- 1996–97 Chelsea F.C. season
-
Chelsea 1996–97 season Chairman 
Ken BatesManager 
Ruud GullitFA Premier League 6th FA Cup Winners Coca Cola Cup Third round Top goalscorer League: Vialli (9)
All: Hughes (14)Highest home attendance 28,418 (vs. Everton, 7 December 1996) Lowest home attendance 11,732 (vs. Blackpool, 25 September 1996) ← 1995–96 1997–98 → During the 1996–97 English football season, Chelsea F.C. competed in the FA Premier League.
Contents
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, stikers Gianfranco Zola and the Champions League winning 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 PFA Player of the Year after a brilliant first season at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 8 (often spectacular) league goals and contributing 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 Coca-Cola Cup exit at Bolton.
Statistics
No. Nat Pos Player Total FA Premier League FA Cup Football League Cup Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 
GK Dmitri Kharine 5 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 
DF Dan Petrescu 41 4 34 3 5 0 2 1 3 
DF Terry Phelan 4 0 1+2 0 0 0 1 0 4 MF Ruud Gullit 14 1 6+6 1 1 0 1 0 5 
DF Frank Leboeuf 34 7 26 6 6 1 2 0 6 
DF Steve Clarke 40 0 31 0 6 0 3 0 7 FW John Spencer 7 2 0+4 0 0 0 3 2 8 DF Andy Myers 18 1 15+3 1 0 0 0 0 9 
FW Gianluca Vialli 33 11 23+5 9 4 2 1 0 10 
FW Mark Hughes 43 14 32+3 8 6 5 2 1 11 MF Dennis Wise 40 6 27+4 3 7 3 2 0 12 DF Michael Duberry 17 1 13+2 1 0 0 2 0 13 GK Kevin Hitchcock 16 0 10+2 0 2 0 2 0 14 MF Craig Burley 37 3 26+5 2 3 1 3 0 15 DF David Lee 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 16 MF Roberto Di Matteo 44 9 33+1 7 7 2 3 0 17 DF Scott Minto 32 5 24+1 4 5 0 2 1 18 
DF Erland Johnsen 22 0 14+4 0 3 0 1 0 19 DF Paul Parker 4 0 1+3 0 0 0 0 0 20 
DF Frank Sinclair 25 1 17+2 1 6 0 0 0 21 MF Jody Morris 14 1 6+6 0 0 0 2 1 22 FW Mark Nicholls 10 0 3+5 0 0 0 2 0 24 MF Eddie Newton 20 1 13+2 0 5 1 0 0 25 FW Gianfranco Zola 30 12 22+1 8 7 4 0 0 26 DF Neil Clement 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 27 MF Paul Hughes 13 2 8+4 2 1 0 0 0 28 DF Danny Granville 5 0 3+2 0 0 0 0 0 29 GK Nick Colgan 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 30 GK Frode Grodås 26 0 20+1 0 4 0 1 0 Statistics taken from [1]. Squad details and shirt numbers from [2] and [3].
Starting 11
- Only considering Premiership starts.
No. Pos. Name Starts 30 GK Frode Grodås21 2 RWB Dan Petrescu34 6 CB Steve Clarke31 4 SW Ruud Gullit12 5 CB Frank Leboeuf26 17 LWB Scott Minto25 11 CM Dennis Wise (Captain)31 16 CM Roberto Di Matteo34 25 AM Gianfranco Zola23 10 CF Mark Hughes35 9 CF Gianluca Vialli28 Results
FA Premier League
1 18 August 1996 Southampton 0–0 Chelsea Attendance: 15,186 2 21 August 1996 Chelsea 1–0 Middlesbrough Di Matteo 
86'Attendance: 28,272 3 24 August 1996 Chelsea 2–0 Coventry Leboeuf 29'
Vialli 74'Attendance: 25,024 4 3 September 1996 Arsenal 3–3 Chelsea Merson 44'
Keown 64'
Wright 77'Leboeuf 6' (pen.)
Vialli 30'
Wise 90'Attendance: 38,132 5 7 September 1996 Sheffield Wednesday 0–2 Chelsea Burley 28'
Myers 83'Attendance: 30,983 6 15 September 1996 Chelsea 1–1 Aston Villa Leboeuf 45'Townsend 18'Attendance: 27,729 7 21 September 1996 Liverpool 5–1 Chelsea Fowler 15'
Berger 42, 49'
Myers 45' (o.g.)
Barnes 57'Leboeuf 85' (pen.)Attendance: 40,739 8 28 September 1996 Chelsea 1–1 Nottingham Vialli 51'Lee 90'Attendance: 27,673 9 12 October 1996 Leicester 1–3 Chelsea Watts 44'Vialli 48'
Di Matteo 64'
Hughes 80'Attendance: 20,766 10 19 October 1996 Chelsea 2–4 Wimbledon Minto 9'
Vialli 84' (pen.)Earle 3'
Ardley 16'
Gayle 64'
Ekoku 78'Attendance: 28,020 11 26 October 1996 Chelsea 3–1 Tottenham Gullit 27'
D. Lee 52' (pen.)
Di Matteo 80'Armstrong 42'Attendance: 28,373 12 2 November 1996 Manchester United 1–2 Chelsea Poborský 81'Duberry 31'
Vialli 61'Attendance: 55,198 13 16 November 1996 Blackburn 1–1 Chelsea Gallacher 56'Petrescu 82'Attendance: 27,229 14 23 November 1996 Chelsea 1–1 Newcastle Vialli 24'Shearer 41'Attendance: 28,401 15 1 December 1996 Leeds 2–0 Chelsea Deane 8'
Rush 10'Attendance: 32,671 16 7 December 1996 Chelsea 2–2 Everton Zola 12'
Vialli 55'Branch 17'
Kanchelskis 28'Attendance: 28,418 17 15 December 1996 Sunderland 3–0 Chelsea Duberry 30' (o.g.)
Ball 47'
Russell 67'Attendance: 19,683 18 21 December 1996 Chelsea 3–1 West Ham Hughes 6, 35'
Zola 10'Porfirio 11'Attendance: 28,315 19 26 December 1996 Aston Villa 0–2 Chelsea Zola 66, 70'Attendance: 39,339 20 28 December 1996 Chelsea 2–2 Sheffield Wednesday Zola 9'
Hughes 23'Pembridge 23'
Stefanović 90'Attendance: 27,467 21 1 January 1997 Chelsea 1–0 Liverpool Di Matteo 43'Attendance: 28,329 22 11 January 1997 Nottingham 2–0 Chelsea Pearce 40'
Bart-Williams 53'Attendance: 28,358 23 18 January 1997 Chelsea 3–1 Derby Wise 36'
Leboeuf 44' (pen.)
Hughes 85'Asanović 25'Attendance: 28,293 24 1 February 1997 Tottenham 1–2 Chelsea Howells 82'Campbell 1' (o.g.)
Di Matteo 81'Attendance: 33,027 25 22 February 1997 Chelsea 1–1 Manchester United Zola 2'Beckham 68'Attendance: 28,336 26 1 March 1997 Derby 3–2 Chelsea Minto 51' (o.g.)
Asanović 62' (pen.)
Ward 90'Minto 16'
Leboeuf 54'Attendance: 18,039 27 5 March 1997 Chelsea 1–1 Blackburn Minto 63'Pedersen 62'Attendance: 25,784 28 12 March 1997 West Ham 3–2 Chelsea Dicks 55' (pen.)
Kitson 68, 90'Vialli 26'
Hughes 87'Attendance: 24,502 29 16 March 1997 Chelsea 6–2 Sunderland Zola 38'
Sinclair 43'
Petrescu 51'
Hughes 78, 90'
Vialli 90'Stewart 58'
Rae 60'Attendance: 24,027 30 19 March 1997 Chelsea 1–0 Southampton Zola 22'Attendance: 28,079 31 22 March 1997 Middlesbrough 1–0 Chelsea Juninho 53'Attendance: 29,811 32 5 April 1997 Chelsea 0–3 Arsenal Wright 22'
Platt 53'
Bergkamp 80'Attendance: 28,182 33 9 April 1997 Coventry 3–1 Chelsea Dublin 49'
Williams 51'
Whelan 58'P. Hughes 43'Attendance: 19,917 34 16 April 1997 Newcastle 3–1 Chelsea Shearer 12, 35'
Asprilla 30'Burley 62'Attendance: 36,320 35 19 April 1997 Chelsea 2–1 Leicester Minto 13'
Hughes 73'F. Sinclair 47' (o.g.)Attendance: 27,723 36 22 April 1997 Wimbledon 0–1 Chelsea Petrescu 14'Attendance: 14,601 37 3 May 1997 Chelsea 0–0 Leeds Attendance: 26,277 38 11 May 1997 Everton 1–2 Chelsea Barmby 77'Wise 14'
Di Matteo 36'Attendance: 38,321 Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts 5 Aston Villa 38 17 10 11 47 34 13 61 6 Chelsea 38 16 11 11 58 55 3 59 7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 14 15 9 50 51 −1 57 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
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 Transfers
In
# Pos Player From Fee Date 16 MF Roberto Di Matteo Lazio£4,900,000 ??-06-1996 9 FW Gianluca Vialli JuventusFree ??-06-1996 5 DF Frank Leboeuf Strasbourg£2,500,000 ??-06-1996 25 FW Gianfranco Zola Parma£4,500,000 ??-11-1996 Total spending:
£11,900,000References
- Chelsea 1996/1997 results and fixtures at Soccerbase
- Hockings, Ron. 100 Years of the Blues: A Statistical History of Chelsea Football Club. (2007)
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- English football clubs 1996–97 season
- 1996 in England
- 1997 in England
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