# 1996–97 Chelsea F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Chelsea competed in the Premier League.

## Season summary

With Glenn Hoddle leaving to become England manager, Chelsea gave the managerial role to midfielder Ruud Gullit, who used his continental connections to bring in world-class international players such as France center-back Frank Leboeuf, and Italian superstars such as midfielder Roberto Di Matteo, Parma's playmaker Gianfranco Zola and the Champions League winning striker and Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli. Gullit had a dream start to his managerial career as Chelsea won the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough, ending Chelsea's 26-year trophy drought and making him the first foreign manager to win a major trophy with an English club. Zola was voted FWA Footballer of the Year after a brilliant first season at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 12 goals and contributed many assists, while fellow countryman and record £4.5 million signing Roberto Di Matteo scored one of Chelsea's goals in the triumphant Wembley final.
The club suffered a tragedy in late October when director Matthew Harding was killed in a helicopter crash in Cheshire when returning home from the club's League Cup exit at Bolton.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 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 | |
| 8 | Wimbledon | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 49 | 46 | +3 | 56 | |
* ↑ 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 summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Statto

### 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 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | W | D | W | D | L | D | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | L | D | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | W |
| Position | 11 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |

## Results
### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 18 September 1996 | R2 | Blackpool | A | 4–1 | 9,666 | Petrescu, Morris, Spencer, M. Hughes |
| 25 September 1996 | R2 | Blackpool | H | 1–3 | 11,732 | Spencer |
| 22 October 1996 | R3 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 16,867 | Minto |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 4 January 1997 | R3 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–0 | 27,446 | Wise, Zola, Burley |
| 26 January 1997 | R4 | Liverpool | H | 4–2 | 27,950 | M. Hughes, Zola, Vialli (2) |
| 16 February 1997 | R5 | Leicester City | A | 2–2 | 19,125 | Di Matteo, M. Hughes |
| 26 February 1997 | R5 (R) | Leicester City | H | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | 26,053 | Leboeuf (pen.) |
| 9 March 1997 | QF | Portsmouth | A | 4–1 | 15,701 | Wise (2), Zola, M. Hughes |
| 13 April 1997 | SF | Wimbledon | N | 3–0 | 32,674 | M. Hughes (2), Zola |
| 17 May 1997 | F | Middlesbrough | N | 2–0 | 79,160 | Di Matteo, Newton |

## First team squad

    Squad at end of season
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 | RUS | Dmitri Kharine |
| 2 | DF | ROU | Dan Petrescu |
| 4 | DF | NED | Ruud Gullit |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Frank Leboeuf |
| 6 | DF | SCO | Steve Clarke |
| 8 | DF | ENG | Andy Myers |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Gianluca Vialli |
| 10 | FW | WAL | Mark Hughes |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Dennis Wise (captain) |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Michael Duberry |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Kevin Hitchcock |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Craig Burley |
| 15 | DF | ENG | David Lee |
| 16 | MF | ITA | Roberto Di Matteo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Scott Minto |
| 18 | DF | NOR | Erland Johnsen |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Paul Parker |
| 20 | DF | JAM | Frank Sinclair |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Jody Morris |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Mark Nicholls |
| 23 | GK | IRL | Nick Colgan |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Eddie Newton |
| 25 | FW | ITA | Gianfranco Zola |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Neil Clement |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Paul Hughes |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Danny Granville |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Joe Sheerin |
| 30 | GK | NOR | Frode Grodås |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | IRL | Terry Phelan (to Everton) |
| 7 | FW | SCO | John Spencer (to Queen's Park Rangers) |
| — | MF | ENG | David Rocastle (on loan to Norwich City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Gavin Peacock (to Queen's Park Rangers) |
| 31 | GK | CAN | Craig Forrest (on loan from Ipswich Town) |

### Reserve 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 |
| — | DF | ENG | Jon Harley |
| — | DF | NZL | Chris Zoricich |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Nick Crittenden |
| — | MF | ENG | David Rocastle |

## Statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 30 | GK | NOR | Frode Grodås | 26 | 0 | 20+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ROU | Dan Petrescu | 41 | 4 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Frank Leboeuf | 34 | 7 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | SCO | Steve Clarke | 40 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Scott Minto | 32 | 5 | 24+1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | ITA | Roberto Di Matteo | 44 | 9 | 33+1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Dennis Wise | 40 | 6 | 27+4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Craig Burley | 37 | 3 | 26+5 | 2 | 1+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Gianluca Vialli | 34 | 11 | 23+5 | 9 | 1+4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | WAL | Mark Hughes | 44 | 14 | 32+3 | 8 | 6+1 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | FW | ITA | Gianfranco Zola | 30 | 12 | 22+1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Kevin Hitchcock | 16 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Frank Sinclair | 25 | 1 | 17+2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | ENG | Andy Myers | 18 | 1 | 15+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | NOR | Erland Johnsen | 22 | 0 | 14+4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Michael Duberry | 17 | 1 | 13+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Eddie Newton | 20 | 1 | 13+2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Paul Hughes | 13 | 2 | 8+4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | NED | Ruud Gullit | 14 | 1 | 6+6 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Jody Morris | 14 | 1 | 6+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | GK | RUS | Dmitri Kharine | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Mark Nicholls | 10 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Danny Granville | 5 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | IRL | Terry Phelan | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Paul Parker | 4 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | David Lee | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Neil Clement | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | IRL | Nick Colgan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | SCO | John Spencer | 7 | 2 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Statistics taken from Archived 20 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Squad details and shirt numbers from and .

## Transfers
### In

| # | Pos | Player | From | Fee | Date |
| 9 | FW | Gianluca Vialli | Juventus | Free | 24 May 1996 |
| 16 | MF | Roberto Di Matteo | Lazio | £4,900,000 | 1 July 1996 |
| 5 | DF | Frank Leboeuf | Strasbourg | £2,500,000 | 1 July 1996 |
| 30 | GK | Frode Grodås | LSK | Free | 1 November 1996 |
| 25 | FW | Gianfranco Zola | Parma | £4,500,000 | 8 November 1996 |
| 28 | DF | Danny Granville | Cambridge United | £300,000 | 20 March 1997 |
| | DF | Celestine Babayaro | Anderlecht | £2,250,000 | 21 April 1997 |

### Out

| Pos | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| FW | Zeke Rowe | Peterborough United | Free | 4 July 1996 |
| MF | Muzzy Izzet | Leicester City | £650,000 | 8 July 1996 |
| MF | Ritchie Hanlon | Southend United | Free | 10 July 1996 |
| FW | Paul Furlong | Birmingham City | £1,500,000 | 17 July 1996 |
| DF | Anthony Barness | Charlton Athletic | £165,000 | 1 August 1996 |
| MF | Russell Kelly | Darlington | Free | 16 August 1996 |
| FW | John Spencer | QPR | £2,500,000 | 21 November 1996 |
| MF | Gavin Peacock | QPR | £800,000 | 23 December 1996 |
| DF | Terry Phelan | Everton | £850,000 | 30 December 1996 |
    Transfers in: £14,450,000
    Transfers out: £4,965,000
    Total spending: £9,485,000