1995–96 Football League

97th season of the Football League The Football League 1995–96 Sunderland SunderlandDerby CountyLeicester City 1994–95 1996–97 The 1995–96 Football League season was the 97th completed season of The Football League. It was contested through three divisions, the First Division, Second Division and Third Division.https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1995-96.html England 1995–96 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 2010-02-24 First Division July 2020 First Division 1995-1996 Sunderland SunderlandDerby CountyLeicester City MillwallWatfordLuton Town John Aldridge(27 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2010-10-31 Sunderland 6–0 Millwall(9 December 1995) Barnsley 0–5 Birmingham City(2 September 1995) Watford 6–3 Grimsby Town(23 April 1996) 552 1417 1994–95 1996–97 The Division One promotion race was one of the most dramatic seen at this level in many years. Sunderland, who frequently topped the table after overcoming the previous leaders Millwall 6-0 at Roker Park in early December, clinched the Division One title in their first full season under the management of Peter Reid, five years after last playing among the elite in the old First Division. Derby County, who had been relegated alongside them that year, followed the Wearsiders into the Premier League as Division One runners-up, giving their new manager Jim Smith the fifth promotion of his managerial career. Crystal Palace finished third in the final table a season after relegation and a mere three months after their new manager Dave Bassett had taken over the club when they were in 16th place. Stoke City finished fourth as they mounted their first serious attempt to regain the top flight place which they had last held in 1985. Leicester City finished fifth after an erratic season, which had seen manager Mark McGhee defect to Wolves before Christmas to be succeeded by Martin O'Neill, who had been manager of Norwich City for just six months when he accepted the offer to take charge at Filbert Street. The final playoff place was occupied by Charlton Athletic, whose manager Alan Curbishley was now in sole charge after being joint manager alongside Steve Gritt for his first four seasons. The playoff final saw Crystal Palace take the lead in the first half before Garry Parker equalised for Leicester, and the game went into extra time. With just seconds remaining, new signing Steve Claridge clinched the winner for Leicester, who secured the third and final promotion place. Things turned out very differently during the second half of the season for a number of clubs who had looked like promotion contenders in the first half of the campaign. West Bromwich Albion had been near the top of the table in October, before going on a 14-match winless run from which they picked up one point out of a possible 42 and dropped into the relegation zone. Improved form after ending their winless run in February lifted them up to a secure mid-table finish, but it was scant consolation for what might have been. Their local rivals Birmingham City had looked like promotion contenders halfway through the season, but faded away to finish 15th - a slump which cost manager Barry Fry his job after three seasons in charge, and sparked the return of legendary former player Trevor Francis to the club as manager. Norwich City had been in the promotion race when they lost manager Martin O'Neill to Leicester just before Christmas, but they were unable to sustain their promotion challenge under new manager Gary Megson, who was replaced at the end of the season by Mike Walker - the man who had turned them into Premier League title contenders and UEFA Cup competitors a few seasons earlier. Millwall had been top of Division One in early December when they were knocked off the top by a Sunderland side who beat them 6-0 at Roker Park. Manager Mick McCarthy left to take charge of the Republic of Ireland in February, and the slide down the table continued under his successor Jimmy Nicholl, culminating in relegation on the final day of the season. Joining Millwall in Division Two for 1996-97 were Luton Town and Watford, who had both spent most of the season in the bottom three despite mid-season managerial changes. Following the departure of David Pleat to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1995, Luton had appointed coach Terry Westley as manager, only to replace him with the Bradford City manager Lennie Lawrence just before Christmas. Watford were bottom of the table when they sacked Glenn Roeder as manager in February, and then turned to Graham Taylor for his second spell in charge at Vicarage Road, three months after his resignation at Wolves. Wolves, one of the pre-season promotion favourites, failed to deliver the goods in the league and were heading towards the relegation zone when manager Graham Taylor resigned in November. The month-long search for a new manager ended with the appointment of Leicester City's Mark McGhee, who turned his back on a promotion challenge to help ensure that Wolves avoided relegation and prepared for a promotion push in 1996-97. As well as managerial changes, relocation was another key theme of the 1995-96 campaign in Division One. Sunderland moved ahead with plans to leave Roker Park in favour of a new all-seater stadium at Monkwearmouth, due for completion in the summer of 1997. Having previously settled on revamping the Baseball Ground, Derby County chairman Lionel Pickering announced in February that the club would be relocating to Pride Park, with work beginning on the new stadium over the coming months and that the new stadium would be ready in time for the 1997-98 season. Stoke City, who had played at the Victoria Ground for almost 120 years, announced that they would be moving to a new 28,000-seater stadium at Trentham Lakes at the same time. Reading were pressing on with plans to relocate to a new 25,000-seater stadium by the end of the decade. main WDL First Division SUN, DER, CRY, STK, LEI, CHA, IPS, HUD, SHU, BAR, WBA, PVL, TRA, SND, BIR, NOR, GRI, OLD, REA, WOL, POR, MIL, WAT, LUT PRO PRO PPO PPO PPO PPO REL REL REL complete 14 18 14 60 66 15 13 18 61 64 17 20 9 57 45 20 15 11 67 48 21 16 9 71 51 14 14 18 55 69 17 12 17 61 58 19 12 15 79 69 19 14 13 66 60 11 12 23 40 64 13 13 20 43 63 14 15 17 59 55 14 14 18 54 50 13 13 20 61 69 15 15 16 59 66 13 17 16 54 63 16 14 16 57 54 15 14 17 52 61 20 13 13 60 49 22 17 7 59 33 14 17 15 64 60 10 18 18 62 70 16 12 18 60 68 13 16 17 56 62 C, P P O, P R R R Barnsley Birmingham City Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leicester City Luton Town Millwall Norwich City Oldham Athletic Portsmouth Port Vale Reading Sheffield United Southend United Stoke City Sunderland Tranmere Rovers Watford West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference QR green1 Promotion to the Premier League yellow1 Qualification for the First Division play-offs red1 Relegation to the Second Division Play-offs 1996 Football League play-offs#First Division 2/1 y Semifinals1st leg – May 12; 2nd leg – May 15, 1996 Final at Wembley May 27, 1996 3rd Crystal Palace 2 1 3 6th Charlton Athletic 1 0 1 4th Stoke City 0 0 0 5th Leicester City 0 1 1 3rd Crystal Palace 1 5th Leicester City 2 Results main FBR grey BAR BIR CHA CRY DER GRI HUD IPS LEI LUT MIL NWC OLD PTV POR REA SHU STD STK SUN TRA WAT WBA WOL Barnsley 0–5 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–0 3–3 2–2 1–0 3–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 Birmingham City 0–0 3–4 0–0 1–4 3–1 2–0 3–1 2–2 4–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 Charlton Athletic 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 4–1 1–1 Crystal Palace 4–3 3–2 1–1 0–0 5–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–2 0–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 4–0 1–0 3–2 Derby County 4–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–0 3–2 3–0 4–2 1–0 3–1 3–1 6–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 Grimsby Town 3–1 2–1 1–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–2 0–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–4 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–0 Huddersfield Town 3–0 4–2 2–2 3–0 0–1 1–3 2–1 3–1 1–0 3–0 3–2 0–0 0–2 0–1 3–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 4–1 2–1 Ipswich Town 2–2 2–0 1–5 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 4–2 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 5–1 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 4–1 3–0 1–2 4–2 2–1 1–2 Leicester City 2–2 3–0 1–1 2–3 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–1 3–2 2–0 1–1 4–2 1–1 0–2 1–3 2–3 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–0 Luton Town 1–3 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 3–2 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 1–1 3–2 3–1 1–2 1–0 3–1 1–2 0–2 3–2 0–0 1–2 2–3 Millwall 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–4 0–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–3 1–2 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–1 Norwich City 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 2–3 Oldham Athletic 0–1 4–0 1–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 Port Vale 3–0 1–2 1–3 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–3 0–2 3–2 2–3 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–2 Portsmouth 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–3 2–2 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 4–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 4–2 3–3 2–2 0–2 4–2 0–2 0–2 Reading 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 3–2 0–2 3–1 1–4 1–1 3–1 1–2 0–3 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–3 3–3 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 3–1 3–0 Sheffield United 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–3 0–2 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–3 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 4–1 0–0 3–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 Southend United 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–4 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 Stoke City 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–1 1–0 5–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 Sunderland 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 6–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 Tranmere Rovers 1–3 2–2 0–0 2–3 5–1 0–1 3–1 5–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–3 2–2 2–2 Watford 2–3 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–0 6–3 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–1 5–2 1–2 4–2 2–1 2–2 3–0 3–3 3–0 1–1 1–1 West Bromwich Albion 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–3 3–2 3–1 1–2 0–0 2–3 0–2 1–0 1–4 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 4–4 0–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–2 3–2 0–0 0-2 3–0 4–1 0–0 2–2 2–3 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–3 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–4 3–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 complete Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1IRE John Aldridge Tranmere Rovers 27 2SCO Dougie Freedman Crystal Palace 20 =ENG Dean Sturridge Derby County 20 4ENG Ian Marshall Ipswich Town 19 =WAL Iwan Roberts Leicester City 19 6SCO Alex Mathie Ipswich Town 18 7ENG Andy Payton Barnsley 17 =ENG Bob Taylor West Bromwich Albion 17 Locations England left 400 Locations of the First Division teams England 52.48 -1.89 England 53.55 -1.48 England 51.47 0.07 England 51.40 -0.085 England 52.92 -1.476 England 53.56 -0.068 England 53.64 -1.78 England 52.06 1.14 England 52.62 -1.14 England 51.9 -0.433 England 51.48 -0.048 England 52.63 1.30 England 53.54 -2.12 England 50.80 -1.06 England 53.06 -2.21 England 51.41 -0.97 England 53.37 -1.47 England 51.55 0.70 England 53.00 -2.18 England 54.91 -1.39 England 53.37 -3.04 England 51.65 -0.40 England 52.52 -1.97 England 52.59 -2.13 Barnsley Birmingham Derby County Grimsby Town Huddersfield Ipswich Town Leicester City Luton Town Norwich City Oldham Portsmouth Port Vale Reading Sheffield United Southend Stoke Sunderland Tranmere West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers Greater London right 370 Locations of the First Division London teams Greater London 51.486 0.036 Greater London 51.398 -0.085 Greater London 51.481 -0.048 Greater London 51.650 -0.401 Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Millwall Watford Attendances # Club Average 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 24,786 2 Birmingham City 18,090 3 Sunderland 17,482 4 Leicester City 16,530 5 Crystal Palace 15,248 6 West Bromwich Albion 15,061 7 Norwich City 14,581 8 Derby County 14,327 9 Huddersfield Town 13,151 10 Sheffield United 12,901 11 Ipswich Town 12,604 12 Stoke City 12,275 13 Charlton Athletic 11,185 14 Millwall 9,571 15 Watford 9,457 16 Portsmouth 9,406 17 Reading 8,918 18 Port Vale 8,227 19 Barnsley 8,086 20 Tranmere Rovers 7,861 21 Luton Town 7,223 22 Oldham Athletic 6,634 23 Grimsby Town 5,992 24 Southend United 5,898 Source:https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1996.htm Historical attendances European-football-statistics.co.uk July 2, 2026 Second Division Following back-to-back relegations, Swindon Town took a turn in the right direction by sealing the Division Two title with 92 points and securing a return to Division One in their first full season under manager Steve McMahon. They were joined in promotion by their local rivals Oxford United, who finished runners-up. The final promotion place was won by Bradford City, who won at Wembley for the first time in their history with a 2-0 triumph over Notts County in the playoff final. Crewe Alexandra were beaten in the semi-finals for a second successive season. Blackpool finished third and were also beaten in the playoff semi-finals, which was quickly followed by the dismissal of manager Sam Allardyce despite having come closer than any other Blackpool manager to regaining the second tier place which Blackpool had last held in 1978. Down at the bottom end of the table, Hull City dropped into the fourth tier for the first time in more than a decade, having won just five league games all season. Debt-ridden Brighton, whose chairman Bill Archer came under fire from fans over his plans to sell the Goldstone Ground and groundshare with another club, went down in 23rd place. Swansea City went down after being managed by four different men in the same season, with Liverpool legend Jan Molby taking over as player-manager before relegation was confirmed in hope of bringing some long-awaited success to the South Wales side. Carlisle United's disappointing return to the third tier of the English league ended in instant relegation as they occupied the fourth and final relegation place. York City, who avoided relegation at Carlisle’s expense, made headlines in the autumn with a surprising 3-0 win over Manchester United—who would go on to finish the season as Premier League champions and FA Cup winners—in the first leg of the League Cup second round. This was the only competitive home defeat United suffered all season. Despite a 3-1 win at Bootham Crescent in the return leg, United were eliminated from the competition, marking a notable upset under Alex Ferguson. Football League, Second Division 1995–96 Swindon Town (1st third tier title) Direct promotion Swindon Town,Oxford United Promoted through play-offs Bradford City Relegated Brighton & Hove Albion,Carlisle United,Hull City,Swansea City Marcus Stewart (Bristol Rovers), 21; Gary Martindale (Peterborough United/ Notts County), 21 552 1414 1994–95 1996–97 main WDL Second Division PR 5 SWI Swindon Town OXF Oxford United BLP Blackpool NTC Notts County CRE Crewe Alexandra BRA Bradford City CHF Chesterfield WRE Wrexham STP Stockport County BRR Bristol Rovers WAL Walsall WYC Wycombe Wanderers BRI Bristol City BOU Bournemouth BRE Brentford ROT Rotherham United BUR Burnley SHR Shrewsbury Town PET Peterborough United YOR York City CRL Carlisle United SWA Swansea City B&HA Brighton & Hove Albion HUL Hull City 25 17 4 71 34 24 11 11 76 39 23 13 10 67 40 21 15 10 63 39 22 7 17 77 60 22 7 17 71 69 20 12 14 56 51 18 16 12 76 55 19 13 14 61 47 20 10 16 57 60 19 12 15 60 45 15 15 16 63 59 15 15 16 55 60 16 10 20 51 70 15 13 18 43 49 14 14 18 54 62 14 13 19 56 68 13 14 19 58 70 13 13 20 59 66 13 13 20 58 73 12 13 21 57 72 11 14 21 43 79 10 10 26 46 69 5 16 25 36 78 C,P P O,P R R R R green1 Promotion to the First Division P P yellow1 Qualification for the Second Division play-offs PP PP PP PP red1 Relegation to the Third Division R R R R complete Play-offs 1996 Football League play-offs#Second Division 2/1 y Semifinals1st leg –May 12; 2nd leg –May 15, 1996 Final at Wembley Stadium May 26, 1996 3rd Blackpool 2 0 2 6th Bradford City 0 3 3 4th Notts County 2 1 3 5th Crewe Alexandra 2 0 2 4th Notts County 0 6th Bradford City 2 Results main FBR grey BOU BLP BRA BRE B&HA BRI BRR BUR CRL CHF CRE HUL NTC OXF PET ROT SHR STP SWA SWI WAL WRE WYC YOR AFC Bournemouth 1–0 3–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 0–4 2–0 0–2 0–1 3–0 2–1 0–2 3–2 3–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–3 2–2 Blackpool 2–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 3–0 3–0 3–1 3–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 4–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–3 Bradford City 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–3 3–0 2–3 2–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 0–1 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–4 2–2 Brentford 1–2 2–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 Brighton & Hove Albion 1–2 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–2 4–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–2 1–3 0–3 2–2 1–2 1–3 Bristol City 1–1 3–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 3–2 4–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 4–3 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 1–1 Bristol Rovers 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–4 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–3 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–3 2–2 1–4 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 Burnley 0–1 0–0 2–3 1–0 3–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 2–2 0–1 2–1 3–4 0–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 4–3 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–3 Carlisle United 1–2 4–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–1 1–1 1–2 4–2 2–0 Chesterfield 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 4–2 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–1 Crewe Alexandra 1–2 2–0 1–2 3–1 3–1 4–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–2 3–0 0–1 4–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 Hull City 2–1 1–1 2–3 0–1 0–0 2–3 1–3 3–0 2–5 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–3 1–4 2–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 4–2 0–3 Notts County 1–1 2–0 0–2 4–0 2–1 2–2 4–2 1–1 3–1 4–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 1–3 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 Oxford United 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–2 5–0 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 1–1 6–0 2–1 5–1 3–0 3–2 0–0 1–4 2–0 Peterborough United 0–0 4–5 3–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 6–1 0–1 3–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–3 1–0 3–0 6–1 Rotherham United 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 5–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 Shrewsbury Town 0–2 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–1 4–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–1 Stockport County 1–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 4–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 3–0 Swansea City 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 2–4 1–1 3–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 3–1 0–3 0–1 2–1 1–3 1–2 0–1 Swindon Town 1–1 2–2 4–1 2–2 3–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 3–0 Walsall 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 2–1 3–0 3–2 3–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 3–1 3–0 0–2 4–1 0–0 1–2 0–1 2–0 Wrexham 1–1 5–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–0 3–2 0–2 3–2 3–0 2–3 5–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 7–0 1–1 2–3 1–0 4–3 3–0 1–0 2–3 Wycombe Wanderers 0–1 1–2 5–2 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 4–1 4–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 2–0 4–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 York City 0–2 3–1 0–3 2–2 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–3 1–0 3–1 2–2 1–2 2–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 complete Top scorers Rank Player Club(s) Goals1ENG Marcus Stewart Bristol Rovers 21=ENG Gary Martindale Peterborough United Notts County 21 Locations England left 400 Locations of the Second Division teams England 53.81 -3.05 England 50.73 -1.84 England 53.82 -1.73 England 51.49 -0.32 England 50.83 -0.15 England 51.42 -2.59 England 51.47 -2.53 England 53.79 -2.25 England 54.90 -2.91 England 53.24 -1.43 England 53.10 -2.44 England 53.74 -0.33 England 52.94 -1.14 England 51.72 -1.21 England 52.58 -0.25 England 53.43 -1.36 England 52.71 -2.75 England 53.41 -2.16 England 51.62 -3.95 England 51.56 -1.77 England 52.58 -1.98 England 53.03 -2.98 England 51.63 -0.80 England 53.96 -1.08 Blackpool AFC Bournemouth Bradford C. Brentford Brighton & Hove Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Carlisle United Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra Hull Notts County Oxford Peterborough Rotherham Shrewsbury Stockport Swansea City Swindon Walsall Wrexham Wycombe York City Third Division Under a new owner and a new manager, Preston North End sealed promotion from Division Three as champions following two successive playoff failures. Gillingham, another club with a new owner and a new manager, sealed promotion as runners-up after seven seasons in the league's basement division. Bury clinched the final automatic promotion place following a mid-season change of manager from Mike Walsh to Stan Ternent. In the playoffs, Neil Warnock clinched his fourth promotion in seven seasons as manager, guiding Plymouth Argyle to promotion in his first full season in charge at Home Park with a 1-0 win over Darlington at Wembley. Hereford United and Colchester United were the losing semi-finalists in the playoffs. A disastrous season for Torquay United saw the Devon club finish well adrift of 23rd placed Scarborough at the foot of the Division Three table, being confined to the bottom place with several games to spare, but their Football League status was saved when Stevenage Borough - whose Broadhall Way stadium did not meet Football League requirements - were crowned Conference champions. The club's future was then secured with a takeover by new chairman Mike Bateson, who replaced Eddie May with Kevin Hodges as the manager at Plainmoor. May's old club Cardiff City finished 22nd in the table - the lowest final position in the Ninian Park side's history. Fulham, another side once more familiar with the higher divisions of the league, finished a lowly 17th in the table, and prepared for a better campaign in 1996-97 by appointing veteran defender Micky Adams as player-manager following Ian Branfoot's move to the role of general manager. As with a number of clubs in the higher divisions, relocation was on the cards at a number of Division Three clubs by this season. New Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan was looking to move the club away from their outdated home at Springfield Park to an all-seater stadium elsewhere, while Plymouth Argyle were considering leaving Home Park for a new 25,000-seat stadium at nearby Central Park. Two Division Three clubs were hit by major tragedy in the 1995-96 season. Wigan Athletic defender Mike Millett, who had just broken into the first team, was killed in a car crash the day before his 18th birthday. Alan Nicholls, the 22-year-old former Plymouth Argyle and England under-21 goalkeeper who was on loan with Conference side Stalybridge Celtic from Gillingham, was killed in a motorbike crash near Peterborough in November, along with the brother of former Gillingham player Scott Lindsey. Football League, Third Division 1995–96 Preston North End (1st fourth tier title) Direct promotion Preston North End,Bury,Gillingham Promoted through play-offs Plymouth Argyle Relegated to Conference None Steve White (Hereford United), 29Andy Saville (Preston North End), 29 552 1346 1994–95 1996–97 main WDL Third Division P 5 PNE Preston North End GIL Gillingham BRY Bury PLY Plymouth Argyle DAR Darlington HER Hereford United COL Colchester United CHE Chester City BAR Barnet WIG Wigan Athletic NOR Northampton Town SCU Scunthorpe United DON Doncaster Rovers EXE Exeter City ROC Rochdale CAM Cambridge United FUL Fulham LIN Lincoln City MAN Mansfield Town HAR Hartlepool United LEY Leyton Orient CAR Cardiff City SCA Scarborough TOR Torquay United 23 17 6 78 38 22 17 7 49 20 22 13 11 66 48 22 12 12 68 49 20 18 8 60 42 20 14 12 65 47 18 18 10 61 51 18 16 12 72 53 18 16 12 65 45 20 10 16 62 56 18 13 15 51 44 15 15 16 67 61 16 11 19 49 60 13 18 15 46 53 14 13 19 57 61 14 12 20 61 71 12 17 17 57 63 13 14 19 57 73 11 20 15 54 64 12 13 21 47 67 12 11 23 44 63 11 12 23 41 64 8 16 22 39 69 5 14 27 30 84 C,P P P O,P green1 Promotion to the Second Division P P P yellow1 Qualification for the Third Division play-offs PP PP PP PP white1 Reprived from relegation R complete Play-offs 1996 Football League play-offs#Third Division 2/1 y Semifinals1st leg – May 12; 2nd leg – May 15, 1996 Final at Wembley StadiumMay 25, 1996 4th Plymouth Argyle 0 3 3 7th Colchester United 1 1 2 5th Darlington 2 2 4 6th Hereford United 1 1 2 4th Plymouth Argyle 1 5th Darlington 0 Results main FBR grey BAR BRY CAM CAR CHE COL DAR DON EXE FUL GIL HAR HER LEY LIN MAN NOR PLY PNE ROC SCA SCU TOR WIG Barnet 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 0–2 5–1 1–3 3–0 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–4 1–0 1–0 4–0 5–0 Bury 0–0 1–2 3–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 4–1 2–0 3–0 1–0 0–3 2–0 2–1 7–1 0–2 0–1 0–5 0–0 1–1 0–2 3–0 1–0 2–1 Cambridge United 1–1 2–4 4–2 1–1 3–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–2 0–1 2–3 2–1 2–1 4–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 Cardiff City 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 3–2 0–1 1–4 2–0 2–0 3–2 0–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 3–0 Chester City 0–2 1–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 4–1 0–3 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 5–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–2 5–0 3–0 4–1 0–0 Colchester United 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 4–1 2–0 0–0 3–0 1–3 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–2 Darlington 1–1 4–0 0–0 0–1 3–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 2–1 Doncaster Rovers 1–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 3–2 1–2 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–0 4–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 Exeter City 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–4 Fulham 1–1 0–0 0–2 4–2 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–1 2–1 0–0 2–2 0–0 2–1 1–2 4–2 1–3 4–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 4–0 1–0 Gillingham 1–0 3–0 3–0 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 Hartlepool United 0–0 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 4–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 1–2 Hereford United 4–1 3–4 5–2 1–3 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 4–1 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 2–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–2 Leyton Orient 3–3 0–2 3–1 4–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–3 1–0 0–1 4–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 Lincoln City 1–2 2–2 1–3 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 4–0 0–1 4–0 0–3 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–2 5–0 2–4 Mansfield Town 2–1 1–5 2–1 1–1 3–4 1–2 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–3 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 Northampton Town 0–2 4–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–3 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–3 1–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 0–0 Plymouth Argyle 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 4–2 1–1 0–1 3–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 5–1 1–3 4–3 3–1 Preston North End 0–1 0–0 3–3 5–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 2–2 4–0 1–2 6–0 0–3 3–2 1–2 3–2 2–2 1–0 1–1 Rochdale 0–4 1–1 3–1 3–3 1–3 1–1 1–2 1–0 4–2 1–1 2–0 4–0 0–0 1–0 3–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–3 0–2 1–1 3–0 0–2 Scarborough 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–2 0–0 2–2 0–2 1–2 2–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–4 2–1 0–0 Scunthorpe United 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 3–3 2–2 4–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–3 3–3 1–0 3–1 Torquay United 1–1 0–2 0–3 0–0 1–1 2–3 0–1 1–2 0–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 3–0 0–2 0–4 1–0 0–0 1–8 1–1 Wigan Athletic 1–0 1–2 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–6 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 complete Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1ENG Steve White Hereford United 29=ENG Andy Saville Preston North End 29 Locations England left 400 Locations of the Third Division teams England 51.65 -0.19 England 53.58 -2.295 England 52.21 0.12 England 51.47 -3.20 England 53.19 -2.89 England 51.89 0.90 England 54.53 -1.55 England 53.52 -1.133 England 50.72 -3.53 England 51.45 -0.24 England 51.38 0.55 England 54.69 -1.21 England 52.06 -2.72 England 51.57 -0.01 England 53.23 -0.54 England 53.14 -1.20 England 52.24 -0.90 England 50.39 -4.15 England 53.75 -2.7 England 53.61 -2.16 England 54.27 -0.42 England 53.58 -0.65 England 50.48 -3.52 England 53.55 -2.65 Bury Cambridge Utd Cardiff City Chester Colchester Darlington Doncaster Exeter City Gillingham Hartlepool Hereford United Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Torquay Wigan Athletic Greater London right 370 Locations of the Third Division London teams Greater London 51.65 -0.19 Greater London 51.57 -0.06 Greater London 51.47 -0.22 Barnet Fulham Leyton Orient References 1995–96 2–4