1996–97 Southampton F.C. season

For the fourth time in five seasons, Southampton managed to avoid relegation. Manager Dave Merrington had been dismissed at the end of the previous season to be succeeded by Graeme Souness, who brought in quality new players including Claus Lundekvam and Egil Østenstad. A 6-3 win over Manchester United in late October, which saw Ostenstad scoring a hat-trick, was the highlight of the season, and Southampton entered the final game of the season only needing a draw to confirm their survival. Survival was achieved, but it did not prevent Souness from quitting the club after just one season, handing over the reins to Stockport's Dave Jones.

Ali Dia incident

After receiving a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, Graeme Souness signed Senegalese "international" striker Ali Dia. "Weah" had told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. None of this was true: the phone call was made by a fellow university student of Dia's to Souness, suggesting that he should give Dia a chance with the Saints.^[1] Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.

Dia played just one game for Southampton, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted for Ken Monkou after playing for 53 minutes;^[2] Leeds won the match 2–0.

Le Tissier himself recalled the story in a television interview, telling that Dia spent only a weekend at the club. He first came down to train with the team on Friday morning; according to Le Tissier he "didn't look very good" and the players thought that they would "never see him again", but the next day Dia was surprisingly named on the bench. His performance on the field after he came on to replace Le Tissier "was unbelievable. He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice, it was very very embarrassing to watch." Yet, according to the team's physiotherapist, on Sunday morning Dia "turned up for treatment of an injury" and "then he left, and we never saw him again . . . nobody knows where he went."^[3] Dia was released by Southampton two weeks later.

Final league table

Main article: 1996-97 FA Premier League


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	21	12	5	76	44	+32	75	1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage
2	Newcastle United	38	19	11	8	73	40	+33	68	1997–98 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Arsenal	38	19	11	8	62	32	+30	68	1997–98 UEFA Cup First round
4	Liverpool	38	19	11	8	62	37	+25	68
5	Aston Villa	38	17	10	11	47	34	+13	61
6	Chelsea	38	16	11	11	58	55	+3	59	1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round ¹
7	Sheffield Wednesday	38	14	15	9	50	51	−1	57
8	Wimbledon	38	15	11	12	49	46	+3	56
9	Leicester City	38	12	11	15	46	54	−8	47	1997–98 UEFA Cup First round ²
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38	13	7	18	44	51	−7	46
11	Leeds United	38	11	13	14	28	38	−10	46
12	Derby County	38	11	13	14	45	58	−13	46
13	Blackburn Rovers	38	9	15	14	42	43	−1	42
14	West Ham United	38	10	12	16	39	48	−9	42
15	Everton	38	10	12	16	44	57	−13	42
16	Southampton	38	10	11	17	50	56	−6	41
17	Coventry City	38	9	14	15	38	54	−16	41
18	Sunderland (R)	38	10	10	18	35	53	−18	40	Relegation to 1997–98 Football League First Division
19	Middlesbrough (R)	38	10	12	16	51	60	−9	039³
20	Nottingham Forest (R)	38	6	16	16	31	59	−28	34

Updated to games played on 11 May 1997.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
² Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
³ Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfil a fixture.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results Summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	10	11	17	50	56	−6	41	6	7	6	32	24	+8	4	4	11	18	32	−14

Source: Statto

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	D	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	W	W	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	L	D	W	D	D	L	L	D	W	D	W	D	W	W	L
Position	11	15	17	18	18	19	19	18	18	17	14	14	14	17	17	17	18	16	19	19	19	18	19	19	19	19	18	19	19	20	20	19	19	16	17	15	14	16

Source: Statto.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Southampton's score comes first^[4]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 1996	Chelsea	H	0-0	15,186
21 August 1996	Leicester City	A	1-2	17,562	Le Tissier (pen)
24 August 1996	West Ham United	A	1-2	21,227	Heaney
4 September 1996	Nottingham Forest	H	2-2	14,450	Dryden, Le Tissier
7 September 1996	Liverpool	A	1-2	39,189	Magilton
14 September 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0-1	15,251
23 September 1996	Wimbledon	A	1-3	8,572	Oakley
28 September 1996	Middlesbrough	H	4-0	15,230	Oakley, Le Tissier (2), Watson
13 October 1996	Coventry City	A	1-1	15,485	Le Tissier
19 October 1996	Sunderland	H	3-0	15,225	Dodd, Le Tissier (pen), Shipperley
26 October 1996	Manchester United	H	6-3	15,253	Berkovic (2), Le Tissier, Østenstad (2), P. Neville (own goal)
2 November 1996	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1-1	20,106	Le Tissier (pen)
16 November 1996	Everton	A	1-7	35,669	Østenstad
23 November 1996	Leeds United	H	0-2	15,241
30 November 1996	Blackburn Rovers	A	1-2	23,018	Østenstad
4 December 1996	Arsenal	A	1-3	38,033	Berkovic
7 December 1996	Aston Villa	H	0-1	15,232
21 December 1996	Derby County	H	3-1	14,901	Watson, Oakley, Magilton (pen)
26 December 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1-3	30,549	Le Tissier
29 December 1996	Liverpool	H	0-1	15,222
11 January 1997	Middlesbrough	A	1-0	29,509	Magilton (pen)
18 January 1997	Newcastle United	H	2-2	15,251	Maddison, Le Tissier
1 February 1997	Manchester United	A	1-2	55,269	Østenstad
22 February 1997	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2-3	15,062	Østenstad, Le Tissier
26 February 1997	Wimbledon	H	0-0	14,418
1 March 1997	Newcastle United	A	1-0	36,446	Le Tissier
5 March 1997	Everton	H	2-2	15,134	Slater, Short (own goal)
12 March 1997	Leeds United	A	0-0	25,913
15 March 1997	Arsenal	H	0-2	15,144
19 March 1997	Chelsea	A	0-1	28,079
22 March 1997	Leicester City	H	2-2	15,044	Østenstad, van Gobbel
5 April 1997	Nottingham Forest	A	3-1	25,134	Magilton, Evans
9 April 1997	Derby County	A	1-1	17,839	Powell (own goal)
12 April 1997	West Ham United	H	2-0	15,244	Evans, Berkovic
19 April 1997	Coventry City	H	2-2	15,251	Evans, Østenstad
22 April 1997	Sunderland	A	1-0	21,521	Østenstad
3 May 1997	Blackburn Rovers	H	2-0	15,247	Slater, Le Tissier
11 May 1997	Aston Villa	A	0-1	39,339

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Reading	A	1-3	11,537	Østenstad

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	18 September 1996	Peterborough United	H	2-0	14,467	Le Tissier, Watson
R2 2nd Leg	25 September 1996	Peterborough United	A	4-1	8,220	Watson, Charlton, Magilton, Dryden
R3	23 October 1996	Lincoln City	H	2-2	14,516	Le Tissier, van Gobbel
R3R	12 November 1996	Lincoln City	A	3-1	10,523	Magilton (pen), Watson, Berkovic
R4	26 November 1996	Oxford United	A	1-1	9,473	Dryden
R4R	18 December 1996	Oxford United	H	3-2	10,737	Berkovic, Dryden, Østenstad
QF	22 January 1997	Stockport County	A	2-2	9,840	Østenstad (2)
QFR	29 January 1997	Stockport County	H	1-2	13,428	Le Tissier

Squad

^[5] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Dave Beasant
2	DF	Jason Dodd
3	DF	Francis Benali
4	MF	Jim Magilton
5	DF	Barry Venison
6	DF	Ken Monkou
7	MF	Matt Le Tissier (captain)
8	FW	Mickey Evans
10	MF	Neil Maddison
13	GK	Neil Moss
14	DF	Simon Charlton
15	DF	Alan Neilson
16	MF	David Hughes
17	MF	Paul Tisdale
18	MF	Matt Oakley

No.	Position	Player
19	DF	Richard Dryden
20	MF	Robbie Slater
22	DF	Claus Lundekvam
23	GK	Darryl Flahavan
24	MF	Christer Warren (on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham during playing season)
25	MF	Paul Sheerin
26	DF	Matthew Robinson
27	FW	Steve Basham
28	MF	Russell Watkinson
29	MF	Eyal Berkovic
30	FW	Egil Østenstad
32	DF	Ulrich van Gobbel
33	GK	Maik Taylor (from January)

Left club during season

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

No.	Position	Player
8	FW	Gordon Watson (to Bradford City)
9	FW	Neil Shipperley (to Crystal Palace)
11	MF	Neil Heaney (until November; to Manchester City)
12	DF	Graham Potter (to West Bromwich Albion)

No.	Position	Player
21	MF	Frankie Bennett (to Bristol Rovers)
31	GK	Chris Woods (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
33	FW	Ali Dia (released)

Reserve squad

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

No.		Position	Player
-		MF	Duncan Spedding

No.		Position	Player
-		MF	Andy Williams

References

↑ "Never again...". BBC Sport. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
↑ Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 248 & 504. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
↑ Matt Le Tissier recounts the Ali Dia saga on youtube
↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/southampton/1996-1997/results
↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1996-1997/faprem/southam.htm

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1996–97 in English football

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