1996–97 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

The 1996–97 season for Huddersfield Town failed to carry on the good work of the previous and nearly saw Town relegated back to Division Two. Following the heavy spending on players in the closed season, much was expected of the Terriers in the 1996–97 season but, despite a bright start from new striker Marcus Stewart, Horton was unable to improve on the team's consistently poor away form that had ended the side's playoff bid the previous year. Long-term injuries to Stewart and Andy Morrison did little to help things and, with the previously strong home form becoming increasingly patchy, the Terriers struggled at the wrong end of the table. It was perhaps the least celebrated summer signing, Andy Payton, who notched an impressive tally of 20 goals and helped staved off the threat of relegation as the side scrambled to 20th, just 8 points and 2 places above the drop zone.

Huddersfield Town
1996–97 season
ChairmanEngland Malcolm Asquith
ManagerEngland Brian Horton
Division One20th
FA CupThird round
(knocked out by Queens Park Rangers)
League CupThird round
(knocked out by Middlesbrough)
Top goalscorerLeague: Andy Payton (17)
All: Andy Payton (19)
Highest home attendance17,358 vs Manchester City (18 January 1997)
Lowest home attendance5,094 vs Colchester United (19 September 1996)
Biggest win3–0 vs Wrexham (20 August 1996)
3–0 vs Birmingham City (8 October 1996)
Biggest defeat0–6 vs Swindon Town (16 October 19966)

Injuries and illness forced Town to play 35 players during the season, then a record, which would actually be broken the following season. Brian Horton's job was seemingly under threat, although he wouldn't leave the McAlpine Stadium until October 1997.

Squad at the start of the season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK England ENG Steve Francis
-- GK Wales WAL Tony Norman
-- DF England ENG Sam Collins
-- DF Scotland SCO Tom Cowan
-- DF England ENG Jon Dyson
-- DF England ENG Kevin Gray
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Thomas Heary
-- DF Wales WAL Steve Jenkins
-- DF Scotland SCO Andy Morrison
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Robbie Ryan
-- DF England ENG Lee Sinnott
-- MF England ENG Simon Baldry
-- MF England ENG Darren Bullock
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF England ENG Simon Collins
-- MF England ENG Gary Crosby
-- MF England ENG Paul Dalton
-- MF England ENG Rob Edwards
-- MF England ENG Lee Makel
-- MF England ENG Paul Reid
-- FW England ENG Iain Dunn
-- FW Grenada GRN Delroy Facey
-- FW England ENG Ian Lawson
-- FW England ENG Michael Midwood
-- FW England ENG Andy Payton
-- FW England ENG Rodney Rowe
-- FW England ENG Marcus Stewart

Review

Town made a promising start beating Charlton Athletic 2–0 in front of the highest home crowd for an opening day game for 24 years. This was followed up by wins over Ipswich Town, Oldham Athletic, Reading & Birmingham City, but then a spell of 9 games without a win including a 6–0 hiding at Swindon Town left manager Brian Horton in the lurch.

Form wasn't helped by the consistent injuries to top players such as Marcus Stewart and Andy Morrison, but Town slowly tried to recover, but their best run of the season came during the Christmas and New Year period when they went 5 games unbeaten, but they then went on a run of 1 win in 10, which propelled them into relegation territory.

By the end of the season, top scorer Andy Payton's goals were starting to dry up, but a win on the penultimate day of the season against already relegated Southend United made certain that Town would play Division 1 football the next season.

Squad at the end of the season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK England ENG Steve Francis
-- GK Wales WAL Tony Norman
-- DF England ENG Sam Collins
-- DF Scotland SCO Tom Cowan
-- DF England ENG Jon Dyson
-- DF England ENG Darren Edmondson
-- DF England ENG Kevin Gray
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Thomas Heary
-- DF Wales WAL Steve Jenkins
-- DF Scotland SCO Andy Morrison
-- DF Republic of Ireland IRL Robbie Ryan
-- DF England ENG Lee Sinnott
-- MF England ENG Simon Baldry
-- MF England ENG David Beresford
-- MF Wales WAL Marcus Browning
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF England ENG Wayne Burnett
-- MF England ENG Gary Crosby
-- MF England ENG Paul Dalton
-- MF England ENG Rob Edwards
-- MF Scotland SCO Lee Glover (on loan from Rotherham United)
-- MF England ENG Jeremy Illingworth
-- MF England ENG Lee Makel
-- FW Grenada GRN Delroy Facey
-- FW England ENG Peter Kaye
-- FW England ENG Ian Lawson
-- FW England ENG Michael Midwood
-- FW England ENG Andy Payton
-- FW England ENG Rodney Rowe
-- FW England ENG Marcus Stewart

Results

Division One

Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
17 August 1996 Charlton Athletic H 2 - 0 Bullock [15], Morrison [85] 11,858 3rd
25 August 1996 Barnsley A 1 - 3 Cowan [44] 9,787 12th
31 August 1996 Crystal Palace H 1 - 1 Payton [33] 11,166 16th
7 September 1996 Ipswich Town A 3 - 1 Payton [47, 67], Stewart [51] 10,661 7th
10 September 1996 Tranmere Rovers H 0 - 1 10,181 11th
13 September 1996 Oldham Athletic H 3 - 2 Stewart [15, 85], Gray [90] 10,296 7th
22 September 1996 Stoke City A 2 - 3 Worthington [7 (og)], Stewart [36] 9,147 14th
28 September 1996 Reading H 1 - 0 Payton [34] 10,330 11th
8 October 1996 Birmingham City H 3 - 0 Edwards [17], Stewart [23], Dalton [45] 10,904 7th
12 October 1996 West Bromwich Albion A 1 - 1 Cowan [51] 14,960 6th
16 October 1996 Swindon Town A 0 - 6 7,724 10th
19 October 1996 Southend United H 0 - 0 9,578 10th
26 October 1996 Port Vale H 0 - 1 11,017 12th
30 October 1996 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0 - 0 22,376 13th
2 November 1996 Bolton Wanderers A 0 - 2 15,865 15th
8 November 1996 Bradford City H 3 - 3 Dalton [42], Lawson [45], Crosby [48] 14,126 13th
16 November 1996 Oxford United A 0 - 1 7,460 15th
19 November 1996 Manchester City A 0 - 0 23,314 17th
23 November 1996 Grimsby Town H 2 - 0 Payton [24, 27] 10,590 13th
30 November 1996 Port Vale A 0 - 0 6,026 15th
3 December 1996 Sheffield United A 1 - 3 Payton [14] 14,700 15th
7 December 1996 Norwich City H 2 - 0 Payton [34, 56] 10,749 13th
14 December 1996 Portsmouth A 1 - 3 Makel [51] 6,954 17th
21 December 1996 Queens Park Rangers H 1 - 2 Payton [51] 10,718 18th
26 December 1996 Tranmere Rovers A 1 - 1 Payton [21] 10,134 18th
28 December 1996 Ipswich Town H 2 - 0 Lawson [50], Payton [85] 11,467 18th
1 January 1997 Stoke City H 2 - 1 Makel [6], Edwards [63] 11,919 12th
18 January 1997 Manchester City H 1 - 1 Lawson [78] 17,358 13th
25 January 1997 Oldham Athletic A 2 - 1 Payton [71, 83] 8,566 13th
28 January 1997 Reading A 1 - 4 Payton [9] 5,710 13th
1 February 1997 Bradford City A 1 - 1 Crosby [1] 17,373 14th
8 February 1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0 - 2 15,267 15th
15 February 1997 Grimsby Town A 2 - 2 Stewart [44], Edwards [48] 6,197 16th
22 February 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 1 - 2 Cowan [16] 15,861 16th
1 March 1997 Norwich City A 0 - 2 13,001 17th
4 March 1997 Oxford United H 1 - 0 Makel [27] 11,276 14th
8 March 1997 Queens Park Rangers A 0 - 2 9,789 18th
15 March 1997 Portsmouth H 1 - 3 Stewart [35] 10,512 20th
22 March 1997 Barnsley H 0 - 0 14,754 20th
31 March 1997 Sheffield United H 2 - 1 Dalton [1], Cowan [18] 14,551 19th
5 April 1997 Crystal Palace A 1 - 1 Payton [61] 13,541 20th
9 April 1997 Charlton Athletic A 1 - 2 Dalton [77] 11,032 20th
12 April 1997 Birmingham City A 0 - 1 14,394 20th
19 April 1997 West Bromwich Albion H 0 - 0 12,748 20th
26 April 1997 Southend United A 2 - 1 Payton [23], Beresford [67] 4,762 20th
4 May 1997 Swindon Town H 0 - 0 11,506 20th

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
4 January 1997 Round 3 Queens Park Rangers A 1 - 1 Crosby [64] 11,776
14 January 1997 Round 3 replay Queens Park Rangers H 1 - 2 Edwards [7] 11,814

League Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
20 August 1996 Round 1 1st Leg Wrexham H 3 - 0 Stewart [12, 25, 53] 5,178
3 September 1996 Round 1 2nd Leg Wrexham A 2 - 1 Payton [10], Edwards [55] 1,776
  • Huddersfield won 5–1 on aggregate
17 September 1996 Round 2 1st Leg Colchester United H 1 - 1 Cowan [45] 5,094
24 September 1996 Round 2 2nd Leg Colchester United A 2 - 0 (aet: 90 mins: 0 - 0) Stewart [98], Simon Collins [110] 4,095
  • Huddersfield won 3–1 on aggregate
23 October 1996 Round 3 Middlesbrough A 1 - 5 Payton [87] 26,615

Appearances and goals

NameNationPositionLeague AppsLeague GoalsFA Cup AppsFA Cup GoalsLeague Cup AppsLeague Cup GoalsTotal AppsTotal Goals
Simon Baldry EnglandMF2 (5)000002 (5)0
David Beresford EnglandMF61000061
Marcus Browning WalesMF1300000130
Darren Bullock EnglandMF26 (1)1204032 (1)1
Wayne Burnett EnglandMF33 (2)01 (1)03037 (3)0
Sam Collins EnglandDF10 (6)00 (2)02 (2)012 (10)0
Simon Collins EnglandDF3 (1)0001 (1)14 (2)1
Tom Cowan ScotlandDF4241051485
Gary Crosby EnglandMF19 (5)2210021 (5)3
Paul Dalton EnglandMF17 (12)4001 (2)018 (14)4
Simon Davies WalesMF30000030
Iain Dunn EnglandFW1 (4)000001 (4)0
Jon Dyson EnglandDF18 (5)0200 (2)020 (7)0
Darren Edmondson EnglandDF1000000100
Rob Edwards EnglandMF24 (9)3214 (1)130 (10)5
Delroy Facey GrenadaFW1 (2)000001 (2)0
Steve Francis EnglandGK4201050480
Lee Glover EnglandMF1100000110
Kevin Gray EnglandDF36 (3)1004040 (3)1
Thomas Heary Republic of IrelandDF2 (3)010003 (3)0
Jeremy Illingworth EnglandMF2 (1)000002 (1)0
Steve Jenkins WalesDF3302050400
Peter Kaye EnglandFW0 (1)000000 (1)0
Ian Lawson EnglandFW8 (10)31 (1)01 (3)010 (14)3
Lee Makel EnglandMF1932030243
Andy Morrison ScotlandDF9 (1)1002011 (1)1
Tony Norman WalesGK40100050
Andy Payton EnglandFW381720524519
Paul Reid EnglandMF20 (2)01 (1)04025 (3)0
Rodney Rowe EnglandFW1 (6)0000 (1)01 (7)0
Robbie Ryan Republic of IrelandDF2 (3)000002 (3)0
Lee Sinnott EnglandDF29 (1)0002031 (1)0
Marcus Stewart EnglandFW19 (1)7104424 (1)11
Paul Tisdale MaltaDF1 (1)000001 (1)0
Mike Williams EnglandMF20000020

References

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