1896–97 Football League

The 1896–1897 season was the ninth season of The Football League.

Final league tables

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at the The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website^[1] and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,^[2] with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.

Since the goal average was used for this purpose for such a long time, it is presented in the tables below even for the seasons prior to 1894–95, and since the goal difference is a more informative piece of information for a modern reader than the goal average, the goal difference is added in this presentation after the goal average.

During the first five seasons of the league, that is until the season, 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league.^[2]

First Division

First Division
Season	1896–97
Champions	Aston Villa (3rd English title)
Relegated	Burnley
FA Cup winners	Aston Villa (3rd FA Cup title)
Matches played	240
Goals scored	751 (3.13 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve Bloomer (Derby County), 24
Biggest home win	Derby County –West Brom 8–1 (25 Dec 1896) Sheffield United –Blackburn 7–0 (9 Jan 1897)
Biggest away win	Blackburn –Aston Villa 1–5 (28 Nov 1896)
Highest scoring	Derby County –West Brom 8–1 (25 Dec 1896) Derby County –Bury 7–2 (26 Sept 1896) Everton –West Brom 6–3 (17 Apr 1897)
Longest winning run	6 matches Everton (19 Dec 1896 – 6 Feb 1897)
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches Aston Villa (3 Oct 1896 – 2 Jan 1897)
Longest losing run	6 matches Everton (6 Feb 1897 – 16 Apr 1897)
Highest attendance	40.000 Everton - Liverpool F.C. (3 Oct 1896)
Lowest attendance	1000 Nottingham Forest - Burnley (24 Oct 1896) Sheffield United - Blackburn Rovers (9 Jan 1897)
Average attendance	7.734
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

The Wednesday (Sheffield)

Stoke

Sunderland

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1896–97 teams

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Aston Villa	30	10	3	2	36	16	11	2	2	37	22	73	38	1.921	+35	47
2	Sheffield United	30	6	4	5	22	16	7	6	2	20	13	42	29	1.448	+13	36
3	Derby County	30	10	2	3	45	22	6	2	7	25	28	70	50	1.400	+20	36
4	Preston North End	30	8	4	3	35	21	3	8	4	20	19	55	40	1.375	+15	34
5	Liverpool	30	7	6	2	25	10	5	3	7	21	28	46	38	1.211	+8	33
6	The Wednesday	30	9	4	2	29	11	1	7	7	13	26	42	37	1.135	+5	31
7	Everton	30	8	1	6	42	29	6	2	7	20	28	62	57	1.088	+5	31
8	Bolton Wanderers	30	7	3	5	22	18	5	3	7	18	25	40	43	0.930	–3	30
9	Bury	30	7	5	3	25	15	3	5	7	14	29	39	44	0.886	–5	30
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30	6	4	5	26	14	5	2	8	19	27	45	41	1.098	+4	28
11	Nottingham Forest	30	8	3	4	30	16	1	5	9	14	33	44	49	0.898	–5	26
12	West Bromwich Albion	30	7	2	6	18	16	3	4	8	15	40	33	56	0.589	–23	26
13	Stoke	30	8	3	4	30	18	3	0	12	18	41	48	59	0.814	–11	25
14	Blackburn Rovers	30	8	1	6	27	25	3	2	10	8	37	35	62	0.565	–27	25
15	Sunderland	30	4	6	5	21	21	3	3	9	13	26	34	47	0.723	–13	23
16	Burnley^[3]	30	4	5	6	25	25	2	2	11	18	36	43	61	0.705	–18	19

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	League Champions
	FA Cup Winners, see Aston Villa
	Into test matches

First Division results

Home ╲ Away	Aston Villa !AST	Blackburn Rovers !BLB	Bolton Wanderers !BOL	Burnley !BUR	Bury !BRY	Derby County !DER	Everton !EVE	Liverpool !LIV	Nottingham Forest !NOT	Preston North End !PNE	Sheffield United !SHU	Stoke City !STK	Sunderland !SUN	The Wednesday !WED	West Bromwich Albion !WBA	Wolverhampton Wanderers !WOL
Aston Villa !Aston Villa		3–0	6–2	0–3	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	3–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	4–0	2–0	5–0
Blackburn Rovers !Blackburn Rovers	1–5		1–0	3–2	1–2	5–2	4–2	1–0	0–0	0–4	1–3	2–1	1–2	4–0	1–2	2–0
Bolton Wanderers !Bolton Wanderers	1–2	0–0		2–1	2–0	1–3	2–0	1–4	0–0	3–1	0–2	4–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–2
Burnley !Burnley	3–4	0–1	0–2		1–0	2–3	2–1	4–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	5–0	0–3
Bury !Bury	0–2	3–0	2–2	1–1		1–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	0–0	0–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	3–2
Derby County !Derby County	1–3	6–0	1–0	3–2	7–2		0–1	3–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	5–1	1–0	2–1	8–1	4–3
Everton !Everton	2–3	0–3	2–3	6–0	1–2	5–2		2–1	3–1	3–4	1–2	4–2	5–2	2–1	6–3	0–0
Liverpool !Liverpool	3–3	4–0	0–2	1–2	3–1	2–0	0–0		3–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	2–2	0–0	3–0
Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	2–4	2–1	2–0	4–1	3–0	1–2	3–0	2–0		0–0	2–2	4–0	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–2
Preston North End !Preston North End	0–1	3–1	2–3	5–3	2–2	0–2	4–1	1–1	3–2		1–0	3–0	5–3	2–2	0–0	4–0
Sheffield United !Sheffield United	0–0	7–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–1	0–3	0–2		1–0	3–0	2–0	0–1	1–3
Stoke City !Stoke City	0–2	1–0	2–3	3–2	3–0	2–2	2–3	6–1	3–0	2–1	2–0		0–1	0–0	2–2	2–1
Sunderland !Sunderland	4–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	4–3	2–2	1–1	0–1	4–1		0–0	2–1	0–3
The Wednesday !The Wednesday	1–3	6–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	4–3	0–0		3–1	0–0
West Bromwich Albion !West Bromwich Albion	3–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–4	1–4	0–1	4–0	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–0	0–2		1–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers !Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–2	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–0	6–1

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Test Matches 1897

The test matches were a kind of play-offs, in which the bottom 1st Division teams faced the top 2nd Division teams. The 1st Division teams, if coming out as winners, would retain their places in the division. If a 2nd Division team won, it would be considered for 1st Division membership through an election process. Losing 2nd Division teams would stay in the 2nd Division.

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
(2nd Div. Champions) Notts County	1–0	Sunderland (1st Div. 15th)	1–0 Sat 17 Apr	0–0 Mon 19 Apr
(1st Div. 16th) Burnley	2–2	Newton Heath (2nd Div. 2nd)	2–0 Mon 19 Apr	0–2 Wed 21 Apr

Final

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
(1st Div. 16th) Burnley	1–2	Notts County (2nd Div. Champions)	0–1 Sat 24 Apr	1–1 Mon 26 Apr

Third Place

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
(2nd Div. 2nd) Newton Heath	1–3	Sunderland (1st Div. 15th)	1–1 Sat 24 Apr	0–2 Mon 26 Apr

Test Match Summary

Reference works, such Encyclopedia of British Football^[4] and Association Football,^[5] present the following table with the heading given above.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Notts County	4	2	2	0	3	1	+2	6
2	Sunderland	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	4
3	Burnley	4	1	1	2	3	4	–1	3
4	Newton Heath	4	1	1	2	3	5	–2	3

Key
	Elected to play in First Division
	Invited to play in Second Division

Test Match Consequences

It is likely that the league decided on re-election to the First Division and on promotion and relegation on the basis of the summary table above. It is not clear why all the four teams did not play each other, since it would only have required two more matches for each of them.

Notts County won both fixtures and were elected to play in the 1st Division the following season.
Coming from the 2nd Division, Newton Heath apparently would have needed a win in order to advance. It appears that in this case, a draw, the preference was given to Burnley, who came to the test matches from a higher division.
Sunderland salvaged through re-elections its position in the 1st Division, having won in the second round of the test matches. It was the fate of Newton Heath to remain in the 2nd Division.

Second Division

Second Division
Season	1896–97
Champions	Notts County (1st title)
Promoted	Notts County
Failed re-election	Burton Wanderers
Matches played	240
Goals scored	907 (3.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tom Boucher (Notts County), 22 John Murphy (Notts County), 22 ^[6]
Biggest home win	Darwen –Walsall 12–0 (26 Dec 1896)
Biggest away win	Walsall –Small Heath 1–6 (24 Oct 1896)
Highest scoring	Darwen –Walsall 12–0 (26 Dec 1896)
Longest winning run	6 matches Small Heath (13 Mar 1897 – 16 Apr 1897) Notts County (19 Dec 1896 – 27 Feb 1897)
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches Newton Heath (9 Jan 1897 – 10 Apr 1897)
Longest losing run	12 matches Lincoln City F.C. (21 Sep 1896 – 16 Jan 1897)
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

Newton Heath (Manchester)

Notts County

Small Heath (Birmingham)

Walsall

Woolwich Arsenal

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1896–97 teams

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Notts County^[7]	30	12	1	2	60	18	7	3	5	32	25	92	43	2.140	+49	42
2	Newton Heath	30	11	4	0	37	10	6	1	8	19	24	56	34	1.647	+22	39
3	Grimsby Town	30	12	2	1	44	15	5	2	8	22	30	66	45	1.467	+21	38
4	Small Heath	30	8	3	4	36	23	8	2	5	33	24	69	47	1.468	+22	37
5	Newcastle United	30	13	1	1	42	13	4	0	11	14	39	56	52	1.077	+4	35
6	Manchester City	30	10	3	2	39	15	2	5	8	19	35	58	50	1.160	+8	32
7	Gainsborough Trinity	30	10	2	3	35	16	2	5	8	15	31	50	47	1.064	+3	31
8	Blackpool	30	11	3	1	39	16	2	2	11	20	40	59	56	1.054	+3	31
9	Leicester Fosse	30	11	2	2	44	20	2	2	11	15	37	59	56	1.054	+3	30
10	Woolwich Arsenal	30	10	1	4	42	20	3	3	9	26	50	68	70	0.971	–2	30
11	Darwen	30	13	0	2	54	16	1	0	14	13	45	67	61	1.098	+6	28
12	Walsall	30	8	2	5	37	25	3	2	10	17	44	53	69	0.768	–16	26
13	Loughborough	30	10	0	5	37	14	2	1	12	13	50	50	64	0.781	–14	25
14	Burton Swifts	30	7	4	4	33	20	2	2	11	13	41	46	61	0.754	–15	24
15	Burton Wanderers	30	8	1	6	22	22	1	1	13	9	45	31	67	0.463	–36	20
16	Lincoln City	30	4	2	9	17	27	1	0	14	10	58	27	85	0.318	–58	12

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	Division Champions, into test matches
	Into test matches
	New club in the league
	Re-elected
	Failed re-election or resigned

Second Division results

Home ╲ Away	Blackpool !BLP	Burton Swifts !BRS	Burton Wanderers !BRW	Darwen !DRW	Gainsborough Trinity !GAI	Grimsby Town !GRI	Leicester Fosse !LEI	Lincoln City !LIN	Loughborough !LOU	Manchester City !MCI	Newcastle United !NEW	Newton Heath !NWH	Notts County !NTC	Small Heath !SMH	Walsall !WAL	Woolwich Arsenal !WOO
Blackpool !Blackpool		3–0	5–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	3–1	4–1	2–2	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–3	3–2	1–1
Burton Swifts !Burton Swifts	2–0		1–1	2–0	4–0	0–0	2–1	4–0	3–1	5–0	3–0	3–5	1–4	1–1	1–3	1–2
Burton Wanderers !Burton Wanderers	3–1	1–0		1–0	3–2	5–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	0–3	2–6	1–0	0–3
Darwen !Darwen	2–3	5–1	3–0		3–2	3–1	4–1	4–1	5–1	3–1	2–1	0–2	2–1	2–0	12–0	4–1
Gainsborough Trinity !Gainsborough Trinity	2–0	4–1	2–1	2–4		1–1	0–2	7–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	1–3	2–0	4–1
Grimsby Town !Grimsby Town	2–2	3–0	3–0	4–2	1–1		4–1	3–1	8–1	3–1	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	3–1
Leicester Fosse !Leicester Fosse	2–1	3–0	2–1	4–1	0–0	4–2		4–1	4–2	3–3	5–0	1–0	2–3	0–1	4–1	6–3
Lincoln City !Lincoln City	3–1	1–1	2–3	1–0	0–2	0–3	2–1		0–2	0–1	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–3	2–1	2–3
Loughborough !Loughborough	4–1	0–2	6–0	4–2	1–0	1–4	0–2	3–0		2–0	3–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–2	8–0
Manchester City !Manchester City	4–2	3–1	2–1	4–1	4–1	3–1	4–0	3–0	1–1		1–2	0–0	1–4	3–0	5–0	1–1
Newcastle United !Newcastle United	4–1	2–1	3–0	5–1	1–2	3–0	3–1	2–1	4–1	3–0		2–0	2–2	4–3	2–0	2–0
Newton Heath !Newton Heath	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	2–0	4–2	2–1	3–1	6–0	2–1	4–0		1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1
Notts County !Notts County	3–1	6–1	5–0	4–0	2–0	1–3	6–0	8–0	3–1	3–3	3–1	3–0		1–2	5–2	7–4
Small Heath !Small Heath	1–3	1–2	3–2	5–1	2–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	3–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	3–1		3–3	5–2
Walsall !Walsall	2–2	5–2	2–0	4–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	5–0	5–1	3–2	0–2	2–3	1–3	1–6		5–3
Woolwich Arsenal !Woolwich Arsenal	4–2	3–0	3–0	1–0	6–1	4–2	2–1	6–2	2–0	1–2	5–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–1

Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

↑ "England 1896–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
1 2 Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
↑ Not re-elected due to test match results. Invited to join Second Division.
↑ Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin: Encyclopedia of British Football, Willow Books, London. Fourth, updated and revised edition, 1984, p. 168.
↑ A. H. Fabian & Green, Geoffrey: Association Football, Volume Two, p. 236. The Caxton Publishing Company Ltd., London, 1960.
↑ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
↑ Elected to First Division on the basis of test match results.

External links

Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.

The Football League seasons

1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
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2007–08
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2009–10
2010–11
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2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17

1896–97 in English football

« 1895–96

1897–98 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)

Football and Southern Leagues

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division	Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Burnley Bury Derby County Everton Liverpool Nottingham Forest Preston North End Sheffield United Stoke Sunderland The Wednesday West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Burton Swifts Burton Wanderers Darwen Gainsborough Trinity Grimsby Town Leicester Fosse Lincoln City Loughborough Manchester City Newcastle United Newton Heath Notts County Small Heath Walsall Woolwich Arsenal

Southern League	Chatham Town Gravesend United Millwall Athletic New Brompton Northfleet Reading Royal Ordnance Sheppey United Southampton St Mary's Swindon Town Tottenham Hotspur Wolverton L & NWR

Others	Thames Ironworks

1896–97 in European football

« 1895–96 1897–98 »

Domestic leagues	Belgium Denmark England Netherlands Ireland Scotland

Domestic cups	England Ireland Scotland Sweden '96 '97 Wales

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