1996–97 Peterborough United F.C. season

Peterborough United

1996–97 season
Chairman	Barry Fry
Manager	Barry Fry
Stadium	London Road Stadium
Second Division	21st (relegated)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Auto Windscreens Shield	Southern final
Top goalscorer	League: Houghton (8) All: Houghton (9)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Season summary

In the 1996-97 season, Peterborough appointed Barry Fry as manager and chairman just after leaving Birmingham at the end of last season. His first season in charge wasn't great and Peterborough were relegated to the Third Division.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts
1	Bury	46		18	5	0	39	7		6	7	10	23	31		62	38	+24		84
2	Stockport County	46		15	5	3	31	14		8	8	7	28	27		59	41	+18		82
3	Luton Town	46		13	7	3	38	14		8	8	7	33	31		71	45	+26		78
4	Brentford	46		8	11	4	26	22		12	3	8	30	21		56	43	+13		74
5	Bristol City	46		14	4	5	43	18		7	6	10	26	33		69	51	+18		73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46		15	4	4	38	15		7	3	13	18	32		56	47	+9		73
7	Blackpool	46		13	7	3	41	21		5	8	10	19	26		60	47	+13		69
8	Wrexham	46		11	9	3	38	28		6	9	8	17	22		54	50	+4		69
9	Burnley	46		14	3	6	48	27		5	8	10	23	28		71	55	+16		68
10	Chesterfield	46		10	9	4	25	18		8	5	10	17	21		42	39	+3		68
11	Gillingham	46		13	3	7	37	25		6	7	10	23	34		60	59	+1		67
12	Walsall	46		12	8	3	35	21		7	2	14	19	32		54	53	+1		67
13	Watford	46		10	8	5	24	14		6	11	6	21	24		45	38	+7		67
14	Millwall	46		12	4	7	27	22		4	9	10	23	33		50	55	–5		61
15	Preston North End	46		14	5	4	33	19		4	2	17	16	36		49	55	–6		61
16	Bournemouth	46		8	9	6	24	20		7	6	10	19	25		43	45	–2		60
17	Bristol Rovers	46		13	4	6	34	22		2	7	14	13	28		47	50	–3		56
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46		13	4	6	31	14		2	6	15	20	43		51	56	–5		55
19	Plymouth Argyle	46		7	11	5	19	18		5	7	11	28	40		47	58	–11		54
20	York City	46		8	6	9	27	31		5	7	11	20	37		47	68	–21		52
21	Peterborough United	46		7	7	9	38	34		4	7	12	17	39		55	73	–18		47
22	Shrewsbury Town	46		8	6	9	27	32		3	7	13	22	42		49	74	–25		46
23	Rotherham United	46		4	7	12	17	29		3	7	13	22	41		39	70	–31		35
24	Notts County	46		4	9	10	20	25		3	5	15	13	34		33	59	–26		35

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Peterborough United's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	0–1	6,232
24 August 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–2	6,357	Houghton, O'Connor (pen)
31 August 1996	Bournemouth	A	2–1	4,587	Willis, Griffiths
7 September 1996	Wrexham	A	1–1	3,222	O'Connor
10 September 1996	Millwall	H	3–3	4,442	Rowe, Charlery, O'Connor
14 September 1996	York City	H	2–2	5,613	Rowe, Payne
21 September 1996	Watford	A	0–0	12,007
28 September 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	H	6–3	5,580	Heald, Charlery, Payne, Clark, Farrell (2)
1 October 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–1	4,929	Regis
5 October 1996	Preston North End	A	4–3	8,874	Clark, Houghton, Charlery, Rowe
8 October 1996	Notts County	H	1–3	5,456	Farrell
12 October 1996	Bury	H	1–2	6,003	Heald
15 October 1996	Brentford	H	0–1	5,037
19 October 1996	Luton Town	A	0–3	5,964
26 October 1996	Rotherham United	A	0–2	2,854
29 October 1996	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–2	5,400	Houghton (2, 1 pen)
2 November 1996	Blackpool	H	0–0	7,011
9 November 1996	Walsall	A	0–4	3,921
19 November 1996	Gillingham	H	0–1	4,136
23 November 1996	Bristol City	A	0–2	12,312
30 November 1996	Rotherham United	H	6–2	4,690	Carruthers (2), Willis (2), Houghton (pen), Monington (own goal)
3 December 1996	Chesterfield	A	1–2	2,805	Ebdon
14 December 1996	Stockport County	A	0–0	5,748
20 December 1996	Burnley	H	3–2	5,283	Carruthers (2), Morrison
26 December 1996	Millwall	A	2–0	8,118	Houghton (2)
18 January 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–0	6,288
25 January 1997	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–2	2,695	Houghton, Donowa
1 February 1997	Walsall	H	0–1	4,940
8 February 1997	Blackpool	A	1–5	4,001	Cleaver
11 February 1997	Wrexham	H	0–1	2,975
15 February 1997	Bristol City	H	3–1	4,221	Willis (2), Otto
22 February 1997	Gillingham	A	1–2	6,552	Morrison
25 February 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–2	4,001
1 March 1997	Chesterfield	H	1–1	4,458	Otto
4 March 1997	Watford	H	2–1	4,200	Charlery, Boothroyd (pen)
8 March 1997	Burnley	A	0–5	8,646
15 March 1997	Stockport County	H	0–2	4,857
22 March 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–1	3,565	Charlery
29 March 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	1–2	6,132	Otto
31 March 1997	Notts County	A	0–0	3,848
5 April 1997	Bournemouth	H	3–1	4,221	Clark, de Souza, Otto
8 April 1997	York City	A	0–1	2,790
12 April 1997	Preston North End	H	2–0	5,040	Willis, de Souza
19 April 1997	Bury	A	0–1	4,631
26 April 1997	Luton Town	H	0–1	9,499
3 May 1997	Brentford	A	1–0	5,274	Drury

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Cheltenham Town	H	0–0	5,271
R1R	27 November 1996	Cheltenham Town	A	3–1 (a.e.t.)	4,160	Charlery (2), Grazioli
R2	7 December 1996	Enfield	A	1–1	2,847	Charlery
R2R	17 December 1996	Enfield	H	4–1	3,997	Houghton, Charlery, Carruthers (2)
R3	4 January 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–0	7,299	Charlery
R4	4 February 1997	Wrexham	H	2–4	8,734	Charlery, Griffiths

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	21 August 1996	Millwall	A	0–1	5,145
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Millwall	H	2–0 (won 2-1 on agg)	4,610	Charlery, Griffiths
R2 1st Leg	18 September 1996	Southampton	A	0–2	14,467
R2 2nd Leg	25 September 1996	Southampton	H	1–4 (lost 1-6 on agg)	8,220	Farrell

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	21 January 1997	Walsall	H	2–0	2,274	Donowa, Heald
SQF	28 January 1997	Exeter City	A	1–0	1,478	Donowa
SSF	18 February 1997	Watford	A	1–0	5,324	Otto
SF 1st Leg	11 March 1997	Colchester United	H	2–0	4,556	Otto, Charlery
SF 2nd Leg	18 March 1997	Colchester United	A	0–3 (lost 2-3 on agg)	4,705

Squad

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

No. Position Player GK Bart Griemink GK Jon Sheffield GK Mark Tyler DF Mike Basham DF David Billington DF Mick Bodley DF Aidy Boothroyd DF Simon Clark DF Adam Drury DF Andy Edwards DF Mark Foran DF Greg Heald DF Richard Huxford (on loan from Bradford City) DF Des Linton DF Ashley Neal DF Tony Spearing DF Steve Welsh MF Wayne Bullimore MF Danny Carter MF Louie Donowa MF Marcus Ebdon MF Matthew Etherington MF Scott Houghton

No. Position Player MF Niall Inman MF Neil Le Bihan MF Mark McKeever MF Dave Morrison MF Martin O'Connor MF Ricky Otto (on loan from Birmingham City) MF Derek Payne MF Craig Ramage (on loan from Watford) MF Ben Sedgemore FW Martin Carruthers FW Ken Charlery FW Chris Cleaver FW Miguel de Souza FW Sean Farrell FW Giuliano Grazioli FW Carl Griffiths FW Scott McGleish FW Lee Power FW Dave Regis (on loan from Barnsley) FW Zeke Rowe FW Dale Watkins FW Mike Williams (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday) FW Roger Willis