1996–97 Aston Villa F.C. season

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Aston Villa
1996–97 season
ChairmanDoug Ellis
ManagerBrian Little
StadiumVilla Park
Premiership5th
FA CupFourth round
League CupFourth round
UEFA CupFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague: Yorke (17)
All: Yorke (20)
Average home league attendance36,027

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[]

Main article: 1996–97 FA Premier League
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
3 Arsenal 38 19 11 8 62 32 +30 68 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[a]
4 Liverpool 38 19 11 8 62 37 +25 68
5 Aston Villa 38 17 10 11 47 34 +13 61
6 Chelsea 38 16 11 11 58 55 +3 59 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[b]
7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 14 15 9 50 51 −1 57
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
  2. ^ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
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

Source: Statto

Results by matchday
Match1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHHAAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAAH
ResultLWWWDDDLLWLWLWWWWWLDDDLLWWDWLDWWWLDDLW
Position1510324768877798754456667775555655445555
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results[]

Aston Villa's score comes first[1]

Legend[]

Win Draw Loss

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[]

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 14 January 1997 Notts County A 0–0 13,315
R3R 22 January 1997 Notts County H 3–0 25,006 Yorke 24', 53', Ehiogu 67'
R4 25 January 1997 Derby County A 1–3 17,977 Ćurčić 76'

League Cup[]

Main article: 1996–97 Football 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[]

Main article: 1996–97 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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Mark Bosnich
3 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Steve Staunton
4 DF England ENG Gareth Southgate
6 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Andy Townsend[notes 1] (captain)
7 MF England ENG Ian Taylor
8 MF England ENG Mark Draper
9 FW Serbia and Montenegro SCG Savo Milošević[notes 2]
10 FW Trinidad and Tobago TRI Dwight Yorke
12 FW England ENG Julian Joachim
13 GK England ENG Michael Oakes
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF England ENG Alan Wright
15 DF Portugal POR Fernando Nélson
16 DF England ENG Ugo Ehiogu
17 MF England ENG Lee Hendrie
19 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Gareth Farrelly
20 DF England ENG Riccardo Scimeca
24 MF Scotland SCO Scott Murray
26 MF Serbia and Montenegro SCG Saša Ćurčić
27 DF Wales WAL David Hughes

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
5 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Paul McGrath[notes 3] (to Derby County)
11 FW England ENG Tommy Johnson (to Celtic)
18 DF England ENG Carl Tiler (to Sheffield United)
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF England ENG Franz Carr (to Reggiana)
22 DF England ENG Phil King (to Swindon Town)

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF England ENG Gary Charles
23 FW England ENG Neil Davis
31 GK England ENG Stuart Brock
30 GK England ENG Adam Rachel
— DF England ENG Lee Collins
— DF England ENG Tommy Jaszczun
— DF England ENG
— DF England ENG Ben Petty
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Germany GER
— MF England ENG
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Kirby
— FW England ENG Darren Byfield[notes 4]
— FW England ENG Richard Walker
— South Africa RSA (on trial)
—   (on trial)

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG
— GK England ENG
— GK England ENG Matthew Ghent
— GK Wales WAL
— DF England ENG Gareth Barry
— DF England ENG Michael Blackwood
— DF England ENG
— DF England ENG Reuben Hazell
— DF England ENG
— DF England ENG
— DF England ENG Aaron Lescott
— DF England ENG
— DF England ENG
— DF Wales WAL
— DF South Africa RSA
— DF Trinidad and Tobago TRI Jlloyd Samuel[notes 5]
— MF England ENG
— MF England ENG
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF England ENG
— MF England ENG
— MF England ENG
— MF England ENG
— MF England ENG
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL
— FW England ENG Richard Burgess
— FW England ENG Stephen Evans
— FW England ENG Darius Vassell
— FW Scotland SCO
— FW Republic of Ireland IRL Alan Lee
— FW  
—  
—  
—   David Warren

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Nikki Bull
— DF England ENG
— MF England ENG Bertie Brayley
— MF Northern Ireland NIR Gavin Melaugh
— England ENG
—  
—   Christopher Brown
—   David Court
No. Pos. Nation Player
—   Michael Crowe
—  
—   Martin Reeves
—   David Ridgway
—  
—  
—   Joseph Williams

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF England ENG Michael Standing
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW England ENG

Transfers[]

In[]

Date Pos. Name From Fee
2 August 1996 DF Fernando Nélson Sporting Lisbon £1,700,000
23 August 1996 MF Saša Ćurčić Bolton Wanderers £4,000,000
13 May 1997 FW Stan Collymore Liverpool £7,000,000

Out[]

Date Pos. Name To Fee
3 July 1996 DF Paul Browne Raith Rovers Signed
16 September 1996 DF Andy Mitchell Chesterfield Free transfer
1 October 1996 DF Paul McGrath Derby County £100,000
1 October 1996 MF Franz Carr Reggiana Free transfer
26 March 1997 DF Phil King Swindon Town Free transfer
26 March 1997 DF Carl Tiler Sheffield United £650,000
27 March 1997 FW Tommy Johnson Celtic £2,300,000
Transfers in: Decrease £12,700,000
Transfers out: Increase £3,050,000
Total spending: Decrease £9,650,000

Notes[]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Milošević was born in Bijeljina, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina).
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.
  5. ^ 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[]

  1. ^ "Aston Villa 1996-1997 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  2. ^ "FootballSquads - Aston Villa - 1996/97".
  3. ^ "All Aston Villa players: 1997".
  4. ^ "Aston Villa Player Database".

External links[]

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