1996–97 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

Wigan Athletic
1996–97 season
Chairman	Dave Whelan
Manager	John Deehan
Stadium	Springfield Park
Third Division	1st (champions)
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Jones (31); All: Jones (33)
Average home league attendance	3,899
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Player	Pos	From	Fee	Date	Notes
Charlie Bishop	DF	Barnsley	£20,000	1 July 1996	^[1]
Graeme Jones	FW	Doncaster Rovers	£150,000	8 July 1996	^[1]
Andy Saville	FW	Preston North End	£100,000	25 October 1996	^[1]
Paul Rogers	MF	Notts County	£50,000	7 March 1997	^[1]
Roy Carroll	GK	Hull City	£350,000	16 April 1997	^[1]

Out

Player	Pos	To	Fee	Date	Notes
Jesús Seba	MF	Real Zaragoza	Released	15 October 1996	^[2]
Mark Ward	MF		Released	31 October 1996	^[3]
Michael Love	DF	Sligo Rovers	Free	24 January 1997	^[4]
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

Player	Pos	From	Date	Duration
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

League

Results

Wigan Athletic's score comes first^[5]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Northampton Town	H	2–1	3,449	Lancashire, Biggins
24 August 1996	Barnet	A	1–1	1,905	Jones
27 August 1996	Cardiff City	A	2–0	3,354	Jones, Kilford
31 August 1996	Chester City	H	4–2	3,854	Jones (3, 1 pen), Shelton (own goal)
7 September 1996	Scunthorpe United	H	3–0	3,321	Jones, Lancashire (2)
10 September 1996	Darlington	A	1–3	2,601	Greenall
14 September 1996	Hartlepool United	A	1–1	2,433	Jones
21 September 1996	Lincoln City	H	1–0	3,394	Lancashire
28 September 1996	Scarborough	A	1–3	2,570	Lancashire
1 October 1996	Exeter City	H	2–0	2,788	Lancashire, Jones
5 October 1996	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–0	3,744	Jones
12 October 1996	Colchester United	A	1–3	2,700	Sharp
15 October 1996	Mansfield Town	A	1–0	1,942	Sharp
19 October 1996	Torquay United	H	3–2	3,374	Jones (3)
26 October 1996	Hull City	H	1–2	3,887	Morgan
29 October 1996	Swansea City	A	1–2	2,227	Díaz
2 November 1996	Carlisle United	A	3–0	6,235	Díaz (2), Saville
9 November 1996	Hereford United	H	4–1	3,414	Martínez, Jones, Greenall, Saville
23 November 1996	Fulham	H	1–1	5,039	Martínez
30 November 1996	Hull City	A	1–1	3,537	Jones
3 December 1996	Doncaster Rovers	H	4–1	2,606	Biggins, Johnson, Saville, Jones
14 December 1996	Cambridge United	A	1–1	2,784	Kilford
21 December 1996	Rochdale	H	0–1	3,311
28 December 1996	Scunthorpe United	A	3–2	2,833	Saville, Rogers, Kilford
18 January 1997	Exeter City	A	1–0	3,067	Johnson
21 January 1997	Leyton Orient	A	2–1	3,014	Kilford, Jones
25 January 1997	Swansea City	H	3–2	4,058	Jones (2), Kilford
1 February 1997	Hereford United	A	1–3	2,532	Rogers
4 February 1997	Lincoln City	A	3–1	2,241	Jones (2), Johnson
8 February 1997	Carlisle United	H	1–0	6,195	Lowe
15 February 1997	Fulham	A	1–1	9,448	Lowe
22 February 1997	Leyton Orient	H	5–1	3,783	Jones (3), Lancashire, Rogers
25 February 1997	Darlington	H	3–2	3,667	Jones (3, 1 pen)
28 February 1997	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–2	2,948
4 March 1997	Hartlepool United	H	2–2	3,229	Jones, Kilford
8 March 1997	Rochdale	A	1–3	3,254	Jones (pen)
11 March 1997	Scarborough	H	7–1	3,094	Martínez, Lowe (2), Díaz (2), Lancashire, Biggins
15 March 1997	Cambridge United	H	1–1	3,867	Jones
22 March 1997	Barnet	H	2–0	3,286	Kilford, Martínez
29 March 1997	Northampton Town	A	1–0	5,914	Lowe
31 March 1997	Cardiff City	H	0–1	4,634
5 April 1997	Chester City	A	1–1	4,005	Kilford
8 April 1997	Colchester United	H	1–0	4,571	McGibbon
12 April 1997	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–1	8,703
26 April 1997	Torquay United	A	3–0	2,481	Jones (2), Díaz
3 May 1997	Mansfield Town	H	2–0	7,106	Lancashire, Lowe

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wigan Athletic (C, P)	46	26	9	11	84	51	+33	87	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Fulham (P)	46	25	12	9	72	38	+34	87
3	Carlisle United (P)	46	24	12	10	67	44	+23	84
4	Northampton Town (O, P)	46	20	12	14	67	44	+23	72	Qualification for the Third Division play-offs
5	Swansea City	46	21	8	17	62	58	+4	71	Qualification for the Third Division play-offs

Source: ^[6]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

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

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1996	Blackpool	A	0–1	5,465 (1,832 away)

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Preston North End	H	2–3	3,713	Lancashire, Jones
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Preston North End	A	4–4 (lost 5–6 on agg)	5,767 (1,158 away)	Lancashire (3), Greenall

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
NR2	14 January 1997	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–3 (a.e.t.)	1,639 (374 away)	Martínez, Jones

Squad

Note: Numbers in brackets are appearances as a substitute.
Source:^[7]

Nat.	Pos.	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nat.	Pos.	Player	League		FA Cup		Other^[8]		Total
	FW	Wayne Biggins	20 (13)	3	1	0	1 (2)	0	22 (15)	3
	DF	Charlie Bishop	20 (1)	0	0	0	2	0	22 (1)	0
	DF	John Butler	20 (4)	0	1	0	1	0	22 (4)	0
	GK	Lee Butler	46	0	1	0	3	0	50	0
	DF	Matt Carragher	12 (6)	0	0 (1)	0	2	0	12 (7)	0
	MF	Isidro Díaz	26 (13)	6	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	26 (15)	6
	DF	Colin Greenall	46	2	1	0	2 (1)	1	49 (1)	3
	DF	Gavin Johnson	37	3	1	0	3	0	41	3
	FW	Graeme Jones	39 (1)	31	1	0	2 (1)	2	42 (2)	33
	MF	Ian Kilford	24 (11)	8	0	0	2 (1)	0	26 (12)	8
	DF	Ryan Kirby	05 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	05 (1)	0
	FW	Graham Lancashire	15 (9)	9	0	0	2	4	17 (9)	13
	DF	Michael Love	00 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	00 (3)	0
	FW	David Lowe	31 (11)	6	1	0	3	0	35 (11)	6
	MF	Roberto Martínez	38 (5)	4	1	0	2 (1)	1	41 (6)	5
	DF	Pat McGibbon	10	1	0	0	0	0	10	1
	DF	Steve Morgan	18 (5)	1	0	0	3	0	21 (5)	1
	DF	Roy O'Brien	00	0	0	0	0	0	00	0
	DF	John Pender	27 (2)	0	1	0	3	0	31 (2)	0
	MF	Paul Rogers	18 (2)	3	0	0	0	0	18 (2)	3
	FW	Andy Saville	17 (3)	4	1	0	1	0	19 (3)	4
	MF	Jesús Seba	00 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	00 (2)	0
	DF	Kevin Sharp	30 (5)	2	1	0	1 (1)	0	32 (6)	2
	MF	Mark Ward	05	0	0	0	0	0	05	0
	MF	Stuart Whittaker	02 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	02 (1)	0

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1997). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline. pp. 539–551. ISBN 978-0-7472-7738-5.
^ Moore, Andy (16 October 1996). "New Seba, New Danger". Wigan Observer. p. 40 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Ex-Everton star Ward is released by Athletic". Liverpool Echo. 31 October 1996. p. 71 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "It's love on the rocks". Liverpool Echo. 24 January 1997. p. 61 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Wigan Athletic 1996-1997". Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
^ "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
^ 1996–97 Wigan Athletic F.C. season at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
^ Includes appearances and goals in the League Cup and Football League Trophy.

[rothmans-1] Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1997). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline. pp. 539–551. ISBN 978-0-7472-7738-5.

[2] Moore, Andy (16 October 1996). "New Seba, New Danger". Wigan Observer. p. 40 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[3] "Ex-Everton star Ward is released by Athletic". Liverpool Echo. 31 October 1996. p. 71 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[love-4] "It's love on the rocks". Liverpool Echo. 24 January 1997. p. 61 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] "Wigan Athletic 1996-1997". Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2015.

[6] "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[7] 1996–97 Wigan Athletic F.C. season at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

[8] Includes appearances and goals in the League Cup and Football League Trophy.

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