In their first season as a Football League club, Macclesfield Town finished runners-up in Division Three to gain their second successive promotion, a year after winning the Conference.

They were joined by champions Notts County, who won the title by 17 points and became the first team since World War II to secure promotion in March, third-placed Lincoln City and playoff winners Colchester United.

Graham Taylor began his second spell as Watford manager by winning the Division Two championship and giving his club their first successful season since they were league runners-up back in 1983.

Leading goalscorers: Dion Dublin (Coventry City), Michael Owen (Liverpool), and Chris Sutton (Blackburn Rovers) – 18 The three sides that had been relegated from the Premier League the previous year would (in reverse order) make up the top three teams in Division One this season, resulting in Nottingham Forest being promoted as champions and Middlesbrough as runners-up.

Burnley managed to escape relegation at Brentford's expense but this did not save the job of player-manager Chris Waddle, who was replaced with Bury's Stan Ternent.

Both clubs finished in the bottom half of the table, their league status never under any real danger, but the failure to convert draws into victories meant that a promotion challenge was never realistically on the cards for either side.

Leading goalscorer: Gary Jones (Notts County) – 28 7 July 1997 – Middlesbrough pay £4.5million (a record for a club outside the top flight) for Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson.

21 July 1997 – David Hopkin, the player who scored the goal that got Crystal Palace promoted to the Premier League in this year's Division One playoff final, joins Leeds United for £3.25million.

7 August 1997 – Footballers Bruce Grobbelaar, Hans Segers and John Fashanu, along with a Thai businessman, are cleared of match-fixing at Winchester Crown Court.

Coventry City, who narrowly survived last season, pulled off a major surprise by defeating FA Cup holders Chelsea 3–2 at Highfield Road.

Despite Alan Shearer's absence, Newcastle United beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 at home as Kenny Dalglish continues his quest to try to become the first manager to win the English top division title at three different clubs.

31 August 1997 – The Liverpool-Newcastle United FA Premier League fixture is cancelled as a mark of respect for the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who died earlier in the day in a Paris car crash.

Wimbledon, Aston Villa and Southampton occupy the relegation zone, while newly promoted Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley (playing top division football for the first time) at Crystal Palace have all had a decent first month of the season.

14 September 1997 – Two resurgent sides, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United, battle it out in a thrilling Premier League at Ewood Park in which the visitors triumph 4–3.

25 September 1997 – Kevin Keegan returns to football as Fulham FC's "Chief Operating Officer", working in conjunction with new Head Coach Ray Wilkins.

A terrible run of form has pushed Southampton into bottom place, while Barnsley's reasonable start to their first top division season has given way to a series of heavy defeats and they now occupy the next lowest position in the league.

25 October 1997 – Barnsley are on the receiving end of yet another heavy defeat, this time a 7–0 hammering by Manchester United at Old Trafford which sends the hosts to the top of the table.

[5] 1 November 1997 – Manchester United boost their own lead of the Premier League with a 6–1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday, which pushes the visitors further into relegation trouble just one season after they narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup place.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Leeds United complete the top five, but Arsenal are now sixth and now need something little short of a miracle to bring the Premier League trophy to Highbury.

[8] Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest are level on points at the top of Division One, with the playoff zone being occupied by Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[9] 3 January 1998 – Holders Chelsea suffer a first hurdle defeat in the FA Cup when they lost 5–3 to Manchester United, while Conference club Stevenage Borough achieve a shock 2–1 away win over Division One Swindon Town.

17 January 1998 – Barnsley boost their survival hopes with a 1–0 home win over Crystal Palace, whose own recent downturn in form is threatening to cost them their Premier League status.

24 January 1998 – Walsall FC's hopes of pulling off a giant-killing feat in the FA Cup fourth round are ended when Manchester United crush them 5–1 at Old Trafford.

[11] 4 February 1998 – Stevenage Borough's FA Cup run ends in the fourth round replay when Newcastle United beat them 2–1 at St James's Park.

Crystal Palace, yet to win at home this season, are now bottom of the Premier League in a drop zone with includes the other two newly promoted clubs Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley.

8 March 1998 – Barnsley's dreams of marking their first top division season with FA Cup glory are ended when they lost 3–1 at Newcastle United in the quarter-final.

An unlikely bid for a UEFA Cup place is coming from West Ham United and Coventry City, two means who narrowly avoided relegation last season.

[7] 29 April 1998 – An incident in a 0–0 draw between Leicester City and Newcastle United lead to Alan Shearer being investigated by the Football Association, after he appeared to deliberately kick Neil Lennon in the head.

10 May 1998 – The FA Premier League season ends with Arsenal as champions and Manchester United as runners-up one point behind them, with both teams qualifying for the European Cup.

Bolton were the last team to go down – their 2–0 defeat at Chelsea meaning that a 1–1 draw with Coventry City at Goodison Park was enough to achieve survival on goal difference for Everton.