1996–97 Watford F.C. season

1996–97 season of Watford F.C.

Watford 1996–97 football season

Watford
1996–97 season
Chairman	Jack Petchey
Manager	Kenny Jackett
Stadium	Vicarage Road
Second Division	13th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	Southern semi finals
Top goalscorer	Mooney (13)
Average home league attendance	8,894
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, although Jackett oversaw a long unbeaten stretch of results, Watford were unable to mount a serious promotion challenge and finished a disappointing campaign in 13th place – Watford's lowest position in the league structure since the 1970s. During the close season, Jackett was demoted to the position of first-team coach, with Graham Taylor once again becoming manager.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League § Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Gillingham	46	19	10	17	60	59	+1	67
12	Walsall	46	19	10	17	54	53	+1	67
13	Watford	46	16	19	11	45	38	+7	67
14	Millwall	46	16	13	17	50	55	−5	61
15	Preston North End	46	18	7	21	49	55	−6	61

Source:
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results

Watford's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bournemouth	A	2–1	7,672	Connolly, White
24 August 1996	Millwall	H	0–2	9,495
27 August 1996	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–2	7,349
31 August 1996	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–0	3,655	Palmer, Mooney
7 September 1996	Stockport County	H	1–0	7,208	Mooney (pen)
10 September 1996	Notts County	A	3–2	3,660	Mooney (2), Andrews
14 September 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	1–0	6,276	White
21 September 1996	Peterborough United	H	0–0	12,007
28 September 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–1	3,655
1 October 1996	Preston North End	H	1–0	6,434	Palmer
5 October 1996	York City	A	2–1	5,232	Andrews, Penrice
12 October 1996	Wrexham	H	1–1	8,441	Mooney (pen)
15 October 1996	Burnley	H	2–2	6,450	Andrews, R Johnson
19 October 1996	Bury	A	1–1	4,092	Andrews
26 October 1996	Blackpool	A	1–1	6,072	Mooney
29 October 1996	Luton Town	H	1–1	14,109	Bazeley
2 November 1996	Brentford	H	2–0	11,448	Gibbs, Mooney
9 November 1996	Rotherham United	A	0–0	3,619
19 November 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–0	7,657	Connolly
30 November 1996	Blackpool	H	2–2	12,017	Millen, Noel-Williams
3 December 1996	Bristol City	A	1–1	9,097	Noel-Williams
14 December 1996	Walsall	H	1–1	3,674	R Johnson
21 December 1996	Gillingham	H	0–0	7,809
26 December 1996	Notts County	H	0–0	9,065
18 January 1997	Preston North End	A	1–1	8,735	Mooney
27 January 1997	Luton Town	A	0–0	7,428
1 February 1997	Rotherham United	H	2–0	10,657	Bazeley, Slater
8 February 1997	Brentford	A	1–1	8,679	Scott
22 February 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–0	8,438
25 February 1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–0	6,378	Phillips, Bazeley
1 March 1997	Bristol City	H	3–0	8,539	Phillips (3)
4 March 1997	Peterborough United	A	1–2	4,200	Mooney
8 March 1997	Gillingham	A	1–3	7,385	Scott
15 March 1997	Walsall	H	1–0	7,818	Mooney
18 March 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	6,139	Mooney
22 March 1997	Millwall	A	1–0	8,713	Mooney
29 March 1997	Bournemouth	H	0–1	10,019
31 March 1997	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–0	6,836
5 April 1997	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–1	12,441
8 April 1997	Chesterfield	A	0–0	4,258
12 April 1997	York City	H	4–0	7,645	Ramage (2), Mooney, Easton
14 April 1997	Stockport County	A	0–1	7,164
19 April 1997	Wrexham	A	1–3	3,437	Ramage
24 April 1997	Chesterfield	H	0–2	6,411
26 April 1997	Bury	H	0–0	9,017
3 May 1997	Burnley	A	1–4	8,269	Millen

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	17 November 1996	Northampton Town	A	1–0	7,342	Bazeley
R2	7 December 1996	Ashford Town	H	5–0	7,590	Bazeley (2), Connolly (3)
R3	21 January 1997	Oxford United	H	2–0	9,502	White, Connolly
R4	5 February 1997	Manchester City	A	1–3	24,031	Noel-Williams

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Walsall	A	0–1	2,659
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Walsall	H	2–0 (won 2–1 on agg)	5,325	Andrews, Porter
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Sunderland	H	0–2	9,136
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Sunderland	A	0–1 (lost 0–3 on agg)	10,659

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	7 January 1997	Torquay United	H	2–1	2,298	Page, Connolly
SQF	11 February 1997	Bristol City	H	2–1	3,142	Andrews, Bazeley
SSF	18 February 1997	Peterborough United	H	0–1	4,941

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season 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	Alec Chamberlain
—	GK	ENG	Kevin Miller
—	DF	ENG	Darren Bazeley
—	DF	ENG	Colin Foster
—	DF	ENG	Nigel Gibbs
—	DF	ENG	Dominic Ludden
—	DF	ENG	Keith Millen
—	DF	WAL	Rob Page
—	DF	ENG	Steve Palmer
—	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson
—	DF	ENG	Darren Ward
—	MF	ENG	Clint Easton
—	MF	ENG	Richard Flash
—	MF	AUS	Richard Johnson


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Gary Porter
—	MF	ENG	Craig Ramage
—	MF	ENG	Stuart Slater
—	MF	ENG	Steve Talboys
—	FW	ENG	Wayne Andrews
—	FW	IRL	David Connolly
—	FW	ENG	Nathan Lowndes
—	FW	ENG	Tommy Mooney
—	FW	ENG	Gifton Noel-Williams
—	FW	ENG	Gary Penrice
—	FW	ENG	Kevin Phillips
—	FW	ENG	Keith Scott (on loan from Norwich City)
—	FW	ENG	Devon White

Left club during season

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
—	DF	ENG	Craig Armstrong (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
—	DF	ENG	David Holdsworth (to Sheffield United)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Craig Ramage (on loan to Peterborough United)

Reserve 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
—	DF	ENG	Colin Miles
—	DF	ENG	David Perpetuini
—	DF	ENG	Mark Rooney
—	MF	ENG	Danny Grieves


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Chris Johnson
—	FW	ENG	Colin Simpson
—	MF	ENG	Tommy Smith

References

"Rocket man". The Mirror. 13 May 1997.
"England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
Statto Organisation Ltd. "Watford results for the 1996-1997 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
"All Watford players: 1997". 11v11.com.

Notes

Connolly was born in Brent, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in May 1996.

v t e Watford F.C. seasons
1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Watford F.C. seasons

1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

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

Categories: