1996–97 Eastern Counties Football League

The 1996–97 season was the 55th in the history of Eastern Counties Football League a football competition in England.

Wroxham were champions, winning their fourth Eastern Counties Football League title, while Wisbech Town were promoted to the Southern Football League, returning to the Southern League after seventeen seasons in the Eastern Counties Football League.

Premier Division

Football league season

Eastern Counties
Football League
Premier Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Wroxham
Promoted	Wisbech Town
Relegated	Hadleigh United March Town United
Matches played	506
Goals scored	1,751 (3.46 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The Premier Division featured 20 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs:

Bury Town, relegated from the Southern Football League
Gorleston, promoted from Division One
Warboys Town, promoted from Division One

Also, Felixstowe Town changed name to Felixstowe Port & Town.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wroxham	44	34	7	3	122	25	+97	109
2	Wisbech Town	44	32	8	4	141	37	+104	104	Promoted to the Southern Football League
3	Harwich & Parkeston	44	32	8	4	133	34	+99	104
4	Diss Town	44	29	4	11	81	41	+40	91
5	Great Yarmouth Town	44	26	7	11	87	51	+36	85
6	Gorleston	44	26	5	13	86	54	+32	83
7	Bury Town	44	23	10	11	101	54	+47	79
8	Newmarket Town	44	23	8	13	97	75	+22	77
9	Lowestoft Town	44	22	9	13	84	56	+28	75
10	Stowmarket Town	44	22	4	18	74	62	+12	70
11	Tiptree United	44	19	8	17	64	59	+5	65
12	Halstead Town	44	19	6	19	87	79	+8	63
13	Soham Town Rangers	44	17	7	20	82	87	−5	58
14	Fakenham Town	44	15	11	18	78	80	−2	56
15	Warboys Town	44	15	10	19	62	72	−10	55
16	Woodbridge Town	44	12	12	20	51	63	−12	48
17	Sudbury Wanderers	44	13	5	26	61	100	−39	44
18	Felixstowe Port & Town	44	11	6	27	56	103	−47	39
19	Watton United	44	10	6	28	49	106	−57	36
20	Sudbury Town reserves	44	7	7	30	46	96	−50	28	Resigned from the league
21	Clacton Town	44	7	5	32	43	156	−113	26
22	Hadleigh United	44	5	8	31	41	128	−87	23	Relegated to Division One
23	March Town United	44	5	3	36	25	133	−108	18	Relegated to Division One

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One

Football league season

Eastern Counties
Football League
Division One
Season	1996–97
Champions	Ely City
Promoted	Ely City Histon
Matches played	306
Goals scored	983 (3.21 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division One featured 13 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with five new clubs:

Cambridge City reserves
Cornard United, relegated from the Premier Division
Haverhill Rovers, relegated from the Premier Division
Maldon Town, transferred from the Essex Senior League
Needham Market, joined from the Suffolk & Ipswich League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Ely City	34	27	5	2	93	36	+57	86	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Histon	34	22	7	5	85	31	+54	73	Promoted to the Premier Division
3	Maldon Town	34	21	6	7	89	44	+45	69
4	Needham Market	34	19	11	4	67	24	+43	68
5	Ipswich Wanderers	34	20	6	8	80	35	+45	66
6	Brightlingsea United	34	14	14	6	50	33	+17	56
7	Swaffham Town	34	13	13	8	62	48	+14	52
8	Haverhill Rovers	34	15	7	12	54	46	+8	52
9	Stanway Rovers	34	15	7	12	55	49	+6	52
10	Whitton United	34	10	9	15	45	58	−13	39
11	Norwich United	34	10	8	16	48	61	−13	38
12	Cambridge City reserves	34	10	7	17	51	68	−17	37
13	Downham Town	34	9	4	21	45	88	−43	31
14	Thetford Town	34	7	9	18	34	66	−32	30
15	Mildenhall Town	34	7	8	19	35	61	−26	29
16	Cornard United	34	6	8	20	40	70	−30	26
17	Somersham Town	34	5	10	19	23	69	−46	25
18	Chatteris Town	34	2	9	23	27	96	−69	15

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

References

"Eastern Counties League 1975–1997". Non League Matters.

External links

Eastern Counties Football League

Eastern Counties League

2024–25
clubs

Premier Division	Brantham Athletic Cornard United Dereham Town Downham Town Ely City Fakenham Town Great Yarmouth Town Hadleigh United Harleston Town Heacham Kirkley & Pakefield Lakenheath Long Melford Mulbarton Wanderers Sheringham Soham Town Rangers Stowmarket Town Thetford Town Walsham-le-Willows Woodbridge Town
Division One North	AFC Sudbury Reserves Diss Town Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers FC Parson Drove FC Peterborough Framlingham Town Gorleston F.C. Reserves Harwich & Parkeston Haverhill Borough Haverhill Rovers Holbeach United Holland Leiston FC U23s Needham Market Reserves Pinchbeck United Stanway Pegasus Swaffham Town Whittlesey Athletic Whitton United Wivenhoe Town
Division One South	AS London Barkingside Basildon Town Brimsdown Burnham Ramblers Cannons Wood Coggeshall Town Dunmow Town Enfield Borough FC Baresi Hackney Wick Harlow Town Hoddesdon Town Hutton May & Baker Newbury Forest NW London Rayleigh Town Southend Manor St Margaretsbury

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1996–97 in English football

« 1995–96 1997–98 »

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League
Levels 2–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (Premier, One) Southern League (Premier, Midland, Southern)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two, Three) Combined Counties League (level 8 only) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Essex Senior League (level 8 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Alliance (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 9 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) South Midlands League (Premier, Senior) Spartan League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

European competitions

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon
First Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Norwich City Oldham Athletic Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Southend United Stoke City Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Bury Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra Gillingham Luton Town Millwall Notts County Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Stockport County Walsall Watford Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers York City
Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Cambridge United Cardiff City Carlisle United Chester City Colchester United Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Fulham Hartlepool United Hereford United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Swansea City Torquay United Wigan Athletic

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