1996–97 Portsmouth F.C. season

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

Season summary

In the summer of 1996, Terry Venables arrived at Portsmouth as a consultant, later taking over as chairman after buying the club for £1. The team enjoyed a run to the FA Cup quarter-finals, beating Premiership side Leeds United en route, but finished just short of the qualifying places for the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League. After the season, the Fratton End was fully demolished to make way for an all-new replacement stand.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
5	Sheffield United	46	20	13	13	75	52	+23	73	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
6	Crystal Palace (O, P)	46	19	14	13	78	48	+30	71	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
7	Portsmouth	46	20	8	18	59	53	+6	68
8	Port Vale	46	17	16	13	58	55	+3	67
9	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	12	16	64	60	+4	66

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

Results

Portsmouth's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bradford City	A	1–3	10,007	Hall
23 August 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–2	7,501	Igoe
27 August 1996	Southend United	H	1–0	5,579	Russell
31 August 1996	Grimsby Town	A	1–0	4,747	Rees
7 September 1996	Port Vale	H	1–1	8,099	Russell
11 September 1996	Swindon Town	A	1–0	8,685	McLoughlin
14 September 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–2	14,248
21 September 1996	Norwich City	H	0–1	7,511
28 September 1996	Oxford United	A	0–2	7,626
1 October 1996	Crystal Palace	H	2–2	7,212	Hall, Bradbury
4 October 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	3–4	5,001	Bradbury, McLoughlin (pen), Perrett
12 October 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	6,641	Durnin, Bradbury
15 October 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	7,411
19 October 1996	Ipswich Town	A	1–1	10,514	McLoughlin (pen)
26 October 1996	Stoke City	A	1–3	10,259	Bradbury
29 October 1996	Birmingham City	H	1–1	6,334	Bradbury
2 November 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	4–0	7,354	Bradbury, Simpson, Durnin, Turner
9 November 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	0–0	7,639
16 November 1996	Manchester City	H	2–1	12,841	Bradbury, Simpson
23 November 1996	Barnsley	A	2–3	7,449	Durnin (pen), Bradbury
30 November 1996	Stoke City	H	1–0	7,749	Turner
7 December 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–1	16,333
14 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	3–1	6,954	Simpson (pen), Svensson (2)
21 December 1996	Reading	A	0–0	8,520
26 December 1996	Swindon Town	H	0–1	10,605
28 December 1996	Port Vale	A	2–0	7,382	Hall, Svensson
1 January 1997	Norwich City	A	0–1	11,946
11 January 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–3	10,467
18 January 1997	Crystal Palace	A	2–1	15,498	Bradbury, Thomson
28 January 1997	Oxford United	H	2–1	7,301	Hall, Svensson
1 February 1997	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	9,135	Hall
8 February 1997	Birmingham City	A	3–0	15,897	Svensson, Bradbury, McLoughlin (pen)
22 February 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–0	15,800	Hillier, Burton
1 March 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–1	12,715	Hall
5 March 1997	Manchester City	A	1–1	11,276	Simpson
15 March 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	3–1	10,512	Igoe, Hall (2)
22 March 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	15,746	Bradbury
25 March 1997	Reading	H	1–0	9,248	Hall
29 March 1997	Bradford City	H	3–1	12,340	Bradbury, Hall, Svensson
31 March 1997	Southend United	A	1–2	6,107	Hall
5 April 1997	Grimsby Town	H	1–0	9,854	Carter
12 April 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–3	12,004	Hillier
19 April 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–2	12,342	Hall
22 April 1997	Barnsley	H	4–2	8,328	McLoughlin (pen), Bradbury (3)
25 April 1997	Ipswich Town	H	0–1	12,101
4 May 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	26,031	Hall

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–1	23,626	McLoughlin, Hall
R4	25 January 1997	Reading	H	3–0	15,003	Hall, Bradbury, Hillier
R5	15 February 1997	Leeds United	A	3–2	35,604	McLoughlin, Svensson, Bradbury
QF	9 March 1997	Chelsea	H	1–4	15,701	Burton

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 August 1996	Leyton Orient	H	2–0	3,102	Burton (2)
R1 Second Leg	4 September 1996	Leyton Orient	A	0–1 (won 2–1 on agg)	3,177
R2 First Leg	18 September 1996	Wimbledon	A	0–1	3,811
R2 Second Leg	25 September 1996	Wimbledon	H	1–1	4,006	Carter

Squad

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	Aaron Flahavan
—	GK	ENG	Alan Knight
—	DF	ENG	Andy Awford
—	DF	ENG	Guy Butters
—	DF	ENG	Andy Cook (on loan from Swansea City)
—	DF	ENG	Tony Dobson
—	DF	ENG	Danny Hinshelwood
—	DF	ENG	Russell Perrett
—	DF	ENG	Robbie Pethick
—	DF	ENG	Lee Russell
—	DF	ENG	Andy Thomson
—	DF	ENG	Adrian Whitbread
—	MF	ENG	Martin Allen
—	MF	ENG	Jimmy Carter


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	John Durnin
—	MF	ENG	David Hillier
—	MF	ENG	Jamie Howell
—	MF	ENG	Sammy Igoe
—	MF	ENG	Fitzroy Simpson
—	MF	WAL	Jason Rees
—	MF	IRL	Alan McLoughlin
—	MF	NIR	Dave Waterman
—	MF	JAM	Paul Hall
—	FW	ENG	Lee Bradbury
—	FW	IRL	Andy Turner
—	FW	SWE	Mathias Svensson
—	FW	JAM	Deon Burton

References

^ "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[1] "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[1]

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