1996–97 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

Tranmere Rovers
	1996–97 season
Chairman	Frank Corfe
Manager	John Aldridge (player-manager)
Stadium	Prenton Park
First Division	11th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League:; John Aldridge (18); All:; John Aldridge (20)
Highest home attendance	14,309 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 4 May 1997)
Lowest home attendance	4,577 (vs. Oxford United, 1 October 1996)
Average home league attendance	8,170
	Home colours
	Home colours
← 1995–96	1997–98 →

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

Season summary

Another decent season for Tranmere in player-manager John Aldridge's first full season in charge resulted in another mid-table finish, this time finishing two places higher than last season, in 11th.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bolton Wanderers	46	18	4	1	60	20	10	10	3	40	33	100	53	+47	98
2	Barnsley	46	14	4	5	43	19	8	10	5	33	36	76	55	+21	80
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	10	5	8	31	24	12	5	6	37	27	68	51	+17	76
4	Ipswich Town	46	13	7	3	44	23	7	7	9	24	27	68	50	+18	74
5	Sheffield United	46	13	5	5	46	23	7	8	8	29	29	75	52	+23	73
6	Crystal Palace	46	10	7	6	39	22	9	7	7	39	26	78	48	+30	71
7	Portsmouth	46	12	4	7	32	24	8	4	11	27	29	59	53	+6	68
8	Port Vale	46	9	9	5	36	28	8	7	8	22	27	58	55	+3	67
9	Queens Park Rangers	46	10	5	8	33	25	8	7	8	31	35	64	60	+4	66
10	Birmingham City	46	11	7	5	30	18	6	8	9	22	30	52	48	+4	66
11	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	9	4	41	27	7	5	11	21	29	63	56	+7	65
12	Stoke City	46	15	3	5	34	22	3	7	13	17	35	51	57	–6	64
13	Norwich City	46	9	10	4	28	18	8	2	13	35	50	63	68	–5	63
14	Manchester City	46	12	4	7	34	24	5	6	12	25	35	59	60	–1	61
15	Charlton Athletic	46	11	8	4	36	28	5	3	15	16	38	52	66	–14	59
16	West Bromwich Albion	46	7	7	9	37	33	7	8	8	31	39	68	72	–4	57
17	Oxford United	46	14	3	6	44	26	2	6	15	20	42	64	68	–4	57
18	Reading	46	13	7	3	37	24	2	5	16	21	43	58	67	–9	57
19	Swindon Town	46	11	6	6	36	27	4	3	16	16	44	52	71	–19	54
20	Huddersfield Town	46	10	7	6	28	20	3	8	12	20	41	48	61	–13	54
21	Bradford City	46	10	5	8	29	32	2	7	14	18	40	47	72	–25	48
22	Grimsby Town	46	7	7	9	31	34	4	6	13	28	47	60	81	–21	46
23	Oldham Athletic	46	6	8	9	30	30	4	5	14	21	36	51	66	–15	43
24	Southend United	46	7	9	7	32	32	1	6	16	10	53	42	86	–44	39

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
	Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
	Promoted to FA Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Tranmere Rovers' score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Southend United	A	1–1	4,264	Morrissey
23 August 1996	Grimsby Town	H	3–2	6,800	Aldridge (2, 1 pen), Irons
27 August 1996	Port Vale	H	2–0	6,123	Mahon, Branch
31 August 1996	Bradford City	A	0–1	10,080
7 September 1996	Birmingham City	H	1–0	8,548	Aldridge
10 September 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	1–0	10,181	Aldridge
14 September 1996	Swindon Town	A	1–2	8,430	Aldridge
21 September 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–3	7,848	Aldridge, Branch
28 September 1996	Norwich City	A	1–1	14,511	Aldridge
1 October 1996	Oxford United	H	0–0	4,577
4 October 1996	Portsmouth	H	4–3	5,001	Branch (2), G Jones, Bonetti
12 October 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–0	15,059
15 October 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–1	14,136
20 October 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–3	7,025	Aldridge (pen), Brannan
26 October 1996	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	11,003	Brannan, Vaughan (own goal)
29 October 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	4–0	5,527	Thomas-Moore, G Jones, Mahon, Aldridge
2 November 1996	Crystal Palace	H	1–3	8,613	Thorn
15 November 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	1–1	8,327	Aldridge
23 November 1996	Manchester City	A	2–1	26,531	Higgins, Brightwell (own goal)
30 November 1996	Ipswich Town	H	3–0	10,127	Brannan, Aldridge (2)
3 December 1996	Reading	A	0–2	5,513
7 December 1996	Stoke City	A	0–2	9,931
14 December 1996	Barnsley	A	0–3	8,513
21 December 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	9,674
26 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	10,134	Brannan
1 January 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	14,770	Aldridge (2)
10 January 1997	Swindon Town	H	2–1	8,763	Nevin (2)
18 January 1997	Oxford United	A	1–2	7,072	Aldridge
28 January 1997	Norwich City	H	3–1	5,891	Cook (2), Thomas-Moore
1 February 1997	Reading	H	2–2	6,019	Branch, Thomas-Moore
7 February 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–3	11,283	Irons
22 February 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	15,396	O'Brien
28 February 1997	Stoke City	H	0–0	9,127
4 March 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	2–1	5,417	Brannan (2)
8 March 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–3	26,192	Irons, Aldridge
15 March 1997	Barnsley	H	1–1	7,347	Higgins
18 March 1997	Manchester City	H	1–1	12,019	G Jones
22 March 1997	Grimsby Town	A	0–0	4,353
28 March 1997	Southend United	H	3–0	7,563	Irons, L Jones, Aldridge
31 March 1997	Port Vale	A	1–2	7,469	Irons
4 April 1997	Bradford City	H	3–0	8,531	G Jones (2), L Jones
12 April 1997	Portsmouth	A	3–1	12,004	Cook, G Jones, L Jones
15 April 1997	Birmingham City	A	0–0	22,364
19 April 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–1	10,027	L Jones
26 April 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–2	14,859
4 May 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–2	14,309	Aldridge (pen), L Jones

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	14 January 1997	Carlisle United	A	0–1	10,090

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	21 August 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–0	2,875	Aldridge, Bonetti
R1 Second Leg	3 September 1996	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–1 (won 3-1 on agg)	3,028	Branch
R2 First Leg	17 September 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	2–2	3,094	Aldridge (pen), Morrissey
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	0–1	3,711

Squad

^[2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Eric Nixon
		GK	Danny Coyne
		DF	Dave Challinor
		DF	Dave Higgins
		DF	John McGreal
		DF	Alan Rogers
		DF	Gary Stevens
		DF	Shaun Teale
		DF	Tony Thomas
		DF	Andy Thorn
		DF	Alan Morgan
		DF	Steve Mungall
		MF	Graham Branch
		MF	Ged Brannan

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Paul Cook
		MF	Kenny Irons
		MF	Gary Jones
		MF	Alan Mahon
		MF	Kevin McIntyre
		MF	Liam O'Brien
		MF	Billy Woods
		MF	Ivano Bonetti
		FW	John Morrissey
		FW	Ian Thomas-Moore
		FW	Lee Jones
		FW	Pat Nevin
		FW	John Aldridge

References

[1] ttp://www.statto.com/football/teams/tranmere-rovers/1996-1997/results

[2] ttp://www.11v11.com/teams/tranmere-rovers/tab/players/season/1997

[1]

[2]

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v t e Tranmere Rovers Football Club
Overview	Tranmere Rovers F.C. Tranmere Rovers L.F.C. Players Managers Seasons Notable matches
Grounds	Prenton Park

1996–97 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

Contents

Season summary

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad

References

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