FA Premier League 1996-97
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- This article describes the FA Premier League 1996-97 season.
| Champions: | Manchester United |
|---|---|
| Runners-up: | Newcastle United |
| Newly promoted teams for the 1996-97 season: | Sunderland Derby County Leicester City |
| Teams relegated after the 1996-97 season: | Nottingham Forest Middlesbrough Sunderland |
The 1996-97 FA Premier League season 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.
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[edit] Promoted teams
Promoted to the Premiership for the 1996-97 season were Sunderland and Derby County as Division One winners and runners up respectively. Leicester City were promoted as playoff winners.[1]
[edit] Relegated teams
Middlesbrough, despite spending millions of pounds on high profile foreign players like Emerson Moisés Costa, 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. Middlebrough finished in 18th place, however they would have been placed outside the relegation zone without a 3-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.[2][3] This sanction meant Coventry City, who had been in the top division since 1967, finished in 17th place and 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 David Bassett, formerly of Crystal Palace. Also relegated 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.
[edit] Managerial changes
- Arsenal appointed Arsène Wenger in September as permanent successor to Bruce Rioch, after Stewart Houston and Pat Rice had both temporarily served as caretaker managers.
- Blackburn Rovers manager Ray Harford resigned in October and long-serving coach Tony Parkes was put in charge of the team for the remainder of the season, after which Roy Hodgson was named as manager.
- Chelsea replaced Glenn Hoddle with 34-year-old Ruud Gullit as player-manager at the start of the season after Hoddle took the job as England coach.
- Coventry City promoted Ron Atkinson from manager to Director of football in October and gave the manager's job to 39-year-old player-coach Gordon Strachan.
- Everton manager Joe Royle resigned in March and 35-year-old captain Dave Watson was named as manager on a temporary basis. After the season was over, Howard Kendall began his third spell as manager of Everton.
- Leeds United sacked manager Howard Wilkinson in September and replaced him with George Graham.
- Newcastle United appointed Kenny Dalglish after Kevin Keegan quit in January 1997 after five years in charge.
- Nottingham Forest manager Frank Clark resigned in December 1996 and Stuart Pearce was given the job on a temporary basis before Dave Bassett of Crystal Palace took over three months later.
- Southampton manager Graeme Souness quit after just one season in charge and was replaced by Dave Jones of Stockport County.
[edit] Player and managerial awards
- PFA Players' Player of the Year was Alan Shearer of Newcastle.[4]
- PFA Young Player of the Year was David Beckham of Manchester United.[5]
- Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was Gianfranco Zola of Chelsea.[6]
- FA Premier League Manager of the Year was Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. [7]
- Carling Premiership Player of the Year was Juninho Paulista of Middlesbrough.[7]
[edit] Final league table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 76 | 44 | 75 | CL[8] |
| 2 | Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 73 | 40 | 68 | CLQ[9] |
| 3 | Arsenal | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 62 | 32 | 68 | UC[10] |
| 4 | Liverpool | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 62 | 37 | 68 | |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 47 | 34 | 61 | |
| 6 | Chelsea | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 58 | 55 | 59 | CWC[11] |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 50 | 51 | 57 | UC[10] |
| 8 | Wimbledon | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 49 | 46 | 56 | |
| 9 | Leicester City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 46 | 54 | 47 | |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 44 | 51 | 46 | |
| 11 | Leeds United | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 28 | 38 | 46 | |
| 12 | Derby County | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 45 | 58 | 46 | |
| 13 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 42 | 43 | 42 | |
| 14 | West Ham United | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 39 | 48 | 42 | |
| 15 | Everton | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 44 | 57 | 42 | |
| 16 | Southampton | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 50 | 56 | 41 | |
| 17 | Coventry City | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 38 | 54 | 41 | |
| 18 | Sunderland | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 40 | R[12] |
| 19 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 51 | 60 | 39* | |
| 20 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 31 | 59 | 34 |
* Middlesbrough had 3 points deducted for failing to fulfill fixture
P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points
[edit] Season Statistics
| Total Goals: | 970 |
|---|---|
| Average Goals per game: | 2.55 |
[edit] Top goal scorers
| Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Shearer | 25 | Newcastle United F.C. |
| Ian Wright | 23 | Arsenal F.C. |
| Robbie Fowler | 18 | Liverpool F.C. |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 18 | Manchester United F.C. |
| Dwight Yorke | 17 | Aston Villa F.C. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References and notes
- ^ English league tables for 1995-96 season. Retrieved 21 September 2006
- ^ "Football's biggest punishments". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ "Funny Old Game|Happened on this day - 20th December". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ "England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ "England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ "England Player Honours - Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ a b "Seasonal Awards 1996/97". Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ Qualify for 1997-98 UEFA Champions League group stage
- ^ Qualify for 1997-98 UEFA Champions League qualification round
- ^ a b Qualify for 1997-98 UEFA Cup first round
- ^ Qualify for 1997-98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
- ^ Relegated to Football League First Division
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Arsenal | Aston Villa | Blackburn Rovers | Bolton Wanderers | Charlton Athletic | Chelsea | Everton | Fulham | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Middlesbrough | Newcastle United | Portsmouth | Reading | Sheffield United | Tottenham Hotspur | Watford | West Ham United | Wigan Athletic |
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Premier League seasons
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1992–93 | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 |
