# 1996–97 SSC Napoli season

S.S.C. Napoli continued its steady decline with another lacklustre season. Once more, goalscoring was at a premium, with only 28 goals being scored in the 34 league games. Coach Luigi Simoni was sacked and replaced by youth team coach Vincenzo Montefusco, who led the team to the Coppa Italia final against Vicenza, where Napoli won at home thanks to Fabio Pecchia's goal, but lost 3-0 away from home, and therefore failed to win the trophy. The 13th place in the domestic league was the worst for 14 years, and one year on, Napoli was ultimately relegated.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ITA | Giuseppe Taglialatela |
| 12 | GK | ITA | Raffaele Di Fusco |
| 28 | GK | ITA | Antonio Pietropaolo |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Roberto Ayala |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Mauro Milanese |
| 6 | DF | BRA | André Cruz |
| 13 | DF | ITA | Luigi Panarelli |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Francesco Baldini |
| 16 | DF | ITA | Francesco Colonnese |
| 22 | DF | BEL | Bertrand Crasson |
| 30 | DF | ITA | Luigi Malafronte |
| 25 | DF | ITA | Mirko Taccola |
| 4 | MF | ITA | Roberto Bordin |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | MF | FRA | Alain Boghossian |
| 7 | MF | ITA | Francesco Turrini |
| 9 | MF | ITA | Massimiliano Esposito |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Beto |
| 11 | MF | ITA | Fabio Pecchia |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Raffaele Longo |
| 24 | MF | ITA | Luca Altomare |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Roberto Policano |
| 27 | MF | ITA | Gennaro Scarlato |
| 8 | FW | BRA | Caio |
| 14 | FW | ITA | Alfredo Aglietti |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Nicola Caccia |
| 20 | FW | ITA | Arturo Di Napoli |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Alfredo Aglietti | Reggina | - |
| MF | Beto | Botafogo | free |
| MF | Nicola Caccia | Piacenza | - |
| FW | Caio | Internazionale | €5.00 million |
| DF | Bertrand Crasson | Anderlecht | - |
| FW | Massimiliano Esposito | Lazio | - |
| MF | Mauro Milanese | Torino | - |
| DF | Luigi Panarelli | Taranto | - |
| MF | Francesco Turrini | Piacenza | - |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Massimo Agostini | Cesena | - |
| MF | Renato Buso | Lazio | - |
| MF | Carmelo Imbriani | Pistoiese | - |
| MF | Fausto Pari | Piacenza | - |
| MF | Fausto Pizzi | Perugia | - |
| DF | Massimo Tarantino | Internazionale | - |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | Mirko Taccola | Cagliari | - |
| FW | Arturo Di Napoli | Internazionale | - |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 11 | Milan | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 43 | |
| 12 | Roma | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 41 | |
| 13 | Napoli | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 41 | |
| 14 | Piacenza | 34 | 7 | 16 | 11 | 29 | 45 | −16 | 37 | Relegation tie-breaker |
| 15 | Cagliari (R) | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 37 | Serie B after tie-breaker |
* ↑ Roma finished ahead of Napoli on Goal difference: Roma -1, Napoli -7.
* ↑ CAG: 7 pts; PIA: 5 pts; PER: 4 pts.
* ↑ CAG: 7 pts; PIA: 5 pts; PER: 4 pts.

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | W | D | W | D | L | W | D | W | D | D | W | L | W | L | L | D | W | D | L | D | D | D | L | D | D | D | L | L | W | L | D | L | W |
| Position | 18 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia
#### Final
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | 1996–97 Serie A | 1996–97 Serie A | 1996–97 Coppa Italia | 1996–97 Coppa Italia |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ITA | Giuseppe Taglialatela | 42 | -51 | 34 | -45 | 8 | -6 |
| 16 | DF | ITA | Francesco Colonnese | 38 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Roberto Ayala | 36 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Francesco Baldini | 39 | 0 | 31+1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Mauro Milanese | 36 | 1 | 28+1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | DM | BRA | André Cruz | 29 | 6 | 22+2 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | ITA | Francesco Turrini | 30 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | FRA | Alain Boghossian | 29 | 1 | 20+2 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | AM | ITA | Fabio Pecchia | 38 | 7 | 32 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 14 | FW | ITA | Alfredo Aglietti | 34 | 9 | 20+8 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Nicola Caccia | 40 | 7 | 29+4 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ITA | Raffaele Di Fusco | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Beto | 26 | 5 | 17+5 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | BEL | Bertrand Crasson | 27 | 0 | 13+9 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | ITA | Massimiliano Esposito | 27 | 3 | 10+12 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | MF | ITA | Roberto Bordin | 22 | 0 | 10+7 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Raffaele Longo | 18 | 0 | 9+5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ITA | Luca Altomare | 23 | 1 | 8+9 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | BRA | Caio | 24 | 1 | 6+14 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 25 | DF | ITA | Mirko Taccola | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Roberto Policano | 11 | 0 | 0+8 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ITA | Gennaro Scarlato | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | ITA | Arturo Di Napoli | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | ITA | Antonio Pietropaolo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | ITA | Luigi Panarelli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | ITA | Luigi Malafronte | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: http://calcio-seriea.net/rose/1996/1115/