1996–97 Southampton F.C. season

Southampton F.C.
1996–97 season
Chairman Rupert Lowe
Manager Graeme Souness
Stadium The Dell
Premiership 16th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer Le Tissier (13)
Highest home attendance 15,253 vs Manchester United
(26 Oct 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance 10,737 vs Oxford United
(18 Dec 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance 15,099

In the 1996–97 season, Southampton Football Club competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary

For the fourth time in five seasons, Southampton managed to avoid relegation. Manager Dave Merrington had been dismissed at the end of the previous season to be succeeded by Graeme Souness, who brought in quality new players including Claus Lundekvam and Egil Østenstad. A 6-3 win over Manchester United in late October, which saw Ostenstad scoring a hat-trick, was the highlight of the season, and Southampton entered the final game of the season only needing a draw to confirm their survival. Survival was achieved, but it did not prevent Souness from quitting the club after just one season, handing over the reins to Stockport's Dave Jones.

Ali Dia incident

After receiving a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, Graeme Souness signed Senegalese "international" striker Ali Dia. "Weah" had told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. None of this was true: the phone call was made by a fellow university student of Dia's to Souness, suggesting that he should give Dia a chance with the Saints.[1] Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.

Dia played just one game for Southampton, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted for Ken Monkou after playing for 53 minutes;[2] Leeds won the match 2–0.

Le Tissier himself recalled the story in a television interview, telling that Dia spent only a weekend at the club. He first came down to train with the team on Friday morning; according to Le Tissier he "didn't look very good" and the players thought that they would "never see him again", but the next day Dia was surprisingly named on the bench. His performance on the field after he came on to replace Le Tissier "was unbelievable. He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice, it was very very embarrassing to watch." Yet, according to the team's physiotherapist, on Sunday morning Dia "turned up for treatment of an injury" and "then he left, and we never saw him again . . . nobody knows where he went."[3] Dia was released by Southampton two weeks later.

Final league table

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
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
38 10 11 17 50 56 −6 41 6 7 6 32 24 +8 4 4 11 18 32 −14

Source: Statto

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHA
Result D L L D L L L W D W W D L L L L L W L L W D L L D W D D L L D W D W D W W L
Position 11 15 17 18 18 19 19 18 18 17 14 14 14 17 17 17 18 16 19 19 19 18 19 19 19 19 18 19 19 20 20 19 19 16 17 15 14 16

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

Results

Southampton's score comes first[4]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
18 August 1996 ChelseaH0-015,186
21 August 1996 Leicester CityA1-217,562Le Tissier (pen)
24 August 1996 West Ham UnitedA1-221,227Heaney
4 September 1996 Nottingham ForestH2-214,450Dryden, Le Tissier
7 September 1996 LiverpoolA1-239,189Magilton
14 September 1996 Tottenham HotspurH0-115,251
23 September 1996 WimbledonA1-38,572Oakley
28 September 1996 MiddlesbroughH4-015,230Oakley, Le Tissier (2), Watson
13 October 1996 Coventry CityA1-115,485Le Tissier
19 October 1996 SunderlandH3-015,225Dodd, Le Tissier (pen), Shipperley
26 October 1996 Manchester UnitedH6-315,253Berkovic (2), Le Tissier, Østenstad (2), P. Neville (own goal)
2 November 1996 Sheffield WednesdayA1-120,106Le Tissier (pen)
16 November 1996 EvertonA1-735,669Østenstad
23 November 1996 Leeds UnitedH0-215,241
30 November 1996 Blackburn RoversA1-223,018Østenstad
4 December 1996 ArsenalA1-338,033Berkovic
7 December 1996 Aston VillaH0-115,232
21 December 1996 Derby CountyH3-114,901Watson, Oakley, Magilton (pen)
26 December 1996 Tottenham HotspurA1-330,549Le Tissier
29 December 1996 LiverpoolH0-115,222
11 January 1997 MiddlesbroughA1-029,509Magilton (pen)
18 January 1997 Newcastle UnitedH2-215,251Maddison, Le Tissier
1 February 1997 Manchester UnitedA1-255,269Østenstad
22 February 1997 Sheffield WednesdayH2-315,062Østenstad, Le Tissier
26 February 1997 WimbledonH0-014,418
1 March 1997 Newcastle UnitedA1-036,446Le Tissier
5 March 1997 EvertonH2-215,134Slater, Short (own goal)
12 March 1997 Leeds UnitedA0-025,913
15 March 1997 ArsenalH0-215,144
19 March 1997 ChelseaA0-128,079
22 March 1997 Leicester CityH2-215,044Østenstad, van Gobbel
5 April 1997 Nottingham ForestA3-125,134Magilton, Evans
9 April 1997 Derby CountyA1-117,839Powell (own goal)
12 April 1997 West Ham UnitedH2-015,244Evans, Berkovic
19 April 1997 Coventry CityH2-215,251Evans, Østenstad
22 April 1997 SunderlandA1-021,521Østenstad
3 May 1997 Blackburn RoversH2-015,247Slater, Le Tissier
11 May 1997 Aston VillaA0-139,339

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R34 January 1997 ReadingA1-311,537Østenstad

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st Leg 18 September 1996 Peterborough UnitedH2-014,467Le Tissier, Watson
R2 2nd Leg 25 September 1996 Peterborough UnitedA4-18,220Watson, Charlton, Magilton, Dryden
R323 October 1996 Lincoln CityH2-214,516Le Tissier, van Gobbel
R3R12 November 1996 Lincoln CityA3-110,523Magilton (pen), Watson, Berkovic
R426 November 1996 Oxford UnitedA1-19,473Dryden
R4R18 December 1996 Oxford UnitedH3-210,737Berkovic, Dryden, Østenstad
QF22 January 1997 Stockport CountyA2-29,840Østenstad (2)
QFR29 January 1997 Stockport CountyH1-213,428Le Tissier

Squad

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

No. Position Player
1 England GK Dave Beasant
2 England DF Jason Dodd
3 England DF Francis Benali
4 Northern Ireland MF Jim Magilton
5 England DF Barry Venison
6 Suriname DF Ken Monkou
7 England MF Matt Le Tissier (captain)
8 Republic of Ireland FW Mickey Evans
10 England MF Neil Maddison
13 England GK Neil Moss
14 England DF Simon Charlton
15 Wales DF Alan Neilson
16 Wales MF David Hughes
17 England MF Paul Tisdale
18 England MF Matt Oakley
No. Position Player
19 England DF Richard Dryden
20 Australia MF Robbie Slater
22 Norway DF Claus Lundekvam
23 England GK Darryl Flahavan
24 England MF Christer Warren (on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham during playing season)
25 Scotland MF Paul Sheerin
26 England DF Matthew Robinson
27 England FW Steve Basham
28 England MF Russell Watkinson
29 Israel MF Eyal Berkovic
30 Norway FW Egil Østenstad
32 Netherlands DF Ulrich van Gobbel
33 Northern Ireland GK Maik Taylor (from January)

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
8 England FW Gordon Watson (to Bradford City)
9 England FW Neil Shipperley (to Crystal Palace)
11 England MF Neil Heaney (until November; to Manchester City)
12 England DF Graham Potter (to West Bromwich Albion)
No. Position Player
21 England MF Frankie Bennett (to Bristol Rovers)
31 England GK Chris Woods (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
33 Senegal FW Ali Dia (released)

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
- England MF Duncan Spedding
No. Position Player
- England MF Andy Williams

References

  1. "Never again...". BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  2. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 248 & 504. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  3. Matt Le Tissier recounts the Ali Dia saga on youtube
  4. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/southampton/1996-1997/results
  5. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/southam.htm
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