1996–97 Swindon Town F.C. season

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

Swindon Town

1996–97 season
Manager	Steve McMahon
Stadium	County Ground
Football League First Division	19th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Allison (11) All: Allison (13)
Highest home attendance	14,374 vs. Manchester City (2 November 1996)
Lowest home attendance	6,730 vs. Southend United (5 April 1997)
Average home league attendance	9,917

Season summary

With Swindon's financial state getting more precarious, they could not afford to build a side which would be able to win promotion to the Premier League, with McMahon's only significant summer signing the underwhelming Gary Elkins from Wimbledon. In 1996–97 season, Swindon held a mid-table position right up until the middle of March, but then scored just two goals in their last ten games – getting thumped 7–0 at Bolton, 5–1 at Oldham and 4–0 at Ipswich in the process – ending up in a disappointing 19th place.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League § First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Oxford United	46	16	9	21	64	68	−4	57
18	Reading	46	15	12	19	58	67	−9	57
19	Swindon Town	46	15	9	22	52	71	−19	54
20	Huddersfield Town	46	13	15	18	48	61	−13	54
21	Bradford City	46	12	12	22	47	72	−25	48

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

Results

Swindon Town's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Norwich City	A	0–2	15,165
24 August 1996	Port Vale	H	1–1	8,706	Robinson
28 August 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	8,025	Allison
31 August 1996	Southend United	A	3–1	4,011	Watson, Cowe, Finney
7 September 1996	Grimsby Town	A	1–2	4,089	Cowe
11 September 1996	Portsmouth	H	0–1	8,685
14 September 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–1	8,430	Walters (pen), Horlock
21 September 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–1	13,662	Cowe
27 September 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–2	8,572	Horlock
2 October 1996	Bradford City	A	1–2	9,249	Walters (pen)
12 October 1996	Oxford United	H	1–0	10,811	Horlock
16 October 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	6–0	7,724	Walters, Thorne (3), Allison, Horlock
19 October 1996	Crystal Palace	A	2–1	15,088	Allison, Thorne
26 October 1996	Reading	A	0–2	11,018
30 October 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–3	8,909	Allen, Thorne
2 November 1996	Manchester City	H	2–0	14,374	Allison (2)
16 November 1996	Barnsley	H	3–0	10,837	Walters, Gooden, Finney
19 November 1996	Ipswich Town	A	2–3	7,086	Thorne, Allison
23 November 1996	Birmingham City	A	0–1	16,559
26 November 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–2	12,301
30 November 1996	Reading	H	3–1	10,874	Horlock, Allison, Walters
7 December 1996	Charlton Athletic	A	0–2	10,565
14 December 1996	Stoke City	A	0–2	10,102
22 December 1996	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–2	8,946	Walters, Allison
26 December 1996	Portsmouth	A	1–0	10,605	Cowe
10 January 1997	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–2	8,763	Horlock
18 January 1997	Bradford City	H	1–1	7,851	Horlock
25 January 1997	Grimsby Town	H	3–3	9,127	Horlock, Allison, Walters
29 January 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1	23,003
1 February 1997	Sheffield United	H	2–1	8,811	Elkins, Holdsworth (own goal)
5 February 1997	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	10,830	Brevett (own goal)
8 February 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	16,219	Allison, Smith
22 February 1997	Manchester City	A	0–3	27,262
26 February 1997	Birmingham City	H	3–1	7,428	Bullock, Broomes, Cowe
1 March 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	1–0	9,256	Allison
4 March 1997	Barnsley	A	1–1	9,789	Thorne
8 March 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–7	13,981
15 March 1997	Stoke City	H	1–0	8,878	Thorne
22 March 1997	Port Vale	A	0–1	6,142
29 March 1997	Norwich City	H	0–3	10,249
31 March 1997	Oldham Athletic	A	1–5	5,699	Cowe
5 April 1997	Southend United	H	0–0	6,730
12 April 1997	Ipswich Town	H	0–4	8,591
19 April 1997	Oxford United	A	0–2	8,167
26 April 1997	Crystal Palace	H	0–2	10,447
4 May 1997	Huddersfield Town	A	0–0	11,506

FA Cup

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 1997	Everton	A	0–3	20,411

League Cup

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	20 August 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	7,451	Allison, Leitch
R1 Second Leg	3 September 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1 (won 2–1 on agg)	10,760
R2 First Leg	18 September 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	7,843	Walters
R2 Second Leg	25 September 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–1 (won 4–3 on agg)	6,976	O'Sullivan, Allison, Thorne
R3	23 October 1996	Manchester United	A	1–2	49,305	Thorne

Squad

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	ENG	Fraser Digby
—	GK	ENG	Steve Mildenhall
—	GK	AUS	Frank Talia
—	DF	ENG	Marlon Broomes (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
—	DF	ENG	Ian Culverhouse
—	DF	ENG	Jason Drysdale
—	DF	ENG	Gary Elkins
—	DF	ENG	David Kerslake (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
—	DF	ENG	Phil King
—	DF	ENG	Mark Robinson
—	DF	ENG	Mark Seagraves
—	DF	ENG	Shaun Taylor
—	DF	IRL	Graham Coughlan (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
—	DF	IRL	Wayne O'Sullivan
—	DF	FRA	Frédéric Darras
—	MF	ENG	Paul Allen
—	MF	ENG	Graham Anthony

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Darren Bullock
—	MF	ENG	Ty Gooden
—	MF	ENG	Peter Holcroft
—	MF	ENG	Robin Hulbert
—	MF	ENG	Steve McMahon
—	MF	ENG	Alex Smith
—	MF	ENG	Mark Walters
—	MF	ENG	Kevin Watson
—	MF	WAL	Michael Pattimore
—	MF	SCO	Lee Collins
—	MF	SCO	Scott Leitch
—	MF	NIR	Kevin Horlock
—	FW	ENG	Wayne Allison
—	FW	ENG	Steve Cowe
—	FW	ENG	Steve Finney
—	FW	ENG	Peter Thorne