gray, Claire (2 May 1998). "Gunners Gift Blues the Title".
^ "Another trophy for the Gunners". the Independent.
^ "Howard Takes Charge For New Season (page 31)". Arsenal FC. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
^ "Managers Notes". Arsenal Ladies vs Bradford City Matchday Programme. 8 May 1998. p. 2.
^ "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-02-11. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
^ "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
^ "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-06-26. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
^ "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-06-26. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
^ Fernandes, Paul (13 February 1998). "Staying cool in the honours race". New Addington Advertiser. p. 21.
^ "Arsenal FC Kit History". Football Kit Archive. Retrieved 2025-02-14.

External links

Official website

[1] Gray, Claire (2 May 1998). "Gunners Gift Blues the Title".

[2] "Another trophy for the Gunners". the Independent.

[3] "Howard Takes Charge For New Season (page 31)". Arsenal FC. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

[4] "Managers Notes". Arsenal Ladies vs Bradford City Matchday Programme. 8 May 1998. p. 2.

[5] "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-02-11. Retrieved 2025-12-17.

[6] "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18. Retrieved 2025-12-17.

[7] "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-06-26. Retrieved 2025-12-17.

[8] "Arsenal Ladies". www.arsenal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2001-06-26. Retrieved 2025-12-17.

[9] Fernandes, Paul (13 February 1998). "Staying cool in the honours race". New Addington Advertiser. p. 21.

[10] "Arsenal FC Kit History". Football Kit Archive. Retrieved 2025-02-14.

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