1996–97 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United

1996–97 season
Chairman	Martin Edwards
Manager	Alex Ferguson
Premier League	1st
FA Cup	Fourth Round
League Cup	Fourth Round
UEFA Champions League	Semi-finals
Charity Shield	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Ole Gunnar Solskjær (18) All: Ole Gunnar Solskjær (19)
Highest home attendance	55,314 vs Wimbledon (29 January 1997)
Lowest home attendance	31,966 vs Swindon Town (23 October 1996)
Average home league attendance	55,081
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was Manchester United's fifth season in the Premier League, and their 22nd consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1] United clinched the Premier League title with 75 points – placing them seven points ahead of the three teams below them; Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

They also reached the European Cup semi-finals, bowing out to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund of Germany, after losing both legs 1–0. Earlier in the competition, they had lost at home in Europe for the first time, with a 1–0 defeat to Fenerbahçe of Turkey in the group stage. Their defence of the FA Cup ended in the Fourth Round replay with a 1–0 defeat to Wimbledon, while their bid for success in the League Cup was short-lived as they bowed out to eventual winners Leicester City in the Fourth Round.

New signing Ole Gunnar Solskjær was one of the biggest breakthrough stars in the 1996–97 Premier League season, with 19 goals in all competitions, making him the club's top goalscorer. Twenty-two-year-old midfielder David Beckham clinched the PFA Young Player of the Year award in the same season he won his first England cap. Solskjær's fellow Norwegian, Ronny Johnsen, proved himself as a fine successor to Steve Bruce in central defence, but £3.5 million Czech winger Karel Poborský failed to win a regular first team place and was one of the Premier League's biggest disappointments that season. Jordi Cruyff, son of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, was similarly disappointing, failing to win a regular first team place despite being able to play in midfield, attack or on the left wing.

Just before the start of the season, winger Lee Sharpe left the club after eight years to sign for Leeds United in a £4.5 million deal. Earlier in the summer, captain Steve Bruce had departed to Birmingham City on a free transfer after almost a decade at Old Trafford, while Paul Parker left on a free transfer after his final two seasons at the club had been plagued by injury and the loss of his place in the team to Gary Neville.

The season ended with a major shock as Eric Cantona announced his retirement from playing, prompting manager Alex Ferguson to search for a new striker. The search ended with the £3.5 million capture of Tottenham Hotspur and England 31-year-old Teddy Sheringham.

Pre-season and friendlies

FA Charity Shield

FA Premier League

The old third kit was used vs Southampton (26 October)

FA Cup

United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 to reach the Fourth Round,^[2] where they faced Wimbledon, who they had beaten easily 3–0 on the first day of the season; the game ended 1–1.^[3] The replay was played at Wimbledon's Selhurst Park, with the game ending 1–0 to Wimbledon, knocking United out of the competition at a very early stage.^[4] In between these two FA Cup games, United and Wimbledon faced each other again in the league, with United coming out on top at home, with a 2–1 win, making it all the more shocking that Wimbledon managed to defeat them five days later in the cup.

League Cup

As in the previous two seasons, United rested many of their first-team players in the League Cup, instead using the competition to provide first team experience to the club's younger players and reserves. This proved to be a bad move, as the Red Devils just managed to squeeze past Swindon Town to get into the Fourth Round,^[5] but they were then defeated by Leicester City 2–0.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

In the group stage, United were drawn together with defending champions Juventus of Italy, Turkish champions Fenerbahçe and Austrian champions Rapid Wien.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Juventus	6	5	1	0	11	1	+10	16	Advance to knockout stage
2	Manchester United	6	3	0	3	6	3	+3	9
3	Fenerbahçe	6	2	1	3	3	6	−3	7
4	Rapid Wien	6	0	2	4	2	12	−10	2

Knockout phase

United were drawn against Portuguese champions Porto in the quarter-finals, and sealed their place in the semi-finals with a 4–0 win in the first leg, followed by a goalless second leg. They were then drawn against the eventual winners, German champions Borussia Dortmund, who beat them 1–0 in each leg, eliminated the Red Devils from the competition 2–0 on aggregate.

Squad statistics

No.	CL no.[nb 1]	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Coca-Cola Cup		Europe		Other		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	36	0	3	0	0	0	9	0	1	0	49	0
2	2	DF	Gary Neville	30(1)	1	3	0	1	0	10	0	0(1)	0	44(2)	1
3	3	DF	Denis Irwin	29(2)	1	3	0	0	0	8	0	1	0	41(2)	1
4	4	DF	David May	28(1)	3	1	0	2	0	7(1)	1	1	0	39(2)	4
6	6	DF	Gary Pallister	27	3	1	0	0	0	8	0	1	0	37	3
7	7	FW	Eric Cantona (c)	36	11	3	0	0	0	10	3	1	1	50	15
8	8	MF	Nicky Butt	24(2)	5	0	0	0	0	8(1)	0	1	1	33(3)	6
9	9	FW	Andy Cole	10(10)	6	2(1)	0	0	0	2(3)	1	0	0	14(14)	7
10	10	MF	David Beckham	33(3)	8	2	1	0	0	10	2	1	1	46(3)	12
11	11	MF	Ryan Giggs	25(1)	3	3	0	0	0	6(1)	2	1	0	35(2)	5
12	28	DF	Phil Neville	15(3)	0	0	0	1	0	2(2)	0	1	0	19(5)	0
13	13	MF	Brian McClair	4(15)	0	1(2)	0	2	0	0(3)	0	0	0	7(20)	0
14	14	MF	Jordi Cruyff	11(5)	3	0	0	1	0	3(1)	0	0(1)	0	15(7)	3
15	15	MF	Karel Poborský	15(7)	3	2	0	2	1	3(3)	0	0(1)	0	22(11)	4
16	16	MF	Roy Keane	21	2	3	0	2	0	6	0	1	1	33	3
17	17	GK	Raimond van der Gouw	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
18	12	MF	Paul Scholes	16(8)	3	2	2	2	1	0(4)	0	1	0	21(12)	6
19	5	DF	Ronny Johnsen	26(5)	0	2	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	37(5)	0
20	20	FW	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	25(8)	18	0(3)	0	0	0	8(2)	1	0	0	33(13)	19
21	21	DF	Pat McGibbon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	22	MF	Simon Davies	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0
23	23	MF	Ben Thornley	1(1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3(1)	0
24	24	DF	John O'Kane	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
25	25	GK	Kevin Pilkington	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	19	DF	Chris Casper	0(2)	0	1	0	2	0	0(1)	0	0	0	3(3)	0
27	–	MF	Terry Cooke	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
28	–	MF	Philip Mulryne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	18	MF	Michael Appleton	0	0	0	0	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	1(1)	0
30	–	DF	Ronnie Wallwork	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	–	DF	John Curtis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	–	DF	Michael Clegg	3(1)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5(1)	0
33	–	GK	Paul Gibson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Transfers

United's first departure of the 1996–97 season was Hasney Aljofree, who signed for Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer on 2 July. Four days later, Heath Maxon was released. Tony Coton joined Sunderland on 12 July, while a month later, Lee Sharpe joined Leeds United after eight years at Old Trafford.

Arriving in the summer were Norwegian defender Ronny Johnsen, Czech winger Karel Poborský, Norwegian forward Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and Dutch midfielder Jordi Cruyff.

United's only winter departure was American forward Jovan Kirovski, who joined Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer on 8 December. David Fish joined Stockport County on 1 May, while a day later, David Hilton was released. Just under a fortnight later, Colin Murdock joined Preston North End, while on 18 May, Eric Cantona retired. Robert Trees was released on 30 June.

On 27 June, Teddy Sheringham was acquired from Tottenham Hotspur to replace the retired Cantona.

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
10 July 1996	DF	Ronny Johnsen	Beşiktaş	£1.2m[6]
20 July 1996	MF	Karel Poborský	Slavia Prague	£3.5m[7]
23 July 1996	FW	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	Molde	£1.5m[6]
8 August 1996	MF	Jordi Cruyff	Barcelona	£1.4m
27 June 1997	FW	Teddy Sheringham	Tottenham Hotspur	£3.5m[8]

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
2 July 1996	DF	Hasney Aljofree	Bolton Wanderers	Free
6 July 1996	GK	Heath Maxon	Released	Free
12 July 1996	GK	Tony Coton	Sunderland	£600k[9]
12 August 1996	MF	Lee Sharpe	Leeds United	£4.5m
8 December 1996	FW	Jovan Kirovski	Borussia Dortmund	Free
1 May 1997	GK	David Fish	Stockport County	Free
2 May 1997	DF	David Hilton	Released	Free
15 May 1997	DF	Colin Murdock	Preston North End	£100k
18 May 1997	FW	Eric Cantona	Retired
30 June 1997	MF	Robert Trees	Released	Free

Loan out

Date From	Date To	Position	Name	To
20 September 1996	21 October 1996	DF	Pat McGibbon	Swansea City
17 October 1996	17 November 1996	GK	Paul Gibson	Halifax Town
22 October 1996	22 November 1996	DF	John O'Kane	Bury
29 October 1996	16 November 1996	MF	Simon Davies	Huddersfield Town
28 November 1996	20 December 1996	MF	Terry Cooke	Birmingham City
14 January 1997	8 March 1997	DF	John O'Kane	Bury
16 January 1997	19 April 1997	GK	Kevin Pilkington	Rotherham United
17 January 1997	15 March 1997	MF	Michael Appleton	Grimsby Town
3 March 1997	31 May 1997	DF	Pat McGibbon	Wigan Athletic
27 March 1997	13 April 1997	DF	John O'Kane	Wrexham

References

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