1996–97 Middlesbrough F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Middlesbrough competed in the Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). Despite reaching the finals of both domestic cup competitions, Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League in 19th place (although this came after a points deduction for postponing a fixture against Blackburn Rovers).

Season summary

The multi-million pound signings of Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli suggested that Middlesbrough could compete with the very best after finishing 12th the previous season, but ahead lay quite a unique season which ultimately ended in disappointment; though, on the goalscoring front, Middlesbrough's games were undeniably entertaining to watch, as in total, 111 goals were witnessed, the fourth highest total of goals for and against within Premier League clubs' matches. The season though started brightly with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Liverpool with Ravanelli scoring a hat-trick on his debut. The next two home games were impressively won: 4-1 against West Ham United and 4-0 against Coventry City (with Ravanelli and Juninho scoring two goals each in that match). Their season's first away win at Everton saw them rise as high as fourth in the table; however, beginning from their 2-0 home defeat to title challengers Arsenal, they were not to win another match in 12 attempts until Boxing Day, winning the return fixture against the Toffees 4-2.

By Christmas, Middlesbrough were deep in relegation trouble, despite Ravanelli proving himself as one of the league's top goalscorers. Added to this, Middlesbrough were faced with the wrath of the Football Association for postponing a fixture against Blackburn Rovers at short notice. The club's officials insisted that manager Bryan Robson had been unable to field a team due to a severe injury and illness crisis among his players, but this did not prevent the Football Association from docking the club 3 points.

Middlesbrough managed to put together a good run of results and look like decent bets for survival, but the Football Association's refusal to restore Middlesbrough's 3 points counted against them and a 1-1 draw at Leeds United on the final day of the season, when they needed a win, resulted in relegation that would have been avoided (at the expense of Coventry City) if the points had not been deducted.

Middlesbrough also hit the headlines with two brilliant cup runs. As a club who had never won a major trophy or even reached a domestic cup final before, history was made in February when Middlesbrough reached the League Cup final. They drew 1-1 with Leicester City at Wembley in the first match, but lost the replay 1-0 at Hillsborough. Two months later, they took on Chelsea in the FA Cup final, but lost 2-0. Therefore, they became the first team to finish in the last two of all three major tournaments - eliminating Crystal Palace's distinction (attained in 1995) of finishing in the last four of all three major tournaments.

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	10	12	16	51	60	−9	39³	8	5	6	34	25	+9	2	7	10	17	35	−18

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	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A
Result	D	L	D	W	W	W	L	L	D	L	D	L	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	D	D	L	L	W	D	D	D
Position	7	14	14	9	7	4	8	9	8	11	12	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	17	17	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	17	17	18	19	19	19	19	18	19

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

Results

Middlesbrough's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Liverpool	H	3-3	30,039	Ravanelli (3, 1 pen)
21 August 1996	Chelsea	A	0-1	28,272
24 August 1996	Nottingham Forest	A	1-1	24,705	Juninho
4 September 1996	West Ham United	H	4-1	30,060	Emerson, Mustoe, Ravanelli, Stamp
7 September 1996	Coventry City	H	4-0	29,811	Ravanelli (2), Juninho (2)
14 September 1996	Everton	A	2-1	39,250	Barmby, Juninho
21 September 1996	Arsenal	H	0-2	29,629
28 September 1996	Southampton	A	0-4	15,230
14 October 1996	Sunderland	A	2-2	20,936	Emerson, Ravanelli
19 October 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0-3	30,215
26 October 1996	Wimbledon	H	0-0	29,758
3 November 1996	Newcastle United	A	1-3	36,577	Beck
17 November 1996	Derby County	A	1-2	17,350	Ravanelli
23 November 1996	Manchester United	H	2-2	30,063	Ravanelli, Hignett (pen)
30 November 1996	Aston Villa	A	0-1	39,053
3 December 1996	Leicester City	H	0-2	29,709
7 December 1996	Leeds United	H	0-0	30,018
14 December 1996	Liverpool	A	1-5	39,491	Fjørtoft
26 December 1996	Everton	H	4-2	29,673	Hignett, Blackmore, Juninho (2)
28 December 1996	Coventry City	A	0-3	20,617
1 January 1997	Arsenal	A	0-2	37,573
11 January 1997	Southampton	H	0-1	29,509
18 January 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	H	4-2	29,485	Ravanelli (pen), Festa, Emerson (pen), Juninho
1 February 1997	Wimbledon	A	1-1	15,046	Mustoe
22 February 1997	Newcastle United	H	0-1	30,063
1 March 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1-3	28,206	Mustoe
5 March 1997	Derby County	H	6-1	29,739	Kinder, Ravanelli (3), Hignett, Beck
15 March 1997	Leicester City	A	3-1	20,561	Blackmore, Juninho, Beck
19 March 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	2-1	29,891	Juninho, Ravanelli
22 March 1997	Chelsea	H	1-0	29,811	Juninho
24 March 1997	Nottingham Forest	H	1-1	29,888	Beck
9 April 1997	West Ham United	A	0-0	23,988
19 April 1997	Sunderland	H	0-1	30,106
24 April 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0-1	29,947
3 May 1997	Aston Villa	H	3-2	30,074	Ravanelli (2, 1 pen), Beck
5 May 1997	Manchester United	A	3-3	54,489	Juninho, Emerson, Hignett
8 May 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	0-0	27,411
11 May 1997	Leeds United	A	1-1	38,567	Juninho

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Chester City	H	6-0	18,684	Ravanelli (2), Hignett, Cox, Beck, Stamp
R4	25 January 1997	Hednesford Town	A	3-2	27,511	Lambert (own goal), Fjørtoft, Ravanelli
R5	15 February 1997	Manchester City	A	1-0	30,462	Juninho
QF	8 March 1997	Derby County	A	2-0	17,567	Juninho, Ravanelli
SF	13 April 1997	Chesterfield	N	3-3	49,640	Ravanelli, Hignett (pen), Festa
SFR	22 April 1997	Chesterfield	N	3-0	30,339	Beck, Ravanelli, Emerson
F	17 May 1997	Chelsea	N	0-2	79,160

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	18 September 1996	Hereford United	H	7-0	17,136	Ravanelli (4, 1 pen), Emerson, Branco, Fleming
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Hereford United	A	3-0 (won 10-0 on agg)	4,522	Beck, Stamp, Branco
R3	23 October 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	5-1	26,615	Juninho, Emerson, Ravanelli (2), Beck
R4	27 November 1996	Newcastle United	H	3-1	29,831	Whyte, Beck, Ravanelli
QF	8 January 1997	Liverpool	H	2-1	28,670	Hignett, Vickers
SF 1st Leg	26 February 1997	Stockport County	A	2-0	11,778	Beck, Ravanelli
SF 2nd Leg	12 March 1997	Stockport County	H	0-1 (won 2-1 on agg)	29,633
F	6 April 1997	Leicester City	N	1-1 (a.e.t.)	76,757	Ravanelli
FR	16 April 1997	Leicester City	N	0-1 (a.e.t.)	39,428

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]

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

No.	Position	Player
2	DF	Neil Cox
3	DF	Derek Whyte
4	DF	Steve Vickers
5	DF	Nigel Pearson
6	MF	Emerson
7	DF	Vladimír Kinder
8	MF	Robbie Mustoe
9	FW	Mikkel Beck
10	MF	Juninho
11	FW	Fabrizio Ravanelli
12	MF	Alan Moore
13	GK	Gary Walsh
14	DF	Curtis Fleming^[3]
15	DF	Phil Whelan
16	MF	Bryan Robson (player-manager)
17	DF	Clayton Blackmore

No.	Position	Player
18	DF	Gianluca Festa
19	GK	Mark Schwarzer
20	MF	Phil Stamp
21	MF	Craig Hignett
22	DF	Craig Liddle
24	FW	Chris Freestone
25	GK	Ben Roberts
26	DF	Chris Morris^[4]
27	DF	Michael Barron
28	DF	Viv Anderson
30	DF	Branco
31	DF	Alan White
32	FW	Andy Campbell
33	MF	Mark Summerbell
34	MF	Keith O'Halloran
35	MF	Anthony Ormerod

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
1	GK	Alan Miller (to West Bromwich Albion)
7	MF	Nick Barmby (to Everton)
18	MF	Graham Kavanagh (to Stoke City)

No.	Position	Player
19	FW	John Hendrie (to Barnsley)
23	FW	Jan-Åge Fjørtoft (to Sheffield United)
29	MF	Jamie Pollock (to Bolton Wanderers)

Reserve squad

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

No.		Position	Player
-		DF	Jason Gavin
-		DF	Craig Harrison

No.		Position	Player
-		MF	Micky Cummins
-		MF	Andrew Swalwell

References

↑ "Middlesbrough 1996-1997 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/middles.htm
↑ Fleming was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland.
↑ Morris was born in Newquay, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his mother.

Middlesbrough Football Club

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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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