1996–97 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1996–97 season
Chairman Mr Peter Coates
Manager Lou Macari
Football League Division One 12th (64 Points)
FA Cup Round 3
League Cup Round 4
Top goalscorer Mike Sheron (23)
Highest home attendance 22,500 vs West Bromwich Albion (4 May 1997)
Lowest home attendance 7,456 vs Charlton Athletic (4 December 1996)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was Stoke's 97th season of league football and the 34th in the Division One. It was also Stoke's last season at their Victoria Ground.

Contents

Overview

The 1996–97 season was Stoke's final season at the Victoria Ground before the move to the new Britannia Stadium. Stoke were inconsistent throughout the season and finished in a mid-table position of 12th. The final game at the Victoria Ground was against West Brom which was also the Stadium's first League fixture. Stoke won 2–1 with Graham Kavanagh having the honour of scoring Stoke final goal at the Vic.

Final league table

First Division

Pos Team P 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

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League Division One

Main article: 1996–97 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 17 August 1996 Oldham Athletic A 2 – 1 8,021 Sheron 27', 43'
2 24 August 1996 Manchester City H 2 – 1 21,116 Forsyth 27', Sheron 32'
3 28 August 1996 Bradford City H 1 – 0 11,918 Sheron 90' (Pen)
4 31 August 1996 Reading A 2 – 2 13,540 Sheron 25', Forsyth 76'
5 7 September 1996 Crystal Palace H 2 – 2 13,540 Sheron 20', Dreyer 32'
6 10 September 1996 Barnsley A 0 – 3 11,696
7 14 September 1996 Birmingham City A 1 – 3 18,612 Forsyth 66'
8 22 September 1996 Huddersfield Town H 3 – 2 9,147 Gayle 41', Sheron 77', 85'
9 28 September 1996 Bolton Wanderers A 1 – 1 16,195 Kavanagh 90'
10 13 October 1996 Port Vale A 1 – 1 14,396 Keen 65'
11 16 October 1996 West Bromwich Albion A 2 – 0 16,501 Wallace 33', Forsyth 72'
12 19 October 1996 Sheffield United H 0 – 4 13,581
13 26 October 1996 Portsmouth H 3 – 1 10,259 McMahon 59', 75', Sheron 71'
14 29 October 1996 Oxford United A 1 – 4 6,381 Sheron 59'
15 2 November 1996 Queens Park Rangers A 1 – 1 7,354 Kavanagh 4'
16 16 November 1996 Grimsby Town A 1 – 1 5,601 Forsyth 30'
17 23 November 1996 Southend United H 1 – 2 12,821 Forsyth 52'
18 30 November 1996 Portsmouth A 0 – 1 7,749
19 4 December 1996 Charlton Athletic H 1 – 0 7,456 Sheron 49'
20 7 December 1996 Tranmere Rovers H 2 – 0 9,931 Sheron 27', Higgins 82' (o.g.)
21 14 December 1996 Swindon Town H 2 – 0 10,102 Stein 44', 64'
22 21 December 1996 Ipswich Town A 1 – 1 10,159 Stein 23'
23 26 December 1996 Barnsley H 1 – 0 19,025 Sheron 72'
24 1 January 1997 Huddersfield Town A 1 – 1 12,019 Stein 18'
25 10 January 1997 Birmingham City H 1 – 0 10,049 Wallace 18'
26 18 January 1997 Charlton Athletic A 2 – 1 9,901 Sheron 42', 43'
27 22 January 1997 Norwich City H 1 – 2 10,179 Stein 14'
28 29 January 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 1 – 2 15,645 Macari 84'
29 1 February 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0 – 2 27,408
30 7 February 1997 Oxford United H 2 – 1 8,609 MacKenzie 9', Macari 37'
31 15 February 1997 Southend United A 1 – 2 4,625 Harris 70' (o.g.)
32 22 February 1997 Queens Park Rangers H 0 – 0 13,121
33 28 February 1997 Tranmere Rovers A 0 – 0 9,127
34 5 March 1997 Grimsby Town H 3 – 1 8,621 Southall 48' (o.g.), Kavanagh 50', Griffin 78'
35 8 March 1997 Ipswich Town H 0 – 1 11,933
36 15 March 1997 Swindon Town A 0 – 1 8,879
37 18 March 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1 – 0 15,683 Forsyth 47'
38 22 March 1997 Manchester City A 0 – 2 28,497
39 29 March 1997 Oldham Athletic H 2 – 1 11,755 Sheron 17', Macari 40'
40 31 March 1997 Bradford City A 0 – 1 13,579
41 5 April 1997 Reading H 1 – 1 9,961 Forsyth 65'
42 12 April 1997 Norwich City A 0 – 2 13,805
43 15 April 1997 Crystal Palace A 0 – 2 11,382
44 20 April 1997 Port Vale H 2 – 0 16,246 Sheron 44', 85'
45 25 April 1997 Sheffield United A 0 – 1 25,596
46 5 May 1997 West Bromwich Albion H 2 – 1 22,500 McMahon 33', Kavanagh 69'

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 1st Leg 18 September 1996 Northampton Town H 1 – 0 6,093 Worthington 60'
R2 2nd Leg 24 September 1996 Northampton Town A 2 – 1 AET 5,088 Sheron 100', 108'
R3 23 October 1996 Arsenal H 1 – 1 20,804 Sheron 26'
R3 Replay 11 November 1996 Arsenal A 2 – 5 33,961 Sheron 35', 88'

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 15 January 1997 Stockport County H 0 – 1 9,961

Appearances

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Carl Muggleton 33 0 0 0 4 0 37 0
GK Mark Prudhoe 13 0 1 0 0(1) 0 15 0
DF Hugo Da Costa 1(1) 0 0 0 1(1) 0 2 0
DF John Dreyer 12 1 0 0 3 0 15 1
DF Andy Griffin 29(5) 1 0 0 1(1) 0 36 1
DF Mark McNally 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
DF Ally Pickering 39(1) 0 1 0 4 0 45 0
DF Lárus Sigurðsson 45 0 1 0 4 0 50 0
DF Ray Wallace 45 2 1 0 4 0 50 2
DF Justin Whittle 35(2) 0 1 0 2 0 40 0
MF Carl Beeston 17(1) 0 0 0 0 0 18 0
MF Mark Devlin 13(8) 0 1 0 3 0 25 0
MF Sean Flynn 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
MF Richard Forsyth 40 8 1 0 3 0 44 8
MF Graham Kavanagh 32(6) 4 1 0 2 0 41 4
MF Kevin Keen 5(11) 1 0 0 2(2) 0 20 1
MF Neil MacKenzie 5(17) 1 0(1) 0 (0 0 23 1
MF Gerry McMahon 31(4) 3 1 0 3(1) 0 39 3
MF Kofi Nyamah 0(7) 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
MF Simon Rodger 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
MF Graham Stokoe 0(2) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
MF Nigel Worthington 12 0 0 0 3 0 15 0
FW Martin Carruthers 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 2 0
FW John Gayle 8(4) 1 0 0 2 0 14 0
FW Mike Macari 15(15) 3 0(1) 0 0(3) 0 34 3
FW Mike Sheron 41 19 1 0 4 5 46 24
FW Mark Stein 11 4 0 0 0 0 1 4
FW Simon Sturridge 5 2 0 0 0 0 5 2

References

1888–89 · 1889–90 · 1890–91 · 1891–92 · 1892–93 · 1893–94 · 1894–95 · 1895–96 · 1896–97 · 1897–98 · 1898–99 · 1899–1900 · 1900–01 · 1901–02 · 1902–03 · 1903–04 · 1904–05 · 1905–06 · 1906–07 · 1907–08 · 1908–09 · 1909–10 · 1910–11 · 1911–12 · 1912–13 · 1913–14 · 1914–15 · 1915–16 · 1916–17 · 1917–18 · 1918–19 · 1919–20 · 1920–21 · 1921–22 · 1922–23 · 1923–24 · 1924–25 · 1925–26 · 1926–27 · 1927–28 · 1928–29 · 1929–30 · 1930–31 · 1931–32 · 1932–33 · 1933–34 · 1934–35 · 1935–36 · 1936–37 · 1937–38 · 1938–39 · 1939–40 · 1940–41 · 1941–42 · 1942–43 · 1943–44 · 1944–45 · 1945–46 · 1946–47 · 1947–48 · 1948–49 · 1949–50 · 1950–51 · 1951–52 · 1952–53 · 1953–54 · 1954–55 · 1955–56 · 1956–57 · 1957–58 · 1958–59 · 1959–60 · 1960–61 · 1961–62 · 1962–63 · 1963–64 · 1964–65 · 1965–66 · 1966–67 · 1967–68 · 1968–69 · 1969–70 · 1970–71 · 1971–72 · 1972–73 · 1973–74 · 1974–75 · 1975–76 · 1976–77 · 1977–78 · 1978–79 · 1979–80 · 1980–81 · 1981–82 · 1982–83 · 1983–84 · 1984–85 · 1985–86 · 1986–87 · 1987–88 · 1988–89 · 1989–90 · 1990–91 · 1991–92 · 1992–93 · 1993–94 · 1994–95 · 1995–96 · 1996–97 · 1997–98 · 1998–99 · 1999–2000 · 2000–01 · 2001–02 · 2002–03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2006–07 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12
General
History · Players · Managers · Seasons · Honours · Records & statistics · Current season · All articles
Grounds
Players
100+ appearances · 25–99 appearances · 1–24 appearances · Player of the Year · Current squad · Reserves & Academy
Matches
Category:Stoke City F.C.  · Portal:Association football · Commons:Stoke City F.C.
 « 1995–96
1997–98 » 
FA competitions
FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds · Final) · Charity Shield · FA Trophy (Final)
Premier League and
Football League
Football Conference
Football Conference · Conference League Cup
Lower leagues
European competitions
Related to national team
Club seasons
Premier League
First Division
Second Division
Blackpool · Bournemouth · Brentford · Bristol City · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Bury · Chesterfield · Crewe Alexandra · Gillingham · Luton Town · Millwall · Notts County · Peterborough United · Plymouth Argyle · Preston North End · Rotherham United · Shrewsbury Town · Stockport County · Walsall · Watford · Wrexham · Wycombe · York City
Third Division
Barnet · Brighton & Hove Albion · Cambridge United · Cardiff City · Carlisle United · Chester City · Colchester United · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Exeter City · Fulham · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Hull City · Leyton Orient · Lincoln City · Mansfield Town · Northampton Town · Rochdale · Scarborough · Scunthorpe United · Swansea City · Torquay United · Wigan Athletic
Southern League
Summer 1996 transfers · Winter 1996–97 transfers