- 1996–97 Middlesbrough F.C. season
-
Middlesbrough 1996–97 season Manager Bryan Robson (player-manager)
Stadium Riverside Stadium FA Premier League 19th (relegated) FA Cup Runners-up League Cup Runners-up Top goalscorer League: Ravanelli (16)
All: Ravanelli (31)Average home attendance 29,848 ← 1995–96 1997–98 → During the 1996–97 English football season, Middlesbrough F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). Despite reaching the finals of both domestic cup competitions, Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League in 19th place (although this came after a points deduction for postponing a fixture against Blackburn Rovers).
Contents
Season summary
The multi-million pound signings of Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli suggested that Middlesbrough could compete with the very best after finishing 12th the previous season, but ahead lay quite a unique season which ultimately ended in disappointment.
By Christmas, Middlesbrough were deep in relegation trouble, despite Ravanelli proving himself as one of the league's top goalscorers. Added to this, Middlesbrough were faced with the wrath of the Football Association for postponing a fixture against Blackburn Rovers at short notice. The club's officials insisted that manager Bryan Robson had been unable to field a team due to a severe injury and illness crisis among his players, but this did not prevent the Football Association from docking the club 3 points.
Middlesbrough managed to put together a good run of results and look like decent bets for survival, but the Football Association's refusal to restore Middlesbrough's 3 points counted against them and a 1-1 draw at Leeds on the final day of the season, when they needed a win, resulted in relegation that would have been avoided (at the expense of Coventry City) if the points had not been deducted.
Middlesbrough also hit the headlines with two brilliant cup runs. As a club who had never won a major trophy or even reached a domestic cup final before, history was made in February when Middlesbrough reached the League Cup final. They drew 1-1 with Leicester City at Wembley in the first match, but lost the replay 1-0 at Hillsborough. Two months later, they took on Chelsea in the FA Cup final, but lost 2-0. Therefore, they became the first team to finish in the last two of all three major tournaments - eliminating Crystal Palace's distinction (attained in 1995) of finishing in the last four of all three major tournaments.
Final league table
Main article: 1996-97 FA Premier LeaguePos Team Pl W D L F A Pts 1. Manchester United 38 21 12 5 76 44 75 2. Newcastle United 38 19 11 8 73 40 68 3. Arsenal 38 19 11 8 62 32 68 4. Liverpool 38 19 11 8 62 37 68 5. Aston Villa 38 17 10 11 47 34 61 6. Chelsea 38 16 11 11 58 55 59 7. Sheffield Wednesday 38 14 15 9 50 51 57 8. Wimbledon 38 15 11 12 49 46 56 9. Leicester City 38 12 11 15 46 54 47 10. Tottenham Hotspur 38 13 7 18 44 51 46 11. Leeds United 38 11 13 14 28 38 46 12. Derby County 38 11 13 14 45 58 46 13. Blackburn Rovers 38 9 15 14 42 43 42 14. West Ham United 38 10 12 16 39 48 42 15. Everton 38 10 12 16 44 57 42 16. Southampton 38 10 11 17 50 56 41 17. Coventry City 38 9 14 15 38 54 41 18. Sunderland 38 10 10 18 35 53 40 19. Middlesbrough *** 38 10 12 16 51 60 39 20. Nottingham Forest 38 6 16 16 31 59 34 Note: Middlesbrough deducted 3 points for failing to fulfil a fixture.
Key Qualified for the Champions League Qualified for the UEFA Cup Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup Relegated to Division One Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player 2 DF Neil Cox 3 DF Derek Whyte 4 DF Steve Vickers 5 DF Nigel Pearson 6 MF Emerson 7 DF Vladimír Kinder 8 MF Robbie Mustoe 9 FW Mikkel Beck 10 MF Juninho 11 FW Fabrizio Ravanelli 12 MF Alan Moore 13 GK Gary Walsh 14 DF Curtis Fleming 15 DF Phil Whelan 16 MF Bryan Robson (player-manager) 17 DF Clayton Blackmore No. Position Player 18 DF Gianluca Festa 19 GK Mark Schwarzer 20 MF Phil Stamp 21 MF Craig Hignett 22 DF Craig Liddle 24 FW Chris Freestone 25 GK Ben Roberts 26 DF Chris Morris 27 DF Michael Barron 28 DF Viv Anderson 30 DF Branco 31 DF Alan White 32 FW Andy Campbell 33 MF Mark Summerbell 34 MF Keith O'Halloran 35 MF Anthony Ormerod Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player 1 GK Alan Miller (to West Bromwich Albion) 7 MF Nick Barmby (to Everton) 18 MF Graham Kavanagh (to Stoke City) No. Position Player 19 FW John Hendrie (to Barnsley) 23 FW Jan-Åge Fjørtoft (to Sheffield United) 29 MF Jamie Pollock (to Bolton Wanderers) Premier League
Matches
- Middlesbrough-Liverpool 3-3
- 0-1 Stig Inge Bjørnebye
4'
- 1-1 Fabrizio Ravanelli
26' (pen.)
- 1-2 John Barnes
29'
- 2-2 Fabrizio Ravanelli
36'
- 2-3 Robbie Fowler
65'
- 3-3 Fabrizio Ravanelli
81'
- Chelsea-Middlesbrough 1-0
- 1-0 Roberto Di Matteo
86'
- Nottingham-Middlesbrough 1-1
- 0-1 Juninho
49'
- 1-1 Stuart Pearce
68'
- Middlesbrough-West Ham 4-1
- 1-0 Emerson
12'
- 2-0 Robbie Mustoe
28'
- 3-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
52'
- 3-1 Michael Hughes
57'
- 4-1 Phil Stamp
81'
- Middlesbrough-Coventry 4-0
- 1-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
3'
- 2-0 Juninho
28'
- 3-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
73'
- 4-0 Juninho
80'
- Everton-Middlesbrough 1-2
- 1-0 Craig Short
8'
- 1-1 Nick Barmby
61'
- 1-2 Juninho
81'
- Middlesbrough-Arsenal 0-2
- 0-1 John Hartson
3'
- 0-2 Ian Wright
27'
- Southampton-Middlesbrough 4-0
- 1-0 Matthew Oakley
11'
- 2-0 Matthew Le Tissier
29'
- 3-0 Matthew Le Tissier
48'
- 4-0 Gordon Watson
82'
- Sunderland-Middlesbrough 2-2
- 0-1 Emerson
18'
- 1-1 Alex Rae
21' (pen.)
- 1-2 Fabrizio Ravanelli
53'
- 2-2 Craig Russell
61'
- Middlesbrough-Tottenham 0-3
- 0-1 Teddy Sheringham
21'
- 0-2 Ruel Fox
23'
- 0-3 Teddy Sheringham
90'
- Newcastle-Middlesbrough 3-1
- 1-0 Peter Beardsley
40' (pen.)
- 2-0 Peter Beardsley
69'
- 3-0 Rob Lee
74'
- 3-1 Mikkel Beck
88'
- Derby-Middlesbrough 2-1
- 1-0 Aljoša Asanović
15'
- 2-0 Steve Vickers
47' (o.g.)
- 2-1 Fabrizio Ravanelli
73'
- Middlesbrough-Manchester United 2-2
- 0-1 Roy Keane
17'
- 1-1 Fabrizio Ravanelli
27'
- 1-2 David May
72'
- 2-2 Craig Hignett
83' (pen.)
- Aston Villa-Middlesbrough 1-0
- 1-0 Dwight Yorke
39' (pen.)
- Middlesbrough-Leicester 0-2
- 0-1 Steve Claridge
45'
- 0-2 Muzzy Izzet
46'
- Middlesbrough-Leeds 0-0
- Liverpool-Middlesbrough 5-1
- 1-0 Robbie Fowler
1'
- 2-0 Robbie Fowler
28'
- 3-0 Stig Inge Bjørnebye
45'
- 3-1 Jan Åge Fjørtoft
75'
- 4-1 Robbie Fowler
77'
- 5-1 Robbie Fowler
85'
- Middlesbrough-Everton 4-2
- 1-0 Craig Hignett
22'
- 1-1 David Unsworth
31' (pen.)
- 2-1 Clayton Blackmore
37'
- 2-2 Duncan Ferguson
45'
- 3-2 Juninho
58'
- 4-2 Juninho
74'
- Coventry-Middlesbrough 3-0
- 1-0 Darren Huckerby
29'
- 2-0 Gary McAllister
64'
- 3-0 Craig Liddle
85' (o.g.)
- Arsenal-Middlesbrough 2-0
- 1-0 Dennis Bergkamp
15'
- 2-0 Ian Wright
44'
- Middlesbrough-Southampton} 0-1
- 0-1 Jim Magilton
59' (pen.)
- Middlesbrough-Sheffield Wednesday 4-2
- 1-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
14' (pen.)
- 2-0 Gianluca Festa
23'
- 2-1 Mark Pembridge
29'
- 3-1 Emerson
72' (pen.)
- 3-2 Mark Pembridge
80'
- 4-2 Juninho
90'
- Wimbledon-Middlesbrough 1-1
- 1-0 Neil Cox
22' (o.g.)
- 1-1 Robbie Mustoe
75'
- Middlesbrough-Newcastle 0-1
- 0-1 Les Ferdinand
8'
- Sheffield Wednesday-Middlesbrough 3-1
- 1-0 Andy Booth
21'
- 2-0 Graham Hyde
43'
- 2-1 Robbie Mustoe
72'
- 3-1 Mark Pembridge
90' (pen.)
- Middlesbrough-Derby 6-1
- 1-0 Vladimír Kinder
24'
- 2-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
54'
- 3-0 Craig Hignett
70'
- 4-0 Mikkel Beck
81'
- 5-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
82'
- 6-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
85'
- 6-1 Paul Simpson
90'
- Leicester-Middlesbrough 1-3
- 0-1 Clayton Blackmore
9'
- 0-2 Juninho
27'
- 0-3 Mikkel Beck
36'
- 1-3 Ian Marshall
47'
- Middlesbrough-Blackburn 2-1
- 1-0 Juninho
44'
- 2-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
61'
- 2-1 Chris Sutton
68'
- Middlesbrough-Chelsea 1-0
- 1-0 Juninho
53'
- Middlesbrough-Nottingham 1-1
- 0-1 Alf-Inge Haaland
4'
- 1-1 Mikkel Beck
56'
- Middlesbrough-Sunderland 0-1
- 0-1 Darren Williams
45'
- Tottenham-Middlesbrough 1-0
- 1-0 Andy Sinton
71'
- Middlesbrough-Aston Villa 3-2
- 1-0 Fabrizio Ravanelli
20'
- 2-0 Mikkel Beck
34'
- 2-1 Ugo Ehiogu
58'
- 2-2 Savo Milošević
77'
- 3-2 Fabrizio Ravanelli
90' (pen.)
- Manchester United-Middlesbrough 3-3
- 0-1 Juninho
15'
- 1-1 Roy Keane
34'
- 1-2 Emerson
17'
- 1-3 Craig Hignett
40'
- 2-3 Gary Neville
42'
- 3-3 Ole Gunnar Solskjær
67'
- Leeds-Middlesbrough 1-1
- 1-0 Brian Deane
77'
- 1-1 Juninho
79'
Topscorers
Fabrizio Ravanelli 16
Juninho 12
Craig Hignett 4
Mikkel Beck 3
Emerson 3
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