1996–97 Football League

The Football League

Season	1996–97
Champions	Bolton Wanderers
Promoted	Bolton Wanderers Barnsley Crystal Palace
Relegated	Hereford United
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Football League (known as the Nationwide Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 98th completed season of The Football League.

Bolton Wanderers returned to the Premiership in superb fashion, hitting 100 goals and taking 98 points. Barnsley were promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history, while Crystal Palace returned after a two-year absence by winning the play-offs.

The decline of Oldham Athletic continued, falling into the third tier for the first time in 23 years, and just three years after being in the Premiership. Grimsby Town and Southend United joined them in relegation to the Second Division.

Bury won their second consecutive promotion, taking the Second Division title, Stockport County joined them in automatic promotion, and play-off winners Crewe Alexandra completed the trio moving up.

Going down were Peterborough United, Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United and Notts County. County had been in the top division just five years earlier.

Wigan Athletic won the Third Division title on goals scored from Fulham. Carlisle United and play-off winners Northampton Town also won promotion to the Second Division.

Hereford United were the first club for four years to be relegated to the Conference after finishing bottom. Conference champions Macclesfield Town replaced Hereford (two years after Town had been denied entry to the Third Division). In December, Brighton & Hove Albion were 11 points adrift at the bottom of the Third Division, having had 2 points deducted for a pitch invasion. However a draw in their final game at Hereford kept Brighton in the league, and sent United down.

Final league tables and results

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,^[1] with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division

Football League, First Division

Season	1996–97
Champions	Bolton Wanderers (3rd second tier title)
Direct promotion to FA Premier League	Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley
Promoted to FA Premier League through play-offs	Crystal Palace
Relegated	Grimsby Town, Oldham Athletic, Southend United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1476 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorer	John McGinlay (Bolton Wanderers), 24 [2]
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Bolton Wanderers	46		18	4	1	60	20		10	10	3	40	33		100	53	+47		98
2	Barnsley	46		14	4	5	43	19		8	10	5	33	36		76	55	+21		80
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46		10	5	8	31	24		12	5	6	37	27		68	51	+17		76
4	Ipswich Town	46		13	7	3	44	23		7	7	9	24	27		68	50	+18		74
5	Sheffield United	46		13	5	5	46	23		7	8	8	29	29		75	52	+23		73
6	Crystal Palace	46		10	7	6	39	22		9	7	7	39	26		78	48	+30		71
7	Portsmouth	46		12	4	7	32	24		8	4	11	27	29		59	53	+6		68
8	Port Vale	46		9	9	5	36	28		8	7	8	22	27		58	55	+3		67
9	Queens Park Rangers	46		10	5	8	33	25		8	7	8	31	35		64	60	+4		66
10	Birmingham City	46		11	7	5	30	18		6	8	9	22	30		52	48	+4		66
11	Tranmere Rovers	46		10	9	4	41	27		7	5	11	21	29		63	56	+7		65
12	Stoke City	46		15	3	5	34	22		3	7	13	17	35		51	57	–6		64
13	Norwich City	46		9	10	4	28	18		8	2	13	35	50		63	68	–5		63
14	Manchester City	46		12	4	7	34	24		5	6	12	25	35		59	60	–1		61
15	Charlton Athletic	46		11	8	4	36	28		5	3	15	16	38		52	66	–14		59
16	West Bromwich Albion	46		7	7	9	37	33		7	8	8	31	39		68	72	–4		57
17	Oxford United	46		14	3	6	44	26		2	6	15	20	42		64	68	–4		57
18	Reading	46		13	7	3	37	24		2	5	16	21	43		58	67	–9		57
19	Swindon Town	46		11	6	6	36	27		4	3	16	16	44		52	71	–19		54
20	Huddersfield Town	46		10	7	6	28	20		3	8	12	20	41		48	61	–13		54
21	Bradford City	46		10	5	8	29	32		2	7	14	18	40		47	72	–25		48
22	Grimsby Town	46		7	7	9	31	34		4	6	13	28	47		60	81	–21		46
23	Oldham Athletic	46		6	8	9	30	30		4	5	14	21	36		51	66	–15		43
24	Southend United	46		7	9	7	32	32		1	6	16	10	53		42	86	–44		39

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Barnsley

Birmingham

Bolton

Bradford City

Charlton

Crystal Palace

Grimsby Town

Huddersfield

Ipswich Town

Manchester City

Norwich City

Oldham

Oxford

Portsmouth

Port Vale

QPR

Reading

Sheffield United

Southend

Stoke

Swindon

Tranmere

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1996–1997 teams

First Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg –May 10th; 2nd leg –May 14th, 1997							Final at Wembley May 26th, 1997
	3rd	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1	2	3
	6th	Crystal Palace	3	1	4
								5th	Sheffield United	0
								6th	Crystal Palace	1
	4th	Ipswich Town	1	2	3
	5th	Sheffield United (away goals)	1	2	3

^[1]

First Division Topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	John McGinlay	Bolton Wanderers	24
2	Steve Bull	Wolverhampton Wanderers	23
3	Trevor Morley	Reading	22
4	Nathan Blake	Bolton Wanderers	20
5	John Aldridge	Tranmere Rovers	18
=	Nigel Jemson	Oxford United	18
=	Mike Sheron	Stoke City	18

First Division results

Home ╲ Away

BAR

BIR

BOL

BRA

CHA

CRY

GRI

HUD

IPS

MCI

NOR

OLD

OXF

PTV

POR

QPR

REA

SHU

STD

STK

SWI

TRA

WBA

WOL

Barnsley

0–1

2–2

2–0

4–0

0–0

1–3

3–1

1–2

2–0

3–1

2–0

0–0

1–0

3–2

1–3

3–0

2–0

3–0

3–0

1–1

3–0

2–0

1–3

Birmingham City

0–0

3–1

3–0

0–0

1–0

0–0

1–0

1–0

2–0

2–3

0–0

2–0

1–2

0–3

0–0

4–1

1–1

2–1

3–1

1–0

0–0

2–3

1–2

Bolton Wanderers

2–2

2–1

2–1

4–1

2–2

6–1

2–0

1–2

1–0

3–1

3–1

4–0

4–2

2–0

2–1

2–1

2–2

3–1

1–1

7–0

1–0

1–0

3–0

Bradford City

2–2

0–2

2–4

1–0

0–4

3–4

1–1

2–1

1–3

0–2

0–3

2–0

1–0

3–1

3–0

0–0

1–2

0–0

1–0

2–1

1–0

1–1

2–1

Charlton Athletic

2–2

2–1

3–3

0–2

2–1

1–3

2–1

1–1

1–1

4–4

1–0

2–0

1–3

2–1

2–1

1–0

0–0

2–0

1–2

2–0

3–1

1–1

0–0

Crystal Palace

1–1

0–1

1–1

3–1

1–0

3–0

1–1

0–0

3–1

2–0

3–1

2–2

1–1

1–2

3–0

3–2

0–1

6–1

2–0

1–2

0–1

0–0

2–3

Grimsby Town

2–3

1–2

1–2

1–1

2–0

2–1

2–2

2–1

1–1

1–4

0–3

0–2

1–1

0–1

2–0

2–0

2–4

4–0

1–1

2–1

0–0

1–1

1–3

Huddersfield Town

0–0

3–0

1–2

3–3

2–0

1–1

2–0

2–0

1–1

2–0

3–2

1–0

0–1

1–3

1–2

1–0

2–1

0–0

2–1

0–0

0–1

0–0

0–2

Ipswich Town

1–1

1–1

0–1

3–2

2–1

3–1

1–1

1–3

1–0

2–0

4–0

2–1

2–1

1–1

2–0

5–2

3–1

1–1

1–1

3–2

0–2

5–0

0–0

Manchester City

1–2

1–0

1–2

3–2

2–1

1–1

3–1

0–0

1–0

2–1

1–0

2–3

0–1

1–1

0–3

3–2

0–0

3–0

2–0

3–0

1–2

3–2

0–1

Norwich City

1–1

0–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

1–1

2–1

2–0

3–1

0–0

2–0

1–1

1–1

1–0

1–1

1–1

1–1

0–0

2–0

2–0

1–1

2–4

1–0

Oldham Athletic

0–1

2–2

0–0

1–2

1–1

0–1

0–3

1–2

3–3

2–1

3–0

2–1

3–0

0–0

0–2

1–1

0–2

0–0

1–2

5–1

1–2

1–1

3–2

Oxford United

5–1

0–0

0–0

2–0

0–2

1–4

3–2

1–0

3–1

1–4

0–1

3–1

0–2

2–0

2–3

2–1

4–1

5–0

4–1

2–0

2–1

1–0

1–1

Port Vale

1–3

3–0

1–1

1–1

2–0

0–2

1–1

0–0

2–2

0–2

6–1

3–2

2–0

0–2

4–4

1–0

0–0

2–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

2–2

1–2

Portsmouth

4–2

1–1

0–3

3–1

2–0

2–2

1–0

3–1

0–1

2–1

0–1

1–0

2–1

1–1

1–2

1–0

1–1

1–0

1–0

0–1

1–3

4–0

0–2

Queens Park Rangers

3–1

1–1

1–2

1–0

1–2

0–1

3–0

2–0

0–1

2–2

3–2

0–1

2–1

1–2

2–1

0–2

1–0

4–0

1–1

1–1

2–0

0–2

2–2

Reading

1–2

0–0

3–2

0–0

2–2

1–6

1–1

4–1

1–0

2–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

0–1

0–0

2–1

1–0

3–2

2–2

2–0

2–0

2–2

2–1

Sheffield United

0–1

4–4

1–1

3–0

3–0

3–0

3–1

3–1

1–3

2–0

2–3

2–2

3–1

3–0

1–0

1–1

2–0

3–0

1–0

2–0

0–0

1–2

2–3

Southend United

1–2

1–1

5–2

1–1

0–2

2–1

1–0

1–2

0–0

2–3

1–1

1–1

2–2

0–0

2–1

0–1

2–1

3–2

2–1

1–3

1–1

2–3

1–1

Stoke City

1–0

1–0

1–2

1–0

1–0

2–2

3–1

3–2

0–1

2–1

1–2

2–1

2–1

2–0

3–1

0–0

1–1

0–4

1–2

2–0

2–0

2–1

1–0

Swindon Town

3–0

3–1

2–2

1–1

1–0

0–2

3–3

6–0

0–4

2–0

0–3

1–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–1

3–1

2–1

0–0

1–0

2–1

2–3

1–2

Tranmere Rovers

1–1

1–0

2–2

3–0

4–0

1–3

3–2

1–1

3–0

1–1

3–1

1–1

0–0

2–0

4–3

2–3

2–2

1–1

3–0

0–0

2–1

2–3

0–2

West Bromwich Albion

1–2

2–0

2–2

0–0

1–2

1–0

2–0

1–1

0–0

1–3

5–1

1–1

3–3

1–1

0–2

4–1

3–2

1–2

4–0

0–2

1–2

1–2

2–4

Wolverhampton Wanderers

3–3

1–2

1–2

1–0

1–0

0–3

1–1

0–0

0–0

3–0

3–2

0–1

3–1

0–1

0–1

1–1

0–1

1–2

4–1

2–0

1–0

3–2

2–0

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division

Football League, Second Division

Season	1996–97
Champions	Bury (2nd third tier title)
Direct promotion	Bury, Stockport County
Promoted through play-offs	Crewe Alexandra
Relegated	Notts County, Peterborough United, Rotherham United, Shrewsbury Town
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1257 (2.28 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tony Thorpe (Luton Town), 28 [2]
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Bury	46		18	5	0	39	7		6	7	10	23	31		62	38	+24		84
2	Stockport County	46		15	5	3	31	14		8	8	7	28	27		59	41	+18		82
3	Luton Town	46		13	7	3	38	14		8	8	7	33	31		71	45	+26		78
4	Brentford	46		8	11	4	26	22		12	3	8	30	21		56	43	+13		74
5	Bristol City	46		14	4	5	43	18		7	6	10	26	33		69	51	+18		73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46		15	4	4	38	15		7	3	13	18	32		56	47	+9		73
7	Blackpool	46		13	7	3	41	21		5	8	10	19	26		60	47	+13		69
8	Wrexham	46		11	9	3	38	28		6	9	8	17	22		54	50	+4		69
9	Burnley	46		14	3	6	48	27		5	8	10	23	28		71	55	+16		68
10	Chesterfield	46		10	9	4	25	18		8	5	10	17	21		42	39	+3		68
11	Gillingham	46		13	3	7	37	25		6	7	10	23	34		60	59	+1		67
12	Walsall	46		12	8	3	35	21		7	2	14	19	32		54	53	+1		67
13	Watford	46		10	8	5	24	14		6	11	6	21	24		45	38	+7		67
14	Millwall	46		12	4	7	27	22		4	9	10	23	33		50	55	–5		61
15	Preston North End	46		14	5	4	33	19		4	2	17	16	36		49	55	–6		61
16	Bournemouth	46		8	9	6	24	20		7	6	10	19	25		43	45	–2		60
17	Bristol Rovers	46		13	4	6	34	22		2	7	14	13	28		47	50	–3		56
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46		13	4	6	31	14		2	6	15	20	43		51	56	–5		55
19	Plymouth Argyle	46		7	11	5	19	18		5	7	11	28	40		47	58	–11		54
20	York City	46		8	6	9	27	31		5	7	11	20	37		47	68	–21		52
21	Peterborough United	46		7	7	9	38	34		4	7	12	17	39		55	73	–18		47
22	Shrewsbury Town	46		8	6	9	27	32		3	7	13	22	42		49	74	–25		46
23	Rotherham United	46		4	7	12	17	29		3	7	13	22	41		39	70	–31		35
24	Notts County	46		4	9	10	20	25		3	5	15	13	34		33	59	–26		35

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Blackpool

Bournemouth

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Burnley

Bury

Chesterfield

Crewe Alexandra

Gillingham

Luton Town

Millwall

Notts County

Peterborough

Plymouth Argyle

Preston North End

Rotherham

Shrewsbury

Stockport

Walsall

Watford

Wrexham

Wycombe

York City

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1996–1997 teams

Second Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg –May 11th; 2nd leg –May 14th, 1997							Final at Wembley Stadium May 5th, 1997
	3rd	Luton Town	1	2	3
	6th	Crewe Alexandra	2	2	4
								4th	Brentford	0
								6th	Crewe Alexandra	1
	4th	Brentford	2	2	4
	5th	Bristol City	1	1	2

^[1]

Second Division Topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Tony Thorpe	Luton Town	28
2	Paul Barnes	Burnley	24
3	Carl Asaba	Brentford	23
=	Shaun Goater	Bristol City	23
5	Iffy Onuora	Gillingham	21
6	Kyle Lightbourne	Walsall	20

Second Division results

Home ╲ Away

BLP

BOU

BRE

BRI

BRO

BUR

BRY

CHF

CRE

GIL

LUT

MIL

NTC

PET

PLY

PNE

ROT

SHR

STP

WAL

WAT

WRE

WYC

YOR

Blackpool

1–1

1–0

1–0

3–2

1–3

2–0

0–1

1–2

2–0

0–0

3–0

1–0

5–1

2–2

2–1

4–1

1–1

2–1

2–1

1–1

3–3

0–0

3–0

AFC Bournemouth

0–0

2–1

0–2

1–0

0–0

1–1

3–0

0–1

2–2

3–2

1–1

0–1

1–2

1–0

2–0

1–1

0–0

0–0

0–1

1–2

2–1

2–1

1–1

Brentford

1–1

1–0

0–0

0–0

0–3

0–2

1–0

0–2

2–0

3–2

0–0

2–0

0–1

3–2

0–0

4–2

0–0

2–2

1–1

1–1

2–0

0–0

3–3

Bristol City

0–1

0–1

1–2

1–1

2–1

1–0

2–0

3–0

0–1

5–0

1–1

4–0

2–0

3–1

2–1

0–2

3–2

1–1

4–1

1–1

2–1

3–0

2–0

Bristol Rovers

0–0

3–2

2–1

1–2

1–2

4–3

2–0

2–0

0–0

3–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

2–0

1–0

1–2

2–0

1–1

0–1

0–1

2–0

3–4

1–1

Burnley

2–0

1–0

1–2

2–3

2–2

3–1

0–0

2–0

5–1

0–2

1–0

1–0

5–0

2–1

1–2

3–3

1–3

5–2

2–1

4–1

2–0

2–1

1–2

Bury

1–0

2–1

1–1

4–0

2–1

1–0

1–0

1–0

3–0

0–0

2–0

2–0

1–0

1–0

3–0

3–1

2–0

0–0

2–1

1–1

0–0

2–0

4–1

Chesterfield

0–0

1–1

0–2

1–1

1–0

0–0

1–2

1–0

2–2

1–1

1–0

1–0

2–1

1–2

2–1

1–1

2–1

0–1

1–0

0–0

0–0

4–2

2–0

Crewe Alexandra

3–2

2–0

2–0

1–2

1–0

1–1

2–0

1–2

3–2

0–0

0–0

3–0

1–1

3–0

1–0

1–0

5–1

1–0

1–0

0–2

3–1

3–0

0–1

Gillingham

2–3

1–1

1–2

3–2

1–0

1–0

2–2

0–1

2–1

1–2

2–3

1–0

2–1

4–1

1–1

3–1

2–0

1–0

2–0

3–1

1–2

1–0

0–1

Luton Town

1–0

2–0

1–0

2–2

2–1

1–2

0–0

0–1

6–0

2–1

0–2

2–0

3–0

2–2

5–1

1–0

2–0

1–1

3–1

0–0

0–0

0–0

2–0

Millwall

2–1

0–1

0–0

0–2

2–0

2–1

1–0

2–1

2–0

0–2

0–1

1–0

0–2

0–0

3–2

2–0

2–1

3–4

1–0

0–1

1–1

2–1

1–1

Notts County

1–1

0–2

1–1

2–0

1–1

1–1

0–1

0–0

0–1

1–1

1–2

1–2

0–0

2–1

2–1

0–0

1–2

1–2

2–0

2–3

0–0

1–2

0–1

Peterborough United

0–0

3–1

0–1

3–1

1–2

3–2

1–2

1–1

2–2

0–1

0–1

3–3

1–3

0–0

2–0

6–2

2–2

0–2

0–1

2–1

0–1

6–3

2–2

Plymouth Argyle

0–1

0–0

1–4

0–0

0–1

0–0

2–0

0–3

1–0

2–0

3–3

0–0

0–0

1–1

2–1

1–0

2–2

0–0

2–0

0–0

0–1

0–0

2–1

Preston North End

3–0

0–1

1–0

0–2

0–0

1–1

3–1

0–1

2–1

1–0

3–2

2–1

2–0

3–4

1–1

0–0

2–1

1–0

2–0

1–1

2–1

2–1

1–0

Rotherham United

1–2

1–0

0–1

2–2

0–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

1–4

1–2

0–3

0–0

2–2

2–0

1–2

0–1

1–2

0–1

1–2

0–0

0–0

2–1

0–2

Shrewsbury Town

1–3

1–1

0–3

1–0

2–0

2–1

1–1

2–0

0–1

1–2

0–3

1–1

2–1

2–2

2–3

0–2

0–2

3–2

2–2

1–0

0–1

1–1

2–0

Stockport County

1–0

0–1

1–2

1–1

1–0

1–0

2–1

1–0

1–0

2–1

1–1

5–1

0–0

0–0

3–1

1–0

0–0

3–1

2–0

1–0

0–2

2–1

2–1

Walsall

1–1

2–1

1–0

2–0

1–0

1–3

3–1

1–1

1–0

1–0

3–2

2–1

3–1

4–0

0–1

1–0

1–1

2–2

1–1

1–1

0–1

2–2

1–1

Watford

2–2

0–1

2–0

3–0

1–0

2–2

0–0

0–2

0–1

0–0

1–1

0–2

0–0

0–0

0–2

1–0

2–0

2–0

1–0

1–0

1–1

1–0

4–0

Wrexham

2–1

2–0

0–2

2–1

1–0

0–0

1–1

3–2

1–1

1–1

2–1

3–3

3–3

1–1

4–4

1–0

1–0

2–1

2–3

1–2

3–1

1–0

0–0

Wycombe Wanderers

1–0

1–1

0–1

2–0

2–0

5–0

0–1

1–0

2–0

1–1

0–1

1–0

1–0

2–0

2–1

0–1

4–2

3–0

0–2

0–2

0–0

0–0

3–1

York City

1–0

1–2

2–4

0–3

2–2

1–0

0–2

0–0

1–1

2–3

1–1

3–2

1–2

1–0

1–1

3–1

2–1

0–0

1–2

0–2

1–2

1–0

2–0

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division

Football League, Third Division

Season	1996–97
Champions	Wigan Athletic (1st fourth tier title)
Direct promotion	Wigan Athletic, Carlisle United, Fulham
Promoted through play-offs	Northampton
Relegated to Conference	Hereford United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1383 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Graeme Jones (Wigan Athletic), 31 [2]
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Wigan Athletic	46		17	3	3	53	21		9	6	8	31	30		84	51	+33		87
2	Fulham	46		13	5	5	41	20		12	7	4	31	18		72	38	+34		87
3	Carlisle United	46		16	3	4	41	21		8	9	6	26	23		67	44	+23		84
4	Northampton	46		14	4	5	43	17		6	8	9	24	27		67	44	+23		72
5	Swansea City	46		13	5	5	37	20		8	3	12	25	38		62	58	+4		71
6	Chester	46		11	8	4	30	16		7	8	8	25	27		55	43	+12		70
7	Cardiff City	46		11	4	8	31	24		9	5	9	26	31		56	54	+2		69
8	Colchester United	46		11	9	3	36	23		6	8	9	26	28		62	51	+11		68
9	Lincoln City	46		10	8	5	35	25		8	4	11	35	44		70	69	+1		66
10	Cambridge United	46		11	5	7	30	27		7	6	10	23	32		53	59	–6		65
11	Mansfield Town	46		9	8	6	21	17		7	8	8	26	28		47	45	+2		64
12	Scarborough	46		9	9	5	36	31		7	6	10	30	38		65	68	–3		63
13	Scunthorpe United	46		11	3	9	36	33		7	6	10	23	29		59	62	–3		63
14	Rochdale	46		10	6	7	34	24		4	10	9	24	34		58	58	±0		58
15	Barnet	46		9	9	5	32	23		5	7	11	14	28		46	51	–5		58
16	Leyton Orient	46		11	6	6	28	20		4	6	13	22	38		50	58	–8		57
17	Hull City	46		9	8	6	29	26		4	10	9	15	24		44	50	–6		57
18	Darlington	46		11	5	7	37	28		3	5	15	27	50		64	78	–14		52
19	Doncaster Rovers	46		9	7	7	29	23		5	3	15	23	43		52	66	–14		52
20	Hartlepool United	46		8	6	9	33	32		6	3	14	20	34		53	66	–13		51
21	Torquay United	46		9	4	10	24	24		4	7	12	22	38		46	62	–16		50
22	Exeter City	46		6	9	8	25	30		6	3	14	23	43		48	73	–25		48
23	Brighton & Hove Albion	46		12	6	5	41	27		1	4	18	12	43		53	70	–17		47	[notes 1]
24	Hereford United	46		6	8	9	26	25		5	6	12	24	40		50	65	–15		47

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

1. Brighton & Hove Albion had two points deducted for failure to control spectators.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	New club in the league (none)
	Relegated to Conference

Barnet

Brighton & Hove

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Carlisle United

Chester

Colchester

Darlington

Doncaster

Exeter City

Fulham

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Hull

Leyton Orient

Lincoln City

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Rochdale

Scarborough

Scunthorpe United

Swansea City

Torquay

Wigan Athletic

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1996–1997

Third Division play-offs

	Semifinals 1st leg –May 11th; 2nd leg –May 14th, 1997							Final at Wembley Stadium May 24th, 1997
	4th	Northampton	1	3	4
	7th	Cardiff City	0	2	2
								4th	Northampton	1
								5th	Swansea City	0
	5th	Swansea City	0	3	3
	6th	Chester	0	0	0

^[1]

Third Division Topscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Graeme Jones	Wigan Athletic	31
2	Gareth Ainsworth	Lincoln City	22
3	Mike Conroy	Fulham	21
4	Colin Cramb	Doncaster Rovers	18
5	Adrian Foster	Hereford United	16
=	Darren Roberts	Darlington	16

See also

• 1996-97 in English football

References

1. "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.