1996–97 Gillingham F.C. season

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

Gillingham

1996–97 season
Chairman	Paul Scally
Manager	Tony Pulis
Stadium	Priestfield Stadium
Second Division	11th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fourth round
Football League Trophy	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Onuora (21) All: Onuora (23)
Average home league attendance	5,630
Home colours

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, Gillingham had a satisfying campaign under Pulis after achieving promotion last season, finishing in 11th place.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts
1	Bury	46		18	5	0	39	7		6	7	10	23	31		62	38	+24		84
2	Stockport County	46		15	5	3	31	14		8	8	7	28	27		59	41	+18		82
3	Luton Town	46		13	7	3	38	14		8	8	7	33	31		71	45	+26		78
4	Brentford	46		8	11	4	26	22		12	3	8	30	21		56	43	+13		74
5	Bristol City	46		14	4	5	43	18		7	6	10	26	33		69	51	+18		73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46		15	4	4	38	15		7	3	13	18	32		56	47	+9		73
7	Blackpool	46		13	7	3	41	21		5	8	10	19	26		60	47	+13		69
8	Wrexham	46		11	9	3	38	28		6	9	8	17	22		54	50	+4		69
9	Burnley	46		14	3	6	48	27		5	8	10	23	28		71	55	+16		68
10	Chesterfield	46		10	9	4	25	18		8	5	10	17	21		42	39	+3		68
11	Gillingham	46		13	3	7	37	25		6	7	10	23	34		60	59	+1		67
12	Walsall	46		12	8	3	35	21		7	2	14	19	32		54	53	+1		67
13	Watford	46		10	8	5	24	14		6	11	6	21	24		45	38	+7		67
14	Millwall	46		12	4	7	27	22		4	9	10	23	33		50	55	–5		61
15	Preston North End	46		14	5	4	33	19		4	2	17	16	36		49	55	–6		61
16	Bournemouth	46		8	9	6	24	20		7	6	10	19	25		43	45	–2		60
17	Bristol Rovers	46		13	4	6	34	22		2	7	14	13	28		47	50	–3		56
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46		13	4	6	31	14		2	6	15	20	43		51	56	–5		55
19	Plymouth Argyle	46		7	11	5	19	18		5	7	11	28	40		47	58	–11		54
20	York City	46		8	6	9	27	31		5	7	11	20	37		47	68	–21		52
21	Peterborough United	46		7	7	9	38	34		4	7	12	17	39		55	73	–18		47
22	Shrewsbury Town	46		8	6	9	27	32		3	7	13	22	42		49	74	–25		46
23	Rotherham United	46		4	7	12	17	29		3	7	13	22	41		39	70	–31		35
24	Notts County	46		4	9	10	20	25		3	5	15	13	34		33	59	–26		35

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• NB: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Gillingham's score comes first[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bristol City	H	3–2	7,217	Fortune-West, Harris, Piper
24 August 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–1	4,582	Ratcliffe
27 August 1996	Brentford	A	0–2	5,384
31 August 1996	Chesterfield	H	0–1	5,934
7 September 1996	Burnley	H	1–0	6,116	Fortune-West
10 September 1996	Luton Town	A	1–2	4,604	Chapman
14 September 1996	Walsall	A	0–1	3,419
21 September 1996	Rotherham United	H	3–1	4,920	Onuora (3)
28 September 1996	Stockport County	A	1–2	6,049	Onuora
1 October 1996	Notts County	H	1–0	5,482	Onuora
5 October 1996	Bournemouth	H	1–1	6,162	Onuora
12 October 1996	Blackpool	A	0–2	4,320
15 October 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–1	2,042	Onuora, Bailey
19 October 1996	Millwall	H	2–3	9,305	Butler (2 pens)
26 October 1996	Preston North End	H	1–1	6,256	Onuora
29 October 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	4,787
2 November 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	0–0	5,530
9 November 1996	Wrexham	H	1–2	5,094	Ratcliffe
19 November 1996	Peterborough United	A	1–0	4,136	Onuora
23 November 1996	York City	H	0–1	5,048
30 November 1996	Preston North End	A	0–1	9,616
3 December 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–1	3,575	Pennock, Smith
14 December 1996	Bury	H	2–2	5,542	Butler, Ratcliffe
21 December 1996	Watford	A	0–0	7,809
26 December 1996	Luton Town	H	1–2	8,598	Onuora
28 December 1996	Burnley	A	1–5	10,004	Bailey
18 January 1997	Notts County	A	1–1	5,008	Puttnam
25 January 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	4–1	5,465	Curran (own goal), Green, Ratcliffe, Akinbiyi
1 February 1997	Wrexham	A	1–1	3,193	Akinbiyi
8 February 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	6,900	Hessenthaler
15 February 1997	York City	A	3–2	2,748	Onuora, Ratcliffe, Akinbiyi
22 February 1997	Peterborough United	H	2–1	6,552	Onuora (2)
1 March 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–3	3,555	Green, Akinbiyi
8 March 1997	Watford	H	3–1	7,385	Hessenthaler, Onuora (pen), Butler
15 March 1997	Bury	A	0–3	3,492
22 March 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–0	5,932	Onuora
25 March 1997	Rotherham United	A	2–1	2,664	Onuora, Ratcliffe
29 March 1997	Bristol City	A	1–0	11,276	Onuora (pen)
31 March 1997	Brentford	H	1–2	7,361	Onuora
5 April 1997	Chesterfield	A	2–2	3,926	Butler, Onuora
12 April 1997	Bournemouth	A	2–2	5,008	Butler, Pennock
16 April 1997	Stockport County	H	1–0	4,485	Butler
19 April 1997	Blackpool	H	2–3	5,151	Galloway, Butler
26 April 1997	Millwall	A	2–0	8,946	Akinbiyi, Onuora
29 April 1997	Walsall	H	2–0	4,095	Onuora, Butler
3 May 1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–0	6,183	Akinbiyi (2)

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Hereford United	H	1–0	5,280	Butler
R2	7 December 1996	Cardiff City	A	2–0	3,474	Onuora, Hessenthaler
R3	21 January 1997	Derby County	H	0–2	9,508

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Swansea City	A	1–0	2,711	Torpey (own goal)
R1 2nd Leg	4 September 1996	Swansea City	H	2–0 (won 3–0 on agg)	3,633	Fortune-West, Butler
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Barnsley	A	1–1	4,491	Ratcliffe
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Barnsley	H	1–0 (won 2–1 on agg)	5,666	Puttnam
R3	22 October 1996	Coventry City	H	2–2	10,603	Onuora, Ratcliffe
R3R	13 November 1996	Coventry City	A	1–0	12,639	Smith
R4	26 November 1996	Ipswich Town	A	0–1	13,537

Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	10 December 1996	Cardiff City	H	1–2 (a.e.t.)	1,193

Squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO Jonathan Gould (on loan from Bradford City) — GK  ENG Andy Marshall (on loan from Norwich City) — GK  ENG Jim Stannard — DF  ENG Craig Armstrong (on loan from Nottingham Forest) — DF  ENG Matt Bryant — DF  ENG Guy Butters — DF  ENG Ian Chapman — DF  ENG Jon Ford — DF  ENG Richard Green — DF  ENG Mark Harris — DF  ENG John Humphrey — DF  ENG Billy Manuel — DF  ENG Mark Morris (on loan from Bournemouth) — DF  ENG Adrian Pennock — DF  ENG Dave Puttnam — DF  ENG Andrew Sambrook

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ENG Glen Thomas — MF  ENG Andy Ansah — MF  ENG Richard Carpenter — MF  ENG Mick Galloway — MF  ENG Andy Hessenthaler — MF  IRL Mark O'Connor — MF  ENG Lenny Piper — MF  ENG Simon Ratcliffe — MF  ENG Kevin Rattray — MF  ENG Neil Smith — FW  NGA Ade Akinbiyi — FW  ENG Dennis Bailey — FW  ENG Steve Butler — FW  ENG Leo Fortune-West — FW  ENG Iffy Onuora — FW  ENG James Pinnock

References

1. Statto Organisation Ltd. "Gillingham results for the 1996–1997 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
2. "All Gillingham players: 1997". 11v11.com. Retrieved 2016-05-08.