1996–97 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland
1996–97 season
Chairman Bob Murray
Manager Peter Reid
Stadium Roker Park
Premiership 18th (relegated)
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Third round
Top goalscorer Russell/Stewart (4)
Highest home attendance 22,512 vs Derby County
(26 Dec 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance 10,659 vs Watford
(24 Sep 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance 20,865

During the 1996–97 English football season, Sunderland competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

Just one year after they had almost slipped into Division Two, Sunderland had returned to the top flight under new manager Peter Reid. With a new 42,000-seat stadium due to be ready in the summer of 1997, Reid and his players were determined to secure survival in the final season at historic Roker Park and give the new stadium at Monkwearmouth a debut season in the Premiership.

The first half of the season went well for club, finding themselves in a comfortable 11th position by the end of January, boasting a strong home form going into the February. However, a run of 4 consecutive defeats against Aston Villa, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hospur saw them slip down to 16th by March.

Sunderland lost 1-0 to Wimbledon on the final day of the season; with Coventry City's win at Tottenham, the Wearsiders were relegated.

On a high note, Sunderland did manage to beat Chelsea (3-0), Arsenal (1-0) and Manchester United (2-1) all at home during the season.

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 10 18 35 53 −18 40 7 6 6 20 18 +2 3 4 12 15 35 −20

Source: Statto

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHA
Result D W D L D L W L D L W L L D W L W L W L D W D D L L L L W L L D D L W L W L
Position 11 3 5 10 10 13 10 12 13 15 13 16 16 16 12 14 14 14 11 13 11 11 11 11 12 14 15 16 15 15 15 16 15 18 16 17 17 18

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

Results

Sunderland's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
17 August 1996 Leicester CityH0-019,262
21 August 1996 Nottingham ForestA4-122,874Gray, Quinn (2), Ord
24 August 1996 LiverpoolA0-040,503
4 September 1996 Newcastle UnitedH1-222,037Scott (pen)
8 September 1996 West Ham UnitedH0-018,642
14 September 1996 Derby CountyA0-117,692
21 September 1996 Coventry CityH1-019,459Agnew
28 September 1996 ArsenalA0-238,016
14 October 1996 MiddlesbroughH2-220,936Rae (pen), Russell
19 October 1996 SouthamptonA0-315,225
26 October 1996 Aston VillaH1-021,059Stewart
2 November 1996 Leeds UnitedA0-331,667
16 November 1996 Tottenham HotspurA0-231,867
23 November 1996 Sheffield WednesdayH1-120,644Melville
30 November 1996 EvertonA3-140,087Russell, Bridges (2)
7 December 1996 WimbledonH1-319,672Melville
15 December 1996 ChelseaH3-019,683Duberry (own goal), Ball, Russell
21 December 1996 Manchester UnitedA0-555,081
26 December 1996 Derby CountyH2-022,512Ord, Russell
28 December 1996 West Ham UnitedA0-224,077
1 January 1997 Coventry CityA2-217,700Bridges, Agnew (pen)
11 January 1997 ArsenalH1-021,154Adams (own goal)
18 January 1997 Blackburn RoversH0-020,850
29 January 1997 Leicester CityA1-117,883Williams
1 February 1997 Aston VillaA0-132,491
22 February 1997 Leeds UnitedH0-121,890
1 March 1997 Blackburn RoversA0-124,208
4 March 1997 Tottenham HotspurH0-420,785
8 March 1997 Manchester UnitedH2-122,225Gray, Mullin
12 March 1997 Sheffield WednesdayA1-220,294Ball
16 March 1997 ChelseaA2-624,027Stewart, Rae
22 March 1997 Nottingham ForestH1-122,120Ball
5 April 1997 Newcastle UnitedA1-136,582Gray
13 April 1997 LiverpoolH1-221,938Stewart
19 April 1997 MiddlesbroughA1-030,106Williams
22 April 1997 SouthamptonH0-121,521
3 May 1997 EvertonH3-022,108Stewart (pen), Waddle, Johnston
11 May 1997 WimbledonA0-121,338

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R34 January 1997 ArsenalA1-137,793Gray
R3R15 January 1997 ArsenalH0-215,277

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st Leg17 September 1996 WatfordA2-09,136Quinn, Rae
R2 2nd Leg24 September 1996 WatfordH1-0 (won 3-0 on agg)10,659Scott
R323 October 1996 Tottenham HotspurA1-224,867Ball

Squad

[2][3] 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 Tony Coton
2 Poland DF Dariusz Kubicki
3 England DF Martin Scott
4 England MF Paul Bracewell (vice-captain)
5 England MF Kevin Ball (captain)
6 Wales DF Andy Melville
7 England DF Michael Gray
8 England DF Richard Ord
9 England FW Craig Russell
10 England MF Paul Stewart
11 England MF Steve Agnew
12 Wales DF Gareth Hall
13 England GK David Preece
14 England DF Lee Howey
15 Scotland MF Alex Rae
16 Republic of Ireland FW David Kelly
No. Position Player
17 Republic of Ireland FW Niall Quinn
18 England FW Martin Smith
19 England FW Michael Bridges
20 England DF Darren Holloway
21 England MF Sam Aiston
22 England MF John Mullin
23 England DF Darren Williams
24 England DF Paul Heckingbottom
25 England MF Chris Waddle
26 Scotland MF Allan Johnston
28 England GK Philip Naisbett
29 England MF Steven Pickering
30 France GK Lionel Pérez
32 England GK Chris Woods
33 Sweden DF Jan Eriksson
34 Denmark MF Kim Heiselberg

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 DF Elliott Dickman
- England FW Brett Angell
- England FW Paul Beavers
- England FW Steve Brodie
No. Position Player
- England FW Paul Conlon
- Republic of Ireland FW Stephen Grant
- England FW Chris Tate

Transfers

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
1 June 1996 MF Alex Rae Millwall £1,000,000
11 July 1996 FW Paul Conlon Hartlepool United Free transfer
18 July 1996 GK Tony Coton Manchester United £600,000
1 August 1996 FW Chris Tate York City Signed
1 August 1996 GK Lionel Pérez Bordeaux £200,000
17 August 1996 FW Niall Quinn Manchester City £1,300,000
18 October 1996 DF Darren Williams York City £50,000
7 January 1997 DF Jan Eriksson Helsingborgs IF £250,000
17 March 1997 MF Chris Waddle Bradford City £75,000
21 March 1997 MF Kim Keiselberg Esbjerg fB £125,000
26 March 1997 GK Chris Woods Colorado Rapids Signed
1 April 1997 MF Allan Johnston Rennes £550,000

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
10 July 1996 GK Alec Chamberlain Watford £40,000
27 July 1996 DF Scott Coates Berwick Rangers Signed
1 August 1996 MF Brian Atkinson Darlington Free transfer
1 August 1996 MF Gordon Armstrong Bury Free transfer
22 November 1996 FW Brett Angell Stockport County £120,000
14 February 1997 FW Steve Brodie Scarborough Free transfer
Transfers in: Decrease £4,150,000
Transfers out: Increase £160,000
Total spending: Decrease £3,990,000

References

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