1996–97 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.
1996–97 season
Chairman	Jack Wiseman
Manager	Trevor Francis
Ground	St Andrew's
Football League Division One	10th
FA Cup	Fifth round; (eliminated by Wrexham)
League Cup	Second round; (eliminated by Coventry City)
Top goalscorer	League: Paul Devlin (16); All: Paul Devlin (19)
Highest home attendance	25,157 vs Bradford City, 12 October 1996
Lowest home attendance	13,189 vs Southend United, 8 March 1997
Average home league attendance	17,732
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was Birmingham City Football Club's 94th in the Football League. They finished in tenth position in the 24-team Division One, the second tier of the English football league system. They entered the 1996–97 FA Cup at the third round, losing to Wrexham in the fifth, and entered the League Cup in the first round and lost to Coventry City in the second.

Season summary

This was the first season under the managership of playing legend Trevor Francis, appointed in May 1996 after the dismissal of previous incumbent Barry Fry.^[2]^[3] Francis introduced players with top-level experience such as Manchester United captain Steve Bruce. There were a significant number of transfers and loans with Peterborough United, Fry's new team.

Football League First Division

Match details

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
18 August 1996	8th	Crystal Palace	H	W	1–0	Devlin 25'	18,765
24 August 1996	5th	Sheffield United	A	D	4–4	Furlong 9', Newell 37', Devlin 75' pen., Hunt 83'	16,332
7 September 1996	20th	Tranmere Rovers	A	L	0–1		8,548
10 September 1996	19th	Oldham Athletic	H	D	0–0		17,228
14 September 1996	14th	Stoke City	H	W	3–1	Furlong (2) 2', 65', Legg 32	18,612
21 September 1996	17th	Manchester City	A	L	0–1		26,757
28 September 1996	18th	Queens Park Rangers	H	D	0–0		17,430
8 October 1996	23rd	Huddersfield Town	A	L	0–3		10,904
12 October 1996	18th	Bradford City	H	W	3–0	Devlin (2) 1', 50', Hunt 88'	25,157
15 October 1996	11th	Ipswich Town	H	W	1–0	Bowen 50'	15,664
18 October 1996	13th	Oxford United	A	D	0–0		7,594	^[4]
26 October 1996	15th	Norwich City	H	L	2–3	Devlin (2) 40', 86'	18,869
29 October 1996	16th	Portsmouth	A	D	1–1	Furlong 22'	6,334
2 November 1996	20th	Port Vale	A	L	0–3		8,388
13 November 1996	16th	Bolton Wanderers	H	W	3–1	Furlong 55', Bowen 56', Todd 81' o.g.	17,033
17 November 1996	14th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	W	2–1	Breen 8', Legg 58'	22,627
20 November 1996	14th	Charlton Athletic	A	L	1–2	Legg 13'	8,574
23 November 1996	10th	Swindon Town	H	W	1–0	Furlong 29'	16,559
26 November 1996	9th	Reading	A	D	0–0		8,407
30 November 1996	7th	Norwich City	A	W	1–0	O'Connor 62'	12,764
3 December 1996	8th	Barnsley	H	D	0–0		24,004
7 December 1996	8th	Grimsby Town	H	D	0–0		17,001
20 December 1996	9th	Southend United	A	D	1–1	Devlin 88'	5,100
10 January 1997	18th	Stoke City	A	L	0–1		10,049
18 January 1997	15th	Reading	H	W	4–1	Furlong 33', Devlin (2) 56' pen., 75, Gilkes 89' o.g.	15,363
29 January 1997	15th	Queens Park Rangers	A	D	1–1	Devlin 36'	12,138
1 February 1997	16th	Bolton Wanderers	A	L	1–2	Devlin 56'	16,737
4 February 1997	17th	West Bromwich Albion	H	L	2–3	O'Connor 14', Devlin 55' pen.	21,600
8 February 1997	19th	Portsmouth	H	L	0–3		15,897
23 February 1997	20th	Port Vale	H	L	1–2	Devlin 8' pen.	13,192
26 February 1997	20th	Swindon Town	A	L	1–3	Ablett 22'	7,428
1 March 1997	20th	Grimsby Town	A	W	2–1	O'Connor 60', Forster 61'	17,609
4 March 1997	20th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	L	1–2	Forster 70'	19,838
8 March 1997	20th	Southend United	H	W	2–1	Forster 6', O'Connor 37' pen.	13,189
13 March 1997	16th	Manchester City	H	W	2–0	Furlong 51' pen., Francis 69'	20,084
16 March 1997	19th	West Bromwich Albion	A	L	0–2		16,125
22 March 1997	19th	Sheffield United	H	D	1–1	Legg 53'	14,969
29 March 1997	18th	Crystal Palace	A	W	1–0	Grainger 41'	16,331
31 March 1997	16th	Charlton Athletic	H	D	0–0		14,525
5 April 1997	13th	Barnsley	A	W	1–0	Grainger 12'	13,092
8 April 1997	13th	Oldham Athletic	A	D	2–2	Furlong 17', Grainger 30'	5,942
12 April 1997	12th	Huddersfield Town	H	W	1–0	Jenkins 90' o.g.	14,394
15 April 1997	12th	Tranmere Rovers	H	D	0–0		22,364
19 April 1997	12th	Bradford City	A	W	2–0	Devlin 22', Furlong 86'	15,824
26 April 1997	10th	Oxford United	H	W	2–0	Devlin 54', Bowen 87'	16,109
4 May 1997	10th	Ipswich Town	A	D	1–1	Devlin 81'	20,570

League table (part)

Final Division One table (part)
Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
8th	Port Vale	46	17	16	13	58	55	+3	67
9th	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	12	16	64	60	+4	66
10th	Birmingham City	46	17	15	14	52	48	+4	66
11th	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	14	15	63	56	+7	65
12th	Stoke City	46	18	10	18	51	57	+6	64
Key	Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source	^[5]

Note that goals scored took precedence over goal difference as a tiebreaker in the Football League.^[5]

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
46	17	15	14	52	48	+4	66	11	7	5	30	18	+12	6	8	9	22	30	−8

Source: ^[5]

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Report
Third round	4 January 1997	Stevenage Borough	H^a	W	2–0	Francis 27', Devlin 64' pen.	15,365	^[6]
Fourth round	25 January 1997	Stockport County	H	W	3–1	Furlong 29', Devlin 48', Francis 69'	18,487
Fifth round	25 January 1997	Wrexham	H	L	1–3	Bruce 37'	21,511

a. The match was drawn to be played at Stevenage Borough's Broadhall Way ground, but the venue was switched on police advice.^[6]

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance
First round 1st leg	21 August 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	W	1–0	Devlin 49' pen.	5,132
First round 2nd leg	4 September 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	W	2–0 3–0 agg.	Newell (2) 40', 86'	20,050
Second round 1st leg	18 September 1996	Coventry City	A	D	1–1	Daish 88'	11,828
Second round 2nd leg	24 September 1996	Coventry City	H	L	0–1 1–2 agg.		15,281

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Club†	Fee	Ref
August 1996	Steve Sutton	Derby County	Free	^[7]
28 October 1996	Chris Holland	Newcastle United	£600,000	^[7]
November 1996	Martyn O'Connor	Peterborough United	£500,000^a	^[8]
20 January 1997	Anders Limpar	Everton	£100,000	^[9]
27 January 1997	Kenny Brown	West Ham United	£75,000	^[10]
January 1997	Nicky Forster	Brentford	£700,000	^[11]
March 1997	Bryan Hughes	Wrexham	£800,000	^[12]
May 1997	Darren Wassall	Derby County	Undisclosed^b	^[13]

a. The deal also included Andy Edwards moving in the other direction.^[8]

b. The move was part of the deal in which Jonathan Hunt moved in the other direction for a £500,000 fee.^[13]

Out

Date	Player	Fee	Joined†	Ref
September 1996	Paul Barnes	£350,000	Burnley	^[14]
October 1996	Bart Griemink	£25,000	Peterborough United	^[15]
October 1996	Steve Finnan	£300,000	Notts County	^[16]
October 1996	Gary Poole	£250,000	Charlton Athletic	^[16]
November 1996	Jae Martin	£25,000	Lincoln City	^[17]
November 1996	Andy Edwards	Undisclosed^a	Peterborough United	^[8]
December 1996	John Cornforth	£25,000	Wycombe Wanderers	^[18]
January 1997	Gary Breen	£2.5m	Coventry City	^[11]
10 February 1997	Louie Donowa	Free	Peterborough United	^[19]
27 March 1997	John Frain	Free	Northampton Town	^[20]
15 April 1997	Anders Limpar	Contract cancelled	(AIK)	^[21]
May 1997	Jonathan Hunt	£500,000^b	Derby County	^[13]
June 1997	Wayne Dyer	Released
June 1997	Steve Castle	Released
June 1997	Steve Sutton	Released

† Brackets round a club denote the player joined that club after his Birmingham City contract expired.

a. The move was part of the deal in which Martyn O'Connor moved in the other direction for a £500,000 fee.^[8]

b. The deal also included Darren Wassall moving in the other direction.^[13]

Loan in

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
3 September 1996	Chris Holland	Newcastle United	28 October 1996	^[7]
October 1996	Marco Gabbiadini	Derby County	One month	^[4]
31 October 1996	Matt Jackson	Everton	20 December 1996	^[22]
28 November 1996	Terry Cooke	Manchester United	One month	^[23]
23 December 1996	Birkir Kristinsson	SK Brann	1 February 1997	^[24]
28 December 1996	Kenny Brown	West Ham United	One month	^[10]
26 March 1997	Darren Wassall	Derby County	End of season	^[25]

Loan out

Date	Player	Club	Return	Ref
21 August 1996	Jae Martin	Lincoln City	Three months	^[17]
9 September 1996	Bart Griemink	Barnsley	One months	^[26]
19 September 1996	Ricky Otto	Charlton Athletic	Two months	^[27]
1 October 1996	Jon Bass	Carlisle United	One month	^[28]
19 December 1996	Mike Newell	West Ham United	February 1997	^[29]
24 January 1997	John Frain	Northampton Town	27 March 1997	^[20]
3 February 1997	Steve Castle	Leyton Orient	One month	^[30]
6 February 1997	Louie Donowa	Walsall	End of season	^[19]
13 December 1996	Louie Donowa	Peterborough United	Two months	^[19]
6 February 1997	Ricky Otto	Peterborough United	End of season	^[27]
17 March 1997	Mike Newell	Bradford City	End of season	^[29]

Appearances and goals

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.

Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.

Players marked † left the club during the playing season.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	ENG	Ian Bennett	40	0	3	0	4	0	47	0	0	0
GK	NED	Bart Griemink †	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
GK	ISL	Birkir Kristinsson * †	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
GK	ENG	Steve Sutton	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Gary Ablett	39 (3)	1	3	0	4	0	46 (3)	1	6	0
DF	ENG	Dave Barnett	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Jon Bass	11 (2)	0	1	0	0	0	11 (2)	0	1	0
DF	IRE	Gary Breen †	20 (2)	1	1	0	4	0	25 (2)	1	0	0
DF	ENG	Kenny Brown	11	0	1	0	0	0	12	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Steve Bruce	30 (2)	0	3	1	4	0	37 (2)	1	9	0
DF	ENG	Andy Edwards †	1 (2)	0	0	0	1	0	2 (2)	0	0	0
DF	IRE	Steve Finnan	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
DF	ENG	John Frain †	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
DF	ENG	Martin Grainger	21 (2)	3	2	0	0	0	23 (2)	3	6	1
DF	ENG	Matt Jackson * †	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	1	0
DF	JAM	Michael Johnson	28 (7)	0	1 (2)	0	0 (2)	0	29 (11)	0	5	0
DF	ENG	Gary Poole †	9 (1)	0	0	0	3	0	12 (1)	0	4	1
DF	ENG	Darren Wassall *	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	3	0
MF	WAL	Jason Bowen	19 (6)	3	1 (2)	0	1 (1)	0	21 (9)	3	1	0
MF	ENG	Steve Castle	4 (4)	0	0	0	4	0	8 (4)	0	2	0
MF	ENG	Terry Cooke * †	1 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (3)	0	0	0
MF	SCO	Paul Devlin	32 (6)	16	3	2	3 (1)	1	38 (7)	19	6	2
MF	ENG	Louie Donowa †	0 (4)	0	0	0	1	0	1 (4)	0	1	0
MF	ENG	Chris Holland	28 (4)	0	3	0	0	0	31 (4)	0	1	0
MF	WAL	Barry Horne	33	0	3	0	4	0	40	0	4	0
MF	ENG	Bryan Hughes	10 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	10 (1)	0	0	0
MF	ENG	Jonathan Hunt	6 (6)	2	1	0	0 (2)	0	7 (8)	2	0	0
MF	WAL	Andy Legg	22 (11)	4	2 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	27 (13)	4	6	0
MF	SWE	Anders Limpar †	3 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	4 (1)	0	1	0
MF	ENG	Martin O'Connor	24 (4)	4	0	0	0	0	24 (4)	4	1	1
MF	ENG	Ricky Otto	1 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (3)	0	0	0
MF	ENG	Steve Robinson	6 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	6 (3)	0	0	0
MF	ENG	Paul Tait	17 (9)	0	1	0	0 (1)	0	18 (10)	0	4	0
FW	ENG	Nicky Forster	4 (3)	3	0	0	0	0	4 (3)	3	0	0
FW	SKN	Kevin Francis	4 (15)	1	1 (1)	2	0	0	5 (16)	3	3	0
FW	ENG	Paul Furlong	37 (6)	10	2	1	4	1	43 (6)	12	5	1
FW	ENG	Marco Gabbiadini * †	0 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	0	0
FW	ENG	Mike Newell	11 (4)	1	0 (1)	0	4	2	15 (5)	3	3	0

Players not included in matchday squads
Pos.	Nat.	Name
FW	ENG	Paul Barnes †
MF	WAL	John Cornforth †
MF	ENG	Wayne Dyer
FW	ENG	Jae Martin †

Sources

Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
For match dates, league positions and results: "Birmingham City 1996–1997: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 428–29.
For goal times: "Birmingham Results 1996/97". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
For transfers: "Birmingham Transfers 1996/97". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
For discipline: individual player pages linked from "Birmingham Squad details 1996/97". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Note that the Soccerbase figures omit appearances in the away game at Norwich City, so the figures above omit any disciplinary cards received in that game.

References

^ "English historical attendance and performance: Birmingham City". European Football Statistics. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ Shaw, Phil (8 May 1996). "Francis fancied as Fry is sacked". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "Francis returns to St Andrew's". The Independent. London. 11 May 1996. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Football: Another blank away day for Birmingham". The Independent. London. 19 October 1996. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Birmingham City 1996–1997 : English Division One Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b Culley, Jon (5 January 1997). "Sodje's flaw fells Stevenage". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Chris Holland: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "O'Connor leaves Canaries smartin'". The Mirror. London. 2 December 1996. p. 4. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Gale OneFile: News.
^ "Anders Limpar: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Kenny Brown: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "On the move". The Independent. London. 2 February 1997. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "First Division". The Mirror. London. 22 March 1997. p. 32. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Gale OneFile: News.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "On the move". The Independent. London. 25 May 1997. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "On the move". The Independent. London. 8 September 1996. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ Oakes, Peter (13 October 1996). "Red-face start for Bart". The People. London. p. 62. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Gale OneFile: News.
^ ^a ^b "Northampton Town manager turns down approach from Cardiff". The Independent. London. 31 October 1996. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Jae Martin: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "On the move". The Independent. London. 8 December 1996. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Louie Donowa: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "John Frain: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
^ Davies, Ian (16 April 1997). "Boro given final piece of fixture jigsaw". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "Games played by 1996–97 Birmingham City F.C. season in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
^ "Terry Cooke: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "Landsliðsmarkvörðurinn Birkir Kristinsson með Birmingham til 1. február" [International goalkeeper Birkir Kristinsson with Birmingham until 1 February]. Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Iceland. 24 December 1996. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "Darren Wassall: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "Bart Griemink: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Ricky Otto: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "Jon Bass: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Mike Newell: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "Steve Castle: Career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.