Premier League 1996-97

The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool. The title was eventually won by Manchester United, after Liverpool and Newcastle's failure to win in their penultimate games of the season.
==Team summaries==
Team 	Location 	Stadium 	Capacity1
Arsenal 	London 	Highbury 	
Aston Villa 	Birmingham 	Villa Park 	
Blackburn Rovers 	Blackburn 	Ewood Park 	
Chelsea 	London 	Stamford Bridge 	
Coventry City 	Coventry 	Highfield Road 	
Derby County 	Derby 	Baseball Ground 	
Everton 	Liverpool 	Goodison Park 	
Leeds United 	Leeds 	Elland Road 	
Leicester City 	Leicester 	Filbert Street 	
Liverpool 	Liverpool 	Anfield 	
Manchester United 	Manchester 	Old Trafford 	
Middlesbrough 	Middlesbrough 	Riverside Stadium	
Newcastle United 	Newcastle upon Tyne	St James' Park 	
Nottingham Forest 	Nottingham 	City Ground 	
Sheffield Wednesday	Sheffield 	Hillsborough 	
Southampton 	Southampton 	The Dell 	
Sunderland 	Sunderland 	Roker Park 	
Tottenham Hotspur 	London 	White Hart Lane 	
West Ham United 	London 	Boleyn Ground 	
Wimbledon 	London 	Selhurst Park 	
===Personnel and kits===
(as of 11 May 1997)
Team 	Manager 	Captain 	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal 	Arsène Wenger 	Tony Adams 	Nike 	JVC
Aston Villa 	Brian Little 	Andy Townsend 	Reebok 	AST Research
Blackburn Rovers 	Tony Parkes 	Tim Sherwood 	ASICS 	CIS
Chelsea 	Ruud Gullit 	Dennis Wise 	Umbro 	Coors
Coventry City 	Gordon Strachan 	Gary McAllister	Le Coq Sportif 	Peugeot
Derby County 	Jim Smith 	Igor Štimac 	Puma 	Puma
Everton 	Dave Watson (caretaker)	Dave Watson 	Umbro 	Danka
Leeds United 	George Graham 	Ian Rush 	Puma 	Packard Bell
Leicester City 	Martin O'Neill 	Steve Walsh 	Fox Leisure 	Walkers
Liverpool 	Roy Evans 	John Barnes 	Reebok 	Carlsberg
Manchester United 	Alex Ferguson 	Eric Cantona 	Umbro 	Sharp
Middlesbrough 	Bryan Robson 	Nigel Pearson 	Erreà 	Cellnet
Newcastle United 	Kenny Dalglish 	Rob Lee 	Adidas 	Newcastle Brown Ale
Nottingham Forest 	Dave Bassett 	Stuart Pearce 	Umbro 	Labatt's
Sheffield Wednesday	David Pleat 	Peter Atherton 	Puma 	Sanderson
Southampton 	Graeme Souness 	Matt Le Tissier	Pony 	Sanderson
Sunderland 	Peter Reid 	Kevin Ball 	Avec 	Vaux Breweries
Tottenham Hotspur 	Gerry Francis 	Gary Mabbutt 	Pony 	Hewlett-Packard
West Ham United 	Harry Redknapp 	Julian Dicks 	Pony 	Dagenham Motors
Wimbledon 	Joe Kinnear 	Vinnie Jones 	Lotto 	Elonex
==Promotion and relegation==
===Start of season===
Teams promoted from the First Division 1995-96
* Sunderland (Champions)
* Derby County (Runners-up)
* Leicester City (Playoff winners)
===End of season===
Teams relegated to the First Division 1997-98
* Middlesbrough
* Nottingham Forest
* Sunderland
==Final league table==
Pos	Club 	P 	W 	D 	L 	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Comments
1 	(C) (Q)	38	21	12	5 	76	44	+32	75 	Champions League Group stage
2 	(Q) 	38	19	11	8 	73	40	+33	68 	Champions LeagueSecond qualifying round
3 	(Q) 	38	19	11	8 	62	32	+30	68 	UEFA Cup First round
4 	(Q) 	38	19	11	8 	62	37	+25	68 	UEFA Cup First round
5 	(Q) 	38	17	10	11	47	34	+13	61 	UEFA Cup First round
6 	(Q) 	38	16	11	11	58	55	+3 	59 	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round
7 	 	38	14	15	9 	50	51	-1 	57 	
8 	 	38	15	11	12	49	46	+3 	56 	
9 	(Q) 	38	12	11	15	46	54	-8 	47 	UEFA Cup First round
10 	 	38	13	7 	18	44	51	-7 	46 	
11 	 	38	11	13	14	28	38	-10	46 	
12 	 	38	11	13	14	45	58	-13	46 	
13 	 	38	9 	15	14	42	43	-1 	42 	
14 	 	38	10	12	16	39	48	-9 	42 	
15 	 	38	10	12	16	44	57	-13	42 	
16 	 	38	10	11	17	50	56	-6 	41 	
17 	 	38	9 	14	15	38	54	-16	41 	
18 	(R) 	38	10	10	18	35	53	-18	40 	Relegated to the First Division
19 	(R) 	38	10	12	16	51	60	-9 	39 	Relegated to the First Division
20 	(R) 	38	6 	16	16	31	59	-28	34 	Relegated to the First Division
Premier League 1996-97 Winners
Manchester United4th Premier League title
==Top goalscorers==
Scorer 	Goals	Team
Alan Shearer 	25 	Newcastle United
Ian Wright 	23 	Arsenal
Robbie Fowler 	18 	Liverpool
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer	18 	Manchester United
Dwight Yorke 	17 	Aston Villa
Les Ferdinand 	16 	Newcastle United
Fabrizio Ravanelli 	16 	Middlesbrough
Dion Dublin 	13 	Coventry City
Matt Le Tissier 	13 	Southampton
Dennis Bergkamp 	12 	Arsenal
Steve Claridge 	12 	Leicester City
Stan Collymore 	12 	Liverpool
Juninho Paulista 	12 	Middlesbrough
==External links==
* 1996-97 Premier League Season at RSSSF
1996-97