1996–97 FA Premier League

Premier League
Season 1996 (1996)–97
Champions Manchester United
4th Premier League title
11th English title
Relegated Sunderland
Middlesbrough
Nottingham Forest
Champions League Manchester United
Newcastle United
Cup Winners' Cup Chelsea
UEFA Cup Arsenal
Aston Villa
Leicester City
Liverpool
Matches played 380
Goals scored 970 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer Alan Shearer (25)
Biggest home win Everton 7–1 Southampton
(16 November 1996)
Newcastle United 7–1 Tottenham Hotspur
(28 December 1996)
Biggest away win Leeds United 0–4 Manchester United
(7 September 1996)
Nottingham Forest 0–4 Manchester United
(26 December 1996)
Sunderland 0–4 Tottenham Hotspur
(4 March 1997)
Highest scoring Southampton 6–3 Manchester United
(26 October 1996)
Longest winning run 7 games[1]
Newcastle United
Longest unbeaten run 16 games[1]
Manchester United
Longest winless run 16 games[1]
Nottingham Forest
Longest losing run 6 games[1]
Everton
Highest attendance 55,314
Manchester United v Wimbledon
(29 January 1997)
Lowest attendance 7,979
Wimbledon v Leeds United
(16 April 1997)

The 1996–97 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool. The title was eventually won by Manchester United, after Liverpool and Newcastle's failure to win in their penultimate games of the season; at 75 points it is the lowest points total for a Premier League champion and lowest since the 3-1-0 points system was introduced in the 1981–82 season.

Team summaries

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Arsenal London Highbury 38,419
Aston Villa Birmingham Villa Park 39,399
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park 31,367
Chelsea London Stamford Bridge 36,000
Coventry City Coventry Highfield Road 23,489
Derby County Derby Baseball Ground 18,300
Everton Liverpool Goodison Park 40,157
Leeds United Leeds Elland Road 40,204
Leicester City Leicester Filbert Street 22,000
Liverpool Liverpool Anfield 42,730
Manchester United Manchester Old Trafford 55,314
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 30,000
Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park 36,649
Nottingham Forest Nottingham City Ground 30,539
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Hillsborough 39,859
Southampton Southampton The Dell 15,200
Sunderland Sunderland Roker Park 22,500
Tottenham Hotspur London White Hart Lane 36,230
West Ham United London Boleyn Ground 28,000
Wimbledon London Selhurst Park 26,309

Personnel and kits

(as of 11 May 1997)

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal France Arsène Wenger England Tony Adams Nike JVC
Aston Villa England Brian Little Republic of Ireland Andy Townsend Reebok AST Research
Blackburn Rovers England Tony Parkes England Tim Sherwood Asics CIS
Chelsea Netherlands Ruud Gullit England Dennis Wise Umbro Coors
Coventry City Scotland Gordon Strachan Scotland Gary McAllister Le Coq Sportif Peugeot
Derby County England Jim Smith Croatia Igor Štimac Puma Puma
Everton England Dave Watson (caretaker) England Dave Watson Umbro Danka
Leeds United Scotland George Graham South Africa Lucas Radebe Puma Packard Bell
Leicester City Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill England Steve Walsh Fox Leisure Walkers
Liverpool England Roy Evans England John Barnes Reebok Carlsberg
Manchester United Scotland Alex Ferguson France Eric Cantona Umbro Sharp
Middlesbrough England Bryan Robson England Nigel Pearson Erreà Cellnet
Newcastle United Scotland Kenny Dalglish England Peter Beardsley Adidas Newcastle Brown Ale
Nottingham Forest England Dave Bassett England Stuart Pearce Umbro Labatt's
Sheffield Wednesday England David Pleat England Peter Atherton Puma Sanderson
Southampton Scotland Graeme Souness England Matt Le Tissier Pony Sanderson
Sunderland England Peter Reid England Kevin Ball Avec Vaux Breweries
Tottenham Hotspur England Gerry Francis England Gary Mabbutt Pony Hewlett-Packard
West Ham United England Harry Redknapp England Julian Dicks Pony Dagenham Motors
Wimbledon Republic of Ireland Joe Kinnear England Vinnie Jones Lotto Elonex

Managerial changes

Player and managerial awards

Relegation controversy

Middlesbrough – despite spending millions of pounds on high-profile foreign players like Emerson, Fabrizio Ravanelli (who scored 31 goals in all competitions), Branco and Gianluca Festa – were relegated on the final day of the season and were on the losing side in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals. Middlesbrough finished in 19th place, but they would have been placed outside the relegation zone without a three-point deduction imposed for cancelling a December 1996 fixture against Blackburn Rovers, with the Middlesbrough board blaming the decision on the absence of 23 players ill or injured.[6][7] This sanction meant Coventry City, who had been in the top division since 1967, finished in 17th place and avoided relegation. The decision was controversial and later resurfaced in 2006–07 when West Ham escaped a points deduction and subsequently avoided relegation.

The other relegation places went to Nottingham Forest, who sacked manager Frank Clark in December. Stuart Pearce took over as temporary player-manager, spending three months in charge and winning the January 1996 Manager of the Month award. In March, Pearce quit as manager to be replaced by Dave Bassett, formerly of Crystal Palace. Also relegated, due to a 1–0 defeat to Wimbledon in their last game of the season, were Sunderland, who were leaving Roker Park after 99 years and relocating to the 42,000-seat Stadium of Light on the banks of the River Wear for the start of the 1997–98 season in Division One.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 38 21 12 5 76 44 +32 75 1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage
2 Newcastle United 38 19 11 8 73 40 +33 68 1997–98 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Arsenal 38 19 11 8 62 32 +30 68 1997–98 UEFA Cup First round
4 Liverpool 38 19 11 8 62 37 +25 68
5 Aston Villa 38 17 10 11 47 34 +13 61
6 Chelsea 38 16 11 11 58 55 +3 59 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round[lower-alpha 1]
7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 14 15 9 50 51 −1 57
8 Wimbledon 38 15 11 12 49 46 +3 56
9 Leicester City 38 12 11 15 46 54 −8 47 1997–98 UEFA Cup First round[lower-alpha 2]
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 13 7 18 44 51 −7 46
11 Leeds United 38 11 13 14 28 38 −10 46
12 Derby County 38 11 13 14 45 58 −13 46
13 Blackburn Rovers 38 9 15 14 42 43 −1 42
14 West Ham United 38 10 12 16 39 48 −9 42
15 Everton 38 10 12 16 44 57 −13 42
16 Southampton 38 10 11 17 50 56 −6 41
17 Coventry City 38 9 14 15 38 54 −16 41
18 Sunderland (R) 38 10 10 18 35 53 −18 40 Relegation to 1997–98 Football League First Division
19 Middlesbrough (R) 38 10 12 16 51 60 −9 39[lower-alpha 3]
20 Nottingham Forest (R) 38 6 16 16 31 59 −28 34
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
  2. ↑ Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
  3. ↑ Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfill a fixture.

Season statistics

Total goals: 970
Average goals per game: 2.55

Results

Home \ Away[1] ARS AST BLBCHECOVDEREVELEELEILIVMUNMIDNEWNOTSHWSOUSUNTOTWHUWDN
Arsenal 2–2 1–1 3–3 0–0 2–2 3–1 3–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 4–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 2–0 0–1
Aston Villa 2–2 1–0 0–2 2–1 2–0 3–1 2–0 1–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 5–0
Blackburn Rovers 0–2 0–2 1–1 4–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–4 3–0 2–3 0–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–0 0–2 2–1 3–1
Chelsea 0–3 1–1 1–1 2–0 3–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 6–2 3–1 3–1 2–4
Coventry City 1–1 1–2 0–0 3–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 3–0 2–1 0–3 0–0 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–3 1–1
Derby County 1–3 2–1 0–0 3–2 2–1 0–1 3–3 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 4–2 1–0 0–2
Everton 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 7–1 1–3 1–0 2–1 1–3
Leeds United 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 1–3 0–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 0–4 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–2 0–0 3–0 0–0 1–0 1–0
Leicester City 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–2 4–2 1–2 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–3 2–0 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0
Liverpool 2–0 3–0 0–0 5–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 1–3 5–1 4–3 4–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–1
Manchester United 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–2 3–1 2–3 2–2 1–0 3–1 1–0 3–3 0–0 4–1 2–0 2–1 5–0 2–0 2–0 2–1
Middlesbrough 0–2 3–2 2–1 1–0 4–0 6–1 4–2 0–0 0–2 3–3 2–2 0–1 1–1 4–2 0–1 0–1 0–3 4–1 0–0
Newcastle United 1–2 4–3 2–1 3–1 4–0 3–1 4–1 3–0 4–3 1–1 5–0 3–1 5–0 1–2 0–1 1–1 7–1 1–1 2–0
Nottingham Forest 2–1 0–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–4 1–1 0–0 0–3 1–3 1–4 2–1 0–2 1–1
Sheffield Wednesday 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 3–1
Southampton 0–2 0–1 2–0 0–0 2–2 3–1 2–2 0–2 2–2 0–1 6–3 4–0 2–2 2–2 2–3 3–0 0–1 2–0 0–0
Sunderland 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–4 0–0 1–3
Tottenham Hotspur 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 2–0 1–0 1–0
West Ham United 1–2 0–2 2–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–0 1–2 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 5–1 2–1 2–0 4–3 0–2
Wimbledon 2–2 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 4–0 2–0 1–3 2–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–2 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–1

Source:
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goal scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Alan Shearer Newcastle United 25
2 Ian Wright Arsenal 23
3 Robbie Fowler Liverpool 18
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Manchester United 18
5 Dwight Yorke Aston Villa 17
6 Les Ferdinand Newcastle United 16
Fabrizio Ravanelli Middlesbrough 16
8 Dion Dublin Coventry City 13
Matt Le Tissier Southampton 13
10 Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 12
Steve Claridge Leicester City 12
Stan Collymore Liverpool 12
Juninho Middlesbrough 12

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August David Pleat Sheffield Wednesday David Beckham Manchester United
September Joe Kinnear Wimbledon Patrik Berger Liverpool
October Graeme Souness Southampton Matt Le Tissier Southampton
November Jim Smith Derby County Ian Wright Arsenal
December Gordon Strachan Coventry City Gianfranco Zola Chelsea
January Stuart Pearce Nottingham Forest Tim Flowers Blackburn Rovers
February Alex Ferguson Manchester United Robbie Earle Wimbledon
March Bryan Robson Middlesbrough Juninho Paulista Middlesbrough
April Graeme Souness Southampton Mickey Evans Southampton

See also

References and notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "English Premier League 1996–97". statto.com. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
  3. ↑ "England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
  4. ↑ "England Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
  5. 1 2 "Seasonal Awards 1996/97" Archived 18 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 20 September 2006.
  6. ↑ "Football's biggest punishments". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
  7. ↑ "Funny Old Game|Happened on this day – 20 December". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
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