1996–97 Grimsby Town F.C. season

Grimsby Town
1996-97 season
Chairman	Bill Carr
Manager	Brian Laws (until 1 November 1996) John Cockerill (caretaker) Kenny Swain (caretaker)
Team captain	Mark Lever
Home stadium	Blundell Park
Division One	22nd (Relegated)
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	First Round
Lincolnshire Senior Cup	Runners Up
Top goalscorer	Clive Mendonca (19)
Highest home attendance
Highest away attendance
Lowest home attendance
Lowest away attendance
← 1995–96 0 0 0 0 0 0 1997-98 →

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

Season summary

The Mariners were relegated from Division One. Despite flowing goals from Clive Mendonca and good performances from John Oster and newcomer Kingsley Black, Grimsby failed to save themselves. The club had suffered from the losses of ever-present goalkeeper Paul Crichton and Gary Croft, who made a £1.5 million move to Blackburn Rovers. Manager Brian Laws had been sacked late in 1996; John Cockerill and Kenny Swain both had stints as caretaker during the season. At the end of the season, former manager Alan Buckley, who had taken Grimsby from the Fourth to the old Second Division in his first stint in charge, rejoined the club in an attempt to take Grimsby back to the second tier.

Kit

Italian company Lotto became Grimsby's new kit manufacturers, and introduced a new kit for the season. Europe's Food Town remained kit sponsors.

League table

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

Squad overview

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Paul Crichton (Departed in October 1996)
—	GK	ENG	Jason Pearcey
—	GK	ENG	Andy Love
—	GK	ENG	Alan Miller (on loan from Middlesbrough)
—	GK	ENG	Andy Quy
—	DF	ENG	Danny Butterfield
—	DF	ENG	Ashley Fickling
—	DF	ENG	Tony Gallimore
—	DF	ENG	Joby Gowshall
—	DF	SCO	Peter Handyside
—	DF	ENG	Kevin Jobling
—	DF	ENG	Brian Laws (Departed in November 1996)
—	DF	ENG	Mark Lever (captain)
—	DF	ENG	John McDermott
—	DF	ENG	Jimmy Neil
—	DF	ENG	Graham Rodger
—	DF	ENG	Richard Smith
—	DF	ENG	Neil Webb

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Michael Appleton (on loan from Manchester United)
—	MF	NIR	Kingsley Black
—	MF	ENG	Gary Childs
—	MF	ENG	Paul Harsley
—	MF	WAL	John Oster
—	MF	ENG	Craig Shakespeare
—	MF	ENG	Nicky Southall
—	MF	WAL	Paul Trollope (on loan from Derby County)
—	MF	SCO	Johnny Walker (Departed in November 1996)
—	MF	ENG	Tommy Widdrington
—	MF	ENG	Darren Wrack
—	FW	EIR	Daryl Clare
—	FW	ENG	Jamie Forrester (Departed in March 1997)
—	FW	ENG	Jason Lee (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
—	FW	ENG	Jack Lester
—	FW	ENG	Steve Livingstone
—	FW	ENG	Clive Mendonca
—	FW	ENG	Neil Woods

Transfers & loans

In

Transfers

Date	Pos.	Player	From club	Transfer fee
11 July 1996	MF	Tommy Widdrington	Southampton	£300,000
16 July 1996	MF	Kingsley Black	Nottingham Forest	£25,000
19 July 1996	MF	Darren Wrack	Derby County	£100,000
16 August 1996	DF	Neil Webb	Nottingham Forest	Free
31 August 1996	GK	Andy Quy	Derby County	Free

Loans

Start date	End date	Pos.	Player	From club
30 August 1996	1 October 1996	DF	Paul Trollope	Derby County
17 January 1997	18 March 1997	MF	Michael Appleton	Manchester United
28 January 1997	8 February 1997	GK	Alan Miller	Middlesbrough

Out

Transfers

Exit Date	Pos.	Player	To club	Transfer fee
31 May 1996	MF	Tommy Watson	Retired	Released
31 May 1996	DF	Enzo Gambaro	Sturm Graz	Released
8 July 1996	MF	Paul Groves	West Bromwich Albion	£600,000
1 August 1996	MF	Steve Fraser	Lincoln City	Free
2 August 1996	MF	Jim Dobbin	Rotherham United	Free
9 August 1996	FW	Ivano Bonetti	Tranmere Rovers	Free
2 October 1996	GK	Paul Crichton	West Bromwich Albion	£250,000
1 November 1996	DF	Brian Laws	Darlington	Sacked
8 November 1996	MF	Johnny Walker	Mansfield Town	£50,000
21 March 1997	FW	Jamie Forrester	Scunthorpe United	Free

Loans

Start date	End date	Pos.	Player	To club
4 October 1996	4 November 1996	MF	Jimmy Neil	Grantham