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1996–97 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

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Nottingham Forest
1996–97 season
ChairmanIrving Korn
ManagerFrank Clark (until December)
Stuart Pearce (player-caretaker manager)
Dave Bassett (from March)
StadiumCity Ground
Premiership20th (relegated)
FA CupFifth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerHaaland/Campbell (6)
Highest home attendance29,181 vs Liverpool
(15 Mar 1997, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance6,482 vs Wycombe Wanderers
(18 Sep 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance24,587

During the 1996–97 English football season, Nottingham Forest F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

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After a Kevin Campbell hat-trick earnt Nottingham Forest an impressive 3–0 away win at Coventry City on the season's opening game, an appalling 4–1 home defeat to Premiership newcomers Sunderland prompted a dismal start to the season which saw them fail to win any of their next 16 league games until a shock 2–1 home win over title contenders Arsenal on 21 December 1996. Ultimately, Forest were bottom of the Premiership by Christmas, and their manager Frank Clark gone, with Stuart Pearce taking over as player-manager on a temporary basis. A good run of form in January saw Pearce receive the Manager of the Month award and Forest lifted out of the relegation zone, but, by the time he stepped down to make way for Dave Bassett in March, Forest had endured another setback and were left needing a miracle to beat the drop. The acquisition of Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk did little to change the club's fortunes, and they were relegated in bottom place, seven points adrift of safety. They would have escaped relegation had it not been for dropping 32 points from 16 draws throughout the league season.

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
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
19 Middlesbrough (R) 38 10 12 16 51 60 −9 39[a]
20 Nottingham Forest (R) 38 6 16 16 31 59 −28 34
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfill their original fixture at Blackburn Rovers on 21 December 1996.
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 6 16 16 31 59  −28 34 3 9 7 15 27  −12 3 7 9 16 32  −16

Source: Statto

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHHAAHHHAHAHAAHAAHHAHA
ResultWLDDDLLDLDLLLDLDLWLDWWWLLDWLLDDDDLDDDL
Position19101310141616171818182020201920202020191817171717171717171819181820202020
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

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Nottingham Forest's score comes first[1]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
17 August 1996 Coventry City A 3–0 19,468 Campbell (3)
21 August 1996 Sunderland H 1–4 22,874 Haaland
24 August 1996 Middlesbrough H 1–1 24,705 Pearce
4 September 1996 Southampton A 2–2 14,450 Campbell, Saunders
7 September 1996 Leicester City H 0–0 24,105
14 September 1996 Manchester United A 1–4 54,984 Haaland
21 September 1996 West Ham United H 0–2 23,352
28 September 1996 Chelsea A 1–1 27,673 Lee
12 October 1996 Leeds United A 0–2 29,225
19 October 1996 Derby County H 1–1 27,771 Saunders
28 October 1996 Everton H 0–1 19,892
2 November 1996 Aston Villa A 0–2 35,310
18 November 1996 Sheffield Wednesday A 0–2 16,390
25 November 1996 Blackburn Rovers H 2–2 17,525 Pearce (pen), Cooper
30 November 1996 Wimbledon A 0–1 12,608
9 December 1996 Newcastle United H 0–0 25,762
17 December 1996 Liverpool A 2–4 36,126 Campbell, Pearce
21 December 1996 Arsenal H 2–1 27,384 Haaland (2)
26 December 1996 Manchester United H 0–4 29,032
28 December 1996 Leicester City A 2–2 20,833 Clough, Cooper
1 January 1997 West Ham United A 1–0 22,358 Campbell
11 January 1997 Chelsea H 2–0 28,358 Pearce, Bart-Williams
19 January 1997 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–1 27,303 Roy (2)
29 January 1997 Coventry City H 0–1 22,619
1 February 1997 Everton A 0–2 32,567
22 February 1997 Aston Villa H 0–0 25,239
1 March 1997 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–0 32,805 Saunders
5 March 1997 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–3 21,485
8 March 1997 Arsenal A 0–2 38,206
11 March 1997 Blackburn Rovers A 1–1 20,485 Haaland
15 March 1997 Liverpool H 1–1 29,181 Woan
22 March 1997 Sunderland A 1–1 22,120 Lyttle
24 March 1997 Middlesbrough A 1–1 29,888 Haaland
5 April 1997 Southampton H 1–3 25,134 Pearce (pen)
19 April 1997 Leeds United H 1–1 25,565 van Hooijdonk
23 April 1997 Derby County A 0–0 18,087
3 May 1997 Wimbledon H 1–1 19,865 Roy
11 May 1997 Newcastle United A 0–5 36,554

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 4 January 1997 Ipswich Town H 3–0 14,681 Saunders (2), Allen
R4 26 January 1997 Newcastle United A 2–1 36,434 Woan (2)
R5 15 February 1997 Chesterfield A 0–1 8,890

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg 18 September 1996 Wycombe Wanderers H 1–0 6,482 Roy
R2 2nd Leg 24 September 1996 Wycombe Wanderers A 1–1 6,310 Lee
R3 23 October 1996 West Ham United A 1–4 19,402 Cooper

Squad

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[2][3] 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 Wales WAL Mark Crossley
2 DF England ENG Des Lyttle
3 DF England ENG Stuart Pearce (captain; caretaker manager)
4 DF England ENG Colin Cooper
5 DF England ENG Steve Chettle
6 MF England ENG Chris Bart-Williams
7 MF Wales WAL David Phillips
8 MF Scotland SCO Scot Gemmill
9 FW Wales WAL Dean Saunders
10 FW England ENG Kevin Campbell
11 MF England ENG Steve Stone
12 FW England ENG Jason Lee
13 GK Northern Ireland NIR Alan Fettis
14 MF England ENG Ian Woan
15 FW Netherlands NED Pierre van Hooijdonk
16 DF Croatia CRO Nikola Jerkan
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF England ENG Chris Allen
18 DF Norway NOR Alfie Haaland
19 DF England ENG Bobby Howe
20 FW England ENG Paul McGregor
21 DF England ENG Vance Warner
22 FW Netherlands NED Bryan Roy
23 FW England ENG Ian Thomas-Moore
24 MF Scotland SCO Brian O'Neil (on loan from Celtic)
25 DF England ENG Steve Blatherwick
26 DF England ENG Craig Armstrong
27 MF England ENG Justin Walker
28 FW England ENG Steve Guinan
29 MF England ENG Paul Smith
30 GK England ENG Richard Clark
31 GK Northern Ireland NIR David Henry
32 MF Republic of Ireland IRL John Burns

Left club during season

[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
15 FW Italy ITA Andrea Silenzi (on loan to Venezia)
23 GK Northern Ireland NIR Tommy Wright (to Manchester City)
No. Pos. Nation Player
24 FW England ENG Richard Irving (released)
29 FW England ENG Nigel Clough (on loan from Manchester City)

Reserve squad

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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 England ENG Andy Dawson
- DF England ENG Stuart Thom
- MF England ENG Craig Atkinson
- MF England ENG John Finnigan
- MF England ENG Richard Hodgson
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF England ENG Bobby Howe
- MF England ENG Steve Melton
- FW Republic of Ireland IRL David Freeman
- FW England ENG Marlon Harewood
- FW England ENG Andy Todd

Transfers

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In

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Date Pos. Name From Fee
3 July 1996 MF Chris Allen Oxford United £500,000
16 July 1996 FW Dean Saunders Galatasaray £1,500,000
26 July 1996 DF Nikola Jerkan Real Oviedo £1,000,000
10 March 1997 FW Pierre van Hooijdonk Celtic £4,500,000
15 March 1997 FW Ian Thomas-Moore Tranmere Rovers £1,000,000

Out

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Date Pos. Name To Fee
16 July 1996 MF Kingsley Black Grimsby Town £25,000
16 August 1996 MF Neil Webb Grimsby Town Free transfer
22 August 1996 DF Darren Watkins Berwick Rangers Signed
4 March 1997 GK Tommy Wright Manchester City £450,000
9 May 1997 MF Justin Walker Scunthorpe United Unknown
28 May 1997 FW Jason Lee Watford £200,000
Transfers in: Decrease £8,500,000
Transfers out: Increase £675,000
Total spending: Decrease £7,825,000

References

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  1. ^ "Nottingham Forest 1996-1997 Results – statto.com". Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Squads". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Data". nottingham-forest. Retrieved 16 June 2020.