During the 1996–97 English football season, Wigan Athletic F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division.

Season summary In the 1996–97 season, Wigan Athletic became Third Division champions on the last day of the campaign, Graeme Jones scoring a club record 31 league goals in the process. In most seasons they would have been runners-up, but a temporary rule change which saw goals scored take precedence over goal difference allowed them to finish above runners-up Fulham, who had the same number of points and a better goal difference.

Transfers In PlayerPosFromFeeDateNotes Lee Butler GK Barnsley Free 1 July 1996 Charlie Bishop DF Barnsley £20,000 1 July 1996 Steve Morgan DF Coventry City Free 5 July 1996 Graeme Jones FW Doncaster Rovers £150,000 8 July 1996 Andy Saville FW Preston North End £100,000 25 October 1996 Paul Rogers MF Notts County £50,000 7 March 1997 Roy Carroll GK Hull City £350,000 16 April 1997

Out PlayerPosToFeeDateNotes Jesús Seba MF Real Zaragoza Released 15 October 1996 Mark Ward MF Released 31 October 1996 Michael Love DF Sligo Rovers Free 24 January 1997 Wayne Biggins MF Leek Town Released 31 May 1997 John Butler DF Stalybridge Celtic Released 31 May 1997 Matt Carragher DF Port Vale Released 31 May 1997

Loans in PlayerPosFromDateDurationNotes Stuart Whittaker MF Bolton Wanderers 30 August 1996 One month Paul Rogers MF Notts County 13 December 1996 Three months Pat McGibbon DF Manchester United 3 March 1997 End of season

Results Wigan Athletic's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Pre-season Wigan additionally played a behind closed doors friendly against Bolton Wanderers on 12 August, which was drawn 3–3.

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersNotes 22 July 1996 Port ValeN2–3 23 July 1996 West Bromwich AlbionN0–1 26 July 1996 Isle of Man XIN3–1 30 July 1996 Preston North EndA0–1 3 August 1996 SouthportA2–1 6 August 1996 Coventry CityH2–2 10 August 1996 BarnsleyH1–1

League

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 August 1996 Northampton TownH2–13,449Lancashire, Biggins 24 August 1996 BarnetA1–11,905Jones 27 August 1996 Cardiff CityA2–03,354Jones, Kilford 31 August 1996 Chester CityH4–23,854Jones (3, 1 pen), Shelton (own goal) 7 September 1996 Scunthorpe UnitedH3–03,321Jones, Lancashire (2) 10 September 1996 DarlingtonA1–32,601Greenall 14 September 1996 Hartlepool UnitedA1–12,433Jones 21 September 1996 Lincoln CityH1–03,394Lancashire 28 September 1996 ScarboroughA1–32,570Lancashire 1 October 1996 Exeter CityH2–02,788Lancashire, Jones 5 October 1996 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–03,744Jones 12 October 1996 Colchester UnitedA1–32,700Sharp 15 October 1996 Mansfield TownA1–01,942Sharp 19 October 1996 Torquay UnitedH3–23,374Jones (3) 26 October 1996 Hull CityH1–23,887Morgan 29 October 1996 Swansea CityA1–22,227Díaz 2 November 1996 Carlisle UnitedA3–06,235Díaz (2), Saville 9 November 1996 Hereford UnitedH4–13,414Martínez, Jones, Greenall, Saville 23 November 1996 FulhamH1–15,039Martínez 30 November 1996 Hull CityA1–13,537Jones 3 December 1996 Doncaster RoversH4–12,606Biggins, Johnson, Saville, Jones 14 December 1996 Cambridge UnitedA1–12,784Kilford 21 December 1996 RochdaleH0–13,311 28 December 1996 Scunthorpe UnitedA3–22,833Saville, Rogers, Kilford 18 January 1997 Exeter CityA1–03,067Johnson 21 January 1997 Leyton OrientA2–13,014Kilford, Jones 25 January 1997 Swansea CityH3–24,058Jones (2), Kilford 1 February 1997 Hereford UnitedA1–32,532Rogers 4 February 1997 Lincoln CityA3–12,241Jones (2), Johnson 8 February 1997 Carlisle UnitedH1–06,195Lowe 15 February 1997 FulhamA1–19,448Lowe 22 February 1997 Leyton OrientH5–13,783Jones (3), Lancashire, Rogers 25 February 1997 DarlingtonH3–23,667Jones (3, 1 pen) 28 February 1997 Doncaster RoversA0–22,948 4 March 1997 Hartlepool UnitedH2–23,229Jones, Kilford 8 March 1997 RochdaleA1–33,254Jones (pen) 11 March 1997 ScarboroughH7–13,094Martínez, Lowe (2), Díaz (2), Lancashire, Biggins 15 March 1997 Cambridge UnitedH1–13,867Jones 22 March 1997 BarnetH2–03,286Kilford, Martínez 29 March 1997 Northampton TownA1–05,914Lowe 31 March 1997 Cardiff CityH0–14,634 5 April 1997 Chester CityA1–14,005Kilford 8 April 1997 Colchester UnitedH1–04,571McGibbon 12 April 1997 Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–18,703 26 April 1997 Torquay UnitedA3–02,481Jones (2), Díaz 3 May 1997 Mansfield TownH2–07,106Lancashire, Lowe

Final league table

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst16 November 1996 BlackpoolA0–15,465

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersFirst (1st leg) 20 August 1996 Preston North EndH2–33,713Lancashire, JonesFirst (2nd leg) 3 September 1996 Preston North EndA4–4 (a.e.t.)5,767Lancashire (3), GreenallPreston won 7–6 on aggregate

Football League Trophy

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersNR214 January 1997 Shrewsbury TownA2–3 (a.e.t.)1,639 Martínez, Jones

Squad Note: Numbers in brackets are appearances as a substitute. Source: Nat.Pos.PlayerAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLeagueFA CupOtherIncludes appearances and goals in the League Cup and Football League Trophy.Total FW 20 (13) 3 1 0 1 (2) 0 22 (15) 3 DF 20 (1) 0 0 0 2 0 22 (1) 0 DF 20 (4) 0 1 0 1 0 22 (4) 0 GK 46 0 1 0 3 0 50 0 DF 12 (6) 0 0 (1) 0 2 0 12 (7) 0 MF 26 (13) 6 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 26 (15) 6 DF 46 2 1 0 2 (1) 1 49 (1) 3 DF 37 3 1 0 3 0 41 3 FW 39 (1) 31 1 0 2 (1) 2 42 (2) 33 MF 24 (11) 8 0 0 2 (1) 0 26 (12) 8 DF 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 5 (1) 0 FW 15 (9) 9 0 0 2 4 17 (9) 13 DF 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (3) 0 FW 31 (11) 6 1 0 3 0 35 (11) 6 MF 38 (5) 4 1 0 2 (1) 1 41 (6) 5 DF 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1 DF 18 (5) 1 0 0 3 0 21 (5) 1 DF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DF 27 (2) 0 1 0 3 0 31 (2) 0 MF 18 (2) 3 0 0 0 0 18 (2) 3 FW 17 (3) 4 1 0 1 0 19 (3) 4 MF 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (2) 0 DF 30 (5) 2 1 0 1 (1) 0 32 (6) 2 MF 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 MF 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0

References