1996–97 Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. season

In the 1996–97 season, Jimmy Case was sacked after a terrible start that saw Brighton stuck the bottom of the league by a considerable margin — they seemed certain to be relegated from the Football League just 14 years after they had almost won the FA Cup.^[1] The club's directors appointed a relative unknown in Steve Gritt, the former joint manager of Charlton Athletic, in hope of performing a miracle survival.

Brighton's league form steadily improved under Gritt, although their improving chances of survival were put under further threat on 9 December by a two-point deduction from the Football League imposed as punishment for a pitch invasion by fans who were protesting against the sale of the Goldstone Ground in a league game against Lincoln City on 1 October 1996.^[2] The club later appealed against the points deduction but their appeal was rejected.

The last game at The Goldstone was held on 26 April 1997, in which Brighton beat Doncaster Rovers 1–0. The result lifted Brighton off the bottom of Division Three and meant that a draw or win in their visit to Hereford United the following weekend would prevent relegation to the Conference and preserve their Football League status. Brighton went on to draw the game 1–1 and secure survival, as well as ending Hereford's 25-year stay in the Football League – thus avoiding becoming the first former members of the top flight or the first major cup finalists to be relegated to the Conference.

The sale of the Goldstone Ground went through in 1997 and this led to Brighton having to play some 70 miles away at Gillingham's Priestfield stadium.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Wigan Athletic	46	17	3	3	53	21	9	6	8	31	30	84	51	+33	87
2	Fulham	46	13	5	5	41	20	12	7	4	31	18	72	38	+34	87
3	Carlisle United	46	16	3	4	41	21	8	9	6	26	23	67	44	+23	84
4	Northampton Town	46	14	4	5	43	17	6	8	9	24	27	67	44	+23	72
5	Swansea City	46	13	5	5	37	20	8	3	12	25	38	62	58	+4	71
6	Chester City	46	11	8	4	30	16	7	8	8	25	27	55	43	+12	70
7	Cardiff City	46	11	4	8	31	24	9	5	9	26	31	56	54	+2	69
8	Colchester United	46	11	9	3	36	23	6	8	9	26	28	62	51	+11	68
9	Lincoln City	46	10	8	5	35	25	8	4	11	35	44	70	69	+1	66
10	Cambridge United	46	11	5	7	30	27	7	6	10	23	32	53	59	–6	65
11	Mansfield Town	46	9	8	6	21	17	7	8	8	26	28	47	45	+2	64
12	Scarborough	46	9	9	5	36	31	7	6	10	30	38	65	68	–3	63
13	Scunthorpe United	46	11	3	9	36	33	7	6	10	23	29	59	62	–3	63
14	Rochdale	46	10	6	7	34	24	4	10	9	24	34	58	58	±0	58
15	Barnet	46	9	9	5	32	23	5	7	11	14	28	46	51	–5	58
16	Leyton Orient	46	11	6	6	28	20	4	6	13	22	38	50	58	–8	57
17	Hull City	46	9	8	6	29	26	4	10	9	15	24	44	50	–6	57
18	Darlington	46	11	5	7	37	28	3	5	15	27	50	64	78	–14	52
19	Doncaster Rovers	46	9	7	7	29	23	5	3	15	23	43	52	66	–14	52
20	Hartlepool United	46	8	6	9	33	32	6	3	14	20	34	53	66	–13	51
21	Torquay United	46	9	4	10	24	24	4	7	12	22	38	46	62	–16	50
22	Exeter City	46	6	9	8	25	30	6	3	14	23	43	48	73	–25	48
23	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	12	6	5	41	27	1	4	18	12	43	53	70	–17	47	^{[notes 1]}
24	Hereford United	46	6	8	9	26	25	5	6	12	24	40	50	65	–15	47

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

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

↑ Brighton & Hove Albion had two points deducted for failure to control spectators.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	New club in the league (none)
	Relegated to Conference

Results

Brighton & Hove Albion's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Chester City	H	2–1	5,263	Baird, Parris
24 August 1996	Cardiff City	A	0–1	3,463
27 August 1996	Barnet	A	0–3	2,513
31 August 1996	Scunthorpe United	H	1–1	4,365	Baird
7 September 1996	Scarborough	H	3–2	4,008	Storer, Maskell (2)
10 September 1996	Colchester United	A	0–2	2,540
14 September 1996	Exeter City	A	1–2	2,886	McDonald
21 September 1996	Torquay United	H	2–2	4,889	Baird, Minton
28 September 1996	Northampton Town	A	0–3	4,402
1 October 1996	Lincoln City	H	1–3	4,411	Smith
5 October 1996	Wigan Athletic	A	0–1	3,744
12 October 1996	Cambridge United	H	1–2	4,564	Storer
15 October 1996	Hereford United	H	0–1	3,444
19 October 1996	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–3	1,787
26 October 1996	Fulham	H	0–0	8,387
29 October 1996	Rochdale	A	0–3	1,913
2 November 1996	Hartlepool United	A	3–2	1,683	Mundee (pen), Minton, Morris
9 November 1996	Mansfield Town	H	1–1	1,933	Mundee (pen)
19 November 1996	Swansea City	A	0–1	2,692
23 November 1996	Carlisle United	H	1–3	4,155	Baird
30 November 1996	Fulham	A	0–2	8,279
3 December 1996	Darlington	H	2–3	2,709	Maskell, Baird
14 December 1996	Hull City	H	3–0	3,762	McDonald, Storer, Maskell
22 December 1996	Leyton Orient	A	0–2	7,944
26 December 1996	Colchester United	H	1–1	4,830	Mundee (pen)
28 December 1996	Scarborough	A	1–1	2,252	Storer
1 January 1997	Torquay United	A	1–2	2,588	Andrews
18 January 1997	Lincoln City	A	1–2	3,056	Storer
25 January 1997	Rochdale	H	3–0	4,468	Maskell (2), Baird
1 February 1997	Mansfield Town	A	1–1	2,456	Mundee
8 February 1997	Hartlepool United	H	5–0	8,412	Baird, Maskell (3), Hobson
11 February 1997	Exeter City	H	1–0	5,835	Baird
15 February 1997	Carlisle United	A	1–2	5,465	Maskell
22 February 1997	Swansea City	H	3–2	6,645	Baird (2), Maskell
1 March 1997	Darlington	A	0–2	2,998
4 March 1997	Northampton Town	H	2–1	4,943	Reinelt, Peake
8 March 1997	Leyton Orient	H	4–4	9,298	Maskell (2), Baird, McDonald (pen)
15 March 1997	Hull City	A	0–3	3,373
22 March 1997	Cardiff City	H	2–0	9,293	McDonald (pen), Baird
29 March 1997	Chester City	A	1–2	3,613	Minton
1 April 1997	Barnet	H	1–0	9,525	Baird
5 April 1997	Scunthorpe United	A	0–1	2,925
12 April 1997	Wigan Athletic	H	1–0	8,703	Maskell
19 April 1997	Cambridge United	A	1–1	6,032	Reinelt
26 April 1997	Doncaster Rovers	H	1–0	11,341	Storer
3 May 1997	Hereford United	A	1–1	8,350	Reinelt

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Sudbury Town	A	0–0	3,112
R1R	26 November 1996	Sudbury Town	H	1–1 (lost 3–4 on pens)	3,902	Maskell

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	21 August 1996	Birmingham City	H	0–1	5,132
R1 2nd Leg	4 September 1996	Birmingham City	A	0–2 (lost 0–3 on agg)	20,050

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	17 December 1996	Fulham	H	3–2 (a.e.t.)	1,384	Maskell, McDonald (pen), Virgo
SR2	14 January 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–1	1,295

Squad

^[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Mark Ormerod
		GK	Nicky Rust
		DF	Derek Allan
		DF	Gary Hobson
		DF	John Humphrey
		DF	Ross Johnson
		DF	Kerry Mayo
		DF	Kevin McGarrigle
		DF	Mark Morris
		DF	Ashley Neal (on loan from Liverpool)
		DF	Peter Smith
		DF	Stuart Tuck
		MF	Mark Fox
		MF	Dave Martin (on loan from Northampton Town)

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Paul McDonald
		MF	Jeff Minton
		MF	Denny Mundee
		MF	George Parris
		MF	Jason Peake
		MF	Stuart Storer
		MF	James Virgo
		MF	Christer Warren (on loan from Southampton)
		FW	David Adekola
		FW	Phil Andrews
		FW	Ian Baird
		FW	Simon Fox
		FW	Craig Maskell
		FW	Robbie Reinelt

References

↑ Martin, Andrew (5 December 1996). "Case shut out at Brighton". The Independent. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
↑ "Brighton have two points deducted". The Independent (London). 10 December 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
↑ "League Results". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
↑ "All Brighton and Hove Albion players: 1997". 11v11.com. Retrieved 2015-07-22.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club

Club	Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. History Notable players

Grounds	Goldstone Ground (1902–1997) Priestfield Stadium (1997–1999) Withdean Stadium (1999–2011) Falmer Stadium (2011–)

Rivalries	M23 derby

Subsidiary teams	Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C.

Seasons	1981–82 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 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

1996–97 in English football

« 1995–96

1997–98 »

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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