The 1996–97 season was Stoke City's 90th season in the Football League and 34th in the second tier. It was also Stoke's final season at their Victoria Ground.
After 119 years Stoke were all set to move to a new stadium with the 1996–97 season confirmed as the final season at the Victoria Ground. With Stoke agreeing with the council to pay £6 million towards the cost, manager Lou Macari had no money to spend on new players having to rely on free or cheap transfers and loan signings instead. It was a very inconsistent season results wise as Stoke finished in 12th position with 64 points. The final league match at the Victoria Ground saw a repeat of the first league match against West Bromwich Albion, Stoke won 2–1 with Graham Kavanagh scoring Stoke's final goal at the Vic. Stoke moved to the Britannia Stadium ahead of the 1997–98 season.
Season review
League The final season at the Victoria Ground was a big milestone in the club's history and was met with mixed reaction from the club's supporters, some of whom were happy to move and some who wanted the Victoria Ground to remain. The first ramifications of the move became clear in the summer of 1996 as a number of players wanted a move away as the club began trying to find the £6 million they need. Nigel Gleghorn and Vince Overson were the first to depart both joining Burnley. Funds were generated by the sale of Graham Potter to Southampton for £300,000 and Lee Sandford to Sheffield United for £450,000. The board did permit Macari to spend £200,000 on Richard Forsyth who became the club's first player signed for a fee since 1994.
With the club losing three very good players the supporters were downbeat about the team's prospects ahead of the 1996–97 season. So an opening five-match unbeaten run took many by surprise and Stoke were early season table-toppers as Macari won the manager of the month award. A 3–0 defeat at Barnsley brought reality back and prompted the signings of Gerry McMahon and Graham Kavanagh and the sale of John Dreyer. There were some serious questions now being raised as to how Stoke could afford the £6 million needed for their new stadium and they found part of the answer as a deal was struck with the Britannia building society who bought the naming rights to the stadium as well as shirt sponsorship for around £1.3 million, meaning the new ground would be known as the Britannia Stadium.
On the pitch Stoke won one match in seven and went from promotion contenders to mid-table also-rans. And with Macari struggling for players he promoted Andy Griffin to the first team as Stoke's away form continued to be dire. They lost eight of their final nine away fixtures scoring just once which was an own goal. However, their home form held up as the landmark games came and went. Stoke won the last evening game and drew the last Saturday match, while the final Potteries derby at the Vic was won 2–0.
The final league match at the Victoria Ground saw a re-run of the first with Stoke coming up against West Bromwich Albion in a carnival atmosphere. Stoke won 2–1 with Gerry McMahon and Graham Kavanagh scoring Stoke's goals. However manager Lou Macari announced he was leaving at the end of the season which was a surprise but he was 'stripped of his duties' before he left and later launched a lawsuit against Peter Coates for wrongful dismissal. Less of a surprise was the departure of Mike Sheron who joined Queens Park Rangers for £2.75 million exactly the amount Stoke needed to make up their contribution to the cost of the new stadium. And so Stoke went into a new era at the Britannia Stadium with no manager and their best player gone.
FA Cup Stoke suffered a poor defeat at home in the third round losing 1–0 to Stockport County.
League Cup Stoke edged past Northampton Town and drew Arsenal in the third round. After a 1–1 draw at home Arsenal proved too strong at Highbury running out 5–2 winners.
Final league table
Results
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League First Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 17 August 1996 Oldham AthleticA2–18,021Sheron (2) 27', 43'2 24 August 1996 Manchester CityH2–121,116Forsyth 27', Sheron 32'3 28 August 1996 Bradford CityH1–011,918Sheron 90' (pen)4 31 August 1996 ReadingA2–213,540Sheron 25', Forsyth 76'5 7 September 1996 Crystal PalaceH2–213,540Sheron 20', Dreyer 32'6 10 September 1996 BarnsleyA0–311,6967 14 September 1996 Birmingham CityA1–318,612Forsyth 66'8 22 September 1996 Huddersfield TownH3–29,147Gayle 41', Sheron (2) 77', 85'9 28 September 1996 Bolton WanderersA1–116,195Kavanagh 90'10 13 October 1996 Port ValeA1–114,396Keen 65'11 16 October 1996 West Bromwich AlbionA2–016,501Wallace 33', Forsyth 72'12 19 October 1996 Sheffield UnitedH0–413,58113 26 October 1996 PortsmouthH3–110,259McMahon (2) 59', 75', Sheron 71'14 29 October 1996 Oxford UnitedA1–46,381Sheron 59'15 2 November 1996 Queens Park RangersA1–17,354Kavanagh 4'16 16 November 1996 Grimsby TownA1–15,601Forsyth 30'17 23 November 1996 Southend UnitedH1–212,821Forsyth 52'18 30 November 1996 PortsmouthA0–17,74919 4 December 1996 Charlton AthleticH1–07,456Sheron 49'20 7 December 1996 Tranmere RoversH2–09,931Sheron 27', Higgins 82' (o.g.)21 14 December 1996 Swindon TownH2–010,102Stein (2) 44', 64'22 21 December 1996 Ipswich TownA1–110,159Stein 23'23 26 December 1996 BarnsleyH1–019,025Sheron 72'24 1 January 1997 Huddersfield TownA1–212,019Stein 18'25 10 January 1997 Birmingham CityH1–010,049Wallace 18'26 18 January 1997 Charlton AthleticA2–19,901Sheron (2) 42', 43'27 22 January 1997 Norwich CityH1–210,179Stein 14'28 29 January 1997 Bolton WanderersH1–215,645Macari 84'29 1 February 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–227,40830 7 February 1997 Oxford UnitedH2–18,609MacKenzie 9', Macari 37'31 15 February 1997 Southend UnitedA1–24,625Harris 70' (o.g.)32 22 February 1997 Queens Park RangersH0–013,12133 28 February 1997 Tranmere RoversA0–09,12734 5 March 1997 Grimsby TownH3–18,621Southall 48' (o.g.), Kavanagh 50', Griffin 78'35 8 March 1997 Ipswich TownH0–111,93336 15 March 1997 Swindon TownA0–18,87937 18 March 1997 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–015,683Forsyth 47'38 22 March 1997 Manchester CityA0–228,49739 29 March 1997 Oldham AthleticH2–111,755Sheron 17', Macari 40'40 31 March 1997 Bradford CityA0–113,57941 5 April 1997 ReadingH1–19,961Forsyth 65'42 12 April 1997 Norwich CityA0–213,80543 15 April 1997 Crystal PalaceA0–211,38244 20 April 1997 Port ValeH2–016,246Sheron (2) 44', 85'45 25 April 1997 Sheffield UnitedA0–125,59646 5 May 1997 West Bromwich AlbionH2–122,500McMahon 33', Kavanagh 69'
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR315 January 1997 Stockport CountyH0–29,961
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR2 1st Leg18 September 1996 Northampton TownH1–06,093Worthington 60'R2 2nd Leg24 September 1996 Northampton TownA2–1 (aet)5,088Sheron (2) 100', 108'R323 October 1996 ArsenalH1–120,804Sheron 26'R3 Replay11 November 1996 ArsenalA2–533,961Sheron (2) 35', 88'
Friendlies DateOpponentVenueResultScorers3 August 1996Dunfermline AthleticA2–2Beeston, P Macari4 August 1996HibernianA0–15 August 1996Carlisle UnitedA1–0M Macari10 August 1996Shrewsbury TownA0–111 August 1996Newcastle TownA1–0M Macari13 August 1996OsasunaH2–0Devlin (2)
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Carl Muggleton330004037000GK Mark Prudhoe130100(1)014(1)000DF Wesley Byrne0000000000DF Hugo Costa1(1)0001(1)02(2)010DF Ian Cranson6000006010DF John Dreyer121003015120DF Andy Griffin29(5)1100(1)030(6)120DF Mark McNally3000003000DF Ally Pickering39(1)0104044(1)030DF Lárus Sigurðsson450104050081DF Ray Wallace452104050290DF Justin Whittle35(2)0102038(2)050MF Carl Beeston17(1)0000017(1)020MF Mark Devlin13(8)0103017(8)020MF Sean Flynn5000005010MF Richard Forsyth408103044800MF Steve Jagielka0000000000MF Graham Kavanagh32(6)4102035(6)430MF Kevin Keen5(11)1002(2)07(13)100MF Neil MacKenzie5(17)10(1)0005(18)110MF Gerry McMahon31(4)3103(1)035(5)310MF Kofi Nyamah0(7)000000(7)000MF Simon Rodger5000005000MF Graham Stokoe0(2)000000(2)010MF Nigel Worthington120003115110FW Martin Carruthers0(1)0000(1)00(2)000FW John Gayle8(4)1002010(4)110FW Mike Macari15(15)30(1)00(3)015(19)300FW Mike Sheron41181045462310FW Mark Stein115000011510FW Simon Sturridge5000005000–Own goals–3–0–0–3––
References