1997–98 in Dutch football

Last updated January 13, 2026

The 1997/1998 season in Dutch football was the 42nd season in the Eredivisie, where Ajax Amsterdam won the double, claiming the title and the Dutch National Cup.

Johan Cruijff-schaal

August 17, 1997

PSV	3–1	Roda JC
Cocu 22', 90' De Bilde 90'		Van Houdt 84'

Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Jol

Eredivisie

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	Ajax	89	34	29	2	3	112	22	+90
2	PSV	72	34	21	9	4	95	44	+51
3	Vitesse Arnhem	70	34	21	7	6	85	48	+37
4	Feyenoord	61	34	18	7	9	62	40	+22
5	Willem II	55	34	17	4	13	66	58	+8
6	SC Heerenveen	55	34	16	7	11	56	59	-3
7	Fortuna Sittard	48	34	14	6	14	51	53	-2
8	NEC	44	34	14	2	18	40	57	-17
9	FC Twente	43	34	11	10	13	41	42	-1
10	FC Utrecht	43	34	13	4	17	56	64	-8
11	De Graafschap	42	34	11	9	14	45	49	-4
12	NAC	42	34	12	6	16	41	49	-8
13	Sparta	41	34	10	11	13	50	59	-9
14	Roda JC	38	34	10	8	16	44	45	-1
15	MVV	32	34	9	5	20	35	75	-40
16	RKC	31	34	8	7	19	48	71	-23
17	FC Groningen	31	34	7	10	17	42	65	-23
18	FC Volendam	21	34	5	6	23	33	102	-79

Champions League : Ajax and PSV
UEFA Cup: Vitesse, Feyenoord and Willem II
Cup Winners Cup: SC Heerenveen
Promotion / relegation play-offs ("Nacompetitie"): RKC and FC Groningen
Relegated: FC Volendam

Topscorers

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Nikos Machlas	Vitesse Arnhem	34
2	Shota Arveladze	Ajax Amsterdam	25
3	Ronald Hamming	Fortuna Sittard	20
4	Dejan Curovic	Vitesse Arnhem	17
5	Jari Litmanen	Ajax Amsterdam	16
–	Michael Mols	FC Utrecht	16

Awards

Dutch Footballer of the Year

1997 — Jaap Stam (PSV Eindhoven)
1998 – 1999 — Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven)

Dutch Golden Shoe Winner

1997 — Jaap Stam (PSV Eindhoven)
1998 — Edwin van der Sar (Ajax Amsterdam)

Ajax Winning Squad 1997-'98

Goal

Defence

Midfield

Attack

Management

Morten Olsen (Coach)
Heini Otto (Assistant)
Bobby Haarms (Assistant)

Eerste Divisie

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	AZ Alkmaar	72	34	21	9	4	81	31	+50
2	Cambuur Leeuwarden	65	34	20	5	9	66	43	+23
3	FC Emmen	61	34	18	7	9	64	45	+19
4	FC Den Bosch	60	34	17	9	8	60	42	+18
5	ADO Den Haag	58	34	17	7	10	69	43	+26
6	FC Zwolle	54	34	14	12	8	58	42	+16
7	TOP Oss	52	34	16	4	14	59	50	+9
8	FC Eindhoven	51	34	16	3	15	50	52	-2
9	Go Ahead Eagles	49	34	15	4	15	70	55	+15
10	Helmond Sport	47	34	12	11	11	46	45	+1
11	VVV-Venlo	47	34	12	11	11	45	46	-1
12	BV Veendam	45	34	11	12	11	51	55	-4
13	SC Telstar	40	34	11	7	16	43	60	-17
14	SC Heracles	32	34	8	8	18	51	77	-26
15	HFC Haarlem	31	34	8	7	19	43	85	-42
16	Excelsior Rotterdam	30	34	8	6	20	39	64	-25
13	Dordrecht '90	30	34	6	12	16	37	64	-27
18	RBC Roosendaal	22	34	4	10	20	33	66	-33

Promoted : AZ Alkmaar
Promotion / relegation play-offs ("Nacompetitie"): Cambuur, Emmen, Den Bosch, ADO Den Haag, Zwolle and Eindhoven

Promotion and relegation

Group A

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	RKC Waalwijk	14	6	4	2	0	15	5	+10
2	FC Eindhoven	6	6	1	3	2	8	11	-3
3	ADO Den Haag	5	6	0	5	1	5	8	-3
4	FC Emmen	4	6	0	4	2	11	15	-4

Group B

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	Cambuur Leeuwarden	14	6	4	2	0	15	8	+7
2	FC Zwolle	8	6	2	2	2	8	9	-1
3	FC Groningen	5	6	1	2	3	9	12	-3
4	FC Den Bosch	5	6	1	2	3	7	10	-3

Stayed / Promoted : RKC Waalwijk and Cambuur Leeuwarden
Relegated: FC Groningen

KNVB Cup

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

March 11

FC Twente	3
		April 29
Vitesse Arnhem	1
		PSV Eindhoven	2
March 12
		FC Twente	1
PSV Eindhoven	4
				May 17 - Rotterdam
Feyenoord Rotterdam	0
				Ajax Amsterdam	5
March 11
				PSV Eindhoven	0
Ajax Amsterdam	2
		May 7
NAC Breda	1
		Ajax Amsterdam	3
March 31
		SC Heerenveen	0	Third place
SC Heerenveen	3
				May 14 - Zwolle
Fortuna Sittard	0
				SC Heerenveen	3

				FC Twente	1

* The third place match was necessary to determine the Dutch Cup Winners Cup entrant, since both finalists (Ajax and PSV) were qualified for the Champions League.

Final

May 17, 1998

Ajax	5–0	PSV
Babangida 25' Litmanen 38', 61', 84' Arveladze 79'

De Kuip, Rotterdam

Attendance: ?