# 1996–97 Iraqi Premier League

The 1996–97 Iraqi Premier League was the 23rd season of the competition since its foundation in 1974. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi Advanced League to Iraqi Premier League. The league title was won by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya for the fourth time. They also won the Iraq FA Cup, the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship and the Iraqi Super Cup in this season, completing the first ever domestic quadruple in Iraqi football history.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (C) | 30 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 63 | 24 | +39 | 69 | 1998–99 Asian Club Championship |
| 2 | Al-Zawraa | 30 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 76 | 24 | +52 | 67 | |
| 3 | Al-Talaba | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 58 | 17 | +41 | 60 | 1998–99 Asian Cup Winners' Cup |
| 4 | Al-Najaf | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 59 | |
| 5 | Al-Shorta | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 48 | 33 | +15 | 46 | |
| 6 | Al-Mosul | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 43 | |
| 7 | Samarra | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 39 | |
| 8 | Al-Minaa | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 22 | 32 | −10 | 37 | |
| 9 | Al-Naft | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 36 | |
| 10 | Salahaddin | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 34 | |
| 11 | Al-Kut | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 34 | 43 | −9 | 31 | |
| 12 | Al-Sinaa | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 42 | −21 | 29 | |
| 13 | Al-Sulaikh | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 28 | |
| 14 | Al-Karkh (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 51 | −27 | 27 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
| 15 | Al-Kadhimiya (R) | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 35 | −15 | 26 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
| 16 | Al-Ramadi (R) | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 59 | −40 | 25 | Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League |
* ↑ Although Al-Shorta were runners-up of the Iraq FA Cup (won by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), the IFA decided to give the Cup Winners' Cup slot to the league's third-placed team Al-Talaba.

## Results

| Home \ Away | KDH | KAR | KUT | MIN | MSL | NFT | NJF | QWJ | RMA | SHR | SIN | SLK | TLB | ZWR | SAL | SMR |
| Al-Kadhimiya | | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Al-Karkh | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–6 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Al-Kut | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Al-Minaa | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Al-Mosul | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Al-Naft | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–5 |
| Al-Najaf | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 5–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Al-Ramadi | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Al-Shorta | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 5–0 |
| Al-Sinaa | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Al-Sulaikh | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Al-Talaba | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 |
| Al-Zawraa | 4–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 6–0 |
| Salahaddin | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–2 |
| Samarra | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | |
* ↑ The Al-Minaa–Samarra match originally ended as a 1–0 win for Al-Minaa but was changed to a 3–0 win for Samarra due to Al-Minaa fielding the ineligible player Ali Al-Diwan.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Pos | Scorer | Goals | Team |
| 1 | Ali Hashim | 19 | Al-Najaf |
| 2 | Sahib Abbas | 17 | Al-Zawraa |
| 3 | Sabah Jeayer | 12 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Sahib Abbas$^6$ | Al-Zawraa | Al-Karkh | 6–0 | 18 October 1996 |
| Naeem Saddam | Al-Zawraa | Samarra | 6–0 | 1 November 1996 |
| Hussam Fawzi | Al-Zawraa | Al-Sulaikh | 3–1 | 15 November 1996 |
| Haidar Najim | Al-Najaf | Samarra | 3–0 | 14 December 1996 |
| Sahib Abbas | Al-Zawraa | Al-Sinaa | 3–0 | 27 December 1996 |
| Alaa Kadhim | Al-Talaba | Al-Ramadi | 5–0 | 1 February 1997 |
| Alaa Kadhim | Al-Talaba | Al-Karkh | 4–0 | 8 March 1997 |
| Mahmoud Karim | Al-Talaba | Al-Sinaa | 5–0 | 11 April 1997 |
| Ahmed Jadiea | Al-Karkh | Al-Ramadi | 5–0 | 16 April 1997 |
| Muayad Judi | Al-Zawraa | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 5–3 | 9 May 1997 |

#### Notes

$^6$ Player scored 6 goals