1996–97 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

Wolverhampton Wanderers
1996–97 season
Chairman Jonathan Hayward
Manager Mark McGhee
First Division 3rd
(lost in play-offs)
FA Cup 3rd round
League Cup 1st round
Top goalscorer League: Steve Bull (23)
All: Steve Bull (23)
Highest home attendance 27,400 (vs Stoke,
1 February 1997)
Lowest home attendance 10,760 (vs Swindon,
4 September 1996)
Average home league attendance 24,763 (league only)

The 1996–97 season was the 98th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.

The team finished in third position in the league, their highest position in the football pyramid since their relegation from the top flight in 1983–84. Nonetheless, the season ended in disappointment for the club as they lost in the semi-finals of the play-offs to Crystal Palace, thereby failing to reach the Premier League.

Their failure to finish ahead of unfancied Barnsley in the automatic promotion places, and then subsequent play-off exit, caused owner Sir Jack Hayward to make an emotional outburst days after the campaign in which he accused manager Mark McGhee and the chairman, his son Jonathan, of "blackmailing" him into funding their high transfer spending. He promised that there would be an end to Wolves being a "sloppily-run club".[1][2]

Results

Football League First Division

A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1996–97 season. Each team played every other team twice: once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.

The provisional fixture list was released on 17 June 1996, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.[3]

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA 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

Source: Statto.com

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
46 22 10 14 68 51 +17 76 10 5 8 31 24 +7 12 5 6 37 27 +10

Source: Statto.com

Results by round

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
Result W W D L W D W L W L L D W L W D D L W W D L W W D W L W W W W L W D W W L L L D W L W D W L
Position 1 2 4 6 3 6 3 4 3 5 6 6 3 5 4 6 5 9 7 6 5 6 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Source: Statto.com

Play-offs

FA Cup

League Cup

Players

Key

      ‡ On loan from another club       * First appearance(s) for the club

# = Squad number

Pos = Playing position

P = Number of games played

G = Number of goals scored

GK = Goalkeeper

DF = Defender

MF = Midfielder

FW = Forward

A yellow card = Yellow cards

A red card = Red cards

† Permanent player left club during the season

¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season

Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.

Pos Name P G P G P G P G A yellow card A red card Notes
League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
GKEngland Bartram, VinceVince Bartram 0000000000
GKEngland Murray, MattMatt Murray 0000000000
GKNetherlands Segers, HansHans Segers 0000000000
GKEngland Stowell, MikeMike Stowell 480102051000
DFEngland Curle, KeithKeith Curle (c) 22(1)2000022(1)200
DFWales Law, BrianBrian Law 4(3)000004(3)000
DFNorthern Ireland Masters, NeilNeil Masters 0000000000
DFEngland Naylor, LeeLee Naylor 0000000000
DFEngland Pearce, DennisDennis Pearce 4000004000
DFEngland Richards, DeanDean Richards 19(2)1002021(2)100
DFFrance Romano, SergeSerge Romano 1(3)000102(3)000
DFEngland Smith, JamieJamie Smith 38(2)1101(1)040(3)100
DFEngland Thompson, AndyAndy Thompson 27(6)2002029(6)200
DFEngland Venus, MarkMark Venus 36(4)0102039(4)000
DFEngland Westwood, ChrisChris Westwood 0000000000
DFWales Williams, AdrianAdrian Williams 8100008100
DFWales Young, EricEric Young 1000001000
MFEngland Atkins, MarkMark Atkins 46(1)5102049(1)500
MFAustralia Corica, SteveSteve Corica 33(3)2102036(3)200
MFEngland Daley, TonyTony Daley 0000000000
MFNorthern Ireland Dennison, RobbieRobbie Dennison 9(5)1100010(5)100
MFGermany Dowe, JensJens Dowe 5(3)000005(3)000
MFEngland Emblen, NeilNeil Emblen 27(1)0100028(1)000
MFScotland Ferguson, DarrenDarren Ferguson 12(6)30(1)11013(7)401
MFEngland Froggatt, SteveSteve Froggatt 272002029200
MFBarbados Gilkes, MichaelMichael Gilkes 5100005100
MFEngland Osborn, SimonSimon Osborn 35(2)5101137(2)600
MFEngland Rankine, MarkMark Rankine 0000000000
MFWales Robinson, CarlCarl Robinson 1(1)000001(1)000
MFEngland Thomas, GeoffGeoff Thomas 17(7)3100018(7)300
MFNetherlands van der Laan, RobinRobin van der Laan 7000007000
MFEngland Wright, JermaineJermaine Wright 0(3)0000(2)00(5)000
FWEngland Bull, SteveSteve Bull 45231020482301
FWRepublic of Ireland Crowe, GlenGlen Crowe ¤ 5(1)000005(1)000
FWRepublic of Ireland Foley, DominicDominic Foley 0(7)100000(7)100
FWEngland Goodman, DonDon Goodman 20(8)6100021(8)600
FWEngland Leadbeater, RichardRichard Leadbeater 0(1)000000(1)000
FWWales Roberts, IwanIwan Roberts 26(9)120(1)02028(10)1200

Transfers

In

Date Player From Fee
1 July 1996Wales Adrian WilliamsReading£750,000[4]
5 July 1996Wales Iwan RobertsLeicester City£1.3 million[5]
31 July 1996England Keith CurleManchester City£650,000[6]
12 August 1996France Serge RomanoMartiguesFree[7]
30 August 1996Netherlands Hans SegersUnattachedFree[8]
27 March 1997Barbados Michael Gilkes Reading£150,000[9]

Out

Date Player To Fee
June 1996Netherlands John de WolfReleasedFree[10]
June 1996England Andy De BontHereford UnitedFree[11]
June 1996England Gavin MahonHereford UnitedFree[11]
June 1996England Steve PiearceDoncaster RoversFree[11]
June 1996England Quentin TownsendHereford UnitedFree[11]
June 1996South Africa Mark WilliamsReleasedFree[10]
16 July 1996Wales Paul JonesStockport County£60,000[12]
20 July 1996England Paul BirchDoncaster RoversFree
17 September 1996England Mark RankinePreston North End£100,000[13]
28 March 1997Northern Ireland Neil MastersGillingham£150,000[14]

Loans in

Start date Player From End date
9 October 1996Germany Jens DoweHamburgEnd of season[15]
11 October 1996Netherlands Robin van der LaanDerby County1 January 1997[16][17]
26 February 1997England Vince BartramArsenal14 March 1997[18][19]

Loans out

Start date Player To End date
21 February 1997Republic of Ireland Glen CroweExeter City12 April 1997[20]

Management and coaching staff

Position Name
Manager Mark McGhee
Assistant Manager Colin Lee
First Team Coach Mike Hickman
Youth Development Officer Chris Evans
Youth Team Coach Chris Turner
Club Doctors Dr Peter Ackroyd and Dr Peter Bekenn
Club Physio Barry Holmes

Kit

The season saw Puma take over as the club's kit manufacturer, and two new kits were therefore introduced. Both used a "wolf head" design to the shirts as a central feature, the home shirt using their traditional gold and black colours, while the away kit used shades of teal. In a further emphasis of the "wolf head", a new club emblen was introduced replacing the usage of the Wolverhampton city crest on the shirts that had been adopted for the previous three seasons. Both shirts featured the sponsor name of Goodyear.

References

  1. "Mac lashed". The Mirror. 16 May 1997.
  2. "McGhee blasted by boss". Daily Record. 16 May 1997.
  3. "Fixture guide". The Mirror. 18 June 1996.
  4. "Wolves hunt". The Mirror. 1 July 1996.
  5. "Iwan hits out". The Mirror. 6 July 1996.
  6. "Wolves grab Maine man". The Mirror. 1 August 1996.
  7. "Plymouth sign Grobbelaar". The Independent. 10 August 1996.
  8. "Handy Hans". The Mirror. 30 August 1996.
  9. "Round-up". The Independent. 27 March 1997.
  10. 1 2 "Football". The Independent. 8 May 1996.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Club-By-Club Guide to the Nationwide League". The Times. 15 August 1996. p. 41.
  12. "Stockport sign Paul Jones from Wolves". The Independent. 17 July 1996.
  13. "On the move". The Independent. 22 September 1996.
  14. "Everton call on Donachie as stand-in". The Independent. 29 March 1997.
  15. "Celtic settle row with striker". The Independent. 10 October 1996.
  16. "Derby v Newcastle". The Mirror. 12 October 1996.
  17. "No headline". The Independent. 7 November 1996.
  18. "Cover up Bart". The Mirror. 19 February 1997.
  19. "Bergkamp fears the worst". Daily Mail. 15 March 1997.
  20. "On the move". The Independent. 23 February 1997.
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