1996–97 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season
The 1996–97 season was Sheffield Wednesday F.C.'s 130th season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team Premiership, the top tier of English football, finishing seventh. Season summary. A four-match winning start to the season saw Sheffield Wednesday top the Premiership and manager David Pleat receive Manager of the Month award for August, but they soon fell out of the title frame and in the end, despite losing just nine games in the league, they finished seventh in the final table - not even enough for UEFA Cup qualification; they could easily have finished  higher had they not drawn as many as 15 games (making it 30 points they dropped). In the close season, Pleat paid a club record £5.7 million for Celtic's Italian forward Paolo Di Canio, giving his squad a much-needed boost to their hopes of challenging for honours. Results. "Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first"