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 Arsenal , 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.[ 1] [ 2]
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Results summary
Overall
Home
Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
38
11
13
14
45
58
−13
46
8
6
5
25
22
+3
3
7
9
20
36
−16
Results by round Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Ground H A A H A H A H H A A H H A H A H A A H A A A H H H A H A A H A H H A H A H Result D D L D W W D L L D L W W D W D L L L D D L D L W D L W L L W W D W L D W L Position 7 13 15 16 12 9 9 11 13 12 16 11 10 11 9 11 11 11 12 11 13 15 16 16 13 12 13 12 14 14 14 12 12 11 12 11 10 12
Source:
Statto.com A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = Loss
Derby County's score comes first [ 3]
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
17 August 1996
Leeds United H
3–3
17,925
Sturridge (2), Paul Simpson
21 August 1996
Tottenham Hotspur A
1–1
28,219
Dailly
24 August 1996
Aston Villa A
0–2
34,646
4 September 1996
Manchester United H
1–1
18,025
Laursen
9 September 1996
Blackburn Rovers A
2–1
19,214
Willems , Flynn
14 September 1996
Sunderland H
1–0
17,692
Asanović (pen)
21 September 1996
Sheffield Wednesday A
0–0
23,487
28 September 1996
Wimbledon H
0–2
17,022
12 October 1996
Newcastle United H
0–1
18,092
19 October 1996
Nottingham Forest A
1–1
27,771
Dailly
27 October 1996
Liverpool A
1–2
39,515
Ward
2 November 1996
Leicester City H
2–0
18,010
Ward , Whitlow (own goal)
17 November 1996
Middlesbrough H
2–1
17,350
Asanović , Vickers (own goal)
23 November 1996
West Ham United A
1–1
24,576
Sturridge
30 November 1996
Coventry City H
2–1
18,042
Asanović (pen), Ward
7 December 1996
Arsenal A
2–2
38,018
Sturridge , Powell
16 December 1996
Everton H
0–1
17,252
21 December 1996
Southampton A
1–3
14,901
Dailly
26 December 1996
Sunderland A
0–2
22,512
28 December 1996
Blackburn Rovers H
0–0
17,847
11 January 1997
Wimbledon A
1–1
11,467
Willems
18 January 1997
Chelsea A
1–3
27,639
Asanović
29 January 1997
Leeds United A
0–0
27,523
1 February 1997
Liverpool H
0–1
18,102
15 February 1997
West Ham United H
1–0
18,057
Asanović (pen)
19 February 1997
Sheffield Wednesday H
2–2
18,060
Sturridge , Štimac
22 February 1997
Leicester City A
2–4
20,323
Sturridge (2)
1 March 1997
Chelsea H
3–2
18,039
Minto (own goal), Asanović , Ward
5 March 1997
Middlesbrough A
1–6
29,739
Simpson
15 March 1997
Everton A
0–1
32,140
22 March 1997
Tottenham Hotspur H
4–2
18,083
van der Laan , Trollope , Sturridge , Ward
5 April 1997
Manchester United A
3–2
55,243
Ward , Wanchope , Sturridge
9 April 1997
Southampton H
1–1
17,839
Ward
12 April 1997
Aston Villa H
2–1
18,071
Rowett , van der Laan
19 April 1997
Newcastle United A
1–3
36,550
Sturridge
23 April 1997
Nottingham Forest H
0–0
18,087
3 May 1997
Coventry City A
2–1
22,854
Burrows (own goal), Sturridge
11 May 1997
Arsenal H
1–3
18,287
Ward
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg
17 September 1996
Luton Town A
0–1
4,459
R2 2nd Leg
25 September 1996
Luton Town H
2–2 (lost 2–3 on agg)
13,569
Sturridge , Simpson
Squad at end of season [ 4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season
edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players did not appear for the first team this season. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
GK: #1, Russell Hoult , 31
RB: #2, Gary Rowett , 35
CB: #27, Paul McGrath , 23
CB: #22, Christian Dailly , 31
CB: #16, Jacob Laursen , 35
LB: #3, Chris Powell , 35
CM: #6, Igor Štimac , 21
CM: #10, Aljoša Asanović , 34
CM: #4, Darryl Powell , 27
CF: 8, Dean Sturridge , 29
CF: #12, Ashley Ward , 25
^ Powell was born in Lambeth , England , but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
^ Trollope was born in Swindon , England , but qualified to represent Wales internationally and would make his international debut for Wales in May 1997.
^ Carsley was born in Birmingham , England , but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and represented them at U-21 and B level before making his international debut for Ireland in October 1997.
^ McGrath was born in Ealing , England to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, but was raised in the Republic of Ireland and made his international debut for Ireland in 1985.
Russell Hoult, 31
Paul McGrath, 23
Christian Dailly, 31
Jacob Laursen, 35
Igor Štimac, 21