# 1996–97 Divizia B

The 1996–97 Divizia B was the 57th season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system.
The format has been maintained to two series, each of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season, the winners of the series promoted to Divizia A and the last two places from both series relegated to Divizia C.

## Team changes
### Renamed teams

Danubiana București merged with Astra Ploiești and was renamed as Danubiana Ploiești.
Unirea Alba Iulia was renamed as Apulum Alba Iulia

## League tables
### Seria I

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Foresta Fălticeni (C, P) | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 79 | 22 | +57 | 76 | Promotion to Divizia A |
| 2 | Precizia Săcele | 34 | 19 | 4 | 11 | 62 | 43 | +19 | 61 | |
| 3 | Dacia Unirea Brăila | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 60 | 35 | +25 | 60 | |
| 4 | FC Onești | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 68 | 36 | +32 | 59 | |
| 5 | Petrolul Moinești | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 57 | |
| 6 | Gloria Buzău | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 69 | 37 | +32 | 55 | |
| 7 | Politehnica Iași | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 53 | 39 | +14 | 55 | |
| 8 | Danubiana Ploiești | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 51 | |
| 9 | Dunărea Călărași | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 50 | |
| 10 | Poiana Câmpina | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 50 | |
| 11 | Tractorul Brașov | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 49 | |
| 12 | Bucovina Suceava | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 48 | |
| 13 | Rocar București | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 53 | 42 | +11 | 47 | |
| 14 | Dunărea Galați | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 43 | |
| 15 | Metrom Brașov | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 42 | |
| 16 | Metalul Plopeni | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 37 | |
| 17 | Cetatea Târgu Neamț (R) | 34 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 122 | −100 | 17 | Relegation to Divizia C |
| 18 | Steaua Mizil (R) | 34 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 11 | 132 | −121 | 8 | Relegation to Divizia C |

### Seria II

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | CSM Reșița (C, P) | 34 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 70 | Promotion to Divizia A |
| 2 | Electroputere Craiova | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 57 | 21 | +36 | 70 | |
| 3 | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 40 | 22 | +18 | 56 | |
| 4 | Minerul Motru | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 53 | |
| 5 | Dacia Pitești | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 51 | |
| 6 | Unirea Dej | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 49 | |
| 7 | Corvinul Hunedoara | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 48 | |
| 8 | ASA Târgu Mureș | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 48 | |
| 9 | CFR Cluj | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 47 | |
| 10 | Gloria Reșița | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 44 | −9 | 47 | |
| 11 | Olimpia Satu Mare | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 46 | |
| 12 | ARO Câmpulung | 34 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 32 | 37 | −5 | 45 | |
| 13 | UTA Arad | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 44 | |
| 14 | Maramureș Baia Mare | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 43 | |
| 15 | Inter Sibiu | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 41 | |
| 16 | Apulum Alba Iulia | 34 | 13 | 1 | 20 | 42 | 62 | −20 | 40 | |
| 17 | Minaur Zlatna (R) | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 37 | Relegation to Divizia C |
| 18 | CFR Timișoara (R) | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 31 | 56 | −25 | 34 | Relegation to Divizia C |

## Top scorers
### 24 goals

* Claudiu Niculescu (Electroputere Craiova)

### 15 goals

* Daniel Bona (Precizia Săcele)

### 13 goals

* Lucian Marinescu (CSM Reșița)

### 10 goals

* Pompiliu Stoica (Gloria Buzău)

### 9 goals

* Mihai Dăscălescu (Corvinul Hunedoara)

### 8 goals

* Giani Gorga (FC Onești)
* Ovidiu Maier (Inter Sibiu)

### 7 goals

* Sorin Oncică (CFR Cluj)
* Robert Ilyes (Foresta Fălticeni)

### 6 goals

* Iulian Dăniță (Dunărea Galați)
* Virgil Marșavela (Metrom Brașov)
* Costel Lazăr (Astra Ploiești)
* Nicolae Constantin (Astra Ploiești)
* Ionuț Savu (Rocar București)