# 1996–97 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was the 98th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.
The team finished in third position in the league, their highest position in the football pyramid since their relegation from the top flight in 1983–84. Nonetheless, the season ended in disappointment for the club as they lost in the semi-finals of the play-offs to Crystal Palace, thereby failing to reach the Premier League.
Their failure to finish ahead of unfancied Barnsley in the automatic promotion places, and then subsequent play-off exit, caused owner Sir Jack Hayward to make an emotional outburst days after the campaign in which he accused manager Mark McGhee and the chairman, his son Jonathan, of "blackmailing" him into funding their high transfer spending. He promised that there would be an end to Wolves being a "sloppily-run club".

## Results
### Football League First Division

A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League First Division in the 1996–97 season. Each team played every other team twice: once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. Teams finishing level on points were firstly divided by the number of goals scored rather than goal difference.
The provisional fixture list was released on 17 June 1996, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.
Final table
Source: Statto.com
Results summary
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Statto.com
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 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Result | W | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | W | L |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

### League Cup
## Players

Key: ‡ On loan from another club * First appearance(s) for the club
* # = Squad number
* Pos = Playing position
* P = Number of games played 10
* G = Number of goals scored
* GK = Goalkeeper
* DF = Defender
* MF = Midfielder
* FW = Forward
* = Yellow cards
* = Red cards
* † Permanent player left club during the season
* ¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season
Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.
| Pos | Name | P | G | P | G | P | G | P | G | | |
| Pos | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | Notes |
| GK | Vince Bartram ‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Matt Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Hans Segers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Mike Stowell | 48 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Keith Curle (c) | 22(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Brian Law | 4(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Neil Masters † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Lee Naylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Dennis Pearce | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Dean Richards | 19(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Serge Romano | 1(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Jamie Smith | 38(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 40(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Andy Thompson | 27(6) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29(6) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Mark Venus | 36(4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39(4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Chris Westwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Ady Williams | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Eric Young | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Mark Atkins | 46(1) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49(1) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Steve Corica | 33(3) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36(3) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Tony Daley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Robbie Dennison | 9(5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10(5) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Jens Dowe ‡ | 5(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Neil Emblen | 27(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Darren Ferguson | 12(6) | 3 | 0(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13(7) | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| MF | Steve Froggatt | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Michael Gilkes | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Simon Osborn | 35(2) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 37(2) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Mark Rankine † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Carl Robinson | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Geoff Thomas | 17(7) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18(7) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Robin van der Laan ‡ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Jermaine Wright | 0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 0(5) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Steve Bull | 45 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | Glen Crowe ¤ | 5(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Dominic Foley | 0(7) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(7) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Don Goodman | 20(8) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21(8) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Richard Leadbeater | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Iwan Roberts | 26(9) | 12 | 0(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28(10) | 12 | 0 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 1 July 1996 | Ady Williams | Reading | £750,000 |
| 5 July 1996 | Iwan Roberts | Leicester City | £1.3 million |
| 31 July 1996 | Keith Curle | Manchester City | £650,000 |
| 12 August 1996 | Serge Romano | Martigues | Free |
| 30 August 1996 | Hans Segers | Unattached | Free |
| 27 March 1997 | Michael Gilkes | Reading | £150,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| June 1996 | John de Wolf | Released | Free |
| June 1996 | Andy De Bont | Hereford United | Free |
| June 1996 | Gavin Mahon | Hereford United | Free |
| June 1996 | Steve Piearce | Doncaster Rovers | Free |
| June 1996 | Quentin Townsend | Hereford United | Free |
| June 1996 | Mark Williams | Released | Free |
| 16 July 1996 | Paul Jones | Stockport County | £60,000 |
| 20 July 1996 | Paul Birch | Doncaster Rovers | Free |
| 17 September 1996 | Mark Rankine | Preston North End | £100,000 |
| 28 March 1997 | Neil Masters | Gillingham | £150,000 |

### Loans in

| Start date | Player | From | End date |
| 9 October 1996 | Jens Dowe | Hamburg | End of season |
| 11 October 1996 | Robin van der Laan | Derby County | 1 January 1997 |
| 26 February 1997 | Vince Bartram | Arsenal | 14 March 1997 |

### Loans out

| Start date | Player | To | End date |
| 21 February 1997 | Glen Crowe | Exeter City | 12 April 1997 |

## Management and coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Mark McGhee |
| Assistant manager | Colin Lee |
| First Team coach | Mike Hickman |
| Youth Development Officer | Chris Evans |
| Youth Team coach | Chris Turner |
| Club doctors | Dr Peter Ackroyd and Dr Peter Bekenn |
| Club Physio | Barry Holmes |

## Kit

The season saw Puma take over as the club's kit manufacturer, and two new kits were therefore introduced. Both used a "wolf head" design to the shirts as a central feature, the home shirt using their traditional gold and black colours, while the away kit used shades of teal. In a further emphasis of the "wolf head", a new club emblen was introduced replacing the usage of the Wolverhampton city crest on the shirts that had been adopted for the previous three seasons. Both shirts featured the sponsor name of Goodyear.