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1996–97 Southampton F.C. season

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In the 1996–97 season, Southampton Football Club competed in the FA Premier League.

For the fourth time in five seasons, Southampton managed to avoid relegation. Manager Dave Merrington had been dismissed at the end of the previous season to be succeeded by Graeme Souness, who brought in quality new players including Claus Lundekvam, Eyal Berkovic and Egil Østenstad. A 6–3 win over Manchester United in late October, which saw Ostenstad scoring a brace, was the highlight of the season, and Southampton entered the final game of the season only needing a draw to confirm their survival. Survival was achieved, but it did not prevent Souness from quitting the club after just one season, handing over the reins to Stockport's Dave Jones.

After receiving a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, Graeme Souness signed Senegalese "international" striker Ali Dia. "Weah" had told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. None of this was true: the phone call was made by a fellow university student of Dia's to Souness, suggesting that he should give Dia a chance with the Saints.^[1] Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.

Dia played just one game for Southampton, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted for Ken Monkou after playing for 53 minutes;^[2] Leeds won the match 2–0.

Le Tissier himself recalled the story in a television interview, telling that Dia spent only a weekend at the club. He first came down to train with the team on Friday morning; according to Le Tissier he "didn't look very good" and the players thought that they would "never see him again", but the next day Dia was surprisingly named on the bench. His performance on the field after he came on to replace Le Tissier "was unbelievable. He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice, it was very very embarrassing to watch." Yet, according to the team's physiotherapist, on Sunday morning Dia "turned up for treatment of an injury" and "then he left, and we never saw him again . . . nobody knows where he went."^[3] Dia was released by Southampton two weeks later.

Results summary

Source: Statto

Results by round

Southampton's score comes first^[4]

Squad at end of season^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Dave Beasant 2 DF  ENG Jason Dodd 3 DF  ENG Francis Benali 4 MF  NIR Jim Magilton 5 DF  ENG Barry Venison 6 DF  SUR Ken Monkou 7 MF  ENG Matt Le Tissier (captain) 8 FW  IRL Mickey Evans 10 MF  ENG Neil Maddison 13 GK  ENG Neil Moss 14 DF  ENG Simon Charlton 15 DF  WAL Alan Neilson 16 MF  WAL David Hughes 17 MF  ENG Paul Tisdale

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  ENG Matt Oakley 19 DF  ENG Richard Dryden 20 MF  AUS Robbie Slater 22 DF  NOR Claus Lundekvam 23 GK  ENG Darryl Flahavan 24 MF  ENG Christer Warren 25 MF  SCO Paul Sheerin 26 DF  ENG Matthew Robinson 27 FW  ENG Steve Basham 28 MF  ENG Russell Watkinson 29 MF  ISR Eyal Berkovic 30 FW  NOR Egil Østenstad 32 DF  NED Ulrich van Gobbel 33 GK  GER Maik Taylor

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 8 FW  ENG Gordon Watson (toBradford City) 9 FW  ENG Neil Shipperley (toCrystal Palace) 11 MF  ENG Neil Heaney (toManchester City) 12 DF  ENG Graham Potter (toWest Bromwich Albion)

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  ENG Frankie Bennett (toBristol Rovers) 31 GK  ENG Chris Woods (on loan from Colorado Rapids) 24 MF  ENG Christer Warren (on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham) 33 FW  SEN Ali Dia (released)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF  ENG Duncan Spedding

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF  ENG Andy Williams