1996–97 Aston Villa F.C. season

Main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present)
Aston Villa
1996–97 season
ChairmanDoug Ellis
ManagerBrian Little
StadiumVilla Park
Premiership5th
FA CupFourth round
League CupFourth round
UEFA CupFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague: Dwight Yorke (17)
All: Dwight Yorke (20)
Highest home attendance39,339
Premier League:
MUN (21 Sep 1996)
CHE (27 Apr 1996)
NEW (11 Jan 1997)
LIV (2 Mar 1997)
EVE (5 Apr 1997)
TOT (19 Apr 1997)
SOU (11 May 1997)
Lowest home attendance25,006 vs Notts County
(22 Jan 1997, FA Cup)
Average home league attendance36,027

The 1996-97 season was Aston Villa's 122nd professional season, their 86th season in the top flight and their 9th consecutive season in the top tier of English football (the fifth in the 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.

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Transfers

Transferred in

Date Pos Player From Fee
2 August 1996 RB Portugal Fernando Nélson Portugal Sporting £1,700,000
23 August 1996 DM Serbia and Montenegro Saša Ćurčić Bolton Wanderers £4,000,000
£5,700,000

  Record

Loaned in

Date Pos Player From Loan End

Transferred out

Date Pos Player To Fee
3 July 1996 CB Scotland Paul Browne Scotland Raith Rovers £70,000
1 October 1996 CB Republic of Ireland Paul McGrath Derby County £100,000
1 October 1996 RW Franz Carr Italy Reggiana Free transfer
26 March 1997 LB Phil King Swindon Town Free transfer
26 March 1997 CB Carl Tiler Sheffield United £650,000
27 March 1997 CF Tommy Johnson Scotland Celtic £2,300,000
£3,120,000

Loaned out

Date Pos Player To Loan End
27 October 1996 CF Neil Davis Wycombe Wanderers 25 January 1997

Overall transfer activity

Squad

First Team

# Name Position Nationality Place of birth Date of birth (Age) Signed from Date signed Fee Apps Gls
Goalkeepers
1 Mark Bosnich GK Australia Liverpool (1972-01-13)13 January 1972 (aged 24) Australia Sydney Croatia 28 February 1992 Free transfer 145 0
13 Michael Oakes GK England Northwich (1973-10-30)30 October 1973 (aged 22) Academy 1 July 1991 — 1 0
30 Adam Rachel GK England Birmingham (1976-12-30)30 December 1976 (aged 19) Academy 1 July 1995 — 0 0
31 Stuart Brock GK England West Bromwich (1976-09-26)26 September 1976 (aged 19) Academy 1 July 1996 — - -
Defenders
2 Gary Charles RB England Newham (1970-04-13)13 April 1970 (aged 26) Derby County 6 January 1995 £1,450,000 63 1
3 Steve Staunton LB Republic of Ireland Dundalk (1969-01-19)19 January 1969 (aged 27) Liverpool 7 August 1991 £1,100,000 190 13
4 Gareth Southgate CB England Watford (1970-09-03)3 September 1970 (aged 25) Crystal Palace 1 July 1995 £3,500,000 43 2
5 Paul McGrath CB Republic of Ireland England Greenford (1959-12-04)4 December 1959 (aged 36) Manchester United 3 August 1989 £400,000 306 10
14 Alan Wright LB England Ashton-under-Lyne (1971-09-28)28 September 1971 (aged 24) Blackburn Rovers 10 March 1995 £1,000,000 59 2
15 Fernando Nélson RB Portugal Porto (1971-11-05)5 November 1971 (aged 24) Portugal Sporting 2 August 1996 £1,700,000 - -
16 Ugo Ehiogu CB England Hackney (1972-11-03)3 November 1972 (aged 23) West Bromwich Albion 12 July 1991 £40,000 131 6
18 Carl Tiler CB England Sheffield (1970-02-11)11 February 1970 (aged 26) Nottingham Forest 28 October 1995 £750,000 1 0
20 Riccardo Scimeca CB England Leamington Spa (1975-06-13)13 June 1975 (aged 21) Academy 1 July 1995 — 22 0
22 Phil King LB England Bristol (1967-12-28)28 December 1967 (aged 28) Sheffield Wednesday 1 August 1994 £200,000 23 0
27 David Hughes LB Wales Wrexham (1978-02-01)1 February 1978 (aged 18) Academy 1 July 1996 — - -
Midfielders
6 Andy Townsend (c) CM Republic of Ireland England Maidstone (1963-07-26)26 July 1963 (aged 32) Chelsea 26 July 1993 £2,100,000 131 9
7 Ian Taylor CM England Birmingham (1968-06-04)4 June 1968 (aged 28) Sheffield Wednesday 21 December 1994 £1,000,000 59 6
8 Mark Draper CM England Long Eaton (1970-11-11)11 November 1970 (aged 25) Leicester City 5 July 1995 £3,250,000 49 5
17 Lee Hendrie RM England Solihull (1977-05-18)18 May 1977 (aged 19) Academy 1 July 1995 — 3 0
19 Gareth Farrelly LM Republic of Ireland Dublin (1975-08-28)28 August 1975 (aged 20) Academy 1 July 1995 — 6 0
24 Scott Murray RM Scotland Fraserburgh (1974-05-26)26 May 1974 (aged 22) Academy 1 July 1995 — 3 0
26 Saša Ćurčić DM Serbia and Montenegro Belgrade (1972-02-14)14 February 1972 (aged 24) Bolton Wanderers 1 July 1995 £4.000.000 - -
Forwards
9 Savo Milošević CF Serbia and Montenegro Bijeljina (1973-09-02)2 September 1973 (aged 22) Serbia and Montenegro Partizan 26 June 1995 £3,500,000 49 14
10 Dwight Yorke CF Trinidad and Tobago Canaan (1971-11-03)3 November 1971 (aged 24) Trinidad and Tobago Signal Hill 19 July 1991 £120,000 194 62
11 Tommy Johnson CF England Gateshead (1971-01-15)15 January 1971 (aged 25) Derby County 6 January 1995 £1,450,000 46 12
12 Julian Joachim CF England Peterborough (1974-09-20)20 September 1974 (aged 21) Leicester City 24 February 1996 £1,890,000 11 1
23 Neil Davis CF England Bloxwich (1973-08-15)15 August 1973 (aged 22) Academy 1 July 1995 — 3 0
— Franz Carr RW England Preston (1966-09-24)24 September 1966 (aged 29) Leicester City 10 February 1995 £250,000 4 1

Note: Stats and ages are correct as of July 1, 1996.

Results

Premier League

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 by round

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

Matches

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
14 January 1997 (1997-01-14) R3 Notts County 0-0 Aston Villa Nottingham
12:00 Stadium: Meadow Lane
Attendance: 13,315
28 January 1996 (1996-01-28) R3R Aston Villa 3-0 Notts County Birmingham
19:45 Yorke 24' 53'
Ehiogu 67'		 Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 25,006
25 January 1997 (1997-01-25) R4 Derby County 3-1 Aston Villa Derby
15:00 van der Laan 36'
Sturridge 40'
Willems 69'		 Ćurčić 76' Stadium: Baseball Ground
Attendance: 17,977
Referee: Roger Dilkes

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup
23 October 1996 (1996-10-23) R3 Leeds United 1-2 Aston Villa Leeds
19:45 Sharpe 69' Taylor 70'
Yorke 77' (pen.)		 Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 15,803
26 November 1996 (1996-11-26) R4 Wimbledon 1-0 Aston Villa London
19:45 Gayle 44' Stadium: Selhurst Park
Attendance: 7,573

UEFA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 UEFA Cup
10 September 1996 (1996-09-10) R1 L1 Aston Villa England 1-1 Sweden Helsingborg Birmingham
19:45 Johnson 14' Wibrån 81' Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 25,818
Referee: Loizos Loizou
24 September 1996 (1996-09-24) R1 L2 Helsingborg Sweden 0-0
(*1-1 agg.)		 England Aston Villa Helsingborg
19:45 Stadium: Olympia
Attendance: 10,213
Referee: Roger Philippi

References

  1. ^ "Aston Villa 1996-1997 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.