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1996–97 Sunderland A.F.C. season

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Sunderland
1996–97 season
ChairmanBob Murray
ManagerPeter Reid
StadiumRoker Park
Premiership18th (relegated)
FA CupThird round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerRussell/Stewart (4)
Highest home attendance22,512 vs Derby County
(26 Dec 1996, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance10,659 vs Watford
(24 Sep 1996, League Cup)
Average home league attendance20,865

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

Season summary

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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

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Pos Team 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
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHHA
ResultDWDLDLWLDLWLLDWLWLWLDWDDLLLLWLLDDLWLWL
Position11351010131012131513161616121414141113111111111214151615151516151816171718
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

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Sunderland's score comes first[1]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

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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

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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

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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

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First-team squad

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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 England ENG Tony Coton
2 DF Poland POL Dariusz Kubicki
3 DF England ENG Martin Scott
4 MF England ENG Paul Bracewell (vice-captain)
5 MF England ENG Kevin Ball (captain)
6 DF Wales WAL Andy Melville
7 DF England ENG Michael Gray
8 DF England ENG Richard Ord
9 FW England ENG Craig Russell
10 MF England ENG Paul Stewart
11 MF England ENG Steve Agnew
12 DF Wales WAL Gareth Hall[notes 1]
13 GK England ENG David Preece
14 DF England ENG Lee Howey
15 MF Scotland SCO Alex Rae
16 FW Republic of Ireland IRL David Kelly[notes 2]
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Niall Quinn
18 FW England ENG Martin Smith
19 FW England ENG Michael Bridges
20 DF England ENG Darren Holloway
21 MF England ENG Sam Aiston
22 MF England ENG John Mullin
23 DF England ENG Darren Williams
24 DF England ENG Paul Heckingbottom
25 MF England ENG Chris Waddle
26 MF Scotland SCO Allan Johnston
28 GK England ENG Philip Naisbett
29 MF England ENG Steven Pickering
30 GK France FRA Lionel Pérez
32 GK England ENG Chris Woods
33 DF Sweden SWE Jan Eriksson
34 MF Denmark DEN Kim Heiselberg

Reserve squad

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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 England ENG Elliott Dickman
FW England ENG Brett Angell
FW England ENG Paul Beavers
FW England ENG Steve Brodie
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW England ENG Paul Conlon
FW England ENG Chris Tate
FW Republic of Ireland IRL Stephen Grant

Appearances and goals

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

Transfers

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In

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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

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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: Decrease £4,150,000
Transfers out: Increase £160,000
Total spending: Decrease £3,990,000

Notes

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  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

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  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".