Season 1996-97
Season 1996-97. The club failed to justify favouritism for the Conference title in 1996/97 and, despite another lengthy FA Cup run to the First Round Proper stage, the end of February 1997 found the side at the bottom of the table and out of both the FA Trophy and Northants Senior Cup.
Brian Talbot, the ex-Ipswich Town, Arsenal and England player, was appointed to the coaching staff on 1st March, taking complete control a week later. The team lost only twice more to eventually finish in 12th place.
Shortly after Talbot’s arrival the team recorded a 5-1 win away at local rivals Kettering Town, and shortly afterwards the league double was completed as the team maintained an unbeaten home record in the league until the end of the season.
See below for a match summary as well as links to match reports. The final league table for the season can be seen here.
See here for a detailed summary of all the games during the season, including team-line up for each game and match timings.
| Date | V | Lge | Opponent | Result | Scorers | Att |
| Sat 10/08/96 | H | SLCS | Nuneaton Borough | Won 3-0 | Collins/2, Alford | 1210 |
| Sat 17/08/96 | A | Conf | Altrincham Utd | Lost 3-4 | Cramman/2, Collins | 1034 |
| Tue 20/08/96 | A | Conf | Slough Town | Lost 0-5 | – | 1325 |
| Sat 24/08/96 | H | Conf | Northwich Vic | Drew 1-1 | Collins | 2112 |
| Mon 26/08/96 | A | Conf | Hayes | Drew 1-1 | Alford | 1043 |
| Sat 31/08/96 | H | Conf | Stalybridge Ctc | Drew 1-1 | Cramman | 2156 |
| Tue 03/09/96 | H | Conf | Macclesfield Tn | Drew 1-1 | Wilkin | 2242 |
| Sat 07/09/96 | A | Conf | Halifax Town | Won 3-1 | Rodwell, Collins, Cramman | 948 |
| Mon 09/09/96 | A | Conf | Northwich Vic | Won 2-1 | Wilson, Rodwell | 769 |
| Sat 14/09/96 | A | FAC1q | Westfields | Won 4-0 | Wilkin, Furnell/3 | 518 |
| Tue 17/09/96 | H | Conf | Farnborough | Lost 0-2 | – | 2298 |
| Sat 21/09/96 | A | Conf | Woking | Lost 2-4 | Wilkin, Bailey | 2768 |
| Tue 24/09/96 | H | Conf | Stevenage Boro | Lost 0-1 | – | 3288 |
| Sat 28/09/96 | H | FAC2q | Gresley Rovers | Won 4-0 | King, Alford/2, Collins | 1875 |
| Mon 30/09/96 | A | Conf | Hednesford Town | Lost 0-1 | – | 1252 |
| Sat 05/10/96 | H | Conf | Welling Utd | Won 3-0 | og, Stott, Cramman | 2296 |
| Tue 08/10/96 | A | SC1 | Dover Athletic | Won 3-2 | Cramman, Wilkin/2 | 723 |
| Sat 12/10/96 | H | FAC3q | Bilston Town | Won 1-0 | Collins | 1605 |
| Mon 14/10/96 | A | Conf | Kidderminster H | Lost 0-1 | – | 2603 |
| Sat 19/10/96 | H | Conf | Gateshead | Lost 0-4 | – | 2214 |
| Sat 26/10/96 | H | FAC4q | Bognor Regis | Won 2-0 | Collins/2 | 1844 |
| Sat 02/11/96 | A | Conf | Southport | Lost 1-2 | King | 1225 |
| Sat 09/11/96 | H | Conf | Dover Athletic | Drew 1-1 | Alford | 2110 |
| Tue 12/11/96 | A | NHSC2 | Kettering Town | Lost 1-2 | Holden | 1862 |
| Sat 16/11/96 | A | FAC1 | Boreham Wood | Drew 1-1 | Hackett | 1567 |
| Tue 19/11/96 | H | SC2 | Stevenage Boro | Won 1-0 | Collins | 1059 |
| Sat 23/11/96 | A | Conf | Morecambe | Lost 0-2 | – | 1040 |
| Tue 26/11/96 | H | FAC1r | Boreham Wood | Lost 2-3 | Wilkin, Collins | 2619 |
| Sat 30/11/96 | H | Conf | Bath City | Won 4-1 | Collins Wilkin/2, Capone | 1853 |
| Sat 07/12/96 | A | Conf | Telford Utd | Won 5-0 | Collins/2, Rodwell, Alford/2 | 909 |
| Sat 14/12/96 | H | Conf | Bromsgrove Rvrs | Lost 1-2 | Alford | 2144 |
| Mon 16/12/96 | A | SC3 | Kidderminster H | Lost 0-1 | – | 811 |
| Sat 21/12/96 | H | Conf | Kidderminster H | Drew 1-1 | Alford | 2529 |
| Sat 28/12/96 | A | Conf | Stalybridge Celtic | Lost 0-2 | – | 788 |
| Sat 18/01/97 | H | FAT1 | Farnborough Tn | Lost 1-2 | Wilkin | 1789 |
| Sat 25/01/97 | A | Conf | Farnborough Tn | Drew 2-2 | Leworthy, Stapleton | 961 |
| Sat 01/02/97 | H | Conf | Morecambe | Won 2-1 | Leworthy, Cramman | 2145 |
| Sat 08/02/97 | H | Conf | Hednesford Town | Lost 0-2 | – | 2618 |
| Sat 15/02/97 | A | Conf | Macclesfield Tn | Lost 1-2 | Leworthy | 1304 |
| Sat 22/02/97 | A | Conf | Gateshead | Lost 0-1 | – | 632 |
| Sat 01/03/97 | H | Conf | Slough Town | Drew 2-2 | Capone/2 | 1980 |
| Sat 08/03/97 | A | Conf | Kettering Town | Won 5-1 | Alford, Hackett, Leworthy/2, Butterworth (V) | 4628 |
| Sat 15/03/97 | A | Conf | Bromsgrove Rvrs | Won 1-0 | Alford | 1109 |
| Tue 18/03/97 | H | Conf | Kettering Town | Won 1-0 | Stott | 5170 |
| Sat 22/03/97 | H | Conf | Telford Utd | Won 2-0 | Rodwell, Leworthy | 2554 |
| Tue 25/03/97 | A | Conf | Welling Utd | Won 1-0 | Leworthy | 747 |
| Sat 29/03/97 | A | Conf | Dover Athletic | Drew 1-1 | Hackett | 1671 |
| Mon 31/03/97 | H | Conf | Hayes | Drew 2-2 | Collins, Alford | 3134 |
| Sat 05/04/97 | H | Conf | Southport | Won 3-0 | Alford/2, Leworthy | 2218 |
| Sat 12/04/97 | A | Conf | Bath City | Lost 2-3 | Alford, Stapleton | 960 |
| Mon 21/04/97 | A | Conf | Stevenage Boro | Lost 1-4 | Alford | 2836 |
| Sat 26/04/97 | H | Conf | Halifax Town | Won 1-0 | Hackett | 2629 |
| Tue 29/04/97 | H | Conf | Woking | Drew 1-1 | Collins | 2589 |
| Sat 03/05/97 | H | Conf | Altrincham Utd | Won 3-2 | Butterworth, og, King | 2521 |
Note – those games with a (P) in the scorers column will have match photos in the report, and those with a (V) will have a link to video highlights of the game.
rdfc1992 