1996–97 Norwich City F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Norwich City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Norwich City
1996–97 season
ManagerMike Walker
StadiumCarrow Road
First Division13th
FA CupFourth round
League CupFirst round
Top goalscorerEadie (17)
Highest home attendance20,256 vs. Ipswich Town (11 October 1996)
Lowest home attendance11,946 vs. Portsmouth (1 January 1997)
Average home league attendance14,719

Season summary

In 1996, Mike Walker returned for a second spell as Norwich manager to the delight of the fans but during the season he could not achieve promotion during his first season back at the club with only a 13th-place finish. After a great start which saw the Canaries lose only 2 out of the first 14 games, Norwich's brilliant form deteriorated from the end of October, picking up 3 points from the next 10 matches with 7 defeats during the winless run which all but ended their chances of automatic promotion.

Final league table
Main article: 1996–97 Football League § First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bolton Wanderers (C, P) 46 28 14 4 100 53 +47 98 Promotion to the Premier League
2 Barnsley (P) 46 22 14 10 76 55 +21 80
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 22 10 14 68 51 +17 76 Qualification for the First Division play-offs
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 (O, P) 46 19 14 13 78 48 +30 71
7 Portsmouth 46 20 8 18 59 53 +6 68
8 Port Vale 46 17 16 13 58 55 +3 67
9 Queens Park Rangers 46 18 12 16 64 60 +4 66
10 Birmingham City 46 17 15 14 52 48 +4 66
11 Tranmere Rovers 46 17 14 15 63 56 +7 65
12 Stoke City 46 18 10 18 51 57 −6 64
13 Norwich City 46 17 12 17 63 68 −5 63
14 Manchester City 46 17 10 19 59 60 −1 61
15 Charlton Athletic 46 16 11 19 52 66 −14 59
16 West Bromwich Albion 46 14 15 17 68 72 −4 57
17 Oxford United 46 16 9 21 64 68 −4 57
18 Reading 46 15 12 19 58 67 −9 57
19 Swindon Town 46 15 9 22 52 71 −19 54
20 Huddersfield Town 46 13 15 18 48 61 −13 54
21 Bradford City 46 12 12 22 47 72 −25 48
22 Grimsby Town (R) 46 11 13 22 59 81 −22 46 Relegation to the Second Division
23 Oldham Athletic (R) 46 10 13 23 51 66 −15 43
24 Southend United (R) 46 8 15 23 42 85 −43 39
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Norwich City's score comes first[2]

Legend
Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
17 August 1996Swindon TownH2–015,165Johnson, Fleck
24 August 1996Bolton WanderersA1–313,507Eadie
27 August 1996Oxford UnitedA1–07,436Adams
31 August 1996Wolverhampton WanderersH1–014,456Adams (pen)
7 September 1996Bradford CityA2–010,054Sutch, Eadie
11 September 1996Queens Park RangersH1–114,000Adams
14 September 1996Southend UnitedH0–012,461
21 September 1996PortsmouthA1–07,511Crook
28 September 1996Tranmere RoversH1–114,511Fleck
1 October 1996Grimsby TownA4–15,266Eadie (2), Johnson, O'Neill
11 October 1996Ipswich TownH3–120,256Johnson (2), Polston
16 October 1996Oldham AthleticH2–012,271Eadie, Adams
19 October 1996Manchester CityA1–228,269Scott
26 October 1996Birmingham CityA3–218,869Johnson, Adams, Scott
30 October 1996Sheffield UnitedH1–114,534Adams
2 November 1996Charlton AthleticH1–214,145Milligan
12 November 1996BarnsleyA1–39,697Newman
16 November 1996ReadingH1–114,412Scott
30 November 1996Birmingham CityH0–112,764
7 December 1996Huddersfield TownA0–210,749
14 December 1996Crystal PalaceH1–116,395Adams
18 December 1996West Bromwich AlbionA1–57,483O'Neill
21 December 1996Port ValeA1–66,278Fleck
26 December 1996Queens Park RangersA2–315,699Crook, Eadie
28 December 1996Bradford CityH2–013,473Adams (pen), O'Neill
1 January 1997PortsmouthH1–011,946Jackson
18 January 1997Grimsby TownH2–116,687Polston, Sutch
22 January 1997Stoke CityA2–110,179O'Neill, Eadie
28 January 1997Tranmere RoversA1–35,891Eadie
1 February 1997BarnsleyH1–117,001Eadie
9 February 1997Sheffield UnitedA3–215,301Johnson, Ottosson, Holdsworth (own goal)
15 February 1997West Bromwich AlbionH2–414,845Sutch, Adams (pen)
22 February 1997Charlton AthleticA4–412,405Adams (2), Eadie (2)
25 February 1997Southend UnitedA1–15,169Fleck
1 March 1997Huddersfield TownH2–013,001Eadie (2)
4 March 1997ReadingA1–28,174Adams
8 March 1997Port ValeH1–116,101Jackson
15 March 1997Crystal PalaceA0–217,378
22 March 1997Bolton WanderersH0–117,585
29 March 1997Swindon TownA3–010,249Eadie (2), O'Neill
31 March 1997Oxford UnitedH1–114,644Eadie
5 April 1997Wolverhampton WanderersA2–326,938Broughton, Adams
12 April 1997Stoke CityH2–013,805O'Neill, Eadie
18 April 1997Ipswich TownA0–222,397
25 April 1997Manchester CityH0–014,080
4 May 1997Oldham AthleticA0–35,562

FA Cup
Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R34 January 1997Sheffield UnitedH1–012,356Polston
R425 January 1997Leicester CityA1–216,703Adams (pen)

League Cup
Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 First Leg20 August 1996Oxford UnitedA1–16,062Johnson
R1 Second Leg4 September 1996Oxford UnitedH2–3 (lost 3–4 on agg)7,301Adams (2, 1 pen)

Players

First-team squad
Squad at end of season[3]

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 Andy Marshall
— GK Scotland SCO Bryan Gunn
— DF England ENG Carl Bradshaw
— DF England ENG Matt Jackson
— DF England ENG Danny Mills
— DF England ENG Neil Moore (on loan from Everton)
— DF England ENG Rob Newman
— DF England ENG John Polston
— DF England ENG Kevin Scott (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
— DF England ENG Daryl Sutch
— DF Northern Ireland NIR Johnny Wright
— MF England ENG Neil Adams
— MF England ENG Ian Crook
— MF England ENG Darren Eadie
— MF England ENG Adrian Forbes
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF England ENG Andy Johnson[notes 1]
— MF England ENG Lee Marshall
— MF England ENG David Rocastle (on loan from Chelsea)
— MF England ENG Karl Simpson
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Shaun Carey[notes 2]
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Mike Milligan[notes 3]
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Keith O'Neill
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Matthew Rush[notes 4]
— FW England ENG Ade Akinbiyi[notes 5]
— FW England ENG Drewe Broughton
— FW England ENG Jamie Cureton
— FW England ENG Keith Scott
— FW Scotland SCO Robert Fleck
— FW Wales WAL Craig Bellamy
— FW Sweden SWE Ulf Ottosson (on loan from IFK Norrköping)

Notes
  1. Johnson was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in 1998.
  2. Carey was born in Kettering, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
  3. Milligan was born in Manchester, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21, U-23, and B level before making his international debut for Republic of Ireland in 1992.
  4. Rush was born in Hackney, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
  5. Akinbiyi was born in Hackney, England, but also qualified to represent Nigeria internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Nigeria in November 1999.

References
  1. "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  2. "Norwich City 1996-1997 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  3. "All Norwich City players: 1997".
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