1996–97 Sheffield United F.C. season

Sheffield United

1996–97 season
Chairman	Mike McDonald
Manager	Howard Kendall
Stadium	Bramall Lane
First Division	5th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Pyotr Kachura/Andy Walker (12) All: Andy Walker (14)
Average home attendance	16,638
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

During the 1996–97 English football season, Sheffield United competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, Howard Kendall's first full season in charge, the Blades finished fifth in Division One to qualify for the play-offs. In the play-off final at Wembley, the Blades lost to a last minute goal from David Hopkin and Crystal Palace earned the final promotion spot to the Premier League. In June 1997, Kendall left the club by mutual consent to return to Everton for a third spell as manager.

Final league table

Main article: 1996-97 Football League

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	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
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	46	11	13	22	60	81	-21	46
23.	Oldham Athletic	46	10	13	23	51	66	-15	43
24.	Southend United	46	8	15	23	42	86	-44	39

See also: Play-off results

Key
Promoted to the Premier League
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Two

NB In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference

Results

Sheffield United's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Reading	A	0–1	11,081
24 August 1996	Birmingham City	H	4–4	16,332	Taylor (2), Walker (2)
7 September 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	2–0	7,323	Hutchison, Sandford
10 September 1996	Bradford City	H	3–0	12,591	Taylor, Whitehouse (2)
14 September 1996	Ipswich Town	H	1–3	14,261	Ward (pen)
21 September 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–1	25,170	White, Kachura
28 September 1996	Manchester City	H	2–0	20,867	Ward (pen), Taylor
1 October 1996	Southend United	A	2–3	3,716	Walker (2)
12 October 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–0	15,059
15 October 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	3–0	14,080	Kachura (2), Walker
19 October 1996	Stoke City	A	4–0	13,581	Vonk (2), Walker, Taylor
26 October 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	17,096	Taylor
30 October 1996	Norwich City	A	1–1	14,534	Kachura
3 November 1996	Grimsby Town	A	4–2	5,935	Hutchison, Whitehouse (2), Kachura
13 November 1996	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	12,167	Walker, Hutchison
16 November 1996	Port Vale	A	0–0	8,352
22 November 1996	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–1	17,069	Taylor
26 November 1996	Swindon Town	H	2–0	12,301	Taylor, Kachura
30 November 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–1	11,891
3 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	3–1	14,700	Sandford, Patterson, White
7 December 1996	Portsmouth	H	1–0	16,333	Kachura
14 December 1996	Oxford United	A	1–4	7,737	Walker
17 December 1996	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	12,801	Walker
21 December 1996	Barnsley	H	0–1	24,384
26 December 1996	Bradford City	A	2–1	17,475	Hodgson, Scott
28 December 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	2–2	16,130	Taylor, Kachura
18 January 1997	Southend United	H	3–0	15,049	Kachura, White, Taylor
24 January 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–3	17,490	White (2)
29 January 1997	Manchester City	A	0–0	26,551
1 February 1997	Swindon Town	A	1–2	8,811	Holdsworth
9 February 1997	Norwich City	H	2–3	15,301	Kachura, Walker
15 February 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–2	17,922	Fjørtoft, Kachura
22 February 1997	Grimsby Town	H	3–1	17,502	Fjørtoft (3)
1 March 1997	Portsmouth	A	1–1	12,715	Fjørtoft
4 March 1997	Port Vale	H	3–0	14,950	Ward (pen), Taylor, Fjørtoft
7 March 1997	Barnsley	A	0–2	14,668
15 March 1997	Oxford United	H	3–1	16,226	Whitehouse, Fjørtoft, Walker
18 March 1997	Ipswich Town	A	1–3	10,374	Fjørtoft
22 March 1997	Birmingham City	A	1–1	14,969	Kachura
29 March 1997	Reading	H	2–0	15,153	Bodin (own goal), Walker
31 March 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	1–2	14,551	Sinnott (own goal)
5 April 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–2	15,004	Fjørtoft
12 April 1997	Crystal Palace	H	3–0	20,051	Ward (pen), Fjørtoft, White
19 April 1997	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–1	10,027	Whitehouse
25 April 1997	Stoke City	H	1–0	25,596	Tiler
4 May 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	0–0	12,589

First Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	10 May 1997	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	22,312	Fjørtoft
SF 2nd Leg	14 May 1997	Ipswich Town	A	2–2 (won on away goals)	21,467	Kachura, Walker
F	26 May 1997	Crystal Palace	N	0–1	64,383

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Norwich City	A	0–1	12,356

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 August 1996	Bradford City	H	3–0	7,575	Vonk, White, Walker
R1 Second Leg	3 September 1996	Bradford City	A	2–1 (won 5-1 on agg)	3,593	Ward, Walker (pen)
R2 First Leg	17 September 1996	Stockport County	A	1–2	4,004	Vonk
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1996	Stockport County	H	2–5 (won 3-7 on agg)	6,285	Taylor, Kachura

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player GK Simon Tracey GK Alan Kelly DF David Holdsworth DF Paul Parker DF Lee Sandford DF Chris Short DF Carl Tiler DF Michel Vonk DF Roger Nilsen DF Doug Hodgson MF Graham Anthony MF Mark Beard MF John Ebbrell MF Charlie Hartfield MF Steve Hawes

No. Position Player MF Nick Henry MF Paul Simpson (on loan from Derby County) MF Nigel Spackman MF Mitch Ward MF David White MF Dane Whitehouse MF Don Hutchison FW Chris Bettney FW Mark Patterson FW Andy Scott FW Phil Starbuck FW Gareth Taylor FW Andy Walker FW Jan Åge Fjørtoft FW Pyotr Kachura