France
The revenge of the province
Daniel Lecquercqís Lens overcomes Metz and wins the French Title.
41 thousand fans crowded the Bollaert Stadium of Lens for the last game but one of the season versus Bastia.
That was expected to become the day of the triumph but a Meyrieuís goal enabled Metz to defeat Tolosa on the road, turning the last week of the season into the decisive one.
By the way, Meyrieu was traded by the same Lens the previous year because of his inconsistent performances, and before signing with Metz he led Bigonís Sion to win both the Championship and the Cup in Switzerland.
41 thousand fans for a city that counts only 35 thousand inhabitants because, being Lilla in 2nd Division, the entire Region of Pas-de-Calais started following and supporting the so-called ìblood and goldî.
Not just ìred and yellowî but ìblood and goldî which has a special meaning.
Ití about the struggles and the hopes of a city built on the blood and the dreams of its miners.
Miners who today crowd the stands of the Bollaert stadium along with their wives and kids, supporting their team like nobody else in France.
Lensí coach and former player Daniel Lecuercq says: "Our fans are really special. They donít require us to win every game. They just expect us to give always our best".
Leclercq finished with Lens his career as a player in the 80s after winning 2 Championships with Marseille during the 70s.
Along with his current assistant Francois Brisson, he was part (as a left wing) of the French national team that won the Gold Medal in 1984 during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Leclercq emerged as the true revelation of the year by winning the French Title during his first season as a head-coach in the first Division.
After working for many years with Lens (as a backupsí coach) he finally took advantage of his knowledge of this Organization and its players to step up and lead the Club to succeed.
Lens is a team built around its veteran defense: Jean-Guy Wallemme (the Captain who spend as many as 14 seasons with this Club and who rejected several Italian, Spanish and French offers to stay ìhomeî).
The right fullback Eric Sikora (who signed with Lens at the age of 12).
Cyrille Magnier, who has been playing with Wallemme as a central defender since 1984.
Yoan Lachor (the left fullback) and Frederic Dehu (9 years as a Lensí halfback).
New but as loved by the fans as the veterans are the 3 forwards: Vladimir Smicer, Tony Vairelles and the Yugoslav striker Anton Drobnjak. (Especially the last 2 were decisive during Lensí final sprint).
Scoring 5 goals against the best defense of the season (Bastia), however, wasnít enough yet to win the Title.
Vairelles scored as many as 3 goals and proved to be the true heir of Brisson but the main celebration came one week later when, drawing on the road with Auxerre, Lens finally became champion.
After 25 wins and 5 losses that was also the first match of the season that Lens drew on the road.
A brave Lens that won as many as 7 games in a row (equalizing the record of Tigana's Monaco).
A brave Lens that achieved the Title by scoring bunches of goals and defeating on the road teams like Metz, Monaco and Marseille.
Paris Saint Germain emerged as the only Lensí bugbear of the season, but altogether Simoneís team had a pretty disappointing year.
Former Milanís forward was the only good new for the Parisians.
He was named by his colleagues as the best player of the year and led his Club to win both the French Cup and the Leagueís Cup (after defeating Lens during the semifinal).
Top 11 of Lens champion
| Player | role | nationality |
date of birth |
| Guillaume Warmuz | portiere | francese | 10-8 1968 |
| Eric Sikora | difensore | francese | 4-2-1968 |
| Jean-Guy Wallemme | difensore | francese | 10-8 1967 |
| Cyrille Magnier | difensore | francese | 24-8 1969 |
| Yoan Lachor | difensore | francese | 17-1 1976 |
| Frederic Dehu | centrocampista | francese | 24-10 1972 |
| Marc-Vivien Foe | centrocampista | camerunense | 1-5-1975 |
| Stephane Ziani | centrocampista | francese | 9-12 1972 |
| Vladimir Smicer | attaccante | ceco | 24-5 1973 |
| Anton Drobnjak | attaccante | jugoslavo | 21-9 1968 |
| Tony Vairelles | attaccante | francese | 10-4 1973 |
| Daniel Leclercq | allenatore | francese | 4-9-1949 |
Top 11 of season 1997-98
| Player | role | nationality | date of birth | team |
| Lionel Letizi | portiere | francese | 28-5 1973 |
Metz |
| Sebastian Perez | difensore | francese | 24-11 1973 |
Bastia |
| Laurent Blanc | difensore | francese | 19-11 1965 |
O. Marsiglia |
| Rigobert Song | difensore | camerunense | 1-7 1976 |
Metz |
| Patrice Carteron | difensore | francese | 30-7 1970 |
Lione |
| Peter Luccin | centrocampista | francese | 9-4 1979 |
Bordeaux |
| Yann Lachuer | centrocampista | francese | 5-8 1972 |
Auxerre |
| Vikash Dhorasoo | centrocampista | francese | 10-10 1973 |
Le Havre |
| Stephane Ziani | centrocampista | francese | 9-12 1972 |
Lens |
| Stephane Guivarc’h | attaccante | francese | 6-9 1970 |
Auxerre |
| David Trezeguet | attaccante | francese | 15-10 1977 |
Monaco |
| Joel Muller | allenatore | francese | 2-1 1952 |
Metz |
Final leaderboard
| Leaderboard | points | g | v | n | p | gf | gs |
| LENS (campione) | 68 | 34 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 55 | 30 |
| Metz | 68 | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 48 | 28 |
| Monaco | 59 | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 51 | 33 |
| Olimpique Marsiglia | 57 | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 47 | 27 |
| Bordeaux | 56 | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 49 | 41 |
| Lione | 53 | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 39 | 37 |
| Auxerre | 51 | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 55 | 45 |
| Paris Saint Germain | 50 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 43 | 35 |
| Bastia | 50 | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 36 | 31 |
| Le Havre | 44 | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 38 | 35 |
| Nantes | 41 | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 35 | 41 |
| Montpellier | 41 | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 42 |
| Strasburgo | 37 | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 43 |
| Rennes | 36 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 36 | 48 |
| Tolosa | 36 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 46 |
| Guingamp | 35 | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 30 | 42 |
| Châteauroux | 31 | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 31 | 59 |
| Cannes | 28 | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 32 | 59 |