1996–97 Manchester City F.C. season

Manchester City
1996–97 season
Chairman Francis Lee
Manager Alan Ball, Jr. (until August 1996)
Steve Coppell (from October - November 1996)
Frank Clark (from December 1996)
Stadium Maine Road
Football League First Division 14th
FA Cup Fifth round
League Cup Second round
Top goalscorer League: Rösler (15)
All: Rösler (17)
Highest home attendance 30,729 vs. Oldham Athletic (8 March 1997)
Lowest home attendance 23,079 vs. Oxford United (13 November 1996)
Average home attendance 26,753
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

During the 1996–97 English football season, Manchester City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Contents

Season summary

Alan Ball was sacked soon after Man City's 1996-97 Division One campaign got underway, and his successor Steve Coppell resigned after just 6 matches in charge and 33 days as manager, claiming that the job was too much pressure for him. Phil Neal took over on a caretaker basis for 10 games however he lost 7 of these and by Christmas, Man City were in the bottom half of Division One and had turned to former Nottingham Forest manager Frank Clark to arrest the decline. Manchester City finished 14th in the final table.

Final league table

Main article: 1996-97 Football League
Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Bolton Wanderers 46 28 14 4 100 53  +47 98
2. Barnsley 46 22 14 10 76 55  +21 80
3. Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 22 10 14 68 51  +17 76
4. Ipswich Town 46 20 14 12 68 50  +18 74
5. Sheffield United 46 20 13 13 75 52  +23 73
6. Crystal Palace 46 19 14 13 78 48  +30 71
7. Portsmouth 46 20 8 18 59 53  +6 68
8. Port Vale 46 17 16 13 58 55  +3 67
9. Queens Park Rangers 46 18 12 16 64 60  +4 66
10. Birmingham City 46 17 15 14 52 48  +4 66
11. Tranmere Rovers 46 17 14 15 63 56  +7 65
12. Stoke City 46 18 10 18 51 57  -6 64
13. Norwich City 46 17 12 17 63 68  -5 63
14. Manchester City 46 17 10 19 59 60  -1 61
15. Charlton Athletic 46 16 11 19 52 66  -14 59
16. West Bromwich Albion 46 14 15 17 68 72  -4 57
17. Oxford United 46 16 9 21 64 68  -4 57
18. Reading 46 15 12 19 58 67  -9 57
19. Swindon Town 46 15 9 22 52 71  -19 54
20. Huddersfield Town 46 13 15 18 48 61  -13 54
21. Bradford City 46 12 12 22 47 72  -25 48
22. Grimsby Town 46 11 13 22 60 81  -21 46
23. Oldham Athletic 46 10 13 23 51 66  -15 43
24. Southend United 46 8 15 23 42 86  -44 39
See also: Play-off results
Key
Promoted to the Premier League
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Two

NB In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference

Results

Manchester City's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
16 August 1996 Ipswich Town H 1–0 29,126 Lomas
20 August 1996 Bolton Wanderers A 0–1 18,257
24 August 1996 Stoke City A 1–2 21,116 Rösler
3 September 1996 Charlton Athletic H 2–1 25,963 Rösler (pen), Creaney
7 September 1996 Barnsley H 1–2 26,464 Clough
10 September 1996 Port Vale A 2–0 10,770 Rösler, Dickov
14 September 1996 Crystal Palace A 1–3 17,638 Kavelashvili
21 September 1996 Birmingham City H 1–0 26,757 Kinkladze (pen)
28 September 1996 Sheffield United A 0–2 20,867
12 October 1996 Queens Park Rangers A 2–2 16,265 Brightwell, Kinkladze (pen)
15 October 1996 Reading A 0–2 11,724
19 October 1996 Norwich City H 2–1 28,269 Clough, Dickov
27 October 1996 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–1 27,296
29 October 1996 Southend United A 3–2 8,707 Rösler, Kinkladze (2, 1 pen)
2 November 1996 Swindon Town A 0–2 14,374
13 November 1996 Oxford United H 2–3 23,079 Dickov, Brightwell
16 November 1996 Portsmouth A 1–2 12,841 Rodger
19 November 1996 Huddersfield Town H 0–0 23,314
23 November 1996 Tranmere Rovers H 1–2 26,531 Summerbee
27 November 1996 West Bromwich Albion H 3–2 24,200 Rösler, Kinkladze (2 pens)
1 December 1996 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–3 23,911
7 December 1996 Bradford City H 3–2 25,035 Kinkladze (pen), Dickov, Whitley
21 December 1996 Oldham Athletic A 1–2 12,992 Kinkladze
26 December 1996 Port Vale H 0–1 30,344
28 December 1996 Barnsley A 0–2 17,159
11 January 1997 Crystal Palace H 1–1 27,395 Tuttle (own goal)
18 January 1997 Huddersfield Town A 1–1 18,358 Lomas
29 January 1997 Sheffield United H 0–0 26,551
2 February 1997 Oxford United A 4–1 8,824 Gilchrist (own goal), Kinkladze (2), Rösler
8 February 1997 Southend United H 3–0 26,261 Rösler (2), Kinkladze
22 February 1997 Swindon Town H 3–0 27,262 Horlock, Summerbee, Rösler
1 March 1997 Bradford City A 3–1 17,609 Rösler (2, 1 pen), Horlock
5 March 1997 Portsmouth H 1–1 26,051 Horlock
8 March 1997 Oldham Athletic H 1–0 30,729 Rösler
11 March 1997 Birmingham City A 0–2 20,084
15 March 1997 Grimsby Town A 1–1 8,732 Kavelashvili
18 March 1997 Tranmere Rovers A 1–1 12,019 O'Brien (own goal)
22 March 1997 Stoke City H 2–0 28,497 Atkinson, Lomas
5 April 1997 Charlton Athletic A 1–1 15,000 Brannan
9 April 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 1–2 28,026 Kinkladze
12 April 1997 West Bromwich Albion A 3–1 20,087 Rösler (2), Horlock
16 April 1997 Grimsby Town H 3–1 23,334 Atkinson, Summerbee (2)
19 April 1997 Queens Park Rangers H 0–3 27,580
22 April 1997 Ipswich Town A 0–1 15,824
25 April 1997 Norwich City A 0–0 14,080
3 May 1997 Reading H 3–2 27,260 Dickov, Rösler, Heaney

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 25 January 1997 Brentford A 1–0 12,019 Summerbee
R4 5 February 1997 Watford H 3–1 24,031 Heaney, Summerbee, Rösler
R5 15 February 1997 Middlesbrough H 0–1 30,462

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 First Leg 17 September 1996 Lincoln City A 1–4 7,599 Rösler
R2 Second Leg 24 September 1996 Lincoln City H 0–1 14,242

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
GK Andy Dibble
GK Martyn Margetson
GK Tommy Wright (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
GK Eike Immel
DF Paul Beesley
DF Ian Brightwell
DF Lee Crooks
DF Richard Edghill
DF John Foster
DF Scott Hiley
DF Rae Ingram
DF Darren Wassall (on loan from Derby County)
DF Kit Symons
DF Alan Kernaghan
DF Michael Frontzeck
MF Peter Beagrie
MF Ged Brannan
MF Michael Brown
No. Position Player
MF Neil Heaney
MF Martin Phillips
MF Simon Rodger (on loan from Crystal Palace)
MF Nicky Summerbee
MF Kevin Horlock
MF Steve Lomas
MF Jeff Whitley
MF Eddie McGoldrick
MF Georgi Kinkladze
FW Dalian Atkinson (on loan from Fenerbahçe)
FW Nigel Clough
FW Chris Greenacre
FW Gerry Creaney
FW Paul Dickov
FW Niall Quinn
FW Uwe Rösler
FW Mikhail Kavelashvili

References

History
Overview
People
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Revie Plan · The Kippax · Blue Moon · Famous matches
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