1996–97 Crystal Palace F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Crystal Palace competed in the Football League First Division.

Crystal Palace

1996–97 season
Chairman	Ron Noades
Manager	Dave Bassett (until 27 February) Steve Coppell
Stadium	Selhurst Park
First Division	6th
Play-offs	Winners
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Home colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

Crystal Palace finished 6th place in the First Division and gained promotion to the Premier League after a 1–0 win in the play-off finals over Sheffield United at Wembley, David Hopkin scoring the winner in the 89th minute.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Ipswich Town	46	20	14	12	68	50	+18	74	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
5	Sheffield United	46	20	13	13	75	52	+23	73
6	Crystal Palace (O, P)	46	19	14	13	78	48	+30	71
7	Portsmouth	46	20	8	18	59	53	+6	68
8	Port Vale	46	17	16	13	58	55	+3	67

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Crystal Palace's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

First Division

First Division match results^[2]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
18 August 1996	Birmingham City	A	0–1		18,765
24 August 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	3–1	Hopkin 11', 23', Dyer 44'	12,822
27 August 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0		13,849
31 August 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	1–1	Freedman 69'	11,166
7 September 1996	Stoke City	A	2–2	Hopkin 13', Freedman 22'	13,540
10 September 1996	Ipswich Town	H	0–0		12,520
14 September 1996	Manchester City	H	3–1	Hopkin 12', 49' Andersen 31'	17,638
21 September 1996	Reading	A	6–1	Tuttle 27', Freedman 37', Muscat 50', Dyer 56' (pen.), Veart 58', Ndah 77'	9,675
28 September 1996	Southend United	H	6–1	Muscat 2, Houghton 38', Hopkin 49', Veart 53', Dyer 72', Freedman 79'	14,858
1 October 1996	Portsmouth	A	2–2	Veart 28', Freedman 63'	7,212
12 October 1996	Barnsley	A	0–0		9,183
16 October 1996	Port Vale	A	2–0	Dyer 2', Roberts 15'	4,522
19 October 1996	Swindon Town	H	1–2	Dyer 23' (pen.)	15,088
26 October 1996	Grimsby Town	H	3–0	Dyer 44', Veart 56', Freedman 29'	13,665
29 October 1996	Bradford City	A	4–0	Shipperley 36', 38', Freedman 58', Hopkin 83'	10,091
2 November 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	3–1	Dyer 15', Freedman 48', Hopkin 85	8,613
10 November 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–0	Dyer 40', Shipperley 71', Hopkin 90	15,324
16 November 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–2	Hopkin 39', Freedman 41'	16,892
23 November 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–3	Veart 51', Dyer 55'	20,655
30 November 1996	Grimsby Town	A	1–2	Shipperley 5'	5,115
7 December 1996	Oxford United	H	2–2	Dyer 16', 80'	17,879
14 December 1996	Norwich City	A	1–1	Shipperley 3'	16,395
17 December 1996	Sheffield United	H	0–1		12,801
21 December 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	1–0	Shipperley 87'	16,279
26 December 1996	Ipswich Town	A	1–3	Gordon 65' (pen.)	16,020
11 January 1997	Manchester City	A	1–1	Ndah 83'	27,395
18 January 1997	Portsmouth	H	1–2	Quinn 30'	15,498
28 January 1997	Southend United	A	1–2	Freedman 68'	5,061
1 February 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	Hopkin 22'	16,467
8 February 1997	Bradford City	H	3–1	Shipperley 61', Ndah 65', Freedman 74'	14,844
15 February 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	3–0	Tuttle 17', Veart 72', Dyer 73'	25,919
22 February 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–1		15,396
1 March 1997	Oxford United	A	4–1	Gordon 37', Dyer 50', 82', Hopkin 63'	8,572
4 March 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–1	Linighan 50'	16,035
8 March 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–2	Dyer 60'	15,000
15 March 1997	Norwich City	H	2–0	Gordon 30' (pen), McKenzie 35'	17,378
23 March 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	1–0	McKenzie 3'	5,282
29 March 1997	Birmingham City	H	0–1		16,331
5 April 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	Shipperley 52'	13,541
9 April 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1		12,866
12 April 1997	Sheffield United	A	0–3		20,051
15 April 1997	Stoke City	H	2–0	Dyer 6', 21'	11,382
19 April 1997	Barnsley	H	1–1	Shipperley 30'	20,006
23 April 1997	Reading	H	3–2	Linighan 13', Hopkin 49', Shipperley 69'	12,552
26 April 1997	Swindon Town	A	2–0	Shipperley 44', 89'	10,447
4 May 1997	Port Vale	H	1–1	Roberts 12'	16,401

First Division Play Offs

Play Off Semi-finals:

Palace... 3 Wolves... 1(Shipperley, Freedman (2)) Wolves...2 Palace... 1 (Hopkin)

Play Off Final at Wembley:

Palace... 1 Sheffield United... 0 (Hopkin)

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Tom Evans[notes 1] — GK  ENG Carlo Nash — GK  ENG Chris Day — DF  ENG Danny Boxall[notes 2] — DF  ENG Sagi Burton[notes 3] — DF  ENG Andy Cyrus — DF  ENG Marc Edworthy — DF  ENG Dean Gordon — DF  ENG Andy Linighan — DF  AUS Kevin Muscat[notes 4] — DF  ENG Dave Tuttle — DF  WAL Gareth Davies[notes 5] — DF  IRL Rob Quinn[notes 6] — DF  NOR Leif Andersen — MF  ENG Hayden Mullins — MF  ENG Darren Pitcher — MF  ENG Andy Roberts — MF  ENG Simon Rodger

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SCO David Hopkin — MF  SCO Steven Thomson — MF  NIR Wayne Carlisle — MF  NIR Gareth Graham — MF  IRL Tony Folan[notes 7] — MF  IRL Ray Houghton[notes 8] — MF  IRL Richard Kennedy — MF  IRL Tony Scully — MF  AUS Carl Veart — FW  ENG Bruce Dyer[notes 9] — FW  ENG Jason Harris — FW  ENG Leon McKenzie — FW  ENG Clinton Morrison[notes 10] — FW  ENG George Ndah[notes 11] — FW  ENG Neil Shipperley — FW  WAL Andy Martin — FW  SCO Dougie Freedman

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Bobby Mimms (to Preston North End) — DF  ENG Jamie Vincent (to AFC Bournemouth)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  WAL Paul Trollope[notes 12] (on loan from Derby County)