Sheffield Wednesday 1996–97 football season
The 1996–97 season was Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 's 130th season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team Premiership , the top tier of English football , finishing seventh.
A four-match winning start to the season saw Sheffield Wednesday top the Premiership and manager David Pleat receive Manager of the Month award for August, but they soon fell out of the title frame and in the end, despite losing just nine games in the league, they finished seventh in the final table - not even enough for UEFA Cup qualification; they could easily have finished higher had they not drawn as many as 15 games (making it 30 points they dropped).[ 1]
In the close season, Pleat paid a club record £5.7 million for Celtic's Italian forward Paolo Di Canio ,[ 2] giving his squad a much-needed boost to their hopes of challenging for honours.
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
Results summary
Overall
Home
Away
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
38
14
15
9
50
51
−1
57
8
10
1
25
16
+9
6
5
8
25
35
−10
Results by round
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Result W W W W L L D L L D D D W D D W D D D D W L W D D W W W W L D W D W L L L D Position 6 1 1 1 1 5 5 7 7 9 8 9 9 10 10 9 9 9 10 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 6 5 5 7 6 6 6 6 7 7 7
Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first [ 3]
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
17 August 1996
Aston Villa
H
2–1
26,861
Humphreys , Whittingham
20 August 1996
Leeds United
A
2–0
31,011
Humphreys , Booth
24 August 1996
Newcastle United
A
2–1
36,452
Atherton , Whittingham
2 September 1996
Leicester City
H
2–1
17,657
Booth , Humphreys
7 September 1996
Chelsea
H
0–2
30,983
16 September 1996
Arsenal
A
1–4
33,461
Booth
21 September 1996
Derby County
H
0–0
23,934
28 September 1996
Everton
A
0–2
34,160
12 October 1996
Wimbledon
A
2–4
10,512
Booth , Hyde
19 October 1996
Blackburn Rovers
H
1–1
22,191
Booth
26 October 1996
Coventry City
A
0–0
17,267
2 November 1996
Southampton
H
1–1
20,106
Newsome
18 November 1996
Nottingham Forest
H
2–0
16,390
Trustfull , Carbone
23 November 1996
Sunderland
A
1–1
20,644
Oakes
30 November 1996
West Ham United
H
0–0
22,321
7 December 1996
Liverpool
A
1–0
39,507
Whittingham
18 December 1996
Manchester United
H
1–1
37,671
Carbone
21 December 1996
Tottenham Hotspur
A
1–1
30,996
Nolan
26 December 1996
Arsenal
H
0–0
23,245
28 December 1996
Chelsea
A
2–2
27,467
Pembridge , Stefanović
11 January 1997
Everton
H
2–1
24,175
Pembridge , Hirst
18 January 1997
Middlesbrough
A
2–4
29,485
Pembridge (2)
29 January 1997
Aston Villa
A
1–0
26,726
Booth
1 February 1997
Coventry City
H
0–0
21,793
19 February 1997
Derby County
A
2–2
18,060
Collins , Hirst
22 February 1997
Southampton
A
3–2
15,062
Hirst (2), Booth
1 March 1997
Middlesbrough
H
3–1
28,206
Booth , Hyde , Pembridge (pen)
5 March 1997
Nottingham Forest
A
3–0
21,485
Carbone (2), Blinker
12 March 1997
Sunderland
H
2–1
20,294
Hirst , Stefanović
15 March 1997
Manchester United
A
0–2
55,267
22 March 1997
Leeds United
H
2–2
30,373
Hirst , Booth
9 April 1997
Tottenham Hotspur
H
2–1
22,667
Atherton , Booth
13 April 1997
Newcastle United
H
1–1
33,798
Pembridge
19 April 1997
Wimbledon
H
3–1
26,957
Donaldson , Trustfull (2)
22 April 1997
Blackburn Rovers
A
1–4
20,845
Carbone (pen)
3 May 1997
West Ham United
A
1–5
24,960
Carbone
7 May 1997
Leicester City
A
0–1
20,793
11 May 1997
Liverpool
H
1–1
38,943
Donaldson
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg
18 September 1996
Oxford United
H
1–1
7,499
Whittingham
R2 2nd Leg
24 September 1996
Oxford United
A
0–1 (lost 1–2 on agg)
6,863
Squad at end of season [ 4] [ 5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Date
Pos.
Name
From
Fee
8 July 1996
FW
Andy Booth
Huddersfield Town
£2,700,000
11 July 1996
GK
Matt Clarke
Rotherham United
£325,000
7 August 1996
MF
Scott Oakes
Luton Town
£425,000
9 August 1996
MF
Wayne Collins
Crewe Alexandra
£600,000
20 August 1996
MF
Orlando Trustfull
Feyenoord
£750,000
1 September 1996
DF
Dave Hercock
Cambridge City
Free transfer
14 October 1996
FW
Benito Carbone
Inter Milan
£3,000,000
3 April 1997
DF
David Billington
Peterborough United
£500,000
15 April 1997
MF
Mark McKeever
Peterborough United
£500,000
Transfers in: £8,800,000
Transfers out: £250,000
Total spending: £8,550,000
Appearances and goals [ edit ]
^ Nolan was born in Liverpool , England , but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1996.
^ Blinker was born in Paramaribo , Suriname , but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and made his international debut for the Netherlands in March 1993.
^ Jones was born in Sheffield , England , but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in May 1994.
^ Sheridan was born in Stretford , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1988.
^ McKeever was born in Derry , Northern Ireland , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level.
^ Poric was born in London , England , but also qualified to represent Australia internationally and represented them at U-20 level.
Dickinson, Jason (1999). One Hundred Years at Hillsborough . Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press/Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. pp. 242–243, 385. ISBN 1-874718-29-6 .
Dickinson, Jason; Brodie, John (2005). The Wednesday Boys: A Definitive Who's Who of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club 1880–2005 . Sheffield: Pickard Communication. pp. 346–347, 350. ISBN 0-9547264-9-9 .
Drake, A. "1996–97 Players" . The Owl Football Historian . Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008 .
National teams
League competitions
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Level 5 Levels 6–7 Levels 8–9
Isthmian League (Two , Three )
Combined Counties League (level 8 only )
Eastern Counties League (Premier , One )
Essex Senior League (level 8 only )
Hellenic League (Premier , One )
Kent League (level 8 only )
Midland Alliance (level 8 only )
Midland Football Combination (level 9 only )
North West Counties League (One , Two )
Northern Counties East League (Premier , One )
Northern League (One , Two )
South Midlands League (Premier , Senior )
Spartan League (Premier , One )
Sussex County League (One , Two )
United Counties League (Premier , One )
Wessex League (level 8 only )
West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only )
Western League (Premier , One )
Cup competitions
FA cups Football League cups
European competitions