1997–98 RC Lens season

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.^{[citation needed]}

Lens

1997–98 season
President	Gervais Martel
Manager	Daniel Leclercq
Stadium	Stade Félix-Bollaert
Division 1	1st
Coupe de France	Final
Coupe de la Ligue	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Anto Drobnjak (14) All: Anto Drobnjak (15)
Average home league attendance	27,788[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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.^{[citation needed]}

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^{[2][citation needed]}

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'	[citation needed]	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)		[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]		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'	[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]		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'	[citation needed]	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'	[citation needed]	Magnier  44' Ziani 37'  57'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 28,692 Referee: Bernard Saules