Aston Villa 1996–97 football season
During the 1996–97 English football season, Aston Villa F.C. competed in the FA Premier League .
There was no silverware this season for last season's League Cup winners, but Brian Little's competent Villa side achieved UEFA Cup qualification for the second season running, but this time via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking .
The autumn of the season saw the departure of veteran defender Paul McGrath to Derby County , while the injured Gary Charles was replaced at right-back by the Portuguese Fernando Nelson . The end of the season saw the arrival of Liverpool striker Stan Collymore for a club record fee of £7 million. Club record signing Sasa Curcic , who had been disappointing after his £4million arrival in the summer of 1996, was then sold to Crystal Palace for £1million.
Long-serving defender Paul McGrath left in the autumn to sign for Derby County after more than seven years at Villa Park . Another Villa defender, Phil King , who had been restricted to just three league appearances in as many years at the club, was transferred to Swindon Town . Striker Tommy Johnson , whose first team chances were becoming increasingly limited, was sold to Celtic . Franz Carr left after just over a year at Villa Park to join Reggiana of Italy . Defender Carl Tiler was sold to Sheffield United for £500,000 after just 18 months at the club, having played just 12 league games due to injury.
Dwight Yorke was Villa's top scorer for the second season running, with 17 goals in the Premier League and 20 in all competitions.
Final league table
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
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
17
10
11
47
34
+13
61
11
5
3
27
13
+14
6
5
8
20
21
−1
Results by matchday
Match 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 Ground A H H A H A H A A H A H H A H A A H H A A H A H H H A H A H A H A A H A A H Result L W W W D D D L L W L W L W W W W W L D D D L L W W D W L D W W W L D D L W Position 15 10 3 2 4 7 6 8 8 7 7 7 9 8 7 5 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5
Source:
Statto.com A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = Loss
Results
Aston Villa's score comes first [1]
Legend
FA Premier League
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
17 August 1996
Sheffield Wednesday
A
1–2
26,861
Johnson 88'
21 August 1996
Blackburn Rovers
H
1–0
32,457
Southgate 64'
24 August 1996
Derby County
H
2–0
34,646
Joachim 19', Johnson pen 47'
4 September 1996
Everton
A
1–0
39,115
Ehiogu 62'
7 September 1996
Arsenal
H
2–2
37,944
Milošević 39', 63'
15 September 1996
Chelsea
A
1–1
27,729
Townsend 18'
21 September 1996
Manchester United
H
0–0
39,339
30 September 1996
Newcastle United
A
3–4
36,400
Yorke 4', 59', 70'
12 October 1996
Tottenham Hotspur
A
0–1
32,847
19 October 1996
Leeds United
H
2–0
39,051
Yorke 58', Johnson 65'
26 October 1996
Sunderland
A
0–1
21,059
2 November 1996
Nottingham Forest
H
2–0
35,310
Tiler 20', Yorke 65'
16 November 1996
Leicester City
H
1–3
36,193
Yorke 15'
23 November 1996
Coventry City
A
2–1
21,340
Joachim 29', Staunton 85'
30 November 1996
Middlesbrough
H
1–0
39,053
Yorke 39' (pen)
4 December 1996
West Ham United
A
2–0
19,105
Ehiogu 38', Yorke 74'
7 December 1996
Southampton
A
1–0
15,232
Townsend 34'
22 December 1996
Wimbledon
H
5–0
28,875
Yorke 38', 86', Milošević 42', 75', Taylor 61'
26 December 1996
Chelsea
H
0–2
39,339
28 December 1996
Arsenal
A
2–2
38,130
Milošević 68', Yorke 74'
1 January 1997
Manchester United
A
0–0
55,133
11 January 1997
Newcastle United
H
2–2
39,339
Yorke 39', Milošević 52'
18 January 1997
Liverpool
A
0–3
40,489
29 January 1997
Sheffield Wednesday
H
0–1
26,726
1 February 1997
Sunderland
H
1–0
32,491
Milošević 37'
19 February 1997
Coventry City
H
2–1
30,409
Yorke 43', 75'
22 February 1997
Nottingham Forest
A
0–0
25,239
2 March 1997
Liverpool
H
1–0
39,339
Taylor 83'
5 March 1997
Leicester City
A
0–1
20,626
15 March 1997
West Ham United
H
0–0
35,992
22 March 1997
Blackburn Rovers
A
2–0
24,274
Johnson 64', Yorke 79'
5 April 1997
Everton
H
3–1
39,339
Milošević 41', Staunton 50', Yorke 54'
9 April 1997
Wimbledon
A
2–0
9,015
Milošević 26', Wright 78'
12 April 1997
Derby County
A
1–2
18,071
Joachim 84'
19 April 1997
Tottenham Hotspur
H
1–1
39,339
Yorke 81'
22 April 1997
Leeds United
A
0–0
26,897
3 May 1997
Middlesbrough
A
2–3
30,074
Ehiogu 58', Milošević 75'
11 May 1997
Southampton
H
1–0
39,339
Dryden 12' (own goal)
FA Cup
League Cup
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R3
23 October 1996
Leeds United
A
2–1
15,803
Taylor 70', Yorke pen 77'
R4
26 November 1996
Wimbledon
A
0–1
7,573
UEFA Cup
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg
10 September 1996
Helsingborg
H
1–1
25,818
Johnson 14'
R1 2nd Leg
24 September 1996
Helsingborg
A
0–0 (lost on away goals)
10,213
Players
First-team squad
Squad at end of season [2] [3] [4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve squad
The following players made most of their appearances this season for the reserves, and did not appear for the first-team, or only appeared for the first-team in friendlies.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Youth squad
The following players spent most of the season playing for the youth team, and did not appear for the first team, but may have appeared for the reserve team.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Schoolboys
The following players were signed to Aston Villa as associated schoolboys, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Other players
The following players were signed to Aston Villa on unknown contractual terms, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Transfers
In
Out
Transfers in: £12,700,000
Transfers out: £3,050,000
Total spending: £9,650,000
Notes
^ Townsend was born in Maidstone , England , but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1989.
^ Milošević was born in Bijeljina , Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina ).
^ McGrath was born in Ealing , England , but was raised in the Republic of Ireland and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1985.
^ Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield , England , but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.
^ Samuel was born in San Fernando , Trinidad and Tobago , but also qualified to represent England internationally and would represent them at U-18, U-20, and U-21 level and be called up to the senior team before switching his international allegiance to Trinidad and Tobago and making his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago in September 2009.
References
National teams
League competitions
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Level 5 Levels 6–7 Levels 8–9
Isthmian League (Two , Three )
Combined Counties League (level 8 only )
Eastern Counties League (Premier , One )
Essex Senior League (level 8 only )
Hellenic League (Premier , One )
Kent League (level 8 only )
Midland Alliance (level 8 only )
Midland Football Combination (level 9 only )
North West Counties League (One , Two )
Northern Counties East League (Premier , One )
Northern League (One , Two )
South Midlands League (Premier , Senior )
Spartan League (Premier , One )
Sussex County League (One , Two )
United Counties League (Premier , One )
Wessex League (level 8 only )
West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only )
Western League (Premier , One )
Cup competitions
FA cups Football League cups
European competitions