1996–97 Ipswich Town F.C. season

Ipswich Town

1996–97 season
Chairman	David Sheepshanks
Manager	George Burley
Stadium	Portman Road
Football League First Division	4th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fifth round
Top goalscorer	Paul Mason (12)
Highest home attendance	22,397 (vs. Norwich City, 18 April 1997)
Lowest home attendance	7,086 (vs. Swindon Town, 19 November 1996)
Average home league attendance	11,953
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Season summary

In George Burley's second season in charge of Ipswich, the club reached the play-offs as they looked for a return to the Premier League at the second attempt. However, they ended up losing in the semi-finals to Sheffield United.

Final league table

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

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

Ipswich Town's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 August 1996	Manchester City	A	0–1	29,126
24 August 1996	Reading	H	5–2	9,767	Vaughan (2), Sedgley (pen), Taricco, Scowcroft
27 August 1996	Grimsby Town	H	1–1	9,762	Mason
31 August 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	3–3	5,339	Mathie (2), Stockwell
7 September 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	1–3	10,661	Mason
10 September 1996	Crystal Palace	A	0–0	12,520
14 September 1996	Sheffield United	A	3–1	14,261	Sedgley, Scowcroft (2)
20 September 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	2–1	10,558	Sedgley, Mathie
28 September 1996	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–0	15,606
1 October 1996	Barnsley	H	1–1	9,041	Mathie
11 October 1996	Norwich City	A	1–3	20,256	Sonner
15 October 1996	Birmingham City	A	0–1	15,664
19 October 1996	Portsmouth	H	1–1	10,514	Mason
26 October 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–2	11,003
30 October 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	10,562	Mason
2 November 1996	Oxford United	A	1–3	7,903	Tanner
9 November 1996	Southend United	H	1–1	10,146	Stockwell
16 November 1996	Bradford City	A	1–2	10,504	Cundy
19 November 1996	Swindon Town	H	3–2	7,086	Scowcroft, Creaney, Sedgley (pen)
23 November 1996	Port Vale	H	2–1	9,491	Tanner, Mason
30 November 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–3	10,127
7 December 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–0	12,048
14 December 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–1	13,314	Scowcroft (2)
21 December 1996	Stoke City	H	1–1	10,159	Mason
26 December 1996	Crystal Palace	H	3–1	16,020	Tanner (pen), Mason, Naylor
28 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	0–2	11,467
1 January 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	10,186	Tanner (pen)
18 January 1997	Barnsley	A	2–1	9,872	Mason, Cundy
25 January 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	5–0	9,381	Holmes (own goal), Scowcroft, Stockwell, Naylor, Mason
1 February 1997	Southend United	A	0–0	7,232
8 February 1997	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	12,983	Naylor, Gregory
15 February 1997	Port Vale	A	2–2	6,115	Mason, Stockwell
22 February 1997	Oxford United	H	2–1	11,483	Naylor, Stockwell
1 March 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–0	26,700
4 March 1997	Bradford City	H	3–2	9,367	Sedgley (pen), Sonner, Gregory
8 March 1997	Stoke City	A	1–0	11,933	Taricco
15 March 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–1	16,187
18 March 1997	Sheffield United	H	3–1	10,374	Gregory (3)
22 March 1997	Reading	A	0–1	10,058
31 March 1997	Grimsby Town	A	1–2	6,268	Mason
5 April 1997	Oldham Athletic	H	4–0	11,730	Scowcroft, Williams, Stockwell, Gregory
12 April 1997	Swindon Town	A	4–0	8,591	Swailes, Stockwell, Sedgley (pen), Gudmundsson
18 April 1997	Norwich City	H	2–0	22,397	Taricco, Mason
22 April 1997	Manchester City	H	1–0	15,824	Sedgley (pen)
25 April 1997	Portsmouth	A	1–0	12,101	Scowcroft
4 May 1997	Birmingham City	H	1–1	20,570	Gudmundsson

First Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF First Leg	10 May 1997	Sheffield United	A	1–1	22,312	Stockwell
SF Second Leg	14 May 1997	Sheffield United	H	2–2 (lost on away goals)	21,467	Scowcroft, Gudmundsson

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	0–3	14,681

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 August 1996	Bournemouth	H	2–1	6,163	Marshall, Mason
R1 Second Leg	3 September 1996	Bournemouth	A	3–0 (won 5-1 on agg)	4,119	Scowcroft, Mathie, Stockwell
R2 First Leg	17 September 1996	Fulham	A	1–1	6,947	Milton
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1996	Fulham	H	4–2 (won 5-3 on agg)	6,825	Sonner, Sedgley (pen), Mathie (2)
R3	22 October 1996	Crystal Palace	H	4–1	8,390	Mason (2), Mathie (2)
R4	26 November 1996	Gillingham	H	1–0	13,537	Naylor
R5	21 January 1997	Leicester City	H	0–1	20,793

Squad

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

No. Position Player GK Richard Wright GK Aidan Davison (on loan from Bolton Wanderers) GK Craig Forrest DF Wayne Brown DF Jason Cundy (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) DF Tony Mowbray DF Richard Naylor DF Steve Sedgley DF Chris Swailes DF Tony Vaughan DF Gus Uhlenbeek DF Claus Thomsen DF Mauricio Taricco MF Kieron Dyer MF Bobby Howe (on loan from Nottingham Forest)

No. Position Player MF Paul Mason MF Simon Milton MF Mick Stockwell MF Adam Tanner MF Geraint Williams MF John Wark MF Danny Sonner MF Bobby Petta MF Lee Norfolk FW James Scowcroft FW Gerry Creaney (on loan from Manchester City) FW Alex Mathie FW Niklas Gudmundsson (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) FW Neil Gregory FW Earl Jean FW Ian Marshall

References