1996–97 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

Tranmere Rovers

1996–97 season
Chairman	Frank Corfe
Manager	John Aldridge (player-manager)
Stadium	Prenton Park
First Division	11th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: John Aldridge (18) All: John Aldridge (20)
Highest home attendance	14,309 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 4 May 1997)
Lowest home attendance	4,577 (vs. Oxford United, 1 October 1996)
Average home league attendance	8,170
Home colours

During the 1996–97 English football season, Tranmere Rovers F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

Another decent season for Tranmere in player-manager John Aldridge's first full season in charge resulted in another mid-table finish, this time finishing two places higher than last season, in 11th.

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	12	16	64	60	+4	66
10	Birmingham City	46	17	15	14	52	48	+4	66
11	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	14	15	63	56	+7	65
12	Stoke City	46	18	10	18	51	57	−6	64
13	Norwich City	46	17	12	17	63	68	−5	63

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Tranmere Rovers' score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Southend United	A	1–1	4,264	Morrissey
23 August 1996	Grimsby Town	H	3–2	6,800	Aldridge (2, 1 pen), Irons
27 August 1996	Port Vale	H	2–0	6,123	Mahon, Branch
31 August 1996	Bradford City	A	0–1	10,080
7 September 1996	Birmingham City	H	1–0	8,548	Aldridge
10 September 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	1–0	10,181	Aldridge
14 September 1996	Swindon Town	A	1–2	8,430	Aldridge
21 September 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–3	7,848	Aldridge, Branch
28 September 1996	Norwich City	A	1–1	14,511	Aldridge
1 October 1996	Oxford United	H	0–0	4,577
4 October 1996	Portsmouth	H	4–3	5,001	Branch (2), G. Jones, Bonetti
12 October 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–0	15,059
15 October 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–1	14,136
20 October 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–3	7,025	Aldridge (pen), Brannan
26 October 1996	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	11,003	Brannan, Vaughan (own goal)
29 October 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	4–0	5,527	Thomas-Moore, G. Jones, Mahon, Aldridge
2 November 1996	Crystal Palace	H	1–3	8,613	Thorn
15 November 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	1–1	8,327	Aldridge
23 November 1996	Manchester City	A	2–1	26,531	Higgins, Brightwell (own goal)
30 November 1996	Ipswich Town	H	3–0	10,127	Brannan, Aldridge (2)
3 December 1996	Reading	A	0–2	5,513
7 December 1996	Stoke City	A	0–2	9,931
14 December 1996	Barnsley	A	0–3	8,513
21 December 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	9,674
26 December 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	10,134	Brannan
1 January 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	14,770	Aldridge (2)
10 January 1997	Swindon Town	H	2–1	8,763	Nevin (2)
18 January 1997	Oxford United	A	1–2	7,072	Aldridge
28 January 1997	Norwich City	H	3–1	5,891	Cook (2), Thomas-Moore
1 February 1997	Reading	H	2–2	6,019	Branch, Thomas-Moore
7 February 1997	Charlton Athletic	A	1–3	11,283	Irons
22 February 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	15,396	O'Brien
28 February 1997	Stoke City	H	0–0	9,127
4 March 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	2–1	5,417	Brannan (2)
8 March 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–3	26,192	Irons, Aldridge
15 March 1997	Barnsley	H	1–1	7,347	Higgins
18 March 1997	Manchester City	H	1–1	12,019	G. Jones
22 March 1997	Grimsby Town	A	0–0	4,353
28 March 1997	Southend United	H	3–0	7,563	Irons, L. Jones, Aldridge
31 March 1997	Port Vale	A	1–2	7,469	Irons
4 April 1997	Bradford City	H	3–0	8,531	G. Jones (2), L. Jones
12 April 1997	Portsmouth	A	3–1	12,004	Cook, G. Jones, L. Jones
15 April 1997	Birmingham City	A	0–0	22,364
19 April 1997	Sheffield United	H	1–1	10,027	L. Jones
26 April 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–2	14,859
4 May 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–2	14,309	Aldridge (pen), L. Jones

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	14 January 1997	Carlisle United	A	0–1	10,090

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	21 August 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–0	2,875	Aldridge, Bonetti
R1 Second Leg	3 September 1996	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–1 (won 3–1 on agg)	3,028	Branch
R2 First Leg	17 September 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	2–2	3,094	Aldridge (pen), Morrissey
R2 Second Leg	24 September 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	0–1	3,711

Squad

^[3] 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 Eric Nixon — GK  WAL Danny Coyne — DF  ENG Dave Challinor — DF  ENG Dave Higgins — DF  ENG John McGreal — DF  ENG Alan Rogers — DF  ENG Gary Stevens — DF  ENG Shaun Teale — DF  ENG Tony Thomas — DF  ENG Andy Thorn — DF  WAL Alan Morgan — DF  SCO Steve Mungall — MF  ENG Graham Branch — MF  ENG Ged Brannan

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Paul Cook — MF  ENG Kenny Irons — MF  ENG Gary Jones — MF  IRL Alan Mahon — MF  ENG Kevin McIntyre — MF  IRL Liam O'Brien — MF  IRL Billy Woods — MF  ITA Ivano Bonetti — FW  ENG John Morrissey — FW  ENG Ian Thomas-Moore — FW  WAL Lee Jones — FW  SCO Pat Nevin — FW  IRL John Aldridge

References

1. "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
2. "Tranmere Rovers 1996-1997 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
3. "All Tranmere Rovers players: 1997".