1997–98 RC Lens season - Misplaced Pages

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Lens 1997–98 football season

Lens

1997–98 season

President

Manager

Stadium

Top goalscorer

League:
Anto Drobnjak (14)
All:
Anto Drobnjak (15)

Average home league attendance

27,788

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 season of the Racing Club de Lens was the 45th season of the club from Pas-de-Calais with first division championship league of France, the seventh consecutive in the elite of French football. This season was remarkable in the history of the club, because it was the first and only title that RC Lens won in French first division. The club also reached, for the third time in its history, the final of Coupe de France.

Daniel Leclercq lead the club in this season, which took place just before the World Cup hosted by France, and for which the Bollaert stadium hosted several games. Leclercq took control of the team early in the season after the previous season's deputy Roger Lemerre. This happened in 1997 to prevent a possible relegation to the second division. Leclercq set up a tactic based on offense and speed. The team relied on players present for several years, such as Jean-Guy Wallemme, a captain of the team, or the goalkeeper Guillaume Warmuz. Anto Drobnjak and Stéphane Ziani also played a central role in the team.

Sixth in the mid-season, RC Lens took the championship lead after its victory in their 30th game of the season against league-leader FC Metz. Following that victory, RC Lens remained in first place through to the end of the season. Following this winning streak in the league, RC Lens lost in the final of Coupe de France and in the semifinals of the League Cup against the Paris Saint-Germain.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FRA	Guillaume Warmuz
2	DF	FRA	Éric Sikora
3	DF	FRA	Yoann Lachor
4	DF	FRA	Cyrille Magnier
6	MF	MAD	Hervé Arsène
7	MF	FRA	Mickaël Debève
8	DF	FRA	Jean-Guy Wallemme (captain)
9	FW	YUG	Anto Drobnjak
10	MF	FRA	Stéphane Ziani
11	FW	FRA	Tony Vairelles
12	FW	HAI	Wagneau Eloi


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	MF	FRA	Frédéric Déhu
14	MF	NGA	Wilson Oruma
16	GK	FRA	Cédric Berthelin
17	MF	CMR	Marc-Vivien Foé
18	FW	FRA	Philippe Brunel
19	FW	CZE	Vladimír Šmicer
22	DF	FRA	Xavier Méride
24	DF	FRA	José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan
25	MF	FRA	Romain Pitau
26	DF	FRA	Aboubacar Sankharé
30	GK	FRA	Christophe Marichez

Transfers

In

Player	Transferred from	Fee
Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	USL Dunkerque	Free
Stephane Ziani	Bordeaux	?
Anto Drobnjak	SC Bastia	?
Romain Pitau	B Team	Free
Xavier Meride	B Team	Free
Wilson Oruma	AS Nancy	End of loan
Wagneau Eloi	AS Nancy	End of loan

Competitions

French Division 1

Main article: 1997–98 French Division 1

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lens (C)	34	21	5	8	55	30	+25	68	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Metz	34	20	8	6	48	28	+20	68	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
3	Monaco	34	18	5	11	51	33	+18	59	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
4	Marseille	34	16	9	9	47	27	+20	57
5	Bordeaux	34	15	11	8	49	41	+8	56

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(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
34	21	5	8	55	30	+25	68	12	4	1	32	9	+23	9	1	7	23	21	+2

Last updated: 9 May 1998.
Source: Ligue 1

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	D	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D
Position	1	8	9	4	5	7	10	8	5	5	7	5	6	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1

Source: Ligue 1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Coupe de France

Main article: 1997–98 Coupe de France Lens v Le Havre

17 January 1998 Round of 64	Lens	2–1	Le Havre	Lens
17:10 CET (UTC+1)	Vairelles 60' Déhu 90'	Report	Pouget 36'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Franck Glochon

Épinal v Lens

7 February 1998 Round of 32	Épinal	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Lens	Épinal
19:30 CET (UTC+1)		Report	Magnier 107' Vairelles 119'	Stadium: Stade de la Colombière Attendance: 1,196 Referee: Bruno Derrien

UFC Argentan v Lens

28 February 1998 Round of 16	UFC Argentan	1–3	Lens	Caen
20:30 CET (UTC+1)	Sauvage 70'	Report	Eloi 20', 77' Déhu 90'	Stadium: Stade Michel d'Ornano Attendance: 18,927 Referee: Laurent Duhamel

Caen v Lens

21 March 1998 Quarter-finals	Caen	1–2	Lens	Caen
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Guerreiro 12'	Report	Šmicer 57', 68'	Stadium: Stade Michel d'Ornano Attendance: 20,648 Referee: Philippe Kalt

Lens v Lyon

11 April 1998 Semi-finals	Lens	2–0	Lyon	Lens
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Ziani 24', 90'	Report		Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 38,269 Referee: Marc Batta

Paris Saint-Germain v Lens

2 May 1998 Final	Paris Saint-Germain	2–1	Lens	Saint-Denis
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Raí 24' Domi 30' Ducrocq 48' Simone 53'	Report	Déhu 56' Šmicer 83'	Stadium: Stade de France Attendance: 78,265 Referee: Gilles Veissière

Coupe de la Ligue

Main article: 1997–98 Coupe de la Ligue Lens v Stade Rennais

5 January 1998 Round of 32	Lens	1–0	Stade Rennais	Lens
19:30 CET (UTC+1)	Šmicer 21' Vairelles 77'	Report	Silvestre 60' Rossi 60'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Dominique Fraise

Lens v Chamois Niortais

31 January 1998 Round of 16	Lens	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Chamois Niortais	Lens
19:30 CET (UTC+1)	Drobnjak 118'	Report		Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 21,956 Referee: Gilles Veissière

Sochaux v Lens

18 February 1998 Quarter-finals	Sochaux	1–4	Lens	Montbéliard
16:00 CET (UTC+1)	Bouger 39' 39'	Report	Déhu 42' 63' Brunel 73', 88' Petereyns 76' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stade Auguste Bonal Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Marc Batta

Paris Saint-Germain v Lens

12 March 1998 Semi-finals	Paris Saint-Germain	2–1	Lens	Paris
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Gava 44' Maurice 46' Simone 52', 56'	Report	Magnier 44' Ziani 37' 57'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 28,692 Referee: Bernard Saules

References

"Division 1 1997/1998 » Attendance » Home matches". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ "Lens 1997/1998". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
"RC Lens - Squad 1997/1998". worldfootball.net.

External links

Official website

v t e RC Lens seasons
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1997–98 in French football

« 1996–97 1998–99 »

Domestic leagues	Division 1 Division 2 National
Domestic cups	Coupe de France (Final) Coupe de la Ligue (Final) Trophée des Champions
European	Champions League Men Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup

Club seasons
Division 1	Auxerre Bastia Bordeaux Cannes Châteauroux Guingamp Le Havre Lens Lyon Marseille Metz Monaco Montpellier Nantes Paris Saint-Germain Rennes Strasbourg Toulouse
Division 2	Amiens Beauvais Caen Gueugnon Laval Le Mans Lille Lorient Louhans-Cuiseaux Martigues Mulhouse Nancy Nice Nîmes Niort Red Star Saint-Étienne Sochaux Toulon Troyes Valence Wasquehal

International competition
Men	1997 Jeux de la Francophonie 1998 Toulon Tournament 1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament 1998 FIFA World Cup Group C 1998 FIFA World Cup knockout stage 1998 FIFA World Cup final

Categories:

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	21	5	8	55	30	+25	68	12	4	1	32	9	+23	9	1	7	23	21	+2

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	21	5	8	55	30	+25	68	12	4	1	32	9	+23	9	1	7	23	21	+2

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	21	5	8	55	30	+25	68	12	4	1	32	9	+23	9	1	7	23	21	+2