1996–97 Coventry City F.C. season

Manager Ron Atkinson stepped up to the role of Director of Football at struggling Coventry City in early November, with assistant Gordon Strachan stepping up to the manager's seat. A good run of form saw Coventry climb to 11th place in January, but then a decline set in and defeat in the penultimate game of the season made Coventry's 30-year stay in the top flight appear to be over. However, with a win over Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the season and losses for Sunderland and Middlesbrough, the Sky Blues pulled off a miraculous survival act to book themselves a 31st successive top flight campaign. The key player in the great escape act was striker Dion Dublin, who scored 14 Premier League goals to attract attention from several larger clubs and encourage calls for an international call-up from many observers.

However, Coventry only ultimately avoided relegation due to the three-point deduction imposed upon Middlesbrough, who had been penalised in mid-season for cancelling a fixture at short notice.

Final league table

Main article: FA Premier League 1996-97

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Manchester United	38	21	12	5	76	44	75
2.	Newcastle United	38	19	11	8	73	40	68
3.	Arsenal	38	19	11	8	62	32	68
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
7.	Sheffield Wednesday	38	14	15	9	50	51	57
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
19.	Middlesbrough ***	38	10	12	16	51	60	39
20.	Nottingham Forest	38	6	16	16	31	59	34

Note: Middlesbrough deducted 3 points for failing to fulfil a fixture.

Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
Relegated to Division One

Results

Coventry City's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Nottingham Forest	H	0-3	19,468
21 August 1996	West Ham United	A	1–1	21,580	McAllister
24 August 1996	Chelsea	A	0-2	25,024
4 September 1996	Liverpool	H	0-1	23,021
7 September 1996	Middlesbrough	A	0-4	29,811
14 September 1996	Leeds United	H	2-1	17,297	Salako, Whelan
21 September 1996	Sunderland	A	0-1	19,459
28 September 1996	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-0	17,032
13 October 1996	Southampton	H	1-1	15,485	Dublin
19 October 1996	Arsenal	A	0-0	38,140
26 October 1996	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0-0	17,267
4 November 1996	Everton	A	1-1	31,477	McAllister
16 November 1996	Wimbledon	A	2-2	10,307	Whelan, Dublin
23 November 1996	Aston Villa	H	1-2	21,340	Dublin
30 November 1996	Derby County	A	1-2	18,042	Dublin
7 December 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1-2	19,675	Whelan
17 December 1996	Newcastle United	H	2-1	21,538	Huckerby, McAllister
21 December 1996	Leicester City	A	2-0	20,038	Dublin (2)
26 December 1996	Leeds United	A	3-1	36,465	Huckerby, Dublin, McAllister (pen)
28 December 1996	Middlesbrough	H	3-0	20,617	Huckerby, McAllister (pen), Liddle (own goal)
1 January 1997	Sunderland	H	2-2	17,700	Dublin, Daish
11 January 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	0-4	24,055
18 January 1997	Manchester United	H	0-2	23,085
29 January 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	1-0	22,619	Huckerby
1 February 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0-0	21,793
19 February 1997	Aston Villa	A	1-2	30,409	Staunton (own goal)
22 February 1997	Everton	H	0-0	19,497
1 March 1997	Manchester United	A	1-3	55,230	Huckerby
3 March 1997	Wimbledon	H	1-1	15,273	Dublin
8 March 1997	Leicester City	H	0-0	19,220
15 March 1997	Newcastle United	A	0-4	36,571
22 March 1997	West Ham United	H	1-3	22,291	Dublin
6 April 1997	Liverpool	A	2-1	40,079	Whelan, Dublin
9 April 1997	Chelsea	H	3-1	19,917	Dublin, Williams, Whelan
19 April 1997	Southampton	A	2-2	15,251	Ndlovu, Whelan
21 April 1997	Arsenal	H	1-1	19,998	Dublin
3 May 1997	Derby County	H	1-2	22,839	McAllister (pen)
11 May 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2-1	33,029	Dublin, Williams

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	25 January 1997	Woking	H	1-1	16,040	Jess
R3R	4 February 1997	Woking	A	2-1	6,000	Whelan, Foster (own goal)
R4	15 February 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	2-1	21,123	Jess, Huckerby
R5	26 February 1997	Derby County	A	2-3	18,003	Huckerby, Whelan

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 First Leg	18 September 1996	Birmingham City	H	1-1	11,828	Daish
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1996	Birmingham City	A	1-0	15,281	McAllister
R3	22 October 1996	Gillingham	A	2-2	10,603	Telfer (2)
R3R	13 November 1996	Gillingham	H	0-1	12,639

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Steve Ogrizovic
2	DF	Richard Shaw
3	DF	David Burrows
4	DF	Paul Williams
5	DF	Liam Daish
6	MF	Kevin Richardson
7	MF	Eoin Jess
8	MF	Noel Whelan
9	FW	Dion Dublin
10	MF	Gary McAllister (captain)
11	MF	John Salako
12	MF	Paul Telfer
13	GK	John Filan
14	FW	Peter Ndlovu
15	FW	Isaías
16	DF	Brian Borrows
17	MF	Willie Boland
18	DF	Marcus Hall
19	FW	Iyseden Christie
20	MF	Michael O'Neill

No.	Position	Player
21	FW	Andy Ducros
22	MF	Gavin O'Toole
23	DF	Oleksandr Yevtushok
25	DF	Gary Breen
26	MF	Gordon Strachan (player-manager)
27	MF	Chris McMenamin
28	FW	Darren Huckerby
29	DF	Scott Goodwin
30	DF	Lorcan Costello
31	DF	Adam Willis
32	DF	Barry Prenderville
33	MF	Brett Healy
34	DF	Colin Hawkins
35	FW	Craig Faulconbridge
36	DF	Carl Nolan
37	MF	Sam Shilton
38	MF	Tim Blake
39	MF	Paul Mitten
40	DF	Jamie Williams

Left club during season