1996–97 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

Sheffield Wednesday
1996–97 season
Chairman	Dave Richards
Manager	David Pleat
Premiership	7th
FA Cup	Quarter-finals
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Booth (10); All: Booth (13)
Highest home attendance	38,943 (vs. Liverpool, Premiership)
Lowest home attendance	7,499 (vs. Oxford United, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	25,714 (league)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was Sheffield Wednesday F.C.'s 130th season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team Premiership, the top tier of English football, finishing seventh.

Season summary

A four-match winning start to the season saw Sheffield Wednesday top the Premiership and manager David Pleat receive Manager of the Month award for August, but they soon fell out of the title frame and in the end, despite losing just nine games in the league, they finished seventh in the final table - not even enough for UEFA Cup qualification; they could easily have finished higher had they not drawn as many as 15 games (making it 30 points they dropped).^[1] In the close season, Pleat paid a club record £5.7 million for Celtic's Italian forward Paolo Di Canio,^[2] giving his squad a much-needed boost to their hopes of challenging for honours.

Final league table

Template:1996–97 FA Premier League table

Results Summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	14	15	9	50	51	−1	57	8	10	1	25	16	+9	6	5	8	25	35	−10

Source: Statto

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Result	W	W	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	D	D	D	W	D	D	W	D	D	D	D	W	L	W	D	D	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	D	W	L	L	L	D
Position	6	1	1	1	1	5	5	7	7	9	8	9	9	10	10	9	9	9	10	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	6	5	5	7	6	6	6	6	7	7	7

Source: Statto.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Aston Villa	H	2-1	26,861	Humphreys, Whittingham
20 August 1996	Leeds United	A	2-0	31,011	Humphreys, Booth
24 August 1996	Newcastle United	A	2-1	36,452	Atherton, Whittingham
2 September 1996	Leicester City	H	2-1	17,657	Booth, Humphreys
7 September 1996	Chelsea	H	0-2	30,983
16 September 1996	Arsenal	A	1-4	33,461	Booth
21 September 1996	Derby County	H	0-0	23,934
28 September 1996	Everton	A	0-2	34,160
12 October 1996	Wimbledon	A	2-4	10,512	Booth, Hyde
19 October 1996	Blackburn Rovers	H	1-1	22,191	Booth
26 October 1996	Coventry City	A	0-0	17,267
2 November 1996	Southampton	H	1-1	20,106	Newsome
18 November 1996	Nottingham Forest	H	2-0	16,390	Trustfull, Carbone
23 November 1996	Sunderland	A	1-1	20,644	Oakes
30 November 1996	West Ham United	H	0-0	22,321
7 December 1996	Liverpool	A	1-0	39,507	Whittingham
18 December 1996	Manchester United	H	1-1	37,671	Carbone
21 December 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1-1	30,996	Nolan
26 December 1996	Arsenal	H	0-0	23,245
28 December 1996	Chelsea	A	2-2	27,467	Pembridge, Stefanović
11 January 1997	Everton	H	2-1	24,175	Pembridge, Hirst
18 January 1997	Middlesbrough	A	2-4	29,485	Pembridge (2)
29 January 1997	Aston Villa	A	1-0	26,726	Booth
1 February 1997	Coventry City	H	0-0	21,793
19 February 1997	Derby County	A	2-2	18,060	Collins, Hirst
22 February 1997	Southampton	A	3-2	15,062	Hirst (2), Booth
1 March 1997	Middlesbrough	H	3-1	28,206	Booth, Hyde, Pembridge (pen)
5 March 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	3-0	21,485	Carbone (2), Blinker
12 March 1997	Sunderland	H	2-1	20,294	Hirst, Stefanović
15 March 1997	Manchester United	A	0-2	55,267
22 March 1997	Leeds United	H	2-2	30,373	Hirst, Booth
9 April 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2-1	22,667	Atherton, Booth
13 April 1997	Newcastle United	H	1-1	33,798	Pembridge
19 April 1997	Wimbledon	H	3-1	26,957	Donaldson, Trustfull (2)
22 April 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	1-4	20,845	Carbone (pen)
3 May 1997	West Ham United	A	1-5	24,960	Carbone
7 May 1997	Leicester City	A	0-1	20,793
11 May 1997	Liverpool	H	1-1	38,943	Donaldson

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Grimsby Town	H	7-1	20,590	Humphreys (2), Booth (2), Fickling (own goal), Hyde, Pembridge
R4	25 January 1997	Carlisle United	A	2-0	16,104	Whittingham, Booth
R5	16 February 1997	Bradford City	A	1-0	17,830	Humphreys
QF	9 March 1997	Wimbledon	H	0-2	25,032

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	18 September 1996	Oxford United	H	1-1	7,499	Whittingham
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Oxford United	A	0-1 (lost 1-2 on agg)	6,863

Squad

^[4]^[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	ENG	Kevin Pressman
2	DF	ENG	Peter Atherton
3	DF	NIR	Ian Nolan
4	MF	WAL	Mark Pembridge
5	DF	ENG	Jon Newsome
6	DF	ENG	Des Walker
7	FW	ENG	Guy Whittingham
8	FW	ITA	Benito Carbone
9	FW	ENG	David Hirst
10	FW	ENG	Andy Booth
11	MF	NED	Regi Blinker
12	MF	ENG	Graham Hyde
13	GK	ENG	Matt Clarke


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	SCO	Steve Nicol
17	MF	ENG	Lee Briscoe
18	DF	YUG	Dejan Stefanović
19	MF	ENG	Scott Oakes
20	MF	ENG	Wayne Collins
21	MF	ENG	Ryan Jones
22	FW	ENG	O'Neill Donaldson
23	FW	ENG	Mike Williams
24	DF	ENG	Brian Linighan
25	FW	ENG	Ritchie Humphreys
26	MF	NED	Orlando Trustfull
-	MF	AUS	Adem Poric

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	ENG	Mark Bright (to FC Sion)
15	MF	ENG	Chris Waddle (to Falkirk)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	MF	EIR	John Sheridan (to Bolton Wanderers)

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
-	DF	ENG	Matthew Daly
-	DF	ENG	David Billington
-	DF	ENG	Steve Haslam
-	DF	ENG	Simon Weaver
-	MF	IRL	Mark McKeever
-	FW	GHA	Junior Agogo
-	FW	ENG	Mark Platts

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
8 July 1996	FW	Andy Booth	Huddersfield Town	£2,700,000
11 July 1996	GK	Matt Clarke	Rotherham United	£325,000
7 August 1996	MF	Scott Oakes	Luton Town	£425,000
9 August 1996	MF	Wayne Collins	Crewe Alexandra	£600,000
20 August 1996	MF	Orlando Trustfull	Feyenoord	£750,000
1 September 1996	DF	Dave Hercock	Cambridge City	Free transfer
14 October 1996	FW	Benito Carbone	Inter Milan	£3,000,000
3 April 1997	DF	David Billington	Peterborough United	£500,000
15 April 1997	MF	Mark McKeever	Peterborough United	£500,000

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 June 1996	GK	Chris Woods	Colorado Rapids	Free transfer
17 June 1996	DF	Simon Stewart	Fulham	Free transfer
1 July 1996	FW	Darko Kovačević	Real Sociedad	Signed
26 July 1996	GK	Lance Key	Dundee United	Free transfer
1 August 1996	FW	Marc Degryse	PSV Eindhoven	Signed
15 August 1996	DF	David Faulkner	Darlington	Free transfer
12 September 1996	MF	Chris Waddle	Falkirk	Free transfer
19 December 1996	MF	John Sheridan	Bolton Wanderers	£180,000
1 January 1997	FW	Mark Bright	FC Sion	£70,000
11 March 1997	DF	Sam Sharman	Hull City	Free transfer
30 August 1997	DF	Matthew Daly	Sligo Rovers F.C.	Free

Transfers in:

£8,800,000

Transfers out:

£250,000

Total spending:

£8,550,000

References

^ "Golden Goal: Ritchie Humphreys for Sheffield Wednesday v Leicester (1996)". Guardian. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
^ Alan, Nixon (7 August 1997). "Wednesday sign pounds 4.5m Di Canio". FA Carling Premiership. The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
^ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/sheffield-wednesday/1996-1997/results
^ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/sheffwed.htm
^ http://www.11v11.com/teams/sheffield-wednesday/tab/players/season/1997

Dickinson, Jason (1999). One Hundred Years at Hillsborough. Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press/Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. pp. 242–243, 385. ISBN 1-874718-29-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Dickinson, Jason; Brodie, John (2005). The Wednesday Boys: A Definitive Who's Who of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club 1880–2005. Sheffield: Pickard Communication. pp. 346–347, 350. ISBN 0-9547264-9-9.
Drake, A. "1996–97 Players". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[1] "Golden Goal: Ritchie Humphreys for Sheffield Wednesday v Leicester (1996)". Guardian. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.

[2] Alan, Nixon (7 August 1997). "Wednesday sign pounds 4.5m Di Canio". FA Carling Premiership. The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2011.

[3] ttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/sheffield-wednesday/1996-1997/results

[4] ttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/sheffwed.htm

[5] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/sheffield-wednesday/tab/players/season/1997

[1]

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v t e Sheffield Wednesday Football Club
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