1996–97 Leeds United A.F.C. season

While Howard Wilkinson was heavily backed with funds by new owners Caspian, there were rumours of discord between him and recently appointed chairman Bill Fotherby. The club made a respectable enough start, earning 7 points from their first 4 games, but a 4-0 home defeat to Manchester United in September prompted Wilkinson's dismissal after eight years as manager. With assistant manager Mike Hennigan and first-team coaches Dick Bate and Eddie Gray also being dismissed alongside Wilkinson (though Gray would subsequently be reinstated), it became clear that Fotherby wanted a clean slate for the club after the massive disappointment of the previous season.

Wilkinson's successor was George Graham, back in football after a one-year ban arising from the "bung" scandal that had cost him his job as Arsenal manager back in February 1995. Graham was unable to improve the club's dismal goalscoring record (they finished with just 28 goals, the lowest number in Premier League history until that point; it would not be until the 2002-03 season when another club, namely Sunderland, scored fewer goals) but he managed to steer them well clear of relegation in a respectable 11th place, with a total of a staggering 20 league clean sheets all season.

Record signing Lee Sharpe failed to live up to expectations and, by the end of the season, it was rumoured that he would be on his way out of the club, while Tony Yeboah made just six appearances after recovering from a long-term injury; he, too, appeared to be heading for the Elland Road exit door. Full-back Tony Dorigo's future at the club was also thrown into doubt by the emergence of Ian Harte, while midfielder Carlton Palmer's days at Leeds were also looking numbered.

Final league table

Main article: 1996-97 FA Premier League


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	21	12	5	76	44	+32	75	1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage
2	Newcastle United	38	19	11	8	73	40	+33	68	1997–98 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Arsenal	38	19	11	8	62	32	+30	68	1997–98 UEFA Cup First round
4	Liverpool	38	19	11	8	62	37	+25	68
5	Aston Villa	38	17	10	11	47	34	+13	61
6	Chelsea	38	16	11	11	58	55	+3	59	1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round ¹
7	Sheffield Wednesday	38	14	15	9	50	51	−1	57
8	Wimbledon	38	15	11	12	49	46	+3	56
9	Leicester City	38	12	11	15	46	54	−8	47	1997–98 UEFA Cup First round ²
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	13	7	18	44	51	−7	46
11	Leeds United	38	11	13	14	28	38	−10	46
12	Derby County	38	11	13	14	45	58	−13	46
13	Blackburn Rovers	38	9	15	14	42	43	−1	42
14	West Ham United	38	10	12	16	39	48	−9	42
15	Everton	38	10	12	16	44	57	−13	42
16	Southampton	38	10	11	17	50	56	−6	41
17	Coventry City	38	9	14	15	38	54	−16	41
18	Sunderland (R)	38	10	10	18	35	53	−18	40	Relegation to 1997–98 Football League First Division
19	Middlesbrough (R)	38	10	12	16	51	60	−9	039³
20	Nottingham Forest (R)	38	6	16	16	31	59	−28	34

Updated to games played on 11 May 1997.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
² Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
³ Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfil a fixture.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

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	11	13	14	28	38	−10	46	7	7	5	15	13	+2	4	6	9	13	25	−12

Source: Statto

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
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	W	D	D	D	L	L	L	W	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	D	L	D	D	L	D	D	D	D
Position	7	14	11	6	9	12	14	17	14	16	17	17	17	14	12	13	13	12	14	15	15	12	11	10	11	11	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	11	10	9	11	11

Source: Statto.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Leeds United's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Derby County	A	3-3	17,927	Laursen (own goal), Bowyer, Harte
20 August 1996	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0-2	31,011
24 August 1996	Wimbledon	H	1-0	25,860	Sharpe
4 September 1996	Blackburn Rovers	A	1-0	23,226	Harte
7 September 1996	Manchester United	H	0-4	39,694
14 September 1996	Coventry City	A	1-2	17,297	Couzens
21 September 1996	Newcastle United	H	0-1	36,070
28 September 1996	Leicester City	A	0-1	20,359
12 October 1996	Nottingham Forest	H	2-0	29,225	Wallace (2)
19 October 1996	Aston Villa	A	0-2	39,051
26 October 1996	Arsenal	A	0-3	38,076
2 November 1996	Sunderland	H	3-0	31,667	Ford, Sharpe, Deane
16 November 1996	Liverpool	H	0-2	39,981
23 November 1996	Southampton	A	2-0	15,241	Kelly, Sharpe
30 November 1996	Chelsea	H	2-0	32,671	Deane, Rush
3 December 1996	Middlesbrough	A	0-0	30,018
7 December 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0-0	33,783
21 December 1996	Everton	A	0-0	36,954
26 December 1996	Coventry City	H	1-3	36,465	Deane
28 December 1996	Manchester United	A	0-1	55,256
1 January 1997	Newcastle United	A	0-3	36,489
11 January 1997	Leicester City	H	3-0	29,486	Bowyer, Rush (2)
20 January 1997	West Ham United	A	2-0	19,441	Kelly, Bowyer
29 January 1997	Derby County	H	0-0	27,549
1 February 1997	Arsenal	H	0-0	35,502
19 February 1997	Liverpool	A	0-4	38,957
22 February 1997	Sunderland	A	1-0	21,890	Bowyer
1 March 1997	West Ham United	H	1-0	30,575	Sharpe
8 March 1997	Everton	H	1-0	32,055	Molenaar
12 March 1997	Southampton	H	0-0	25,913
15 March 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0-1	33,040
22 March 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2-2	30,373	Sharpe, Wallace
7 April 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-0	27,264
16 April 1997	Wimbledon	A	0-2	7,979
19 April 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	1-1	25,565	Deane
22 April 1997	Aston Villa	H	0-0	26,897
3 May 1997	Chelsea	A	0-0	28,277
11 May 1997	Middlesbrough	H	1-1	38,567	Deane

Goalscorers

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	14 January 1997	Crystal Palace	A	2-2	21,052	Deane, Andersen (own goal)
R3R	25 January 1997	Crystal Palace	H	1-0	21,903	Wallace
R4	4 February 1997	Arsenal	A	1-0	38,115	Wallace
R5	15 February 1997	Portsmouth	H	2-3	35,604	Bowyer (2)

Goalscorers

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	18 September 1996	Darlington	H	2-2	15,711	Wallace (2)
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Darlington	A	2-0 (won 4-2 on agg)	6,298	Wallace, Harte
R3	23 October 1996	Aston Villa	H	1-2	15,803	Sharpe

Goalscorers

Squad

Squad at end of season^[3]

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Nigel Martyn
2	DF	Gary Kelly
3	DF	Tony Dorigo
4	MF	Carlton Palmer
5	DF	Lucas Radebe
6	DF	David Wetherall
7	MF	Lee Sharpe
8	FW	Rod Wallace
9	FW	Ian Rush
10	FW	Brian Deane
11	MF	Lee Bowyer
12	DF	John Pemberton
14	FW	Andy Gray^[4]
15	GK	Mark Beeney
16	DF	Richard Jobson
17	FW	Derek Lilley
18	DF	Gunnar Halle

No.	Position	Player
19	FW	Harry Kewell
20	DF	Ian Harte
21	FW	Tony Yeboah
22	MF	Mark Ford
23	MF	Andy Couzens
24	MF	Jason Blunt
25	MF	Pierre Laurent (from January)
27	DF	Alan Maybury
28	DF	Paul Shepherd
29	DF	Mark Jackson
30	DF	Robert Molenaar
31	MF	Martin Foster
32	MF	Andy Wright
33	MF	Wesley Boyle
34	GK	Paul Evans
35	FW	Lawrence Davies

Left club during season

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

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Mark Tinkler (to York City)
25	DF	Rob Bowman (to Rotherham United)
26	DF	Paul Beesley (to Manchester City)

No.		Position	Player
30		FW	Mark Hateley (on loan from QPR)
36		FW	Tomas Brolin (on loan to Parma)

Transfers

In

Ian Rush - Liverpool, 20 May 1996, free
Lee Bowyer - Charlton Athletic, 5 July 1996, £2,800,000
Nigel Martyn - Crystal Palace, 26 July 1996, £2,250,000
Lee Sharpe - Manchester United, 14 August 1996, £4,500,000^†
Gunnar Halle - Oldham Athletic, 13 December 1996, £500,000
Robert Molenaar - Volendam, 11 January 1997, £400,000
Pierre Laurent - Bastia, 1 February 1997, £250,000
Derek Lilley - Greenock Morton, 27 March 1997, £500,000

^†Club record transfer fee at the time.

Out

Gary Speed - Everton, 1 July 1996, £3,400,000
John Lukic - Arsenal, 1 July 1996, free
Nigel Worthington - Stoke City, 1 July 1996, free
Gary McAllister - Coventry City, 26 July 1996, £3,000,000
Paul Beesley - Manchester City, 7 February 1997, £500,000
Rob Bowman - Rotherham United, 21 February 1997, free
Mark Tinkler - York City, 26 March 1997, £75,000

Transfers in:

£11,200,000

Transfers out:

£6,975,000

Total spending:

£4,225,000

Loaned in

Mark Hateley - Queens Park Rangers, 18 August 1996

Loaned out

Tomas Brolin - Parma, 24 December 1996

References

↑ "England Caretaker Managers - Howard Wilkinson".
↑ "Leeds United 1996-1997 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/leeds.htm
↑ Gray was born in Harrogate, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would make his international debut for Scotland in April 2003.

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1996–97 in English football

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FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference
Conference League Cup

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

1998 FIFA World Cup (UEFA Qualification Group 2)

Glenn Hoddle

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon

First Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Norwich City Oldham Athletic Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Southend United Stoke City Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

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 Wanderers 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

Others	Newport Woking

Summer 1996 transfers
Winter 1996–97 transfers

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