The 1896-97 Football League season was the ninth in Football League history with Everton having been an ever present in the top division. The club played thirty-five games in England's two major competitions, winning eighteen, drawing three and losing fourteen. The club finished the season in seventh place, eight points clear of the test match relegation place, and reached their second FA Cup final but again lost, this time 2–3 against Aston Villa.
Season review In each of the previous two seasons Everton had started the calendar year on top of the League, only to falter in the second half of the season. In their bid to strengthen the forward line they brought in Jack Taylor from his hometown club St Mirren, slotting into the role vacated by Tom McInnes who had departed during the summer for Luton Town to join the forward line of Bell, Chadwick, Milward and Hartley.
Elsewhere, the established half-back line of Boyle, Holt & Stewart continued to play ahead of full-back Smart Arridge, who was partnered in defense by David Storrier following James Adams' return to his former club, Hearts.
On paper this side looked as good as any in the First Division but there was uncertainty over the ability of the inexperienced goalkeeper, Harry Briggs, who had stepped in to make just one appearance the previous season after the departure of Jack Hillman.
With the exception of the inclusion of John Cameron in place of Hartley, this was the team that won their opening game against The Wednesday, while Barker made his debut at the back, in place of Arridge in their second game, another victory over Wolves that took the Toffeemen joint top of the table with Bolton, albeit already having a game in hand on the Trotters. The Merseysiders went on to win four of their opening five games before embarking on a dreadful slump that provided just a solitary victory in their next nine games.
The change initially looked to have been a wise one as, shortly after Menham's arrival, Everton embarked on a run of seven consecutive League and Cup victories to put themselves right back into the title race, four points behind leaders, Aston Villa with ten games remaining.
The last of those victories was Everton's first round cup tie with Burton Wanderers and it seemed that the cup run once again affected their League form as they now went on a run of six consecutive League defeats which killed any lingering title ambitions.
First team squad and appearances
Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Harry Briggs10000100GK Bob Menham18050230GK John Patrick100010GK John Palmer100010FB David Storrier25030280FB Smart Arridge23030260FB George Barker400040FB George Molyneux100010FB Peter Meechan7040110HB Dickie Boyle29051341HB Johnny Holt25151302HB Billy Stewart {Capt}29340333HB Hugh Goldie 300030HB John Robertson301040HB George Meiklejohn100010FW Jack Bell2715523217FW Jack Taylor3013523515FW John Cameron15500155FW Edgar Chadwick28752339FW Alf Milward279533212FW Abe Hartley14653199FW William Campbell310031FW Alf Schofield100010FW William Maley200020FW William Williams100010FW Bert Banks200020–Own goals–1–1–2
Final league table PosClubPWDLFAGAPts1Aston Villa30215473381.921472Sheffield United301310742291.448363Derby County301641070501.400364Preston North End301112755401.375345Liverpool30129946381.211336The Wednesday301011942371.135317Everton301431362571.088318Bolton Wanderers301261240430.930309Bury3010101039440.8863010Wolverhampton Wanderers301161345411.0982811Nottingham Forest30981344490.8982612West Bromwich Albion301061433560.5892613Stoke301131648590.8142514Blackburn Rovers301131635620.5652515Sunderland30791434470.7232316Burnley30671743610.70519 Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
The Football League Everton home games were played at Goodison Park while away games were played at the venues stated
DateOpponentsVenueResultF – AScorersAttendance5 September 1896Sheffield WednesdayGoodison Park2–1John Cameron, Jack Taylor15,00012 September 1896Nottingham ForestMolineux1–0Tommy Dunn (own goal)5,50019 September 1896Aston VillaGoodison Park2–3Jack Taylor, Alf Milward20,00026 September 1896Aston VillaWellington Road2–1James Welford (own goal), Edgar Chadwick20,0003 October 1896LiverpoolGoodison Park2–1Alf Milward, Abe Hartley45,00010 October 1896BurnleyTurf Moor1–2Billy Stewart9,00017 October 1896Sheffield UnitedGoodison Park1–2William Foulke (own goal)15,00024 October 1896Sheffield WednesdayOlive Grove1–4Alf Milward6,00031 October 1896Wolverhampton WanderersGoodison Park0–010,00014 November 1896Bolton WanderersGoodison Park2–3Alf Milward, Edgar Chadwick12,00021 November 1896LiverpoolAnfield0–030,00028 November 1896BurnleyGoodison Park6–0John Cameron (3), Edgar Chadwick,Alf Milward, Jack Bell10,0007 December 1896Bolton WanderersBurnden Park0–27,00012 December 1896SunderlandNewcastle Road1–1Johnny Holt4,00019 December 1896Stoke CityGoodison Park4–2John Cameron, Jack Bell (2), Jack Taylor10,00026 December 1896SunderlandGoodison Park5–2Edgar Chadwick, Jack Bell (2),Alf Milward (pen), Abe Hartley35,0001 January 1897Sheffield UnitedGoodison Park2–1Jack Taylor (2)10,0002 January 1897Stoke CityVictoria Ground3–2Abe Hartley, Jack Taylor, Jack Bell8,0009 January 1897Nottingham ForestGoodison Park3–1Jack Taylor, Jack Bell (2)7,00016 January 1897West Bromwich AlbionStoney Lane4–1Jack Taylor (3), Jack Bell3,9506 February 1897Preston North EndStoney Lane3–4Jack Taylor, Abe Hartley, Edgar Chadwick25,0002 March 1897BuryGigg Lane1–3Alf Milward7,0006 March 1897Blackburn RoversEwood Park2–4Jack Bell, Jack Taylor 6,00010 March 1897Nottingham ForestGregory Ground0–32,00013 March 1897Blackburn RoversGoodison Park0–310,0003 April 1897Preston North EndDeepdale1–4William Campbell2,00016 April 1897Derby CountyGoodison Park5–2Alf Milward, Edgar Chadwick (2), Abe Hartley,Jack Bell25,00017 April 1897West Bromwich AlbionGoodison Park6–3Jack Bell (3), Jack Taylor, Alf Milward,Edgar Chadwick9,70020 April 1897Derby CountyBaseball Ground1–0Billy Stewart14,00024 April 1897BuryGoodison Park1–2Jack Bell10,000
References