1997–98 English Premiership (rugby union)

1997–98 Allied Dunbar Premiership
Countries	England
Champions	Newcastle Falcons (1st title)
Runners-up	Saracens
Relegated	Bristol
Matches played	132
Attendance	823,446 (average 6,238 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 English Premiership (called the Allied Dunbar Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of the league at the top of the English rugby union pyramid. Newcastle Falcons won the league, having only been promoted the previous year. It was their first title, and they won it by one point over Saracens.

Participating teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Bath	8,200	Bath, Somerset
Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Bristol, Avon
Gloucester	Kingsholm	11,000	Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Harlequins	The Stoop	8,500	Twickenham, London
Leicester Tigers	Welford Road	16,000	Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish	The Avenue	6,600	Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park[n 1]	10,000	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints	Franklin's Gardens	10,000	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Richmond	Athletic Ground, Richmond	4,500	Richmond, London
Sale	Heywood Road	5,400	Sale, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Vicarage Road	22,000	Watford, Hertfordshire
Wasps	Loftus Road	18,439	Shepherd's Bush, London

Notes

Table

	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Points
1	Newcastle Falcons (C)	22	19	0	3	645	387	+258	85	31	38
2	Saracens	22	18	1	3	584	396	+188	59	36	37
3	Bath	22	13	0	9	575	455	+120	66	49	26
4	Leicester Tigers	22	12	2	8	569	449	+120	64	45	26
5	Richmond	22	12	0	10	607	499	+108	81	50	24
6	Gloucester	22	11	1	10	512	528	−16	52	65	23
7	Sale Sharks	22	10	2	10	605	558	+47	71	60	22
8	Northampton Saints	22	9	1	12	493	472	+21	46	53	19
9	Wasps	22	8	1	13	490	609	−119	47	68	17
10	Harlequins	22	8	0	14	516	645	−129	58	73	16
11	London Irish	22	6	0	16	457	673	−216	45	82	12
12	Bristol (R)	22	2	0	20	351	733	−382	36	98	4

Results

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Week 22

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25

Week 26

Sponsorship

After ten years of sponsorship by Courage, Allied Dunbar agreed to sponsor the top two divisions for £7,500,000.^[1]

Total Season Attendances

Club	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bath	80,100	7,282	8,200	5,500	89%
Bristol	39,653	3,605	5,601	1,547	30%
Gloucester	83,473	7,588	10,574	5,689	69%
Harlequins	64,930	5,903	8,897	4,127	69%
Leicester Tigers	141,446	12,859	16,900	8,678	80%
London Irish	40,900	3,718	5,000	1,500	56%
Newcastle Falcons	55,251	5,023	11,750	2,638	48%
Northampton Saints	71,661	6,515	8,989	4,600	65%
Richmond	39,718	3,611	6,500	2,000	75%
Sale Sharks	39,800	3,618	4,500	2,500	67%
Saracens	102,335	9,303	19,764	3,722	42%
Wasps	64,179	5,834	9,700	3,791	32%

See also

• English rugby union system
• *History of the English rugby union system

References

External links

• Official site