1996–97 Derby County F.C. season


The 1996–97 season was Derby County's first in the Premier League, following their promotion from the First Division the previous season.

Season summary

Back in the top flight after a five-year exile, Jim Smith's Derby County side never looked in any real danger of an immediate return to Division One, and their 12th-place finish in the final table was their highest final position in eight years. Young striker Dean Sturridge received many plaudits for his goalscoring exploits, which sparked talk of a £7 million transfer to Middlesbrough, but the move never happened.
The highlight of the season was a 3–2 win against champions Manchester United at Old Trafford, with Paulo Wanchope scoring a "wonder goal" on his English league debut.

Final league table

;Results summary
;Results by round

Results

Derby County's score comes first

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R321 January 1997GillinghamA2–09,508Willems, van der Laan
R425 January 1997Aston VillaH3–117,977van der Laan, Sturridge, Willems
R526 February 1997Coventry CityH3–218,003Ward, van der Laan, Sturridge
QF8 March 1997MiddlesbroughH0–217,567

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st Leg17 September 1996Luton TownA0–14,459
R2 2nd Leg25 September 1996Luton TownH2–2 13,569Sturridge, Simpson

Players

First-team squad

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Statistics

Starting 11