1996–97 Southampton F.C. season

Season summary

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 and Egil Østenstad. A 6-3 win over Manchester United in late October, which saw Ostenstad scoring a hat-trick, 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.

Ali Dia incident

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. 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; 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." Dia was released by Southampton two weeks later.

Final league table

Updated to games played on 11 May 1997.
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
² Leicester City qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.
³ Middlesbrough were docked three points for failing to fulfil a fixture.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Source: Statto

Source: Statto.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Results

Southampton's score comes first

Squad

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

Left club during season

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

Reserve squad

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