1996–97 Chelsea F.C. season

Chelsea
1996–97 season
Chairman Ken Bates
Manager Ruud Gullit
Premiership 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

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

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

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 38 21 12 5 76 44 +32 75 1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage
2 Newcastle United 38 19 11 8 73 40 +33 68 1997–98 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Arsenal 38 19 11 8 62 32 +30 68 1997–98 UEFA Cup First round
4 Liverpool 38 19 11 8 62 37 +25 68
5 Aston Villa 38 17 10 11 47 34 +13 61
6 Chelsea 38 16 11 11 58 55 +3 59 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round 1
7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 14 15 9 50 51 1 57
8 Wimbledon 38 15 11 12 49 46 +3 56
9 Leicester City 38 12 11 15 46 54 8 47 1997–98 UEFA Cup First round 2
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 13 7 18 44 51 7 46
11 Leeds United 38 11 13 14 28 38 10 46
12 Derby County 38 11 13 14 45 58 13 46
13 Blackburn Rovers 38 9 15 14 42 43 1 42
14 West Ham United 38 10 12 16 39 48 9 42
15 Everton 38 10 12 16 44 57 13 42
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 1997–98 Football League First Division
19 Middlesbrough (R) 38 10 12 16 51 60 9 0393
20 Nottingham Forest (R) 38 6 16 16 31 59 28 34

Updated to games played on 11 May 1997.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
2 Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
3 Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfil a fixture.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results Summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
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
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHHAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHA
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
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Premier League

League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
18 September 1996 R2BlackpoolA4–19,666Petrescu, Morris, Spencer, M. Hughes
25 September 1996 R2BlackpoolH1–311,732Spencer
22 October 1996 R3Bolton WanderersA1–216,867Minto

FA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
4 January 1997 R3West Bromwich AlbionH3–027,446Wise, Zola, Burley
26 January 1997 R4LiverpoolH4–227,950M. Hughes, Zola, Vialli (2)
16 February 1997 R5Leicester CityA2–219,125Di Matteo, M. Hughes
26 February 1997 R5 (R)Leicester CityH1–0
(a.e.t.)
26,053Leboeuf (pen.)
9 March 1997 QFPortsmouthA4–115,701Wise (2), Zola, M. Hughes
13 April 1997 SFWimbledonN3–032,674M. Hughes (2), Zola
17 May 1997 FMiddlesbroughN2–079,160Di 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. Position Player
1 Russia GK Dmitri Kharine
2 Romania DF Dan Petrescu
4 Netherlands DF Ruud Gullit
5 France DF Frank Leboeuf
6 Scotland DF Steve Clarke
8 England DF Andy Myers
9 Italy FW Gianluca Vialli
10 Wales FW Mark Hughes
11 England MF Dennis Wise (captain)
12 England DF Michael Duberry
13 England GK Kevin Hitchcock
14 Scotland MF Craig Burley
15 England DF David Lee
16 Italy MF Roberto Di Matteo
No. Position Player
17 England DF Scott Minto
18 Norway DF Erland Johnsen
19 England DF Paul Parker
20 Jamaica DF Frank Sinclair
21 England MF Jody Morris
22 England FW Mark Nicholls
23 Republic of Ireland GK Nick Colgan
24 England MF Eddie Newton
25 Italy FW Gianfranco Zola
26 England DF Neil Clement
27 England MF Paul Hughes
28 England DF Danny Granville
29 England FW Joe Sheerin
30 Norway GK 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. Position Player
3 Republic of Ireland DF Terry Phelan (to Everton)
7 Scotland FW John Spencer (to Queen's Park Rangers)
England MF David Rocastle (on loan to Norwich City)
No. Position Player
19 England MF Gavin Peacock (to Queen's Park Rangers)
31 Canada GK 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. Position Player
England DF Jon Harley
New Zealand DF Chris Zoricich
No. Position Player
England DF Nick Crittenden
England MF David Rocastle

Statistics

No. Pos Nat Player TotalPremier League FA Cup Football League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Russia Dmitri Kharine 5 0 5 0 0 0 0 0
2 DF Romania Dan Petrescu 41 4 34 3 5 0 2 1
3 DF Republic of Ireland Terry Phelan[3] 4 0 1+2 0 0 0 0+1 0
4 MF Netherlands Ruud Gullit 14 1 6+6 1 0+1 0 1 0
5 DF France Frank Leboeuf 34 7 26 6 6 1 2 0
6 DF Scotland Steve Clarke 40 0 31 0 6 0 3 0
7 FW Scotland John Spencer 7 2 0+4 0 0 0 3 2
8 DF England Andy Myers 18 1 15+3 1 0 0 0 0
9 FW Italy Gianluca Vialli 34 11 23+5 9 1+4 2 1 0
10 FW Wales Mark Hughes 44 14 32+3 8 6+1 5 2 1
11 MF England Dennis Wise 40 6 27+4 3 7 3 2 0
12 DF England Michael Duberry 17 1 13+2 1 0 0 2 0
13 GK England Kevin Hitchcock 16 0 10+2 0 2 0 2 0
14 MF Scotland Craig Burley 37 3 26+5 2 1+2 1 3 0
15 DF England David Lee 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
16 MF Italy Roberto Di Matteo 44 9 33+1 7 7 2 3 0
17 DF England Scott Minto 32 5 24+1 4 5 0 2 1
18 DF Norway Erland Johnsen 22 0 14+4 0 1+2 0 1 0
19 DF England Paul Parker 4 0 1+3 0 0 0 0 0
20 DF England Frank Sinclair[4] 25 1 17+2 1 6 0 0 0
21 MF England Jody Morris 14 1 6+6 0 0 0 2 1
22 FW England Mark Nicholls 10 0 3+5 0 0 0 0+2 0
24 MF England Eddie Newton 20 1 13+2 0 5 1 0 0
25 FW Italy Gianfranco Zola 30 12 22+1 8 7 4 0 0
26 DF England Neil Clement 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
27 MF England Paul Hughes 13 2 8+4 2 1 0 0 0
28 DF England Danny Granville 5 0 3+2 0 0 0 0 0
29 GK Republic of Ireland Nick Colgan 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
30 GK Norway Frode Grodås 26 0 20+1 0 4 0 1 0

Statistics taken from . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .

Transfers

In

# Pos Player From Fee Date
9FWItaly Gianluca Vialli Italy Juventus Free 24 May 1996
16MFItaly Roberto Di Matteo Italy Lazio £4,900,000 1 July 1996
5DFFrance Frank Leboeuf France Strasbourg £2,500,000 1 July 1996
30GKNorway Frode Grodås Norway LSK Free 1 November 1996
25FWItaly Gianfranco Zola Italy Parma £4,500,000 8 November 1996
28DFEngland Danny Granville England Cambridge United £300,000 20 March 1997
DFNigeria Celestine Babayaro Belgium Anderlecht £2,250,000 21 April 1997

Out

# Pos Player To Fee Date
FWEngland Zeke Rowe England Peterborough United Free 4 July 1996
MFTurkey Muzzy Izzet England Leicester City £650,000 8 July 1996
MFEngland Ritchie Hanlon England Southend United Free 10 July 1996
FWEngland Paul Furlong England Birmingham City £1,500,000 17 July 1996
DFEngland Anthony Barness England Charlton Athletic £165,000 1 August 1996
MFNorthern Ireland Russell Kelly England Darlington Free 16 August 1996
FWScotland John Spencer England QPR £2,500,000 21 November 1996
MFEngland Gavin Peacock England QPR £800,000 23 December 1996
DFRepublic of Ireland Terry Phelan England Everton £850,000 30 December 1996
Transfers in: Decrease £14,450,000
Transfers out: Increase £4,965,000
Total spending: Decrease £9,485,000

References

  1. Shaw, Phil (24 October 1996). "Football mourns a true fan". The Independent. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  2. "Chelsea - 1996/97". FootballSquads. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  3. Phelan was born in Manchester, England.
  4. Sinclair was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally.
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