During the 1996–97 English football season, Nottingham Forest F.C. competed in the FA Premier League.
Season summary After a Kevin Campbell hat-trick earnt Nottingham Forest an impressive 3–0 away win at Coventry City on the season's opening game, an appalling 4–1 home defeat to FA Premier League newcomers Sunderland prompted a dismal start to the season which saw them fail to win any of their next 16 league games until a shock 2–1 home win over title contenders Arsenal on 21 December 1996. Ultimately, Forest were bottom of the Premier League by Christmas, and their manager Frank Clark gone, with Stuart Pearce taking over as player-manager on a temporary basis. A good run of form in January saw Pearce receive the Manager of the Month award and Forest lifted out of the relegation zone, but, by the time he stepped down to make way for Dave Bassett in March, Forest had endured another setback and were left needing a miracle to beat the drop. The acquisition of Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk did little to change the club's fortunes, and they were relegated in bottom place, seven points adrift of safety.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Results Nottingham Forest's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 August 1996 Coventry CityA3–019,468Campbell (3) 21 August 1996 SunderlandH1–422,874Haaland 24 August 1996 MiddlesbroughH1–124,705Pearce 4 September 1996 SouthamptonA2–214,450Campbell, Saunders 7 September 1996 Leicester CityH0–024,105 14 September 1996 Manchester UnitedA1–454,984Haaland 21 September 1996 West Ham UnitedH0–223,352 28 September 1996 ChelseaA1–127,673Lee 12 October 1996 Leeds UnitedA0–229,225 19 October 1996 Derby CountyH1–127,771Saunders 28 October 1996 EvertonH0–119,892 2 November 1996 Aston VillaA0–235,310 18 November 1996 Sheffield WednesdayA0–216,390 25 November 1996 Blackburn RoversH2–217,525Pearce (pen), Cooper 30 November 1996 WimbledonA0–112,608 9 December 1996 Newcastle UnitedH0–025,762 17 December 1996 LiverpoolA2–436,126Campbell, Pearce 21 December 1996 ArsenalH2–127,384Haaland (2) 26 December 1996 Manchester UnitedH0–429,032 28 December 1996 Leicester CityA2–220,833Clough, Cooper 1 January 1997 West Ham UnitedA1–022,358Campbell 11 January 1997 ChelseaH2–028,358Pearce, Bart-Williams 19 January 1997 Tottenham HotspurH2–127,303Roy (2) 29 January 1997 Coventry CityH0–122,619 1 February 1997 EvertonA0–232,567 22 February 1997 Aston VillaH0–025,239 1 March 1997 Tottenham HotspurA1–032,805Saunders 5 March 1997 Sheffield WednesdayH0–321,485 8 March 1997 ArsenalA0–238,206 11 March 1997 Blackburn RoversA1–120,485Haaland 15 March 1997 LiverpoolH1–129,181Woan 22 March 1997 SunderlandA1–122,120Lyttle 24 March 1997 MiddlesbroughA1–129,888Haaland 5 April 1997 SouthamptonH1–325,134Pearce (pen) 19 April 1997 Leeds UnitedH1–125,565van Hooijdonk 23 April 1997 Derby CountyA0–018,087 3 May 1997 WimbledonH1–119,865Roy 11 May 1997 Newcastle UnitedA0–536,554
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR34 January 1997 Ipswich TownH3–014,681Saunders (2), AllenR426 January 1997 Newcastle UnitedA2–136,434Woan (2)R515 February 1997 ChesterfieldA0–18,890
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 18 September 1996 Wycombe WanderersH1–06,482RoyR2 2nd Leg24 September 1996 Wycombe WanderersA1–16,310LeeR323 October 1996 West Ham UnitedA1–419,402Cooper
Squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In Date Pos. Name From Fee3 July 1996MFChris AllenOxford United£500,00016 July 1996FWDean SaundersGalatasaray£1,500,00026 July 1996DFNikola JerkanReal Oviedo£1,000,00010 March 1997FWPierre van HooijdonkCeltic£4,500,00015 March 1997FWIan Thomas-MooreTranmere Rovers£1,000,000
Out Date Pos. Name To Fee16 July 1996MFKingsley BlackGrimsby Town£25,00016 August 1996MFNeil WebbGrimsby TownFree transfer22 August 1996DFDarren WatkinsBerwick RangersSigned4 March 1997GKTommy WrightManchester City£450,0009 May 1997MFJustin WalkerScunthorpe UnitedUnknown28 May 1997FWJason LeeWatford£200,000
Transfers in: £8,500,000 Transfers out: £675,000 Total spending: £7,825,000
References