1996–97 2. Bundesliga
The 1996–97 2. Bundesliga season was the twenty-third season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system.
1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha BSC were promoted to the Bundesliga while SV Waldhof Mannheim, VfB Lübeck, Rot-Weiss Essen and VfB Oldenburg were relegated to the Regionalliga.For the 1996–97 season VfB Oldenburg, Rot-Weiss Essen, FC Gütersloh and Stuttgarter Kickers were newly promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Regionalliga while 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Eintracht Frankfurt and KFC Uerdingen 05 had been relegated to the league from the Bundesliga.
Results
Top scorers
The league's top scorers:
Goals | Player | Team |
18 | Angelo Vier | Rot-Weiss Essen |
17 | Steffen Heidrich | VfB Leipzig |
15 | Axel Kruse | Hertha BSC Berlin |
14 | Pavel Kuka | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
13 | Christian Claaßen | SV Meppen |
12 | Abderrahim Ouakili | 1. FSV Mainz 05 |
12 | Jürgen Rische | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
11 | Rainer Krieg | Fortuna Köln |
10 | Sven Demandt | 1. FSV Mainz 05 |
10 | Horst Elberfeld | VfB Oldenburg |
10 | Wolfram Klein | Rot-Weiss Essen |
10 | Olaf Marschall | 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
10 | Dirk van der Ven | FC Gütersloh |
10 | Mark Zimmermann | FC Carl Zeiss Jena |