# 1996–97 Meistriliiga

The 1996–97 Meistriliiga was the sixth season of the Meistriliiga, Estonia's premier football league. Lantana won their second title.

## Preliminary round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Lantana | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 9 | +21 | 35 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 2 | Flora | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 9 | +18 | 29 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 3 | Marlekor | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 22 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 4 | Lelle | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 21 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 5 | Narva Trans | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 20 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 6 | Tallinna Sadam | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 16 | Qualification for Championship Tournament |
| 7 | Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 20 | −10 | 13 | Qualification for Meistriliiga Transition Tournament |
| 8 | Vall | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 44 | −35 | 1 | Qualification for Meistriliiga Transition Tournament |

### Results

| Home \ Away | JEP | FLO | LAN | LEL | MAR | SAD | TRS | VAL |
| Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Flora | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Lantana | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | +:- |
| Lelle | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Marlekor | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Tallinna Sadam | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 3–4 | 4–0 |
| Narva Trans | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 | | 5–3 |
| Vall | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | |
* ↑ Result canceled – JK Vall used a disqualified player. The initial score was 5-1 for Lantana.

## Championship Tournament

The points obtained during the preliminary round were carried over halved and rounded up.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Lantana (C) | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 18 | 41 | Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Flora | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 7 | +18 | 15 | 38 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Tallinna Sadam | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 8 | 24 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Lelle | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 11 | 20 | |
| 5 | Marlekor | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 11 | 19 | |
| 6 | Narva Trans | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 19 | −11 | 10 | 17 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | FLO | LAN | LEL | MAR | SAD | TRS |
| Flora | | 4–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 5–1 |
| Lantana | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 7–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Lelle | 0–2 | 0–2 | | 3–0 | 0–4 | +:- |
| Marlekor | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Tallinna Sadam | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | | 3–1 |
| Narva Trans | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ Narva Trans did not show up.

## Meistriliiga Transition Tournament

Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi and PVall, the teams finishing in the last two positions in the preliminary round, faced four best teams of the 1996-97 Esiliiga in the play-off for two places in the 1997-98 Meistriliiga.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Eesti Põlevkivi Jõhvi | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 25 | Promotion to Meistriliiga |
| 2 | Vall | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 15 | +14 | 22 | Promotion to Meistriliiga |
| 3 | Pärnu JK | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 27 | −18 | 13 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
| 4 | FC Lelle | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 12 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
| 5 | TJK | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 8 | Relegation to Esiliiga |
| 6 | Sillamäe Kalev | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 6 | Relegation to Esiliiga |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Sergei Bragin | Lantana | 18 |
| 2 | Andres Oper | Flora | 13 |
| 3 | Maksim Gruznov | Lantana | 12 |
| 4 | Jonatan Johansson | Flora | 9 |
| 4 | Stanislav Kitto | Narva Trans | 9 |