This article describes the FA Premier League 1996-97 season.

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1996-97 was the fifth season of the FA Premier League. It was also the more closely contested than any of the four previous campaigns. In the end, Manchester United won the title with 75 points, while Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool finished second, third and fourth respectively, all with 68 points. Fifth place went to Aston Villa, so for the first time in top division football the top five teams were the same for the second year running - although not in the same order.

Manchester United's fourth Premiership title came at the end of a season which was occasionally marred by several disappointments. In late October, they conceded a total of 13 goals in three successive defeats against Newcastle, Southampton and Chelsea. In the same period, they also lost their 40-year unbeaten home record in Europe after losing 1-0 to Turkish minnows Fenerbahce in the Champions League group stage. Despite this, and another home defeat in the group stage against Juventus, they reached the competition's semi finals for the first time in 28 years before finally bowing out to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup for the first time since 1993 after losing 1-0 in a replay away to Wimbledon. Two weeks after the end of the season, Manchester United's influencial captain Eric Cantona announced his retirement from football at the age of 31 and sent shockwaves throughout football. He was idolized by many throughout football and his retirement was met by a reaction of stunned shock from players and fans alike.

On the positive side, Manchester United unearthed a new star in 23-year-old Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær - a little known £1.5million striker signed from Molde F.K. the previous summer. Another Norwegian, centre half Ronny Johnsen, had joined United and proved to be a key player in their championship success. In contrast, £3.5million Czech winger Karel Poborsky was disappointing and failed to win a regular place in the team.

F.A Cup winners were Chelsea, whose Dutch manager Ruud Gullit became the first foreign manager to win the famous trophy. He was also in his first season of management, having taken over at Stamford Bridge the previous summer after Glenn Hoddle became the new England manager. A 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in the final saw a major trophy grace the Stamford Bridge boardroom for the first time since 1971.

League Cup winners were newly promoted Leicester City, who began the season as relegation favourites. But the East Midlanders, managed by Martin O'Neill, surprised all the observers by beating Middlesbrough after a replay in the League Cup final and finished ninth in the Premiership.

Middlesbrough, despite spending millions of pounds on high profile foreign players like Emerson, Fabrizio Ravanelli (who scored 31 goals in all competitions), Branco and Gianluca Festa, were on the losing side in both cup finals and were relegated on the final day of the season. Their relegation was due to a 3-point deduction imposed for cancelling a December fixture against Blackburn Rovers, with the Middlesbrough board blaming the decision on the absence of 18 players due to a flu bug. This sanction also helped Coventry City, who had been in the top division since 1967, secure Premiership safety once again.

The other relegation places went to Nottingham Forest, who sacked Frank Clark in December after a bad start to the season. Stuart Pearce took over as temporary player-manager, spending three months in charge and winning the January Manager of the Month award. In March, Pearce quit as manager to be replaced by David Bassett , whose Crystal Palace side eventually crossed places with Forest. Also going down were Sunderland, who were also leaving Roker Park after 99 years and relocating to the 42,000-seat Stadium of Light on the banks of the River Wear.

Going up to the Premiership were Bolton Wanderers (champions with 98 points), Barnsley (runners-up and promoted to the top division for the first time ever) and Crystal Palace (their third promotion to the top division in less than a decade).