1996–97 Shrewsbury Town F.C. season

Shrewsbury Town
1996–97 season
Chairman	Roland Wycherley
Manager	Fred Davies
Stadium	Gay Meadow
Second Division	22nd (relegated)
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	First round
League Trophy	Northern semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Ian Stevens (17); All: Ian Stevens (18)
Biggest win	3–1 / 2–0
Biggest defeat	1–5
	← →

During the 1996–97 English football season, Shrewsbury Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary[]

In the 1996–97 season, Shrewsbury endured a poor campaign and were relegated to the Third Division which ultimately cost manager Davies his job.

Final league table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bury	46	18	5	0	39	7	6	7	10	23	31	62	38	+24	84
2	Stockport County	46	15	5	3	31	14	8	8	7	28	27	59	41	+18	82
3	Luton Town	46	13	7	3	38	14	8	8	7	33	31	71	45	+26	78
4	Brentford	46	8	11	4	26	22	12	3	8	30	21	56	43	+13	74
5	Bristol City	46	14	4	5	43	18	7	6	10	26	33	69	51	+18	73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46	15	4	4	38	15	7	3	13	18	32	56	47	+9	73
7	Blackpool	46	13	7	3	41	21	5	8	10	19	26	60	47	+13	69
8	Wrexham	46	11	9	3	38	28	6	9	8	17	22	54	50	+4	69
9	Burnley	46	14	3	6	48	27	5	8	10	23	28	71	55	+16	68
10	Chesterfield	46	10	9	4	25	18	8	5	10	17	21	42	39	+3	68
11	Gillingham	46	13	3	7	37	25	6	7	10	23	34	60	59	+1	67
12	Walsall	46	12	8	3	35	21	7	2	14	19	32	54	53	+1	67
13	Watford	46	10	8	5	24	14	6	11	6	21	24	45	38	+7	67
14	Millwall	46	12	4	7	27	22	4	9	10	23	33	50	55	–5	61
15	Preston North End	46	14	5	4	33	19	4	2	17	16	36	49	55	–6	61
16	Bournemouth	46	8	9	6	24	20	7	6	10	19	25	43	45	–2	60
17	Bristol Rovers	46	13	4	6	34	22	2	7	14	13	28	47	50	–3	56
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	4	6	31	14	2	6	15	20	43	51	56	–5	55
19	Plymouth Argyle	46	7	11	5	19	18	5	7	11	28	40	47	58	–11	54
20	York City	46	8	6	9	27	31	5	7	11	20	37	47	68	–21	52
21	Peterborough United	46	7	7	9	38	34	4	7	12	17	39	55	73	–18	47
22	Shrewsbury Town	46	8	6	9	27	32	3	7	13	22	42	49	74	–25	46
23	Rotherham United	46	4	7	12	17	29	3	7	13	22	41	39	70	–31	35
24	Notts County	46	4	9	10	20	25	3	5	15	13	34	33	59	–26	35

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Results[]

Shrewsbury Town's score comes first^[1]

Legend[]

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division[]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–1	3,440	Stevens
24 August 1996	Rotherham United	A	2–1	3,037	Stevens (2)
27 August 1996	Burnley	A	3–1	9,072	Taylor, Scott, Stevens
31 August 1996	Brentford	H	0–3	3,530
7 September 1996	York City	A	0–0	2,911
10 September 1996	Bristol City	H	1–0	2,502	Stevens
14 September 1996	Bury	H	1–1	3,238	Rowbotham
21 September 1996	Blackpool	A	1–1	4,452	Stevens
28 September 1996	Watford	H	1–0	3,655	Evans
1 October 1996	Chesterfield	A	1–2	3,299	Dyche (own goal)
8 October 1996	Wrexham	A	1–2	5,031	Evans
12 October 1996	Luton Town	H	0–3	3,357
15 October 1996	Gillingham	H	1–2	2,042	Currie
19 October 1996	Preston North End	A	1–2	8,333	Stevens
26 October 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–1	3,878
29 October 1996	Peterborough United	A	2–2	5,400	Bennett (2)
2 November 1996	Notts County	A	2–1	4,363	Stevens, Bennett
12 November 1996	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	2,331	Stevens, Spink
20 November 1996	Millwall	A	1–2	5,770	Stevens
23 November 1996	Stockport County	H	3–2	2,865	Stevens, Anthrobus, Evans
30 November 1996	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–5	4,035	Stevens
3 December 1996	Bournemouth	H	1–1	1,610	Anthrobus
14 December 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	2–2	5,075	Spink, Evans
20 December 1996	Walsall	H	2–2	3,007	Anthrobus, Stevens
26 December 1996	Bristol City	A	2–3	9,803	Stevens, Nielsen
28 December 1996	York City	H	2–0	3,189	Evans, Stevens
1 January 1997	Blackpool	H	1–3	2,787	Ward
18 January 1997	Chesterfield	H	2–0	2,659	Brown, Evans (pen)
25 January 1997	Peterborough United	H	2–2	2,695	Bodley (own goal), Anthrobus
1 February 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	4,924
8 February 1997	Notts County	H	2–1	2,692	Spink, Stevens
15 February 1997	Stockport County	A	1–3	6,712	Whiston
22 February 1997	Millwall	H	1–1	2,968	Anthrobus
25 February 1997	Watford	A	0–2	6,378
1 March 1997	Bournemouth	A	0–0	5,810
4 March 1997	Bury	A	0–2	2,690
8 March 1997	Walsall	A	2–2	4,819	Currie, Walton
15 March 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–3	3,414	Anthrobus, Stevens
22 March 1997	Rotherham United	H	0–2	2,893
29 March 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–3	6,562
1 April 1997	Burnley	H	2–1	4,462	Brass (own goal), Spink
5 April 1997	Brentford	A	0–0	5,355
12 April 1997	Wrexham	H	0–1	4,553
19 April 1997	Luton Town	A	0–2	6,968
26 April 1997	Preston North End	H	0–2	5,341
3 May 1997	Gillingham	A	0–2	6,183

FA Cup[]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Scarborough	H	1–1	2,819	Stevens
R1R	26 November 1996	Scarborough	A	0–1	2,247

League Cup[]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	21 August 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–2	2,875
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1 (lost 1–3 on agg)	3,028	Rowbotham

Football League Trophy[]


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 (North)	14 January 1997	Wigan Athletic	H	3–2 (a.e.t.)	1,639	Anthrobus, Stevens, Evans (pen)
QF (North)	11 February 1997	Scunthorpe United	H	2–1 (a.e.t.)	1,728	Berkley, Evans (pen)
SF (North)	18 February 1997	Carlisle United	H	1–2	2,774	Evans

Squad[]

^[2] 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	ENG	Paul Edwards
—	GK	DEN	Benny Gall
—	DF	ENG	Nathan Blamey
—	DF	DEN	Thomas Nielsen
—	DF	ENG	Kevin Seabury
—	DF	ENG	Dean Spink
—	DF	ENG	Lee Taylor
—	DF	ENG	Dave Walton
—	DF	ENG	Peter Whiston
—	MF	ENG	Austin Berkley
—	MF	ENG	Darren Currie
—	MF	ENG	James Cope
—	MF	IRL	Mark Dempsey
—	MF	WAL	Paul Evans
—	MF	ENG	Emeka Nwadike


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Ian Reed
—	MF	ENG	Richard Scott
—	MF	ENG	Mark Taylor
—	MF	ENG	Darren Wrack (on loan from Grimsby Town)
—	MF	ENG	Shaun Wray
—	FW	ENG	Steve Anthrobus
—	FW	ENG	Frankie Bennett (on loan from Southampton)
—	FW	ENG	Junior Bent (on loan from Bristol City)
—	FW	ENG	Anthony Briscoe
—	FW	ENG	Mickey Brown
—	FW	WAL	Darran Rowbotham
—	FW	MLT	Ian Stevens
—	FW	ENG	Craig Tate
—	FW	WAL	Nick Ward

References[]

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-06-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "All Shrewsbury Town players: 1997".

[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-06-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] "All Shrewsbury Town players: 1997".

[1]

[2]

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