1996/97 Premier League season review

Manchester United won the 1996/97 Premier League with 75 points, seven clear of Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all finished on 68. It is still the lowest points total of any Premier League champion. United survived a 5-0 defeat at Newcastle and a 6-3 loss at Southampton in October, then went top for good at the end of January.

It was the season Alan Shearer joined Newcastle for a world-record £15m, Gianfranco Zola arrived at Chelsea, and Middlesbrough reached two cup finals but were relegated after a three-point deduction.

You can replay the season here with a £100m squad picked from 345 players across all 20 clubs, or read on for how it unfolded.

The summer of Shearer

The biggest move of the summer came on 30 July 1996, when Newcastle paid Blackburn £15m for Alan Shearer, a world transfer record. Manchester United had offered £12m plus Andy Cole three weeks earlier and been turned down.

The league's spending reached new levels elsewhere too:

• Middlesbrough paid a club-record £7m for Fabrizio Ravanelli from Juventus and added the Brazilian midfielder Emerson.
• Chelsea paid a club-record £4.9m for Roberto Di Matteo from Lazio, under new manager Ruud Gullit, who had replaced Glenn Hoddle when Hoddle became England manager.
• Manchester United signed Ole Gunnar Solskjær from Molde, Karel Poborský from Slavia Prague, Ronny Johnsen and Jordi Cruyff.
• Leeds bought Lee Sharpe from United for £4.5m and took Ian Rush on a free transfer from Liverpool.

Sunderland and Derby County came up for their first Premier League seasons, and Leicester returned after a year away.

Arsenal began in turmoil. They sacked Bruce Rioch on 12 August, five days before the first game. Stewart Houston and then Pat Rice held the job until Arsène Wenger arrived at the end of September.

The opening day set the tone. Ravanelli scored a hat-trick on his debut in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool, and at Selhurst Park, David Beckham scored from his own half against Wimbledon, lobbing Neil Sullivan from just inside the halfway line.

How United won the title with 75 points

Nobody ran away with 1996/97. Sheffield Wednesday led after winning their first three games, Liverpool were top at the end of September, and Arsenal led on goal difference at the end of October.

Manchester United's season looked to be falling apart in the autumn. They lost 5-0 at Newcastle on 20 October, 6-3 at Southampton six days later and 2-1 at home to Chelsea on 2 November. The 6-3 at The Dell was the highest-scoring game of the season.

Then they stopped losing. From 16 November United went 16 league games unbeaten, the longest run of the season, which only ended with a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on 8 March.

Liverpool and Newcastle fall away

Liverpool were top at Christmas and New Year after a late John Barnes winner at Southampton, five points clear at one stage, but they lost on New Year's Day. Newcastle had their own upheaval. Kevin Keegan resigned in January, saying he had taken the club as far as he could, and Kenny Dalglish replaced him.

United went top on 29 January with a 2-1 win over Wimbledon in front of 55,314 at Old Trafford, the season's biggest crowd, and stayed there. Liverpool's best chances to catch them went in April:

1. 6 April: Liverpool lost 2-1 at home to Coventry, who were bottom at the time.
2. Later in April: United won 3-1 at Anfield.
3. The run-in: Robbie Fowler, who scored 18 league goals, was suspended for the last four games.

The title was settled on 6 May without United playing. Newcastle drew 0-0 at West Ham and Liverpool lost 2-1 at Wimbledon. Newcastle took second place on goal difference, ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær, signed for £1.5m from Molde, finished as United's top scorer with 18 league goals in his first season. Eric Cantona added 11, and on 18 May, a week after the final game, he announced his retirement. In Europe, United reached the Champions League semi-finals before losing 1-0 home and away to Borussia Dortmund.

Cups, Europe and the rest of the table

Three clubs finished on 68 points behind United, and goal difference decided who went where. Newcastle took the Champions League qualifying place. Arsenal, third in Wenger's first season, and Liverpool, fourth, went into the UEFA Cup. Shearer scored 25 league goals for Newcastle, with Les Ferdinand adding 16, and Ian Wright scored 23 for Arsenal.

The cups went to clubs outside the top four:

• Chelsea won the FA Cup, beating Middlesbrough 2-0 at Wembley on 17 May. Di Matteo scored after 43 seconds, then the fastest goal in a Wembley FA Cup final, and Eddie Newton added a second from a Zola flick. Zola, signed from Parma for £4.5m in November, was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers.
• Leicester, newly promoted, won the League Cup. After a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at Wembley, Steve Claridge scored the only goal of the replay at Hillsborough on 16 April. Leicester also finished a comfortable ninth.

Aston Villa were fifth, with Dwight Yorke scoring 17 league goals. Liverpool also reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.

Further down, Leeds changed completely under George Graham, who replaced Howard Wilkinson in September. They scored only 28 league goals, the fewest in the division, but Nigel Martyn kept 19 clean sheets, more than any other keeper. Tony Yeboah, back from knee surgery, barely featured under Graham, and threw his shirt towards the bench after being substituted in a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in March.

Everton sold Andrei Kanchelskis to Fiorentina for £8m in January, having bought Nick Barmby from Middlesbrough for a club-record £5.75m in October. They beat Southampton 7-1 in November, but Joe Royle resigned in March and they finished 15th.

Middlesbrough's deduction and the relegation fight

Middlesbrough's season mixed star signings, two cup runs and relegation. With Ravanelli, Emerson and Juninho, they reached both domestic cup finals and lost both. Juninho was named the Premier League's Player of the Season, and Ravanelli scored 16 league goals.

The damage was done in December. Middlesbrough called off their game at Blackburn on 21 December, saying 23 players were ill or injured, and were deducted three points. They were relegated on the final day after a 1-1 draw at Leeds, two points short of safety. Without the deduction they would have finished 14th.

The last day decided everything at the bottom:

• Coventry won 2-1 at Tottenham, with goals from Dion Dublin and Paul Williams, and survived in 17th on 41 points. Gordon Strachan had taken over from Ron Atkinson in November, and Dublin scored 13 league goals.
• Sunderland, in their first Premier League season, lost 1-0 to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park and went down in 18th on 40 points.
• Nottingham Forest were already down, bottom with 34 points and only six wins. Frank Clark resigned in December, and Forest went 16 games without a win, the longest run of the season.

Surprises and disappointments

Some clubs did better than anyone expected:

• Wimbledon finished eighth and put together a seven-game winning run, the joint longest of the season with Newcastle. They also beat Liverpool late on to help settle the title.
• Sheffield Wednesday won their first three games to top the early table and finished seventh.
• Leicester, back in the top flight after a year away, won the League Cup and finished ninth.
• Solskjær arrived from Molde for £1.5m and finished as United's top scorer.

Others had seasons to forget:

• Newcastle spent a world-record fee on Shearer, lost 4-0 to United in the Charity Shield, beat them 5-0 in October, and still finished without a trophy after Keegan walked out in January.
• Blackburn, champions two years earlier, sold Shearer, lost manager Ray Harford in October and finished 13th.
• Everton sold Kanchelskis mid-season, lost Royle in March and slipped to 15th.
• Nottingham Forest won only six league games and finished bottom, with Stuart Pearce taking charge as caretaker after Clark left and Dave Bassett following in March.

The PFA Team of the Year and the season's awards

The players' Team of the Year came entirely from the top four: three each from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, and two from Newcastle.

The individual awards:

• PFA Players' Player of the Year: Alan Shearer (Newcastle)
• PFA Young Player of the Year: David Beckham (Manchester United)
• Football Writers' Footballer of the Year: Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
• Premier League Player of the Season: Juninho (Middlesbrough)
• Premier League Manager of the Season: Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)
• Top scorer: Alan Shearer (Newcastle), 25 league goals

1996/97 quick answers

Who won the Premier League in 1996/97? Manchester United, with 75 points, seven ahead of Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Who was relegated in 1996/97? Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest.

Why were Middlesbrough deducted points in 1996/97? They called off their game at Blackburn on 21 December 1996, citing illness and injuries, and were docked three points. It cost them their place in the league.

Who was the Premier League top scorer in 1996/97? Alan Shearer, with 25 league goals for Newcastle.

Who was PFA Player of the Year in 1996/97? Alan Shearer. David Beckham was Young Player of the Year.

Who won the FA Cup and League Cup in 1996/97? Chelsea won the FA Cup, beating Middlesbrough 2-0. Leicester won the League Cup, beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in a replay.