1996–97 Southampton F.C. season

In the 1996–97 season, Southampton Football Club competed in the FA Premier League.

Southampton F.C.
1996–97 season
ChairmanRupert Lowe
ManagerGraeme Souness
StadiumThe Dell
Premiership16th
FA CupThird round
League CupQuarter-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Matt Le Tissier (13)
All:
Matt Le Tissier (16)
Highest home attendance15,253 vs Manchester United
(26 Oct 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance10,737 vs Oxford United
(18 Dec 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance15,099

Season summary

For the fourth time in five seasons, Southampton managed to avoid relegation. Manager Dave Merrington had been dismissed at the end of the previous season to be succeeded by Graeme Souness, who brought in quality new players including Claus Lundekvam, Eyal Berkovic and Egil Østenstad. A 6–3 win over Manchester United in late October, which saw Ostenstad scoring a brace, was the highlight of the season, and Southampton entered the final game of the season only needing a draw to confirm their survival. Survival was achieved, but it did not prevent Souness from quitting the club after just one season, handing over the reins to Stockport's Dave Jones.

Ali Dia incident

After receiving a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, Graeme Souness signed Senegalese "international" striker Ali Dia. "Weah" had told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. None of this was true: the phone call was made by a fellow university student of Dia's to Souness, suggesting that he should give Dia a chance with the Saints.[1] Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.

Dia played just one game for Southampton, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted for Ken Monkou after playing for 53 minutes;[2] Leeds won the match 2–0.

Le Tissier himself recalled the story in a television interview, telling that Dia spent only a weekend at the club. He first came down to train with the team on Friday morning; according to Le Tissier he "didn't look very good" and the players thought that they would "never see him again", but the next day Dia was surprisingly named on the bench. His performance on the field after he came on to replace Le Tissier "was unbelievable. He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice, it was very very embarrassing to watch." Yet, according to the team's physiotherapist, on Sunday morning Dia "turned up for treatment of an injury" and "then he left, and we never saw him again . . . nobody knows where he went."[3] Dia was released by Southampton two weeks later.

Final league table
Main article: 1996–97 FA Premier League
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
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 the Football League First Division
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Results summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
38 10 11 17 50 56  −6 41 6 7 6 32 24  +8 4 4 11 18 32  −14

Source: Statto

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHA
ResultDLLDLLLWDWWDLLLLLWLLWDLLDWDDLLDWDWDWWL
Position1115171818191918181714141417171718161919191819191919181919202019191617151416
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Southampton's score comes first[4]

Legend
Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
18 August 1996ChelseaH0–015,186
21 August 1996Leicester CityA1–217,562Le Tissier (pen)
24 August 1996West Ham UnitedA1–221,227Heaney
4 September 1996Nottingham ForestH2–214,450Dryden, Le Tissier
7 September 1996LiverpoolA1–239,189Magilton
14 September 1996Tottenham HotspurH0–115,251
23 September 1996WimbledonA1–38,572Oakley
28 September 1996MiddlesbroughH4–015,230Oakley, Le Tissier (2), Watson
13 October 1996Coventry CityA1–115,485Le Tissier
19 October 1996SunderlandH3–015,225Dodd, Le Tissier (pen), Shipperley
26 October 1996Manchester UnitedH6–315,253Berkovic (2), Le Tissier, Østenstad (2), P. Neville (own goal)
2 November 1996Sheffield WednesdayA1–120,106Le Tissier (pen)
16 November 1996EvertonA1–735,669Østenstad
23 November 1996Leeds UnitedH0–215,241
30 November 1996Blackburn RoversA1–223,018Østenstad
4 December 1996ArsenalA1–338,033Berkovic
7 December 1996Aston VillaH0–115,232
21 December 1996Derby CountyH3–114,901Watson, Oakley, Magilton (pen)
26 December 1996Tottenham HotspurA1–330,549Le Tissier
29 December 1996LiverpoolH0–115,222
11 January 1997MiddlesbroughA1–029,509Magilton (pen)
18 January 1997Newcastle UnitedH2–215,251Maddison, Le Tissier
1 February 1997Manchester UnitedA1–255,269Østenstad
22 February 1997Sheffield WednesdayH2–315,062Østenstad, Le Tissier
26 February 1997WimbledonH0–014,418
1 March 1997Newcastle UnitedA1–036,446Le Tissier
5 March 1997EvertonH2–215,134Slater, Short (own goal)
12 March 1997Leeds UnitedA0–025,913
15 March 1997ArsenalH0–215,144
19 March 1997ChelseaA0–128,079
22 March 1997Leicester CityH2–215,044Østenstad, van Gobbel
5 April 1997Nottingham ForestA3–125,134Magilton, Evans
9 April 1997Derby CountyA1–117,839Powell (own goal)
12 April 1997West Ham UnitedH2–015,244Evans, Berkovic
19 April 1997Coventry CityH2–215,251Evans, Østenstad
22 April 1997SunderlandA1–021,521Østenstad
3 May 1997Blackburn RoversH2–015,247Slater, Le Tissier
11 May 1997Aston VillaA0–139,339

FA Cup
Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R34 January 1997ReadingA1–311,537Østenstad

League Cup
Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st Leg18 September 1996Peterborough UnitedH2–014,467Le Tissier, Watson
R2 2nd Leg25 September 1996Peterborough UnitedA4–18,220Watson, Charlton, Magilton, Dryden
R323 October 1996Lincoln CityH2–214,516Le Tissier, van Gobbel
R3R12 November 1996Lincoln CityA3–110,523Magilton (pen), Watson, Berkovic
R426 November 1996Oxford UnitedA1–19,473Dryden
R4R18 December 1996Oxford UnitedH3–210,737Berkovic, Dryden, Østenstad
QF22 January 1997Stockport CountyA2–29,840Østenstad (2)
QFR29 January 1997Stockport CountyH1–213,428Le Tissier

Players

First-team squad
Squad at end of season[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Dave Beasant
2 DF England ENG Jason Dodd
3 DF England ENG Francis Benali
4 MF Northern Ireland NIR Jim Magilton
5 DF England ENG Barry Venison
6 DF Suriname SUR Ken Monkou
7 MF England ENG Matt Le Tissier (captain)
8 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Mickey Evans
10 MF England ENG Neil Maddison
13 GK England ENG Neil Moss
14 DF England ENG Simon Charlton
15 DF Wales WAL Alan Neilson
16 MF Wales WAL David Hughes
17 MF England ENG Paul Tisdale
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF England ENG Matt Oakley
19 DF England ENG Richard Dryden
20 MF Australia AUS Robbie Slater
22 DF Norway NOR Claus Lundekvam
23 GK England ENG Darryl Flahavan
24 MF England ENG Christer Warren
25 MF Scotland SCO Paul Sheerin
26 DF England ENG Matthew Robinson
27 FW England ENG Steve Basham
28 MF England ENG Russell Watkinson
29 MF Israel ISR Eyal Berkovic
30 FW Norway NOR Egil Østenstad
32 DF Netherlands NED Ulrich van Gobbel
33 GK Germany GER Maik Taylor

Left club during 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
8 FW England ENG Gordon Watson (to Bradford City)
9 FW England ENG Neil Shipperley (to Crystal Palace)
11 MF England ENG Neil Heaney (to Manchester City)
12 DF England ENG Graham Potter (to West Bromwich Albion)
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF England ENG Frankie Bennett (to Bristol Rovers)
31 GK England ENG Chris Woods (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
24 MF England ENG Christer Warren (on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham)
33 FW Senegal SEN Ali Dia (released)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF England ENG Duncan Spedding
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF England ENG Andy Williams

References
  1. "Never again..." BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  2. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 248 & 504. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  3. Haberdager (21 August 2007). "Matt Le Tissier recounts the Ali Dia saga". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  4. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Southampton results for the 1996-1997 season - Statto.com". Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  5. "FootballSquads - Southampton - 1996/97".
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