# 1996–97 Aston Villa F.C. season

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.

## Kit

| Kit Supplier | Sponsor |
| << Reebok >> | AST Computer |

## Transfers
### Transferred in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Fee |
| 2 August 1996 | RB | Fernando Nélson | Sporting | £1,700,000 |
| 23 August 1996 | DM | 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 | Paul Browne | Raith Rovers | £70,000 |
| 1 October 1996 | CB | Paul McGrath | Derby County | £100,000 |
| 1 October 1996 | RW | Franz Carr | 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 | 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 | Place of birth | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | Apps | Gls |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | Mark Bosnich | GK | Liverpool | (1972-01-13)13 January 1972 (aged 24) | Sydney Croatia | 28 February 1992 | Free transfer | 145 | 0 |
| 13 | Michael Oakes | GK | Northwich | (1973-10-30)30 October 1973 (aged 22) | Academy | 1 July 1991 | — | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Adam Rachel | GK | Birmingham | (1976-12-30)30 December 1976 (aged 19) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Stuart Brock | GK | West Bromwich | (1976-09-26)26 September 1976 (aged 19) | Academy | 1 July 1996 | — | - | - |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | Gary Charles | RB | Newham | (1970-04-13)13 April 1970 (aged 26) | Derby County | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 63 | 1 |
| 3 | Steve Staunton | LB | Dundalk | (1969-01-19)19 January 1969 (aged 27) | Liverpool | 7 August 1991 | £1,100,000 | 190 | 13 |
| 4 | Gareth Southgate | CB | Watford | (1970-09-03)3 September 1970 (aged 25) | Crystal Palace | 1 July 1995 | £3,500,000 | 43 | 2 |
| 5 | Paul McGrath | CB | Greenford | (1959-12-04)4 December 1959 (aged 36) | Manchester United | 3 August 1989 | £400,000 | 306 | 10 |
| 14 | Alan Wright | LB | 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 | Porto | (1971-11-05)5 November 1971 (aged 24) | Sporting | 2 August 1996 | £1,700,000 | - | - |
| 16 | Ugo Ehiogu | CB | Hackney | (1972-11-03)3 November 1972 (aged 23) | West Bromwich Albion | 12 July 1991 | £40,000 | 131 | 6 |
| 18 | Carl Tiler | CB | Sheffield | (1970-02-11)11 February 1970 (aged 26) | Nottingham Forest | 28 October 1995 | £750,000 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Riccardo Scimeca | CB | Leamington Spa | (1975-06-13)13 June 1975 (aged 21) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 22 | 0 |
| 22 | Phil King | LB | Bristol | (1967-12-28)28 December 1967 (aged 28) | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 August 1994 | £200,000 | 23 | 0 |
| 27 | David Hughes | LB | Wrexham | (1978-02-01)1 February 1978 (aged 18) | Academy | 1 July 1996 | — | - | - |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 6 | Andy Townsend (c) | CM | Maidstone | (1963-07-26)26 July 1963 (aged 32) | Chelsea | 26 July 1993 | £2,100,000 | 131 | 9 |
| 7 | Ian Taylor | CM | Birmingham | (1968-06-04)4 June 1968 (aged 28) | Sheffield Wednesday | 21 December 1994 | £1,000,000 | 59 | 6 |
| 8 | Mark Draper | CM | Long Eaton | (1970-11-11)11 November 1970 (aged 25) | Leicester City | 5 July 1995 | £3,250,000 | 49 | 5 |
| 17 | Lee Hendrie | RM | Solihull | (1977-05-18)18 May 1977 (aged 19) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | Gareth Farrelly | LM | Dublin | (1975-08-28)28 August 1975 (aged 20) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 6 | 0 |
| 24 | Scott Murray | RM | Fraserburgh | (1974-05-26)26 May 1974 (aged 22) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | Saša Ćurčić | DM | Belgrade | (1972-02-14)14 February 1972 (aged 24) | Bolton Wanderers | 1 July 1995 | £4.000.000 | - | - |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 9 | Savo Milošević | CF | Bijeljina | (1973-09-02)2 September 1973 (aged 22) | Partizan | 26 June 1995 | £3,500,000 | 49 | 14 |
| 10 | Dwight Yorke | CF | Canaan | (1971-11-03)3 November 1971 (aged 24) | Signal Hill | 19 July 1991 | £120,000 | 194 | 62 |
| 11 | Tommy Johnson | CF | Gateshead | (1971-01-15)15 January 1971 (aged 25) | Derby County | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 46 | 12 |
| 12 | Julian Joachim | CF | Peterborough | (1974-09-20)20 September 1974 (aged 21) | Leicester City | 24 February 1996 | £1,890,000 | 11 | 1 |
| 23 | Neil Davis | CF | Bloxwich | (1973-08-15)15 August 1973 (aged 22) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | 3 | 0 |
| — | Franz Carr | RW | 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

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 68 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 61 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Chelsea | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 59 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 50 | 51 | −1 | 57 | |
* ↑ Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
* ↑ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.

#### Results by round

| Match | 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 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | W | W | W | D | D | D | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | D | D | L | L | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | L | W |
| Position | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |

#### Matches

Aston Villa's score comes first

### 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) |