1996–97 Sunderland A.F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Sunderland competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons).

Sunderland

1996–97 season
Chairman	Bob Murray
Manager	Peter Reid
Stadium	Roker Park
Premiership	18th (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	Russell/Stewart (4)
Highest home attendance	22,512 vs Derby County (26 Dec 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	10,659 vs Watford (24 Sep 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	20,865
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

Just one year after they had almost slipped into Division Two, Sunderland had returned to the top flight under new manager Peter Reid. With a new 42,000-seat stadium due to be ready in the summer of 1997, Reid and his players were determined to secure survival in the final season at historic Roker Park and give the new stadium at Monkwearmouth a debut season in the Premiership.

The first half of the season went well for club, finding themselves in a comfortable 11th position by the end of January, boasting a strong home form going into the February. However, a run of 4 consecutive defeats against Aston Villa, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hospur saw them slip down to 16th by March.

Sunderland lost 1–0 to Wimbledon on the final day of the season; with Coventry City's win at Tottenham, the Wearsiders were relegated.

On a high note, Sunderland did manage to beat Chelsea (3–0), Arsenal (1–0) and Manchester United (2–1) all at home during the season.

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
16	Southampton	38	10	11	17	50	56	−6	41
17	Coventry City	38	9	14	15	38	54	−16	41
18	Sunderland (R)	38	10	10	18	35	53	−18	40	Relegation to the Football League First Division
19	Middlesbrough (R)	38	10	12	16	51	60	−9	39[a]
20	Nottingham Forest (R)	38	6	16	16	31	59	−28	34

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

1. Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfill their original fixture at Blackburn Rovers on 21 December 1996.

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	10	10	18	35	53	−18	40	7	6	6	20	18	+2	3	4	12	15	35	−20

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	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	D	W	D	L	D	L	W	L	D	L	W	L	L	D	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	D	L	W	L	W	L
Position	11	3	5	10	10	13	10	12	13	15	13	16	16	16	12	14	14	14	11	13	11	11	11	11	12	14	15	16	15	15	15	16	15	18	16	17	17	18

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

Results

Sunderland's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Leicester City	H	0–0	19,262
21 August 1996	Nottingham Forest	A	4–1	22,874	Gray, Quinn (2), Ord
24 August 1996	Liverpool	A	0–0	40,503
4 September 1996	Newcastle United	H	1–2	22,037	Scott (pen)
8 September 1996	West Ham United	H	0–0	18,642
14 September 1996	Derby County	A	0–1	17,692
21 September 1996	Coventry City	H	1–0	19,459	Agnew
28 September 1996	Arsenal	A	0–2	38,016
14 October 1996	Middlesbrough	H	2–2	20,936	Rae (pen), Russell
19 October 1996	Southampton	A	0–3	15,225
26 October 1996	Aston Villa	H	1–0	21,059	Stewart
2 November 1996	Leeds United	A	0–3	31,667
16 November 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–2	31,867
23 November 1996	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	20,644	Melville
30 November 1996	Everton	A	3–1	40,087	Russell, Bridges (2)
7 December 1996	Wimbledon	H	1–3	19,672	Melville
15 December 1996	Chelsea	H	3–0	19,683	Duberry (own goal), Ball, Russell
21 December 1996	Manchester United	A	0–5	55,081
26 December 1996	Derby County	H	2–0	22,512	Ord, Russell
28 December 1996	West Ham United	A	0–2	24,077
1 January 1997	Coventry City	A	2–2	17,700	Bridges, Agnew (pen)
11 January 1997	Arsenal	H	1–0	21,154	Adams (own goal)
18 January 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	0–0	20,850
29 January 1997	Leicester City	A	1–1	17,883	Williams
1 February 1997	Aston Villa	A	0–1	32,491
22 February 1997	Leeds United	H	0–1	21,890
1 March 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1	24,208
4 March 1997	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–4	20,785
8 March 1997	Manchester United	H	2–1	22,225	Gray, Mullin
12 March 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–2	20,294	Ball
16 March 1997	Chelsea	A	2–6	24,027	Stewart, Rae
22 March 1997	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	22,120	Ball
5 April 1997	Newcastle United	A	1–1	36,582	Gray
13 April 1997	Liverpool	H	1–2	21,938	Stewart
19 April 1997	Middlesbrough	A	1–0	30,106	Williams
22 April 1997	Southampton	H	0–1	21,521
3 May 1997	Everton	H	3–0	22,108	Stewart (pen), Waddle, Johnston
11 May 1997	Wimbledon	A	0–1	21,338

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Arsenal	A	1–1	37,793	Gray
R3R	15 January 1997	Arsenal	H	0–2	15,277

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Watford	A	2–0	9,136	Quinn, Rae
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Watford	H	1–0 (won 3–0 on agg)	10,659	Scott
R3	23 October 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–2	24,867	Ball

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2][3]

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  ENG Tony Coton 2 DF  POL Dariusz Kubicki 3 DF  ENG Martin Scott 4 MF  ENG Paul Bracewell (vice-captain) 5 MF  ENG Kevin Ball (captain) 6 DF  WAL Andy Melville 7 DF  ENG Michael Gray 8 DF  ENG Richard Ord 9 FW  ENG Craig Russell 10 MF  ENG Paul Stewart 11 MF  ENG Steve Agnew 12 DF  WAL Gareth Hall[notes 1] 13 GK  ENG David Preece 14 DF  ENG Lee Howey 15 MF  SCO Alex Rae 16 FW  IRL David Kelly[notes 2]

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  IRL Niall Quinn 18 FW  ENG Martin Smith 19 FW  ENG Michael Bridges 20 DF  ENG Darren Holloway 21 MF  ENG Sam Aiston 22 MF  ENG John Mullin 23 DF  ENG Darren Williams 24 DF  ENG Paul Heckingbottom 25 MF  ENG Chris Waddle 26 MF  SCO Allan Johnston 28 GK  ENG Philip Naisbett 29 MF  ENG Steven Pickering 30 GK  FRA Lionel Pérez 32 GK  ENG Chris Woods 33 DF  SWE Jan Eriksson 34 MF  DEN Kim Heiselberg

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 Elliott Dickman — FW  ENG Brett Angell — FW  ENG Paul Beavers — FW  ENG Steve Brodie

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ENG Paul Conlon — FW  ENG Chris Tate — FW  IRL Stephen Grant

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		Coca-Cola Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ENG	Tony Coton	12	0	10	0	0	0	2	0
13	GK	ENG	David Preece	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	FRA	Lionel Perez	32	0	28+1	0	2	0	1	0
32	GK	ENG	Chris Woods	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	DF	POL	Dariusz Kubicki	32	0	28+1	0	2	0	1	0
3	DF	ENG	Martin Scott	17	2	15	1	0	0	2	1
6	DF	WAL	Andy Melville	35	2	30	2	2	0	3	0
8	DF	ENG	Richard Ord	38	2	33	2	2	0	3	0
12	DF	WAL	Gareth Hall	37	0	32	0	2	0	3	0
20	DF	ENG	Darren Holloway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	ENG	Paul Heckingbottom	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	ENG	Darren Williams	13	2	10+1	2	1+1	0	0	0
33	DF	SWE	Jan Eriksson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
4	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell	41	0	38	0	1	0	2	0
5	MF	ENG	Kevin Ball	35	4	32	3	0	0	2+1	1
7	MF	ENG	Michael Gray	38	4	31+3	3	2	1	2	0
11	MF	ENG	Steve Agnew	18	2	11+4	2	1	0	2	0
15	MF	SCO	Alex Rae	25	3	13+10	2	0	0	2	1
21	MF	ENG	Sam Aiston	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	ENG	John Mullin	12	1	9+1	1	2	0	0	0
25	MF	ENG	Chris Waddle	7	1	7	1	0	0	0	0
26	MF	SCO	Allan Johnston	6	1	4+2	1	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	ENG	Craig Russell	34	4	10+19	4	1+1	0	1+2	0
10	FW	ENG	Paul Stewart	27	4	20+4	4	0	0	3	0
14	FW	ENG	Lee Howey	12	0	9+3	0	0	0	0	0
16	FW	IRL	David Kelly	28	0	23+1	0	2	0	1+1	0
17	FW	IRL	Niall Quinn	13	3	8+4	2	0	0	1	1
18	FW	ENG	Martin Smith	13	0	6+5	0	0+1	0	1	0
19	FW	ENG	Michael Bridges	29	3	10+15	3	2	0	1+1	0

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
1 June 1996	MF	Alex Rae	Millwall	£1,000,000
11 July 1996	FW	Paul Conlon	Hartlepool United	Free transfer
18 July 1996	GK	Tony Coton	Manchester United	£600,000
1 August 1996	FW	Chris Tate	York City	Signed
1 August 1996	GK	Lionel Pérez	Bordeaux	£200,000
17 August 1996	FW	Niall Quinn	Manchester City	£1,300,000
18 October 1996	DF	Darren Williams	York City	£50,000
7 January 1997	DF	Jan Eriksson	Helsingborgs IF	£250,000
17 March 1997	MF	Chris Waddle	Bradford City	£75,000
21 March 1997	MF	Kim Heiselberg	Esbjerg fB	£125,000
26 March 1997	GK	Chris Woods	Colorado Rapids	Signed
1 April 1997	MF	Allan Johnston	Rennes	£550,000

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
10 July 1996	GK	Alec Chamberlain	Watford	£40,000
27 July 1996	DF	Scott Coates	Berwick Rangers	Signed
1 August 1996	MF	Brian Atkinson	Darlington	Free transfer
1 August 1996	MF	Gordon Armstrong	Bury	Free transfer
22 November 1996	FW	Brett Angell	Stockport County	£120,000
14 February 1997	FW	Steve Brodie	Scarborough	Free transfer

Transfers in: £4,150,000

Transfers out: £160,000

Total spending: £3,990,000

Notes

1. Hall was born in Croydon, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 1988.
2. Kelly was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his father and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in November 1987.

References

1. "Sunderland 1996-1997 Home – statto.com". Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
2. "FootballSquads – Sunderland – 1996/97".
3. "All Sunderland players: 1997".