1996–97 Millwall F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Millwall F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Millwall

1996–97 season
Chairman	Peter Mead
Manager	Jimmy Nicholl (until 10 February) John Docherty (from 10 February)
Stadium	The Den
Second Division	14th
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	First round
Auto Windscreens Shield	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Crawford (11) All: Crawford (15)
Average home league attendance	7,743

Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, Millwall had a tough finish to the campaign after being top of the table at the beginning of December which included a poor run of just five wins from their remaining 26 league games that saw them plummet down the table and ended up finishing in a disappointing 14th place. The club also experienced extreme financial difficulties that resulted in them being placed in financial administration for a short time. Jimmy Nicholl was relieved of his duties in February and John Docherty returned on a short term basis to stabilise the club at playing level.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League § Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
12	Walsall	46	19	10	17	54	53	+1	67
13	Watford	46	16	19	11	45	38	+7	67
14	Millwall	46	16	13	17	50	55	−5	61
15	Preston North End	46	18	7	21	49	55	−6	61
16	Bournemouth	46	15	15	16	43	45	−2	60

Source:
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results

Millwall's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Wrexham	H	1–1	9,371	Crawford (pen)
24 August 1996	Watford	A	2–0	9,495	Harle, Crawford
27 August 1996	York City	A	2–3	3,108	Savage, Malkin
31 August 1996	Burnley	H	2–1	9,281	Newman, Neill
7 September 1996	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	7,881	Rogan, Huckerby
10 September 1996	Peterborough United	A	3–3	4,442	Huckerby, Neill, Malkin
14 September 1996	Notts County	A	2–1	4,473	Neill, Robinson (own goal)
21 September 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	9,320	Huckerby, Dair
28 September 1996	Preston North End	A	1–2	9,400	Newman
2 October 1996	Stockport County	H	3–4	7,537	Rogan (2), Hartley
5 October 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–0	7,507
12 October 1996	Chesterfield	H	2–1	7,765	Neill, Rogan
16 October 1996	Bury	H	1–0	6,447	Rogan
19 October 1996	Gillingham	A	3–2	9,305	Crawford (2), Hartley
26 October 1996	Brentford	A	0–0	7,691
30 October 1996	Blackpool	H	2–1	7,179	Rogan (2 pens)
2 November 1996	Walsall	H	1–0	9,176	Crawford
9 November 1996	Bristol City	A	1–1	12,326	Crawford
20 November 1996	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–1	5,770	Crawford (2)
23 November 1996	Rotherham United	A	0–0	3,286
29 November 1996	Brentford	H	0–0	7,845
3 December 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0–1	4,550
14 December 1996	Bournemouth	A	1–1	4,494	Bright
18 December 1996	Luton Town	H	0–1	7,077
26 December 1996	Peterborough United	H	0–2	8,118
11 January 1997	Preston North End	H	3–2	7,096	Cadette, Crawford, Savage
18 January 1997	Stockport County	A	1–5	7,502	Webber
25 January 1997	Blackpool	A	0–3	4,523
1 February 1997	Bristol City	H	0–2	9,158
8 February 1997	Walsall	A	1–2	3,833	Bowry
15 February 1997	Rotherham United	H	2–0	7,043	Crawford, Gayle (own goal)
22 February 1997	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–1	2,968	Doyle
25 February 1997	Notts County	H	1–0	5,202	Savage
1 March 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2–1	7,539	Hartley, Dolby
8 March 1997	Luton Town	A	2–0	8,585	Dolby, Hartley
15 March 1997	Bournemouth	H	0–1	9,992
18 March 1997	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	3,695
22 March 1997	Watford	H	0–1	8,713
28 March 1997	Wrexham	A	3–3	4,634	Crawford, Newman, Rogan (pen)
2 April 1997	York City	H	1–1	6,161	Webber
5 April 1997	Burnley	A	0–1	9,840
8 April 1997	Bristol Rovers	A	0–1	5,324
12 April 1997	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–0	5,702
19 April 1997	Chesterfield	A	0–1	5,935
26 April 1997	Gillingham	H	0–2	8,946
3 May 1997	Bury	A	0–2	9,785

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	15 November 1996	Woking	A	2–2	5,448	Savage, Crawford
R1R	26 November 1996	Woking	H	0–1	6,048

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	21 August 1996	Peterborough United	H	1–0	5,145	Malkin
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Peterborough United	A	0–2 (lost 1–2 on agg)	4,610

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	7 December 1996	Hereford United	A	4–0	1,710	Dair (2), Crawford (2)
SR2	7 January 1997	Colchester United	H	2–3	2,795	Crawford, Savage

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	Tim Carter
—	GK	UGA	Andy Iga
—	GK	ENG	David Nurse
—	DF	IRL	Scott Fitzgerald (on loan from Wimbledon)
—	DF	ENG	Mike Harle
—	DF	SCO	Gerard Lavin
—	DF	ENG	Alan McLeary
—	DF	AUS	Lucas Neill
—	DF	ENG	Ricky Newman
—	DF	NIR	Anton Rogan
—	DF	SCO	David Sinclair
—	DF	ENG	Keith Stevens
—	DF	ENG	Damien Webber
—	DF	ENG	Tony Witter
—	MF	ENG	Greg Berry
—	MF	CAN	Marc Bircham
—	MF	SKN	Bobby Bowry
—	MF	ENG	Dean Canoville

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	SCO	Jason Dair
—	MF	ENG	Tony Dolby
—	MF	ENG	Maurice Doyle
—	MF	ENG	Steve Forbes
—	MF	SCO	Paul Hartley
—	MF	SCO	Graham Robertson
—	MF	IRL	Stephen Roche
—	MF	IRL	Dave Savage
—	MF	AUS	Jason van Blerk
—	MF	ENG	Ray Wilkins
—	FW	ENG	Mark Bright (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)
—	FW	ENG	Richard Cadette
—	FW	SCO	Stevie Crawford
—	FW	ENG	Danny Hockton
—	FW	ENG	Darren Huckerby
—	FW	ENG	Chris Malkin
—	FW	ENG	Lee McRobert
—	FW	IRL	Richard Sadlier