1996–97 Norwich City F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Norwich City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Norwich City

1996–97 season
Manager	Mike Walker
Stadium	Carrow Road
First Division	13th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	Eadie (17)
Highest home attendance	20,256 vs. Ipswich Town (11 October 1996)
Lowest home attendance	11,946 vs. Portsmouth (1 January 1997)
Average home league attendance	14,719
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

In 1996, Mike Walker returned for a second spell as Norwich manager to the delight of the fans but during the season he could not achieve promotion during his first season back at the club with only a 13th-place finish. After a great start which saw the Canaries lose only 2 out of the first 14 games, Norwich's brilliant form deteriorated from the end of October, picking up 3 points from the next 10 matches with 7 defeats during the winless run which all but ended their chances of automatic promotion.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League § First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	14	15	63	56	+7	65
12	Stoke City	46	18	10	18	51	57	−6	64
13	Norwich City	46	17	12	17	63	68	−5	63
14	Manchester City	46	17	10	19	59	60	−1	61
15	Charlton Athletic	46	16	11	19	52	66	−14	59

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Norwich City's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Swindon Town	H	2–0	15,165	Johnson, Fleck
24 August 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–3	13,507	Eadie
27 August 1996	Oxford United	A	1–0	7,436	Adams
31 August 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	14,456	Adams (pen)
7 September 1996	Bradford City	A	2–0	10,054	Sutch, Eadie
11 September 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	14,000	Adams
14 September 1996	Southend United	H	0–0	12,461
21 September 1996	Portsmouth	A	1–0	7,511	Crook
28 September 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1	14,511	Fleck
1 October 1996	Grimsby Town	A	4–1	5,266	Eadie (2), Johnson, O'Neill
11 October 1996	Ipswich Town	H	3–1	20,256	Johnson (2), Polston
16 October 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	2–0	12,271	Eadie, Adams
19 October 1996	Manchester City	A	1–2	28,269	Scott
26 October 1996	Birmingham City	A	3–2	18,869	Johnson, Adams, Scott
30 October 1996	Sheffield United	H	1–1	14,534	Adams
2 November 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	1–2	14,145	Milligan
12 November 1996	Barnsley	A	1–3	9,697	Newman
16 November 1996	Reading	H	1–1	14,412	Scott
30 November 1996	Birmingham City	H	0–1	12,764
7 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	0–2	10,749
14 December 1996	Crystal Palace	H	1–1	16,395	Adams
18 December 1996	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–5	7,483	O'Neill
21 December 1996	Port Vale	A	1–6	6,278	Fleck
26 December 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–3	15,699	Crook, Eadie
28 December 1996	Bradford City	H	2–0	13,473	Adams (pen), O'Neill
1 January 1997	Portsmouth	H	1–0	11,946	Jackson
18 January 1997	Grimsby Town	H	2–1	16,687	Polston, Sutch
22 January 1997	Stoke City	A	2–1	10,179	O'Neill, Eadie
28 January 1997	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–3	5,891	Eadie
1 February 1997	Barnsley	H	1–1	17,001	Eadie
9 February 1997	Sheffield United	A	3–2	15,301	Johnson, Ottosson, Holdsworth (own goal)
15 February 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–4	14,845	Sutch, Adams (pen)
22 February 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	4–4	12,405	Adams (2), Eadie (2)
25 February 1997	Southend United	A	1–1	5,169	Fleck
1 March 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	2–0	13,001	Eadie (2)
4 March 1997	Reading	A	1–2	8,174	Adams
8 March 1997	Port Vale	H	1–1	16,101	Jackson
15 March 1997	Crystal Palace	A	0–2	17,378
22 March 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–1	17,585
29 March 1997	Swindon Town	A	3–0	10,249	Eadie (2), O'Neill
31 March 1997	Oxford United	H	1–1	14,644	Eadie
5 April 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–3	26,938	Broughton, Adams
12 April 1997	Stoke City	H	2–0	13,805	O'Neill, Eadie
18 April 1997	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	22,397
25 April 1997	Manchester City	H	0–0	14,080
4 May 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	0–3	5,562

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–0	12,356	Polston
R4	25 January 1997	Leicester City	A	1–2	16,703	Adams (pen)

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 August 1996	Oxford United	A	1–1	6,062	Johnson
R1 Second Leg	4 September 1996	Oxford United	H	2–3 (lost 3–4 on agg)	7,301	Adams (2, 1 pen)

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 Andy Marshall — GK  SCO Bryan Gunn — DF  ENG Carl Bradshaw — DF  ENG Matt Jackson — DF  ENG Danny Mills — DF  ENG Neil Moore (on loan from Everton) — DF  ENG Rob Newman — DF  ENG John Polston — DF  ENG Kevin Scott (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) — DF  ENG Daryl Sutch — DF  NIR Johnny Wright — MF  ENG Neil Adams — MF  ENG Ian Crook — MF  ENG Darren Eadie — MF  ENG Adrian Forbes

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Andy Johnson[notes 1] — MF  ENG Lee Marshall — MF  ENG David Rocastle (on loan from Chelsea) — MF  ENG Karl Simpson — MF  IRL Shaun Carey[notes 2] — MF  IRL Mike Milligan[notes 3] — MF  IRL Keith O'Neill — MF  IRL Matthew Rush[notes 4] — FW  ENG Ade Akinbiyi[notes 5] — FW  ENG Drewe Broughton — FW  ENG Jamie Cureton — FW  ENG Keith Scott — FW  SCO Robert Fleck — FW  WAL Craig Bellamy — FW  SWE Ulf Ottosson (on loan from IFK Norrköping)

Notes

1. Johnson was born in Bristol, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in 1998.
2. Carey was born in Kettering, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
3. Milligan was born in Manchester, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21, U-23, and B level before making his international debut for Republic of Ireland in 1992.
4. Rush was born in Hackney, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
5. Akinbiyi was born in Hackney, England, but also qualified to represent Nigeria internationally through his parents and would make his international debut for Nigeria in November 1999.