# 1996–97 Chester City F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was the 59th season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester City, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
Also, it was the second season spent in the Third Division, after the relegation from the Second Division in 1995. Alongside competing in the Football League the club also participated in the FA Cup, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

## Football League

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 4 | Northampton Town | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 44 | +23 | 72 | Promoted through play-offs |
| 5 | Swansea City | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 62 | 58 | +4 | 71 | Participated in play-offs |
| 6 | Chester City | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 70 | Participated in play-offs |
| 7 | Cardiff City | 46 | 20 | 9 | 17 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 69 | Participated in play-offs |
| 8 | Colchester United | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 62 | 51 | +11 | 68 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by matchday

| 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 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Result | L | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | D | W | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | D | W | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | D | D | D | W | L | D | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 15 | 17 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 17 August | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | L | 1–2 | Murphy | 5,263 |
| 24 August | Cambridge United | H | D | 1–1 | Rimmer | 1,923 |
| 27 August | Swansea City | H | W | 2–0 | Shelton, Milner | 1,946 |
| 31 August | Wigan Athletic | A | L | 2–4 | Milner, Noteman | 3,854 |
| 7 September | Lincoln City | H | W | 4–1 | Rimmer (2), Davidson, Noteman (pen) | 1,802 |
| 10 September | Rochdale | A | W | 1–0 | Shelton | 1,774 |
| 14 September | Torquay United | A | D | 0–0 | | 2,341 |
| 21 September | Scunthorpe United | H | W | 1–0 | Fisher | |
| 28 September | Hartlepool United | A | L | 0–2 | | 1,901 |
| 1 October | Northampton Town | H | W | 2–1 | Flitcroft, Noteman | 2,042 |
| 12 October | Scarborough | A | D | 0–0 | | 1,791 |
| 15 October | Leyton Orient | A | D | 0–0 | | 3,115 |
| 19 October | Exeter City | H | W | 2–1 | Helliwell, Milner | 1,941 |
| 26 October | Hereford United | H | L | 1–3 | Noteman | 2,301 |
| 29 October | Carlisle United | A | L | 1–3 | Noteman | 4,187 |
| 2 November | Doncaster Rovers | A | W | 1–0 | Jackson | 1,534 |
| 9 November | Hull City | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,085 |
| 22 November | Colchester United | H | L | 1–2 | Whelan | 2,028 |
| 26 November | Cardiff City | H | L | 0–1 | | 1,540 |
| 30 November | Hereford United | A | W | 2–1 | Norton (o.g.), Flitcroft | 2,210 |
| 3 December | Fulham | H | D | 1–1 | Reid (pen) | 1,762 |
| 14 December | Darlington | H | W | 2–1 | McDonald (2) | 2,073 |
| 21 December | Barnet | A | W | 2–1 | Noteman (pen), McDonald | 1,581 |
| 11 January | Hartlepool United | H | D | 0–0 | | 1,885 |
| 14 January | Rochdale | H | D | 0–0 | | 1,679 |
| 18 January | Northampton Town | A | L | 1–5 | Noteman | 4,434 |
| 28 January | Lincoln City | A | D | 0–0 | | 2,330 |
| 1 February | Hull City | A | L | 0–1 | | 2,513 |
| 4 February | Mansfield Town | A | W | 2–0 | Flitcroft, McDonald | 1,688 |
| 8 February | Doncaster Rovers | H | W | 6–0 | Milner (4), Alsford, Jones | 2,347 |
| 14 February | Colchester United | A | D | 0–0 | | 3,855 |
| 18 February | Scunthorpe United | A | W | 2–0 | Flitcroft, Priest | 1,524 |
| 22 February | Mansfield Town | H | W | 1–0 | Noteman | 2,385 |
| 25 February | Carlisle United | H | D | 1–1 | Noteman | 2,750 |
| 1 March | Fulham | A | D | 1–1 | Priest | 5,780 |
| 8 March | Barnet | H | W | 1–0 | Campbell (o.g.) | 2,291 |
| 11 March | Torquay United | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,064 |
| 15 March | Darlington | A | D | 1–1 | Milner | 2,348 |
| 22 March | Cambridge United | A | D | 2–2 | Rimmer, Milner | 3,044 |
| 29 March | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | W | 2–1 | Woods, Milner | 3,613 |
| 31 March | Swansea City | A | L | 1–2 | Alsford | 6,284 |
| 5 April | Wigan Athletic | H | D | 1–1 | Flitcroft | 4,005 |
| 12 April | Cardiff City | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,079 |
| 19 April | Scarborough | H | W | 1–0 | Milner | 2,311 |
| 26 April | Exeter City | A | W | 5–1 | Davidson, McDonald (2), Milner, Flitcroft | 4,300 |
| 3 May | Leyton Orient | H | L | 0–1 | | 3,622 |

#### Play-off

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 11 May | Swansea City | H | D | 0–0 | | 5,104 |
| 14 May | Swansea City | A | L | 0–3 | | 10,027 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 16 November | Stalybridge Celtic (5) | H | W | 3–0 | Rimmer (2), Milner | 3,151 |
| Second round | 7 December | Boston United (6) | H | W | 1–0 | Milner | 3,344 |
| Third round | 4 January | Middlesbrough (1) | A | L | 0–6 | | 18,684 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round first leg | 20 August | Carlisle United (4) | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,042 |
| First round second leg | 3 September | Carlisle United (4) | H | L | 1–3 | Noteman | 1,947 |

## Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 10 December | Hull City (4) | A | L | 1–3 | McDonald | 553 |

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FL Trophy | FL Trophy |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| | Wayne Brown | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Neil Cutler | 5 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Chris Knowles | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| | Ronnie Sinclair | 44 | – | 39 | – | 3 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| Field players ||||||||||||
| | Sam Aiston | 16 | – | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Julian Alsford | 51 | 2 | 45 | 2 | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Greg Brown | 0+2 | – | 0+1 | – | 0+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Ross Davidson | 46 | 2 | 42 | 2 | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Neil Fisher | 25+10 | 1 | 19+10 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | David Flitcroft | 35+3 | 6 | 32+2 | 6 | 2 | – | 0+1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Martin Giles | 0+1 | – | – | – | 0+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Ian Helliwell | 8+1 | 1 | 8+1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Peter Jackson | 37 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Iain Jenkins | 46 | – | 41 | – | 3 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Jonathan Jones | 3+15 | 1 | 3+15 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Rod McDonald | 25 | 7 | 24 | 6 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| | Andy Milner | 45+9 | 14 | 40+8 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | 0+1 | – |
| | John Murphy | 6+7 | 1 | 4+7 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Kevin Noteman | 32+8 | 10 | 30+5 | 9 | 2+1 | – | 0+1 | 1 | 0+1 | – |
| | Chris Priest | 35+2 | 2 | 32+2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Shaun Reid | 29 | 1 | 29 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Nick Richardson | 11 | – | 9 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Dave Rogers | 6+2 | – | 4+1 | – | 0+1 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Stuart Rimmer | 28+4 | 6 | 22+4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| | Gary Shelton | 21+4 | 2 | 18+4 | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Gary Tallon | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Spencer Whelan | 20+10 | 1 | 19+7 | 1 | 1+2 | – | – | – | 0+1 | – |
| | Matt Woods | 14+14 | 1 | 10+13 | 1 | 3 | – | 0+1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Total | 54 | 61 | 48 | 55 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |