Blackburn Rovers 1996–97 football season
During the 1996–97 English football season, Blackburn Rovers F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).
Season summary [ ]
An early exit from the League Cup at the hands of Division Two side Stockport County was the final straw for manager Ray Harford , who stepped down on 25 October with Rovers also bottom of the Premiership with no wins from their opening 11 games.[1] 18 months earlier, they had been league champions. Long-serving coach Tony Parkes was appointed caretaker, remaining in the post until the end of the season, when he handed over the reins to Roy Hodgson after Sampdoria 's Sven-Göran Eriksson lied about accepting the manager's job and joined Lazio instead. Parkes steered Blackburn to safety as they finished 13th.
The world record £15 million sale of striker Alan Shearer to Newcastle United was seen as the biggest factor in Blackburn's lowest top flight finish since they returned to the elite in 1992. However, his strike-partner Chris Sutton helped keep the club alive after recovering from a drastic loss of form triggered by a spate of injuries the previous season. The acquisition of Swedish striker Martin Dahlin at the end of the season enhanced Blackburn's attack and gave fans hope for a higher finish next time round.
Final league table [ ]
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
11
Leeds United
38
11
13
14
28
38
−10
46
12
Derby County
38
11
13
14
45
58
−13
46
13
Blackburn Rovers
38
9
15
14
42
43
−1
42
14
West Ham United
38
10
12
16
39
48
−9
42
15
Everton
38
10
12
16
44
57
−13
42
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
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
9
15
14
42
43
−1
42
8
4
7
28
23
+5
1
11
7
14
20
−6
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 Ground H A A H H A H A H A A H H A H A A H A A H A A H A H A H H A H A H A H A H H Result L L D L L L D D L D L W D D W D L W D W W D L W D W D D W L L D L D W L D L Position 16 19 18 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 18 17 17 18 18 17 14 14 16 13 15 14 13 12 12 12 12 13 14 14 13 13 13 13
Source:
Statto.com A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = Loss
Results [ ]
Blackburn Rovers' score comes first [2]
Legend [ ]
FA Premier League [ ]
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
17 August 1996
Tottenham Hotspur
H
0–2
26,960
21 August 1996
Aston Villa
A
0–1
32,457
25 August 1996
Manchester United
A
2–2
54,178
Warhurst , Bohinen
4 September 1996
Leeds United
H
0–1
23,226
9 September 1996
Derby County
H
1–2
19,214
Sutton
14 September 1996
Newcastle United
A
1–2
36,424
Sutton
21 September 1996
Everton
H
1–1
27,091
Donis
28 September 1996
Coventry City
A
0–0
17,032
12 October 1996
Arsenal
H
0–2
24,303
19 October 1996
Sheffield Wednesday
A
1–1
22,191
Bohinen
26 October 1996
West Ham United
A
1–2
23,947
Berg
3 November 1996
Liverpool
H
3–0
29,598
Sutton (2, 1 pen), Wilcox
16 November 1996
Chelsea
H
1–1
27,229
Gallacher
25 November 1996
Nottingham Forest
A
2–2
17,525
Gallacher , Wilcox
30 November 1996
Southampton
H
2–1
23,018
Sherwood , Sutton
7 December 1996
Leicester City
A
1–1
19,306
Sutton
14 December 1996
Wimbledon
A
0–1
13,246
26 December 1996
Newcastle United
H
1–0
30,398
Gallacher
28 December 1996
Derby County
A
0–0
17,847
1 January 1997
Everton
A
2–0
30,427
Sherwood , Sutton
11 January 1997
Coventry City
H
4–0
24,055
Sutton (2), Gallacher , Donis
18 January 1997
Sunderland
A
0–0
20,850
29 January 1997
Tottenham Hotspur
A
1–2
22,943
Hendry
1 February 1997
West Ham United
H
2–1
21,994
Gallacher , Sutton
22 February 1997
Liverpool
A
0–0
40,747
1 March 1997
Sunderland
H
1–0
24,208
Gallacher
5 March 1997
Chelsea
A
1–1
25,784
Pedersen
11 March 1997
Nottingham Forest
H
1–1
20,485
Gallacher
15 March 1997
Wimbledon
H
3–1
23,333
Gallacher (3)
19 March 1997
Middlesbrough
A
1–2
29,891
Sutton
22 March 1997
Aston Villa
H
0–2
24,274
7 April 1997
Leeds United
A
0–0
27,264
12 April 1997
Manchester United
H
2–3
30,476
McKinlay , Warhurst
19 April 1997
Arsenal
A
1–1
38,086
Flitcroft
22 April 1997
Sheffield Wednesday
H
4–1
20,845
Berg , Sherwood , Le Saux , Flitcroft
3 May 1997
Southampton
A
0–2
15,247
8 May 1997
Middlesbrough
H
0–0
27,411
11 May 1997
Leicester City
H
2–4
25,881
Flitcroft , Fenton
FA Cup [ ]
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R3
4 January 1997
Port Vale
H
1–0
19,891
Bohinen
R4
15 February 1997
Coventry City
H
1–2
21,123
Sherwood
League Cup [ ]
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg
17 September 1996
Brentford
A
2–1
8,938
Flitcroft , Sutton
R2 2nd Leg
24 September 1996
Brentford
H
2–0 (won 4–1 on agg)
9,599
Gallacher , Sherwood
R3
22 October 1996
Stockport County
H
0–1
14,622
Squad [ ]
Squad at end of season [3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve squad [ ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Transfers [ ]
In [ ]
[4]
July 1996: George Donis - Panathinaikos , free
February 1997: Per Pedersen - Odense , £2,500,000
Out [ ]
Alan Shearer - Newcastle United , £15,000,000
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