1996–97 Walsall F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Walsall F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Walsall

1996–97 season
Chairman	Scott Davidson
Manager	Chris Nicholl
Stadium	Bescot Stadium
Second Division	12th
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Lightbourne (20) All: Lightbourne (25)
Average home league attendance	3,892
Home colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, Walsall had another satisfying mid-table finish under Nicholl, ending the season in 12th place. At the end of the season, Nicholl resigned because of family reasons.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Chesterfield	46	18	14	14	42	39	+3	68
11	Gillingham	46	19	10	17	60	59	+1	67
12	Walsall	46	19	10	17	54	53	+1	67
13	Watford	46	16	19	11	45	38	+7	67
14	Millwall	46	16	13	17	50	55	−5	61

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results

Walsall's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Rotherham United	H	1–1	4,040	Butler
24 August 1996	Burnley	A	1–2	10,322	Wilson
27 August 1996	Chesterfield	A	0–1	3,561
7 September 1996	Blackpool	A	1–2	5,176	Blake
10 September 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2–2	2,659	Wilson, Watson
14 September 1996	Gillingham	H	1–0	3,419	Viveash
21 September 1996	Bristol City	A	1–4	7,412	Lightbourne
24 September 1996	Wrexham	H	0–1	2,832
28 September 1996	Bury	H	3–1	3,254	Viveash, Lightbourne, Blake
1 October 1996	Bournemouth	A	1–0	2,747	Hodge
5 October 1996	Luton Town	A	1–3	5,002	Lightbourne
12 October 1996	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–1	3,720
15 October 1996	Preston North End	H	1–0	3,224	Wilson
19 October 1996	Brentford	A	1–1	5,419	Lightbourne
26 October 1996	Stockport County	H	1–1	3,767	Wilson (pen)
29 October 1996	Notts County	A	0–2	3,127
2 November 1996	Millwall	A	0–1	9,176
9 November 1996	Peterborough United	H	4–0	3,921	Lightbourne (2), Wilson (pen), Donowa
23 November 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–0	3,653	Wilson
30 November 1996	Stockport County	A	0–2	5,333
3 December 1996	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	4,084	Viveash
14 December 1996	Watford	H	1–1	3,674	Keister
20 December 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–2	3,007	Viveash, Wilson
26 December 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	A	2–0	5,073	Blake, Lightbourne
18 January 1997	Bournemouth	H	2–1	3,037	Viveash, Lightbourne
25 January 1997	Notts County	H	3–1	3,261	Viveash, Ntamark, Hodge
1 February 1997	Peterborough United	A	1–0	4,940	Watson
8 February 1997	Millwall	H	2–1	3,833	Watson, Viveash
11 February 1997	York City	A	2–0	2,136	Lightbourne, Viveash
15 February 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–1	4,648
22 February 1997	York City	H	1–1	3,664	Lightbourne
1 March 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	1–0	5,891	Watson
4 March 1997	Bristol City	H	2–0	4,322	Lightbourne (2)
8 March 1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–2	4,819	Lightbourne, Ricketts
15 March 1997	Watford	A	0–1	7,818
18 March 1997	Blackpool	H	1–1	3,459	Hodge
22 March 1997	Burnley	H	1–3	6,306	Lightbourne
29 March 1997	Rotherham United	A	2–1	2,428	Lightbourne, Viveash
1 April 1997	Chesterfield	H	1–1	3,784	Blake
5 April 1997	Wrexham	A	2–1	3,266	Lightbourne, Watson
8 April 1997	Bury	A	1–2	4,082	Lightbourne
12 April 1997	Luton Town	H	3–2	5,415	Lightbourne (2), Hodge
19 April 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	5,535
26 April 1997	Brentford	H	1–0	5,359	Lightbourne
29 April 1997	Gillingham	A	0–2	4,095
3 May 1997	Preston North End	A	0–2	10,800

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Northwich Victoria	A	2–2	3,142	Wilson, Lightbourne
R1R	26 November 1996	Northwich Victoria	H	3–1	3,491	Lightbourne (2), Wilson (pen)
R2	7 December 1996	Burnley	H	1–1	5,031	Lightbourne
R2R	23 December 1996	Burnley	A	1–1 (lost 2–4 on pens)	5,799	Viveash

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Watford	H	1–0	2,659	Lightbourne
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Watford	A	0–2 (lost 1–2 on agg)	5,325

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	21 January 1997	Peterborough United	A	0–2	2,274

Squad

^[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 Jimmy Walker — GK  NIR Trevor Wood — DF  ENG Ray Daniel — DF  WAL Wayne Evans — DF  ENG Chris Marsh — DF  ENG Derek Mountfield — DF  ENG Darren Rogers — DF  ENG Ian Roper — DF  ENG Stuart Ryder — DF  ENG Adi Viveash — MF  ENG Mark Blake — MF  ENG Darren Bradley — MF  ENG Louie Donowa

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Dean Keates — MF  SLE John Keister — MF  CMR Charlie Ntamark — MF  ENG Wayne Thomas — FW  ENG Darren Beckford — FW  ENG Martin Butler — FW  ENG John Hodge — FW  BER Kyle Lightbourne — FW  ENG Clive Platt — FW  ENG Michael Ricketts — FW  ENG Andy Watson — FW  ENG Kevin Wilson