1996–97 Chelsea F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Chelsea competed in the Premier League.

Chelsea

1996–97 season
Chairman	Ken Bates
Manager	Ruud Gullit
Premier League	6th
FA Cup	Winners
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Vialli (9) All: Hughes (14)
Highest home attendance	28,418 vs Everton (7 Dec 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	11,732 vs Blackpool (25 Sep 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	27,001
Home colours Away colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

With Glenn Hoddle leaving to become England manager, Chelsea gave the managerial role to midfielder Ruud Gullit, who used his continental connections to bring in world-class international players such as France center-back Frank Leboeuf, and Italian superstars such as midfielder Roberto Di Matteo, Parma's playmaker Gianfranco Zola and the Champions League winning striker and Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli. Gullit had a dream start to his managerial career as Chelsea won the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough, ending Chelsea's 26-year trophy drought and making him the first foreign manager to win a major trophy with an English club. Zola was voted FWA Footballer of the Year after a brilliant first season at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 12 goals and contributed many assists, while fellow countryman and record £4.5 million signing Roberto Di Matteo scored one of Chelsea's goals in the triumphant Wembley final.

The club suffered a tragedy in late October when director Matthew Harding was killed in a helicopter crash in Cheshire when returning home from the club's League Cup exit at Bolton.^[1]

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Liverpool	38	19	11	8	62	37	+25	68	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
5	Aston Villa	38	17	10	11	47	34	+13	61
6	Chelsea	38	16	11	11	58	55	+3	59	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 2]
7	Sheffield Wednesday	38	14	15	9	50	51	−1	57
8	Wimbledon	38	15	11	12	49	46	+3	56

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Aston Villa was rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
2. Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	16	11	11	58	55	+3	59	9	8	2	33	22	+11	7	3	9	25	33	−8

Source: Statto

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
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	W	L	W	W	D	D	L	D	L	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	D	L	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	D	W
Position	11	8	2	3	2	3	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	7	7	7	8	7	7	7	7	6	5	6	7	8	8	7	5	6	6	7	8	7	7	6	6

Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Premier League

Southampton v Chelsea

18 August 1996 1	Southampton	0–0	Chelsea	The Dell
				Attendance: 15,186

Chelsea v Middlesbrough

21 August 1996 2	Chelsea	1–0	Middlesbrough
	Di Matteo 86'			Attendance: 28,272

Chelsea v Coventry City

24 August 1996 3	Chelsea	2–0	Coventry City
	Leboeuf 29' Vialli 74'			Attendance: 25,024

Arsenal v Chelsea

3 September 1996 4	Arsenal	3–3	Chelsea
	Merson 44' Keown 64' Wright 77'		Leboeuf 6' (pen.) Vialli 30' Wise 90'	Attendance: 38,132

Sheffield Wednesday v Chelsea

7 September 1996 5	Sheffield Wednesday	0–2	Chelsea
			Burley 28' Myers 83'	Attendance: 30,983

Chelsea v Aston Villa

15 September 1996 6	Chelsea	1–1	Aston Villa
	Leboeuf 45'		Townsend 18'	Attendance: 27,729

Liverpool v Chelsea

21 September 1996 7	Liverpool	5–1	Chelsea
	Fowler 15' Berger 42', 49' Myers 45' (o.g.) Barnes 57'		Leboeuf 85' (pen.)	Attendance: 40,739

Chelsea v Nottingham Forest

28 September 1996 8	Chelsea	1–1	Nottingham Forest
	Vialli 51'		Lee 90'	Attendance: 27,673

Leicester City v Chelsea

12 October 1996 9	Leicester City	1–3	Chelsea
	Watts 44'		Vialli 48' Di Matteo 64' Hughes 80'	Attendance: 20,766

Chelsea v Wimbledon

19 October 1996 10	Chelsea	2–4	Wimbledon
	Minto 9' Vialli 84' (pen.)		Earle 3' Ardley 16' Gayle 64' Ekoku 78'	Attendance: 28,020

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

26 October 1996 11	Chelsea	3–1	Tottenham Hotspur
	Gullit 27' D. Lee 52' (pen.) Di Matteo 80'		Armstrong 42'	Attendance: 28,373

Manchester United v Chelsea

2 November 1996 12	Manchester United	1–2	Chelsea
	Poborský 81'		Duberry 31' Vialli 61'	Attendance: 55,198

Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea

16 November 1996 13	Blackburn Rovers	1–1	Chelsea
	Gallacher 56'		Petrescu 82'	Attendance: 27,229

Chelsea v Newcastle United

23 November 1996 14	Chelsea	1–1	Newcastle United
	Vialli 24'		Shearer 41'	Attendance: 28,401

Leeds United v Chelsea

1 December 1996 15	Leeds United	2–0	Chelsea
	Deane 8' Rush 10'			Attendance: 32,671

Chelsea v Everton

7 December 1996 16	Chelsea	2–2	Everton
	Zola 12' Vialli 55'		Branch 17' Kanchelskis 28'	Attendance: 28,418

Sunderland v Chelsea

15 December 1996 17	Sunderland	3–0	Chelsea
	Duberry 30' (o.g.) Ball 47' Russell 67'			Attendance: 19,683

Chelsea v West Ham United

21 December 1996 18	Chelsea	3–1	West Ham United
	Hughes 6', 35' Zola 10'		Porfirio 11'	Attendance: 28,315

Aston Villa v Chelsea

26 December 1996 19	Aston Villa	0–2	Chelsea
			Zola 66', 70'	Attendance: 39,339

Chelsea v Sheffield Wednesday

28 December 1996 20	Chelsea	2–2	Sheffield Wednesday
	Zola 9' Hughes 23'		Pembridge 23' Stefanović 90'	Attendance: 27,467

Chelsea v Liverpool

1 January 1997 21	Chelsea	1–0	Liverpool
	Di Matteo 43'			Attendance: 28,329

Nottingham Forest v Chelsea

11 January 1997 22	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Chelsea
	Pearce 40' Bart-Williams 53'			Attendance: 28,358

Chelsea v Derby County

18 January 1997 23	Chelsea	3–1	Derby County
	Wise 36' Leboeuf 44' (pen.) Hughes 85'		Asanović 25'	Attendance: 28,293

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

1 February 1997 24	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	Chelsea
	Howells 82'		Campbell 1' (o.g.) Di Matteo 81'	Attendance: 33,027

Chelsea v Manchester United

22 February 1997 25	Chelsea	1–1	Manchester United
	Zola 2'		Beckham 68'	Attendance: 28,336

Derby County v Chelsea

1 March 1997 26	Derby County	3–2	Chelsea
	Minto 51' (o.g.) Asanović 62' (pen.) Ward 90'		Minto 16' Leboeuf 54'	Attendance: 18,039

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers

5 March 1997 27	Chelsea	1–1	Blackburn Rovers
	Minto 63'		Pedersen 62'	Attendance: 25,784

West Ham United v Chelsea

12 March 1997 28	West Ham United	3–2	Chelsea
	Dicks 55' (pen.) Kitson 68', 90'		Vialli 26' Hughes 87'	Attendance: 24,502

Chelsea v Sunderland

16 March 1997 29	Chelsea	6–2	Sunderland
	Zola 38' Sinclair 43' Petrescu 51' Hughes 78', 90' Di Matteo 90'		Stewart 58' Rae 60'	Attendance: 24,027

Chelsea v Southampton

19 March 1997 30	Chelsea	1–0	Southampton
	Zola 22'			Attendance: 28,079

Middlesbrough v Chelsea

22 March 1997 31	Middlesbrough	1–0	Chelsea
	Juninho 53'			Attendance: 29,811

Chelsea v Arsenal

5 April 1997 32	Chelsea	0–3	Arsenal
			Wright 22' Platt 53' Bergkamp 80'	Attendance: 28,182

Coventry City v Chelsea

9 April 1997 33	Coventry City	3–1	Chelsea
	Dublin 49' Williams 51' Whelan 58'		P. Hughes 43'	Attendance: 19,917

Newcastle United v Chelsea

16 April 1997 34	Newcastle United	3–1	Chelsea
	Shearer 12', 35' Asprilla 30'		Burley 62'	Attendance: 36,320

Chelsea v Leicester City

19 April 1997 35	Chelsea	2–1	Leicester City
	Minto 13' Hughes 73'		F. Sinclair 47' (o.g.)	Attendance: 27,723

Wimbledon v Chelsea

22 April 1997 36	Wimbledon	0–1	Chelsea
			Petrescu 14'	Attendance: 14,601

Chelsea v Leeds United

3 May 1997 37	Chelsea	0–0	Leeds United
				Attendance: 26,277

Everton v Chelsea

11 May 1997 38	Everton	1–2	Chelsea
	Barmby 77'		Wise 14' Di Matteo 36'	Attendance: 38,321

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 September 1996	R2	Blackpool	A	4–1	9,666	Petrescu, Morris, Spencer, M. Hughes
25 September 1996	R2	Blackpool	H	1–3	11,732	Spencer
22 October 1996	R3	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–2	16,867	Minto

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
4 January 1997	R3	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–0	27,446	Wise, Zola, Burley
26 January 1997	R4	Liverpool	H	4–2	27,950	M. Hughes, Zola, Vialli (2)
16 February 1997	R5	Leicester City	A	2–2	19,125	Di Matteo, M. Hughes
26 February 1997	R5 (R)	Leicester City	H	1–0 (a.e.t.)	26,053	Leboeuf (pen.)
9 March 1997	QF	Portsmouth	A	4–1	15,701	Wise (2), Zola, M. Hughes
13 April 1997	SF	Wimbledon	N	3–0	32,674	M. Hughes (2), Zola
17 May 1997	F	Middlesbrough	N	2–0	79,160	Di Matteo, Newton

First team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  RUS Dmitri Kharine 2 DF  ROU Dan Petrescu 4 DF  NED Ruud Gullit 5 DF  FRA Frank Leboeuf 6 DF  SCO Steve Clarke 8 DF  ENG Andy Myers 9 FW  ITA Gianluca Vialli 10 FW  WAL Mark Hughes 11 MF  ENG Dennis Wise (captain) 12 DF  ENG Michael Duberry 13 GK  ENG Kevin Hitchcock 14 MF  SCO Craig Burley 15 DF  ENG David Lee 16 MF  ITA Roberto Di Matteo

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  ENG Scott Minto 18 DF  NOR Erland Johnsen 19 DF  ENG Paul Parker 20 DF  JAM Frank Sinclair 21 MF  ENG Jody Morris 22 FW  ENG Mark Nicholls 23 GK  IRL Nick Colgan 24 MF  ENG Eddie Newton 25 FW  ITA Gianfranco Zola 26 DF  ENG Neil Clement 27 MF  ENG Paul Hughes 28 DF  ENG Danny Granville 29 FW  ENG Joe Sheerin 30 GK  NOR Frode Grodås

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  IRL Terry Phelan (to Everton) 7 FW  SCO John Spencer (to Queen's Park Rangers) — MF  ENG David Rocastle (on loan to Norwich City)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  ENG Gavin Peacock (to Queen's Park Rangers) 31 GK  CAN Craig Forrest (on loan from Ipswich Town)

Reserve 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 — DF  ENG Jon Harley — DF  NZL Chris Zoricich

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ENG Nick Crittenden — MF  ENG David Rocastle

Statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		Football League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
30	GK	NOR	Frode Grodås	26	0	20+1	0	4	0	1	0
2	DF	ROU	Dan Petrescu	41	4	34	3	5	0	2	1
5	DF	FRA	Frank Leboeuf	34	7	26	6	6	1	2	0
6	DF	SCO	Steve Clarke	40	0	31	0	6	0	3	0
17	DF	ENG	Scott Minto	32	5	24+1	4	5	0	2	1
16	MF	ITA	Roberto Di Matteo	44	9	33+1	7	7	2	3	0
11	MF	ENG	Dennis Wise	40	6	27+4	3	7	3	2	0
14	MF	SCO	Craig Burley	37	3	26+5	2	1+2	1	3	0
9	FW	ITA	Gianluca Vialli	34	11	23+5	9	1+4	2	1	0
10	FW	WAL	Mark Hughes	44	14	32+3	8	6+1	5	2	1
25	FW	ITA	Gianfranco Zola	30	12	22+1	8	7	4	0	0
13	GK	ENG	Kevin Hitchcock	16	0	10+2	0	2	0	2	0
20	DF	ENG	Frank Sinclair[3]	25	1	17+2	1	6	0	0	0
8	DF	ENG	Andy Myers	18	1	15+3	1	0	0	0	0
18	DF	NOR	Erland Johnsen	22	0	14+4	0	1+2	0	1	0
12	DF	ENG	Michael Duberry	17	1	13+2	1	0	0	2	0
24	MF	ENG	Eddie Newton	20	1	13+2	0	5	1	0	0
27	MF	ENG	Paul Hughes	13	2	8+4	2	1	0	0	0
4	MF	NED	Ruud Gullit	14	1	6+6	1	0+1	0	1	0
21	MF	ENG	Jody Morris	14	1	6+6	0	0	0	2	1
1	GK	RUS	Dmitri Kharine	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW	ENG	Mark Nicholls	10	0	3+5	0	0	0	0+2	0
28	DF	ENG	Danny Granville	5	0	3+2	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	IRL	Terry Phelan[4]	4	0	1+2	0	0	0	0+1	0
19	DF	ENG	Paul Parker	4	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	ENG	David Lee	2	1	1	1	0	0	1	0
26	DF	ENG	Neil Clement	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
29	GK	IRL	Nick Colgan	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	SCO	John Spencer	7	2	0+4	0	0	0	3	2

Statistics taken from Archived 20 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Squad details and shirt numbers from and .

Transfers

In

#	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
9	FW	Gianluca Vialli	Juventus	Free	24 May 1996
16	MF	Roberto Di Matteo	Lazio	£4,900,000	1 July 1996
5	DF	Frank Leboeuf	Strasbourg	£2,500,000	1 July 1996
30	GK	Frode Grodås	LSK	Free	1 November 1996
25	FW	Gianfranco Zola	Parma	£4,500,000	8 November 1996
28	DF	Danny Granville	Cambridge United	£300,000	20 March 1997
	DF	Celestine Babayaro	Anderlecht	£2,250,000	21 April 1997

Out

#	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
	FW	Zeke Rowe	Peterborough United	Free	4 July 1996
	MF	Muzzy Izzet	Leicester City	£650,000	8 July 1996
	MF	Ritchie Hanlon	Southend United	Free	10 July 1996
	FW	Paul Furlong	Birmingham City	£1,500,000	17 July 1996
	DF	Anthony Barness	Charlton Athletic	£165,000	1 August 1996
	MF	Russell Kelly	Darlington	Free	16 August 1996
	FW	John Spencer	QPR	£2,500,000	21 November 1996
	MF	Gavin Peacock	QPR	£800,000	23 December 1996
	DF	Terry Phelan	Everton	£850,000	30 December 1996

Transfers in: £14,450,000

Transfers out: £4,965,000

Total spending: £9,485,000

References

1. Shaw, Phil (24 October 1996). "Football mourns a true fan". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
2. "Chelsea - 1996/97". FootballSquads. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
3. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally.
4. Phelan was born in Manchester, England.

• Hockings, Ron. 100 Years of the Blues: A Statistical History of Chelsea Football Club. (2007)