Final League Table -
Division One
Teams in a silver box denotes a player
representing England in 1896-97
Teams denoted with ▼ were relegated to the second division for the
following season after
finishing in the bottom two placings of
the test matches |
|
Team |
P |
Home |
Away |
₧
|
|
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
|
Aston Villa |
30 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
36 |
16 |
11 |
2 |
2 |
37 |
22 |
47 |
|
Sheffield
United |
30 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
22 |
16 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
20 |
13 |
36 |
|
Derby
County |
30 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
45 |
22 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
25 |
28 |
36 |
|
Preston North End |
30 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
35 |
21 |
3 |
8 |
4 |
20 |
19 |
34 |
|
Liverpool |
30 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
25 |
10 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
21 |
28 |
33 |
|
Wednesday |
30 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
29 |
11 |
1 |
7 |
7 |
13 |
26 |
31 |
|
Everton |
30 |
8 |
1 |
6 |
42 |
29 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
20 |
28 |
31 |
|
Bolton Wanderers |
30 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
22 |
18 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
18 |
25 |
30 |
|
Bury |
30 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
25 |
15 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
14 |
29 |
30 |
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
30 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
26 |
14 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
19 |
27 |
28 |
|
Nottingham Forest |
30 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
30 |
16 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
14 |
33 |
26 |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
30 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
18 |
16 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
15 |
40 |
26 |
|
Stoke |
30 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
30 |
18 |
3 |
0 |
12 |
18 |
41 |
25 |
|
Blackburn Rovers |
30 |
8 |
1 |
6 |
27 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
8 |
37 |
25 |
|
Sunderland |
30 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
21 |
21 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
13 |
26 |
23 |
|
Burnley▼ |
30 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
25 |
25 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
18 |
36 |
19 |
|
Everton
recorded a six-match winning run from 19 December 1896:
Stoke (h) 4-2, Sunderland (h) 5-2, Sheffield
U. (a) 2-1, Stoke (a) 3-2, Nottingham F. (h) 3-1, West Brom (a) 4-1,
before losing 4-3 at home to
Preston on 6 February 1897. Aston Villa's biggest winning sequence was
their last five matches. Sunderland's unbeaten home record of 37 league matches at
Newcastle Road was ended by Bury in their first game of the season. |
|
How The League Was Won 1896-97 Season |
|
Timeline |
21
consecutive Saturdays from 5 September 1896 to 23 January 1897, plus Good Friday,
16 April 1897
With no
games allowed in August, there were four
opening games on Tuesday, 1 September 1896 and a fifth on the
following day. Two additional
games were
played on the first Monday in September, plus one on a Monday in
October, two on Mondays and one on a Wednesday in
November, four on Mondays in December (including three in the
festive week), four on each of Christmas Day and New Year's Day and
one on the Tuesday of the festive
week (Boxing Day was a Saturday). There were no midweek games in January, but two
on Mondays in February, three on a Tuesday and
one each on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in March, and five on
Mondays (including Easter), two on the day after Easter Monday and
two on a Thursday in
April. The remaining games were played on Saturdays between February
and April, with the
FA Cup taking precedence on five weekends from the first round on 30
January 1897 to the
final on 10 April 1897 (a week earlier than the previous season to
avoid Easter). There were two weeks between each
round and three weeks before the semi-finals and final. The first test match
was played on Easter
Saturday, but another was postponed and rearranged for the following
Wednesday, with the remainder played on consecutive Saturdays and
Mondays. Last league game was on Monday 26 April (Preston 0-1 Aston
V.),
the same
day as the test matches were concluded.
|
Monday, 5
April 1897 |
Burnley 2 Derby County 3
Turf Moor, Burnley
(3,000)
Bowes, Morrison ~ Bloomer
(2), McQueen |
Almost a year to the day when Derby's draw at Burnley
had ended their title hopes and presented the championship to
Aston Villa, this win reduced Villa's lead to seven points, with
four games left. Villa had three to play. |
|
Saturday,
10 April 1897 |
Bury 1 Derby County 0
Gigg Lane, Bury
(6,108)
Settle |
In a unique occurrence, Aston Villa won both legs of the
'double' on the same day. For, whilst they were beating Everton
3-2 in the FA Cup Final at the Crystal Palace, Derby were
relinquishing their last hope of catching them in the league
title race. Villa went on to increase their winning margin to
eleven points, with Sheffield United pipping Derby to become
runners-up on goal average. |
|
|
The Elite League 1896-97 Season
(games between the top four) |
Preston North End and Sheffield United replaced
Bolton Wanderers
and Everton from the previous season's top four
Games played between the top two:-
|
Saturday, 12 September 1896 |
|
Saturday, 3 October 1896 |
Aston Villa 2 Sheffield United 2
Wellington Road, Handsworth
(5,000)
Burton, Wheldon ~
Henderson, Priest |
|
Sheffield United 0
Aston Villa 0
Bramall
Lane, Sheffield
(12,000) |
|
|
The Continuous League
1888-97
(first nine seasons) |
After nine years at the top, Preston were finally overhauled, but this was the
fifth
season
of thirty games each, following three of 22 and one of 26 games each, so comparisons with
other seasons have little
relevance.
Sunderland still had the highest average points per game
from their seven seasons.
Aston
Villa also overhauled Sunderland's lead.Aston Villa also overhauled
Sunderland's lead. |
|
Champions:
Aston Villa |
|
Manager: George
Ramsay |
|
|
Derby's Steve
Bloomer was top scorer with 24 goals.
Scottish international, George Allan of
Liverpool was joint-third on the list with 17.
|
|
England and the Football
League 1896-97 Season |
|
England's impact on the Football League |
Of the 33 playing positions used
during the active 1896-97 season, Football League players provided
26 of them, and of the eleven goals scored, League players scored
all of them.
Seven of the 16 first division clubs were
represented.
Four Football League games had a direct impact on
two of England's games, on 20 February and 3 April.
As a
result, on 20 February, England took Sheffield United's Ernest
Needham and The Wednesday's Tom Crawshaw. On 3 April,
Everton were without Edgar Chadwick and Alf Milward, and England
again took Crawshaw. |
|
