The 1997âÂÂ98 Premiership 1 was the twelfth season of the top tier of the English rugby union league system, currently known as Premiership Rugby, and the second to be sponsored by Allied Dunbar, having previous been sponsored by Courage Brewery. Newcastle Falcons were the defending champions and Bedford, London Scottish and West Hartlepool the promoted sides.
Leicester Tigers finished the season as champions for the third time (and first title since 1995), while West Hartlepool were relegated to as the bottom place side, dropping to the 1999âÂÂ00 Premiership 2. 9th place Richmond and 12th London Scottish were placed into administration at the end of the campaign, merging with London Irish, and thus did not compete in the subsequent season.
Following restructuring from the previous season, the league increased from twelve to fourteen teams, with each side playing one another twice, in a round robin system, home and away, to make a total of twenty-six matches for each team. The bottom side would be automatically relegated to Premiership 2.
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who did not yet earn international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.
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