# 1996–97 Motherwell F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was Motherwell's 12th consecutive season in the Scottish Premier Division, the top division of Scottish Football.

## Season events

Motherwell started the season with pre-season friendlies in England against Southend United, Baldock Town and Blyth Spartans. Motherwell lost to Southend United, defeated Baldock Town and Blyth Spartans before returning to Fir Park to face Portuguese giants Porto, losing 1–0.

## Squad

    As of match played 10 May 1997
| No. | Name | Position | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Signed in | Apps. | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| | Scott Howie | GK | (1972-01-04)4 January 1972 (aged 25) | Norwich City | 1994 | | |
| | Stevie Woods | GK | (1970-02-23)23 February 1970 (aged 27) | Preston North End | 1994 | | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| | Mitchell van der Gaag | DF | (1971-10-22)22 October 1971 (aged 25) | PSV Eindhoven | 1995 | | |
| | Stephen Craigan | DF | (1976-10-29)29 October 1976 (aged 20) | Blantyre Victoria | 1995 | | |
| | Kevin Christie | DF | (1976-04-01)1 April 1976 (aged 21) | East Fife | 1997 | | |
| | Greig Denham | DF | (1976-10-05)5 October 1976 (aged 20) | Youth team | 1994 | | |
| | Brian Martin | DF | (1963-02-24)24 February 1963 (aged 34) | St Mirren | 1991 | | |
| | Eddie May | DF | (1967-08-30)30 August 1967 (aged 29) | Falkirk | 1994 | | |
| | David McCallum | DF | (1977-09-07)7 September 1977 (aged 19) | Bearsden BC | 1995 | | |
| | Chris McCart | DF | (1967-04-17)17 April 1967 (aged 30) | Youth team | 1985 | | |
| | Steve McMillan | DF | (1976-01-19)19 January 1976 (aged 21) | Troon | 1993 | | |
| | John Philliben | DF | (1964-03-14)14 March 1964 (aged 33) | Doncaster Rovers | 1986 | | |
| | Fraser Wishart | DF | (1965-03-01)1 March 1965 (aged 32) | Heart of Midlothian | 1996 | | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| | Joni Lehtonen | MF | (1973-09-30)30 September 1973 (aged 23) | Ilves | 1996 | | |
| | Simo Valakari | MF | (1973-04-28)28 April 1973 (aged 24) | FinnPa | 1996 | | |
| | Billy Davies | MF | (1964-05-31)31 May 1964 (aged 32) | Dunfermline Athletic | 1993 | | |
| | Lee McCulloch | MF | (1978-05-14)14 May 1978 (aged 18) | Youth team | 1994 | 21 | 0 |
| | Shaun McSkimming | MF | (1970-05-29)29 May 1970 (aged 26) | Kilmarnock | 1994 | | |
| | Ian Ross | MF | (1974-08-27)27 August 1974 (aged 22) | Youth team | 1995 | | |
| | Mickey Weir | MF | (1966-01-16)16 January 1966 (aged 31) | Hibernian | 1996 | | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| | Owen Coyle | FW | (1966-07-14)14 July 1966 (aged 30) | Dundee United | 1997 | | |
| | Tommy Coyne | FW | (1962-11-14)14 November 1962 (aged 34) | Tranmere Rovers | 1993 | | |
| | Roy Essandoh | FW | (1976-02-17)17 February 1976 (aged 21) | Cumbernauld United | 1994 | | |
| | Dougie Arnott | FW | (1964-08-05)5 August 1964 (aged 32) | Pollok | 1986 | | |
| | Alex Burns | FW | (1973-08-04)4 August 1973 (aged 23) | Youth team | 1991 | | |
| | Willie Falconer | FW | (1966-04-05)5 April 1966 (aged 31) | Celtic | 1996 | | |
| | John Hendry | FW | (1970-01-06)6 January 1970 (aged 27) | Tottenham Hotspur | 1995 | | |
| Left during the season ||||||||||
| | Jamie Dolan | MF | (1969-02-22)22 February 1969 (aged 28) | Youth team | 1987 | | |
| | Innes Ritchie | DF | (1973-08-24)24 August 1973 (aged 23) | Youth team | 1992 | | |
| | Andy Roddie | MF | (1971-11-04)4 November 1971 (aged 25) | Aberdeen | 1994 | | |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 16 November 1997 | MF | Joni Lehtonen | Ilves | Undisclosed |
| 7 January 1998 | FW | Owen Coyle | Dundee United | Player swap |
| 7 February 1998 | MF | Simo Valakari | FinnPa | Undisclosed |
| 14 March 1998 | MF | Mickey Weir | Hibernian | Undisclosed |
| 21 March 1998 | DF | Kevin Christie | East Fife | Undisclosed |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Date to | Ref. |
| 24 July 2021 | FW | | Matthew Connelly | Gretna | End of season | |

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 7 January 1998 | MF | Jamie Dolan | Dundee United | Player swap |
| 11 January 1998 | DF | Innes Ritchie | East Fife | Undisclosed |
| 27 January 1998 | MF | Andy Roddie | Notts County | Undisclosed |

### Released

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | Joined | Date | Ref. |
| 30 June 1996 | MF | | Paul Lambert | Borussia Dortmund | | |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier Division | 10 August 1996 | 10 May 1997 | Matchday 1 | 8th | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 025.00 |
| Scottish Cup | 25 January 1997 | 8 March 1997 | Third Round | Quarterfinal | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 050.00 |
| League Cup | 13 August 1996 | 13 August 1996 | Second Round | Second Round | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 41 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 50 | 60 | −10 | 026.83 |
Last updated: 10 May 1997 Source: Competitions

### Premier Division
#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Fir Park Corner

#### 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 | 35 | 36 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | W | L | D | D | W | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | L | D | L | L | D | W | D | W | D |
| Position | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 |

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 45 | 54 | −9 | 44 | |
| 7 | Kilmarnock | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 41 | 61 | −20 | 39 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 8 | Motherwell | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 38 | |
| 9 | Hibernian (O) | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 38 | Qualification for the Play-off |
| 10 | Raith Rovers (R) | 36 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 29 | 73 | −44 | 25 | Relegation to the First Division |
* ↑ Kilmarnock qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the winners of the Scottish Cup.

### League Cup
## Statistics
### Goal scorers

| Ranking | Position | Nation | Number | Name | Premier Division | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | | | Tommy Coyne | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2 | FW | | | Owen Coyle | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | DF | | | Mitchell van der Gaag | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | MF | | | Shaun McSkimming | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | FW | | | Dougie Arnott | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | FW | | | Willie Falconer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | | Eddie May | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | | Ian Ross | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | | Mickey Weir | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | | Billy Davies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | | | | Own goal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | FW | | | Alex Burns | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | DF | | | John Philliben | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 44 | 6 | 0 | 50 |