1996–97 Celtic F.C. season

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Celtic

1996–97 season
Chairman	Fergus McCann
Manager	Tommy Burns (until 2 May) Billy Stark (caretaker)
Ground	Celtic Park Glasgow, Scotland (capacity: 60,355)
Scottish Premier Division	2nd
Scottish Cup	Semi-finals
Scottish League Cup	Quarter-finals
UEFA Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Jorge Cadete (25) All: Jorge Cadete (33)
Home colours Away colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996-97 season was the 103rd season of competitive football by Celtic.

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Season Summary

Once again, the season saw a very close title race between the two Old Firm teams. Celtic consistently remained second, only topping the table for a few days at the start of November, but stayed hot on the heels of Rangers, usually only being a couple of points behind them, and sometimes only by goal difference. However, points dropped on consecutive weekends in late November and early December saw the gap increase. Both sides endured turbulent runs of form in March, the pressure of the "Nine In A Row" - one seeking to achieve it, the other stopping it - telling. Following a 1-0 victory at Celtic Park during the final meeting of the two that season Rangers pulled decisively ahead in the title race, and this led to the dismissal of manager Tommy Burns three games before the end of the season.

Competitions

Scottish Premier Division

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	25	5	6	85	33	+52	80	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Celtic	36	23	6	7	78	32	+46	75	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[a]
3	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	46	33	+13	60
4	Heart of Midlothian	36	14	10	12	46	43	+3	52
5	Dunfermline Athletic	36	12	9	15	52	65	−13	45

Results by round

Matches

Scottish League Cup

Scottish Cup

UEFA Cup

Košice

20 August 1996 Košice	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Cadete 88'	Report		Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 44,448 Referee: J Hireiniemi

Statistics

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches. Players listed below made at least one appearance for Celtic first squad during the season.

N	P	Nat.	Name	League			Europe			League Cup			Scottish Cup			Total			Notes
5	DF		Alan Stubbs										3			3
17	MF		Morten Wieghorst
1	GK		Gordon Marshall
18	DF		Malky Mackay				1	1								1	1
5	DF		Stuart Gray
5	DF		Enrico Annoni										1			1
10	FW		Phil O'Donnell
11	FW		Simon Donnelly
16	DF		John Hughes				1	1		1						2	1
2	DF		Tom Boyd							1						1
9	FW		Pierre Van Hooijdonk							1						1
7	MF		Paolo Di Canio							1			1			2
11	FW		Jorge Cadete
14	MF		Brian O'Neil
3	DF		Tosh McKinlay										1			1
33	DF		Peter Grant							1	1					1	1
4	DF		Jackie McNamara										1			1
42	MF		Paul McStay
42	MF		Brian McLaughlin
10	FW		Andreas Thom							1						1

Last updated: 22 July 2014
Source: Competitive matches
Ordered by , and
= Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
7	FW		Paolo Di Canio	28	EU	AC Milan	Transfer	Summer	1998	£3M	[1]
6	DF		Alan Stubbs	24	EU	Bolton Wanderers	Transfer	Summer	1998	£3M	[2]
16	MF		David Hannah	23	EU	Dundee United	Transfer	Summer	1998	£0.65M	[3]
17	DF		Enrico Annoni	30	EU	Roma	Transfer	Winter	1999	£0.3M	Source
33	DF		John Convery	16	EU	Glenavon	Transfer	Winter	1998	Free	Source
12	FW		Tommy Johnson	26	EU	Aston Villa	Transfer	Winter	1998	£2.4M	[4]

Total spending: £8.85 million

Players out

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
1	DF		Mike Galloway	31	EU		Retirement	Summer	Free	Source
4	DF		Rudi Vata	27	EU	Apollon Limassol	Transfer	Summer	Free	Source
11	MF		John Collins	28	EU	A.S. Monaco	Transfer	Summer	Bosman	Source
2	DF		Lee Martin	28	EU	Bristol Rovers	Transfer	Summer	Free	Source
	DF		John Hughes	32	EU	Hibernian	Transfer	Mid-Season	£250K	[5]
	MF		Declan Boyle	22	EU	Derry City	Transfer	Winter	£20K	Source
9	FW		Pierre Van Hooijdonk	27	EU	Nottingham Forest	Transfer	Mid-Season	£3M	[6]

Total income: £3.22 million

See also

• List of Celtic F.C. seasons