# 1996–97 Manchester City F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Manchester City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

Alan Ball was sacked soon after Manchester City's 1996–97 Division One campaign got underway. Despite decent form under caretaker manager Asa Hartford, the board opted to appoint former Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell as Ball's successor, only for him to resign after just 6 matches in charge and 33 days as manager, claiming that the job was too much pressure for him. Phil Neal took over on a caretaker basis for 10 games; however he lost 7 of these and by Christmas, City were in the bottom half of Division One and had turned to former Nottingham Forest manager Frank Clark to arrest the decline. Manchester City finished 14th in the final table.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Stoke City | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 51 | 57 | −6 | 64 |
| 13 | Norwich City | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 63 | 68 | −5 | 63 |
| 14 | Manchester City | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 59 | 60 | −1 | 61 |
| 15 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 52 | 66 | −14 | 59 |
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 68 | 72 | −4 | 57 |

### Results summary

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

## Results

Manchester City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 16 August 1996 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 29,126 | Lomas |
| 20 August 1996 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | 18,257 | |
| 24 August 1996 | Stoke City | A | 1–2 | 21,116 | Rösler |
| 3 September 1996 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–1 | 25,963 | Rösler (pen), Creaney |
| 7 September 1996 | Barnsley | H | 1–2 | 26,464 | Clough |
| 10 September 1996 | Port Vale | A | 2–0 | 10,770 | Rösler, Dickov |
| 14 September 1996 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–3 | 17,638 | Kavelashvili |
| 21 September 1996 | Birmingham City | H | 1–0 | 26,757 | Kinkladze (pen) |
| 28 September 1996 | Sheffield United | A | 0–2 | 20,867 | |
| 12 October 1996 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–2 | 16,265 | Brightwell, Kinkladze (pen) |
| 15 October 1996 | Reading | A | 0–2 | 11,724 | |
| 19 October 1996 | Norwich City | H | 2–1 | 28,269 | Clough, Dickov |
| 27 October 1996 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 27,296 | |
| 29 October 1996 | Southend United | A | 3–2 | 8,707 | Rösler, Kinkladze (2, 1 pen) |
| 2 November 1996 | Swindon Town | A | 0–2 | 14,374 | |
| 13 November 1996 | Oxford United | H | 2–3 | 23,079 | Dickov, Brightwell |
| 16 November 1996 | Portsmouth | A | 1–2 | 12,841 | Rodger |
| 19 November 1996 | Huddersfield Town | H | 0–0 | 23,314 | |
| 23 November 1996 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–2 | 26,531 | Summerbee |
| 27 November 1996 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–2 | 24,200 | Rösler, Kinkladze (2 pens) |
| 1 December 1996 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–3 | 23,911 | |
| 7 December 1996 | Bradford City | H | 3–2 | 25,035 | Kinkladze (pen), Dickov, Whitley |
| 21 December 1996 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 12,992 | Kinkladze |
| 26 December 1996 | Port Vale | H | 0–1 | 30,344 | |
| 28 December 1996 | Barnsley | A | 0–2 | 17,159 | |
| 11 January 1997 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–1 | 27,395 | Tuttle (own goal) |
| 18 January 1997 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–1 | 18,358 | Lomas |
| 29 January 1997 | Sheffield United | H | 0–0 | 26,551 | |
| 2 February 1997 | Oxford United | A | 4–1 | 8,824 | Gilchrist (own goal), Kinkladze (2), Rösler |
| 8 February 1997 | Southend United | H | 3–0 | 26,261 | Rösler (2), Kinkladze |
| 22 February 1997 | Swindon Town | H | 3–0 | 27,262 | Horlock, Summerbee, Rösler |
| 1 March 1997 | Bradford City | A | 3–1 | 17,609 | Rösler (2, 1 pen), Horlock |
| 5 March 1997 | Portsmouth | H | 1–1 | 26,051 | Horlock |
| 8 March 1997 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | 30,729 | Rösler |
| 11 March 1997 | Birmingham City | A | 0–2 | 20,084 | |
| 15 March 1997 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–1 | 8,732 | Kavelashvili |
| 18 March 1997 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 1–1 | 12,019 | O'Brien (own goal) |
| 22 March 1997 | Stoke City | H | 2–0 | 28,497 | Atkinson, Lomas |
| 5 April 1997 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–1 | 15,000 | Brannan |
| 9 April 1997 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–2 | 28,026 | Kinkladze |
| 12 April 1997 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3–1 | 20,087 | Rösler (2), Horlock |
| 16 April 1997 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–1 | 23,334 | Atkinson, Summerbee (2) |
| 19 April 1997 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–3 | 27,580 | |
| 22 April 1997 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–1 | 15,824 | |
| 25 April 1997 | Norwich City | A | 0–0 | 14,080 | |
| 3 May 1997 | Reading | H | 3–2 | 27,260 | Dickov, Rösler, Heaney |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 25 January 1997 | Brentford | A | 1–0 | 12,019 | Summerbee |
| R4 | 5 February 1997 | Watford | H | 3–1 | 24,031 | Heaney, Summerbee, Rösler |
| R5 | 15 February 1997 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–1 | 30,462 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 First Leg | 17 September 1996 | Lincoln City | A | 1–4 | 7,599 | Rösler |
| R2 Second Leg | 24 September 1996 | Lincoln City | H | 0–1 | 14,242 | |

## 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 |
| — | GK | WAL | Andy Dibble |
| — | GK | WAL | Martyn Margetson |
| — | GK | NIR | Tommy Wright (on loan from Nottingham Forest) |
| — | GK | GER | Eike Immel |
| — | DF | ENG | Paul Beesley |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Brightwell |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Crooks |
| — | DF | ENG | Richard Edghill |
| — | DF | ENG | John Foster |
| — | DF | ENG | Scott Hiley |
| — | DF | ENG | Rae Ingram |
| — | DF | ENG | Darren Wassall (on loan from Derby County) |
| — | DF | WAL | Kit Symons |
| — | DF | IRL | Alan Kernaghan |
| — | DF | GER | Michael Frontzeck |
| — | MF | ENG | Peter Beagrie |
| — | MF | ENG | Ged Brannan |
| — | MF | ENG | Michael Brown |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Neil Heaney |
| — | MF | ENG | Martin Phillips |
| — | MF | ENG | Simon Rodger (on loan from Crystal Palace) |
| — | MF | ENG | Nicky Summerbee |
| — | MF | NIR | Kevin Horlock |
| — | MF | NIR | Steve Lomas |
| — | MF | NIR | Jeff Whitley |
| — | MF | IRL | Eddie McGoldrick |
| — | MF | GEO | Georgi Kinkladze |
| — | FW | ENG | Dalian Atkinson (on loan from Fenerbahçe) |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Clough |
| — | FW | ENG | Chris Greenacre |
| — | FW | SCO | Gerry Creaney |
| — | FW | SCO | Paul Dickov |
| — | FW | IRL | Niall Quinn |
| — | FW | GER | Uwe Rösler |
| — | FW | GEO | Mikhail Kavelashvili |