title: 1997–98 Meistriliiga
text: # 1997–98 Meistriliiga
  
  The 1997–98 Meistriliiga was the seventh season of the Meistriliiga, Estonia's premier football league. Flora won their third title.
  
  ## Preliminary round
  
  The preliminary round was played in the autumn. The top six teams continued the title play-off in the spring, taking half their points obtained in the preliminary round. The last two teams faced the top four of the Esiliiga in the Meistriliiga transition tournament.
  
  ### League table
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Flora | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 6 | +33 | 37 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 2 | Tallinna Sadam | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 15 | +27 | 31 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 3 | Tulevik | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 20 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 4 | Lantana | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 19 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 5 | Narva Trans | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 26 | −13 | 15 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 6 | TVMK | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 14 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
  | 7 | Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 11 | Qualification for Meistriliiga Transition Tournament |
  | 8 | Lelle | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 34 | −23 | 10 | Qualification for Meistriliiga Transition Tournament |
  
  ### Results
  
  | Home \ Away | JEP | FLO | LAN | LEL | SAD | TRS | TUL | TVM |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
  | Flora | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 7–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
  | Lantana | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
  | Lelle | 3–0 | 0–5 | 2–1 | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
  | Tallinna Sadam | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | | 4–0 | 3–3 | 7–1 |
  | Narva Trans | 1–0 | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–4 | | 0–2 | 2–0 |
  | Tulevik | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | | 1–2 |
  | TVMK | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | |
  
  ## Championship Tournament
  
  The points obtained during the preliminary round were carried over halved and rounded up.
  
  ### League table
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Flora (C) | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 10 | +24 | 19 | 42 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
  | 2 | Tallinna Sadam | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 16 | 32 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
  | 3 | Lantana | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 10 | 25 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
  | 4 | Narva Trans | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 19 | −5 | 8 | 24 | |
  | 5 | Tulevik | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 10 | 19 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
  | 6 | TVMK | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 23 | −19 | 7 | 13 | |
  
  ### Results
  
  | Home \ Away | FLO | LAN | SAD | TRS | TUL | TVM |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Flora | | 2–3 | 5–0 | 6–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
  | Lantana | 1–3 | | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
  | Tallinna Sadam | 2–5 | 4–1 | | 5–1 | 1–3 | 5–0 |
  | Narva Trans | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 0–2 | 2–1 |
  | Tulevik | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–4 | | 0–1 |
  | TVMK | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |
  
  ## Meistriliiga Transition Tournament
  
  Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi and Lelle, the teams finishing in the last two positions in the preliminary round, faced four best teams of the 1997–98 Esiliiga in the play-off for two places in the 1998 Meistriliiga.
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Lelle | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 10 | +42 | 26 | Promotion to Meistriliiga |
  | 2 | Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 19 | Promotion to Meistriliiga |
  | 3 | Vall | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 17 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
  | 4 | Dokker | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 28 | −17 | 8 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
  | 5 | Olümpia | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 7 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
  | 6 | Merkuur | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 29 | −20 | 4 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
  
  ## Top scorers
  
  | Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Konstantin Kolbasenko | Tallinna Sadam | 18 |
  | 2 | Andres Oper | Flora | 15 |
  | 3 | Indrek Zelinski | Flora | 13 |
  | 4 | Pål Christian Alsaker | Flora | 12 |
  | 5 | Toomas Krõm | Flora | 13 |
  | 6 | Argo Arbeiter | Tulevik | 9 |
  | 6 | Andrei Krõlov | Tallinna Sadam | 9 |
  | 6 | Vitali Leitan | Lantana | 9 |
  | 9 | Marko Kristal | Flora | 8 |
  | 9 | Dmitri Lipartov | Narva Trans | 8 |
  