1996–97 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was Sheffield Wednesday F.C.'s 130th season in existence. They competed in the twenty-team Premiership, the top tier of English football, finishing seventh.

Season summary

A four-match winning start to the season saw Sheffield Wednesday top the Premiership and manager David Pleat receive Manager of the Month award for August, but they soon fell out of the title frame and in the end, despite losing just nine games in the league, they finished seventh in the final table - not even enough for UEFA Cup qualification; they could easily have finished higher had they not drawn as many as 15 games (making it 30 points they dropped). In the close season, Pleat paid a club record £5.7 million for Celtic's Italian forward Paolo Di Canio, giving his squad a much-needed boost to their hopes of challenging for honours.

Final league table

Results summary

Results by round

Results

Sheffield Wednesday's score comes first

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

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

Left club during season

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

Reserve squad

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

Transfers

In

Out

Transfers in: £8,800,000

Transfers out: £250,000

Total spending: £8,550,000

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Notes

References

• Dickinson, Jason (1999). One Hundred Years at Hillsborough. Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press/Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. pp. 242–243, 385. ISBN 1-874718-29-6.
• Dickinson, Jason; Brodie, John (2005). The Wednesday Boys: A Definitive Who's Who of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club 1880–2005. Sheffield: Pickard Communication. pp. 346–347, 350. ISBN 0-9547264-9-9.
• Drake, A. "1996–97 Players". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.