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Watford
1996–97 season
Chairman	Jack Petchey
Manager	Kenny Jackett
Stadium	Vicarage Road
Second Division	13th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	Southern semi finals
Top goalscorer	Mooney (13)
Average home league attendance	8,894
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, although Jackett oversaw a long unbeaten stretch of results, Watford were unable to mount a serious promotion challenge and finished a disappointing campaign in 13th place – Watford's lowest position in the league structure since the 1970s. During the close season, Jackett was demoted to the position of first-team coach, with Graham Taylor once again becoming manager.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Gillingham	46	19	10	17	60	59	+1	67
12	Walsall	46	19	10	17	54	53	+1	67
13	Watford	46	16	19	11	45	38	+7	67
14	Millwall	46	16	13	17	50	55	−5	61
15	Preston North End	46	18	7	21	49	55	−6	61

Source: ^[2]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results

Watford's score comes first^[3]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bournemouth	A	2–1	7,672	Connolly, White
24 August 1996	Millwall	H	0–2	9,495
27 August 1996	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–2	7,349
31 August 1996	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–0	3,655	Palmer, Mooney
7 September 1996	Stockport County	H	1–0	7,208	Mooney (pen)
10 September 1996	Notts County	A	3–2	3,660	Mooney (2), Andrews
14 September 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	1–0	6,276	White
21 September 1996	Peterborough United	H	0–0	12,007
28 September 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–1	3,655
1 October 1996	Preston North End	H	1–0	6,434	Palmer
5 October 1996	York City	A	2–1	5,232	Andrews, Penrice
12 October 1996	Wrexham	H	1–1	8,441	Mooney (pen)
15 October 1996	Burnley	H	2–2	6,450	Andrews, R Johnson
19 October 1996	Bury	A	1–1	4,092	Andrews
26 October 1996	Blackpool	A	1–1	6,072	Mooney
29 October 1996	Luton Town	H	1–1	14,109	Bazeley
2 November 1996	Brentford	H	2–0	11,448	Gibbs, Mooney
9 November 1996	Rotherham United	A	0–0	3,619
19 November 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–0	7,657	Connolly
30 November 1996	Blackpool	H	2–2	12,017	Millen, Noel-Williams
3 December 1996	Bristol City	A	1–1	9,097	Noel-Williams
14 December 1996	Walsall	H	1–1	3,674	R Johnson
21 December 1996	Gillingham	H	0–0	7,809
26 December 1996	Notts County	H	0–0	9,065
18 January 1997	Preston North End	A	1–1	8,735	Mooney
27 January 1997	Luton Town	A	0–0	7,428
1 February 1997	Rotherham United	H	2–0	10,657	Bazeley, Slater
8 February 1997	Brentford	A	1–1	8,679	Scott
22 February 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–0	8,438
25 February 1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–0	6,378	Phillips, Bazeley
1 March 1997	Bristol City	H	3–0	8,539	Phillips (3)
4 March 1997	Peterborough United	A	1–2	4,200	Mooney
8 March 1997	Gillingham	A	1–3	7,385	Scott
15 March 1997	Walsall	H	1–0	7,818	Mooney
18 March 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	6,139	Mooney
22 March 1997	Millwall	A	1–0	8,713	Mooney
29 March 1997	Bournemouth	H	0–1	10,019
31 March 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–0	6,836
5 April 1997	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–1	12,441
8 April 1997	Chesterfield	A	0–0	4,258
12 April 1997	York City	H	4–0	7,645	Ramage (2), Mooney, Easton
14 April 1997	Stockport County	A	0–1	7,164
19 April 1997	Wrexham	A	1–3	3,437	Ramage
24 April 1997	Chesterfield	H	0–2	6,411
26 April 1997	Bury	H	0–0	9,017
3 May 1997	Burnley	A	1–4	8,269	Millen

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	17 November 1996	Northampton Town	A	1–0	7,342	Bazeley
R2	7 December 1996	Ashford Town	H	5–0	7,590	Bazeley (2), Connolly (3)
R3	21 January 1997	Oxford United	H	2–0	9,502	White, Connolly
R4	5 February 1997	Manchester City	A	1–3	24,031	Noel-Williams

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Walsall	A	0–1	2,659
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Walsall	H	2–0 (won 2–1 on agg)	5,325	Andrews, Porter
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Sunderland	H	0–2	9,136
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Sunderland	A	0–1 (lost 0–3 on agg)	10,659

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	7 January 1997	Torquay United	H	2–1	2,298	Page, Connolly
SQF	11 February 1997	Bristol City	H	2–1	3,142	Andrews, Bazeley
SSF	18 February 1997	Peterborough United	H	0–1	4,941

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain
—	GK	ENG	Kevin Miller
—	DF	ENG	Darren Bazeley
—	DF	ENG	Colin Foster
—	DF	ENG	Nigel Gibbs
—	DF	ENG	Dominic Ludden
—	DF	ENG	Keith Millen
—	DF	WAL	Rob Page
—	DF	ENG	Steve Palmer
—	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson
—	DF	ENG	Darren Ward
—	MF	ENG	Clint Easton
—	MF	ENG	Richard Flash
—	MF	AUS	Richard Johnson


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Gary Porter
—	MF	ENG	Craig Ramage
—	MF	ENG	Stuart Slater
—	MF	ENG	Steve Talboys
—	FW	ENG	Wayne Andrews
—	FW	IRL	David Connolly^{[notes 1]}
—	FW	ENG	Nathan Lowndes
—	FW	ENG	Tommy Mooney
—	FW	ENG	Gifton Noel-Williams
—	FW	ENG	Gary Penrice
—	FW	ENG	Kevin Phillips
—	FW	ENG	Keith Scott (on loan from Norwich City)
—	FW	ENG	Devon White

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ENG	Craig Armstrong (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
—	DF	ENG	David Holdsworth (to Sheffield United)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Craig Ramage (on loan to Peterborough United)

Reserve squad