1996–97 Fulham F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Fulham F.C. competed in the Division Three. It was their third season in the league's fourth tier, and they finished the season with their first promotion in 15 years.

Fulham

1996–97 season
Chairman	Jimmy Hill
Manager	Micky Adams (player-manager)
Stadium	Craven Cottage
Third Division	2nd (promoted)
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Conroy (21) All: Conroy (23)
Average home league attendance	6,644
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

In his first full season as manager, Micky Adams guided them to automatic promotion and as a result won the Division Three Manager of the Season award. They finished level on points at the top of the division with Wigan Athletic.

Fulham's previous promotion had been in 1982 when they were promoted from the old Third Division.

It was the first of three promotions in five seasons for the club, which saw them reach the FA Premier League in 2001 and end a 34-year exile from the top division of English football.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wigan Athletic (C, P)	46	26	9	11	84	51	+33	87	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Fulham (P)	46	25	12	9	72	38	+34	87
3	Carlisle United (P)	46	24	12	10	67	44	+23	84
4	Northampton Town (O, P)	46	20	12	14	67	44	+23	72	Qualification for the Third Division play-offs
5	Swansea City	46	21	8	17	62	58	+4	71

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Fulham's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Hereford United	H	1–0	5,277	Conroy
24 August 1996	Hartlepool United	A	1–2	2,457	Scott
27 August 1996	Rochdale	A	2–1	1,689	Cusack, Conroy
31 August 1996	Carlisle United	H	1–0	5,860	Conroy
7 September 1996	Colchester United	H	3–1	5,189	Conroy (2), Morgan
10 September 1996	Exeter City	A	1–0	2,388	Freeman
14 September 1996	Swansea City	A	2–1	3,791	Conroy, Morgan
21 September 1996	Mansfield Town	H	1–2	5,740	Morgan
28 September 1996	Darlington	A	2–0	3,269	Watson, Carpenter
1 October 1996	Torquay United	H	1–2	4,459	Scott
5 October 1996	Northampton Town	A	1–0	6,171	Conroy
12 October 1996	Doncaster Rovers	H	3–1	5,516	Conroy, Herrera, Carpenter
15 October 1996	Cambridge United	H	3–0	5,791	Conroy (2), Blake (pen)
19 October 1996	Hull City	A	3–0	3,986	Freeman, Watson, Conroy
26 October 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–0	8,387
29 October 1996	Scunthorpe United	H	2–1	4,566	Conroy, Freeman
2 November 1996	Lincoln City	H	1–2	6,945	Carpenter
9 November 1996	Cardiff City	A	2–1	6,144	Conroy, Blake
19 November 1996	Barnet	H	2–0	4,423	Conroy, Morgan
23 November 1996	Wigan Athletic	A	1–1	5,039	Scott
30 November 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–0	8,279	Conroy, Blake (pen)
3 December 1996	Chester City	A	1–1	1,762	Freeman
14 December 1996	Leyton Orient	H	1–1	7,355	Watson
21 December 1996	Scarborough	A	2–0	2,015	Conroy, Scott
26 December 1996	Exeter City	H	1–1	7,892	Angus
11 January 1997	Darlington	H	6–0	5,735	Scott, Carpenter, Cullip, Freeman, Brooker, Conroy
14 January 1997	Colchester United	A	1–2	3,820	Morgan
18 January 1997	Torquay United	A	1–3	3,386	Scott
25 January 1997	Scunthorpe United	A	4–1	3,259	Cusack, Conroy, Blake (pen), Scott
31 January 1997	Cardiff City	H	1–4	6,459	Eckhardt (own goal)
8 February 1997	Lincoln City	A	0–2	3,948
11 February 1997	Swansea City	H	2–1	4,836	Freeman, Brooker
15 February 1997	Wigan Athletic	H	1–1	9,448	Blake
22 February 1997	Barnet	A	2–2	3,316	Conroy, Scott
1 March 1997	Chester City	H	1–1	5,780	Morgan
8 March 1997	Scarborough	H	4–0	6,080	Cockerill, Freeman, Blake (pen), Warren
16 March 1997	Leyton Orient	A	2–0	7,125	Blake (pen), Carpenter
22 March 1997	Hartlepool United	H	1–0	7,222	Freeman
29 March 1997	Hereford United	A	0–0	4,279
31 March 1997	Rochdale	H	1–1	7,866	Conroy
5 April 1997	Carlisle United	A	2–1	9,171	Conroy, McAcree
8 April 1997	Mansfield Town	A	0–0	3,912
12 April 1997	Northampton Town	H	0–1	11,479
19 April 1997	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–0	2,920
26 April 1997	Hull City	H	2–0	10,588	Morgan (2)
3 May 1997	Cambridge United	A	1–0	7,218	Freeman

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–5	7,104

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Southend United	A	2–0	3,084	Conroy, Watson
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Southend United	H	1–2 (won 3–2 on agg)	4,297	Conroy
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	6,947	Morgan
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Ipswich Town	A	2–4 (lost 3–5 on agg)	6,825	Sedgley (own goal), Brooker

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	17 December 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–3 (a.e.t.)	1,310

Squad

^[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Tony Lange — GK  WAL Mark Walton — DF  ENG Micky Adams (player-manager) — DF  ENG Terry Angus — DF  ENG Mark Blake — DF  ENG Danny Cullip — DF  ENG Robbie Herrera — DF  ENG Matthew Lawrence — DF  ENG Simon Morgan — DF  ENG Paul Parker — DF  ENG Rob Scott — DF  ENG Jason Soloman — DF  ENG Simon Stewart — DF  ENG Paul Watson — MF  ENG Paul Brooker

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Richard Carpenter — MF  ENG Glenn Cockerill — MF  ENG Nick Cusack — MF  ENG Sean Davis — MF  ENG Charlie Hartfield (on loan from Sheffield United) — MF  ENG John Marshall — MF  NIR Rodney McAree — MF  ENG Michael Mison — MF  ENG Martin Thomas — MF  ENG Christer Warren (on loan from Southampton) — FW  ENG Lea Barkus — FW  ENG Darren Beckford — FW  SCO Mike Conroy — FW  ENG Darren Freeman — FW  NIR Rory Hamill