#17 – 1996/97
TTT Season Rating Score*: 1.65 (League 1.30, Cups 0.18, Finance 0.17).
Manager: Roy Evans.
Premier League: 68 points, finished 4th.
£XI rank: 2nd.
Europe: Cup Winners Cup, Semi-final.
FA Cup: 4th Round.
League Cup: 5th Round.
Top scorer: Robbie Fowler, 31.
Final League Table:
| # | Team | M. | W | D | L | goals | Dif. | Pt. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Manchester United | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 76:44 | 32 | 75 |
| 2 |  |
Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 73:40 | 33 | 68 |
| 3 |  |
Arsenal FC | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 62:32 | 30 | 68 |
| 4 |  |
Liverpool FC | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 62:37 | 25 | 68 |
| 5 |  |
Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 47:34 | 13 | 61 |
| 6 |  |
Chelsea FC | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 58:55 | 3 | 59 |
| 7 |  |
Sheffield Wednesday | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 50:51 | -1 | 57 |
| 8 |  |
Wimbledon FC | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 49:46 | 3 | 56 |
| 9 |  |
Leicester City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 46:54 | -8 | 47 |
| 10 |  |
Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 44:51 | -7 | 46 |
| 11 |  |
Leeds United | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 28:38 | -10 | 46 |
| 12 |  |
Derby County | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 45:58 | -13 | 46 |
| 13 |  |
Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 42:43 | -1 | 42 |
| 14 |  |
West Ham United | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 39:48 | -9 | 42 |
| 15 |  |
Everton FC | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 44:57 | -13 | 42 |
| 16 |  |
Southampton FC | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 50:56 | -6 | 41 |
| 17 |  |
Coventry City | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 38:54 | -16 | 41 |
| 18 |  |
Sunderland AFC | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 35:53 | -18 | 40 |
| 19 |  |
Middlesbrough FC | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 51:60 | -9 | 39 |
| 20 |  |
Nottingham Forest | 38 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 31:59 | -28 | 34 |
Transfers In:
| Player | Current Money Purchase Price | Age @ transfer |
| Kvarme B | £0 | 24 |
| Berger P | £42,545,001 | 23 |
Transfers Out:
| Player | Sales CTPP |
| Collymore S | £91,635,386 |
| Scales J | £28,074,586 |
Player stats for the season:
| # | Player | Starts | Sub Apps | Goals |
| 20 | Stig Inge Bjornebye | 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 1 | David James | 52 | 0 | |
| 7 | Steve McManaman | 51 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Jason McAteer | 50 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | John Barnes | 46 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Robbie Fowler | 44 | 0 | 31 |
| 5 | Mark Wright | 43 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Michael Thomas | 39 | 3 | 3 |
| 21 | Dominic Matteo | 34 | 4 | |
| 8 | Stan Collymore | 31 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Phil Babb | 29 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | Jamie Redknapp | 24 | 8 | 4 |
| 15 | Patrik Berger | 23 | 11 | 9 |
| 14 | Neil Ruddock | 19 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Bjorn Tore Kvarme | 16 | 0 | |
| 12 | Steve Harkness | 8 | 2 | |
| 3 | John Scales | 6 | 1 | |
| 2 | Rob Jones | 3 | 0 | |
| 23 | Jamie Carragher | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | Michael Owen | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Mark Kennedy | 0 | 8 | |
| 24 | Lee Jones | 0 | 2 | |
| 25 | David Thompson | 0 | 2 |
Season summary
Andrew Beasley: Liverpool finished fourth in a two horse race. The fact Manchester United got just 75 points yet won the league by seven is frankly sickening when you think of some of the seasons the Reds have had since. And bear in mind Liverpool had the second highest £XI in the Premier League that season too, so on purely financial terms should’ve finished second. That’s a lot of spending considering the likes of McManaman and Fowler were home grown.
However, while the season ended disappointingly, there were no shortage of exciting games and entertainment. The die was cast when Liverpool drew 3-3 at Middlesbrough on the opening day and some guy called Ravanelli bagged a hat-trick.
There were 5-1 wins over Chelsea and Boro, with Fowler scoring four in the latter, a 6-3 victory against Sion and a rollercoaster 4-3 win over Newcastle, 12 months after the original, more famous one. But in classic mid-1990s Liverpool style, there was a 4-2 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea where the Reds lead 2-0 at half time too. Roy Evans’ side also nearly recovered from a European first leg semi-final 3-0 defeat, but then nobody does that, do they?
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