| July 1996 |
|---|
| Sun 14th | Hythe Town (A) | Friendly |
W
4-1
|
300 | - |
| Sat 20th | Ramsgate Athletic (A) | Friendly |
D
1-1
|
--- |
|
| Mon 22nd | Gillingham (H) | Testimonial |
W
1-0
|
548 |
|
| Thu 25th | Folkestone Invicta (H) | Eastern Floodlight Cup (Group Stage) |
W
3-1
|
167 |
|
| Tue 30th | Wimbledon (H) | Friendly |
D
2-2
|
517 |
|
| August 1996 |
|---|
| Sun 04th | Union Sportive Gravelinoise (H) | Friendly |
D
2-2
|
142 |
|
| Wed 07th | Folkestone Invicta (A) | Eastern Floodlight Cup (Group Stage) |
W
2-0
|
--- |
|
| Sat 10th | Sutton United (H) | Friendly |
L
1-2
|
--- |
|
| Tue 13th | Hythe Town (H) | Eastern Floodlight Cup (Group Stage) |
W
3-2
|
167 |
|
| Sat 17th | Gloucester City (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-3
|
648 |
|
| Tue 20th | Hastings Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
563 |
|
| Sat 24th | Newport County (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
643 |
|
| Mon 26th | Gravesend and Northfleet (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
3-1
|
804 |
|
| Wed 28th | Hythe Town (A) | Eastern Floodlight Cup (Group Stage) |
W
4-0
|
--- |
|
| Sat 31st | Burton Albion (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-1
|
775 |
|
| September 1996 |
|---|
| Tue 03rd | Sudbury Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
585 |
|
| Sat 07th | Halesowen Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
1-3
|
701 |
|
| Sat 14th | Nuneaton Borough (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
2-0
|
659 |
|
| Sat 21st | Atherstone United (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
235 |
|
| Tue 24th | Hastings Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
3-3
|
707 |
|
| October 1996 |
|---|
| Thu 03rd | Canterbury City (A) | Frank Norris Trophy (Final) |
W
4-0
|
--- |
|
| Sat 05th | Merthyr Tydfil (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-1
|
660 |
|
| Tue 08th | Tonbridge Angels (H) | Southern League Cup (1st Round 1st Leg) |
W
3-2
|
401 |
|
| Sat 12th | Salisbury City (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
1-0
|
421 |
|
| Tue 15th | Gravesend and Northfleet (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
682 |
|
| Sat 19th | Hitchin Town (H) | FA Trophy (1st Qualifying Round) |
W
4-1
|
544 |
|
| Sat 26th | Kingstonian (H) | FA Cup (4th Qualifying Round) |
W
3-1
|
1,089 |
|
| Tue 29th | Tonbridge Angels (A) | Southern League Cup (1st Round 2nd Leg) |
L
0-3
|
365 |
|
| November 1996 |
|---|
| Sat 02nd | Cheltenham Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-6
|
854 |
|
| Sat 09th | Bishops Stortford (H) | FA Trophy (2nd Qualifying Round) |
W
6-1
|
572 |
|
| Sat 16th | Dagenham and Redbridge (H) | FA Cup (1st Round) |
D
2-2
|
1,813 |
|
| Tue 19th | Sudbury Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
p-p
|
--- |
|
| Match Postponed. | |||||
| Sat 23rd | Burton Albion (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
3-3
|
596 |
|
| Mon 25th | Dagenham and Redbridge (A) | FA Cup (1st Round Replay) |
D
1-1p
|
2,424 |
|
| Sat 30th | Weymouth (A) | FA Trophy (3rd Qualifying Round) |
L
0-2
|
849 |
|
| December 1996 |
|---|
| Sat 07th | Watford (A) | FA Cup (2nd Round) |
L
0-5
|
7,590 |
|
| Mon 09th | Dover Athletic (H) | Testimonial |
W
0-1
|
195 |
|
| Sat 14th | Dorchester Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
2-1
|
407 |
|
| Sat 21st | Chelmsford City (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
802 |
|
| Thu 26th | Sittingbourne (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
p-p
|
--- |
|
| Match Postponed. | |||||
| Sat 28th | Cambridge City (A) | Southern League Southern Division |
p-p
|
--- | - |
| Match Postponed - Frozen pitch. | |||||
| January 1997 |
|---|
| Wed 01st | Crawley Town (A) | Southern League Southern Division |
p-p
|
--- | - |
| Match Postponed - Snow. | |||||
| Sat 04th | Baldock Town (H) | Southern League Southern Division |
p-p
|
--- | - |
| Match Postponed - Snow. | |||||
| Sat 18th | Kings Lynn (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-2
|
856 |
|
| Sat 25th | Chelmsford City (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
1-0
|
688 |
|
| Tue 28th | Fisher Athletic (A) | Kent Senior Cup (2nd Round) |
L
0-1
|
130 |
|
| February 1997 |
|---|
| Sat 01st | Gresley Rovers (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
709 |
|
| Tue 04th | Crawley Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
3-2
|
419 |
|
| Sat 08th | Merthyr Tydfil (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-3
|
645 |
|
| Sat 15th | Gresley Rovers (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
1-3
|
615 |
|
| Sat 22nd | Nuneaton Borough (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-3
|
903 |
|
| Tue 25th | Sittingbourne (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
552 |
|
| March 1997 |
|---|
| Sat 01st | Worcester City (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
0-0
|
462 |
|
| Sat 08th | Atherstone United (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-3
|
461 |
|
| Wed 12th | Newport County (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-3
|
504 |
|
| Sat 15th | Halesowen Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
442 |
|
| Tue 18th | Gloucester City (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
1-6
|
556 |
|
| Sat 22nd | Baldock Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
210 |
|
| Tue 25th | Salisbury City (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-1
|
456 |
|
| Sat 29th | Crawley Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
3-3
|
567 |
|
| Mon 31st | Sittingbourne (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
1-4
|
1,025 |
|
| April 1997 |
|---|
| Sat 05th | Cambridge City (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
521 |
|
| Tue 08th | Sudbury Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
215 |
|
| Sat 12th | Worcester City (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
2-0
|
644 |
|
| Tue 15th | Baldock Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
2-2
|
566 |
|
| Sat 19th | Cheltenham Town (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
D
1-1
|
574 |
|
| Tue 22nd | Cambridge City (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
L
0-4
|
248 |
|
| Sat 26th | Kings Lynn (H) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
4-0
|
538 |
|
| Mon 28th | Braintree Town (H) | Eastern Floodlight Cup (Quarter Final) |
L
1-2
|
248 |
|
| May 1997 |
|---|
| Sat 03rd | Dorchester Town (A) | Southern League Premier Division |
W
2-0
|
806 |
|
Southern League Premier Division League Table 1996/97 |
|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gresley Rovers | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 75 | 40 | +35 | 85 |
| 2 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 76 | 44 | +32 | 74 |
| 3 | Gloucester City | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 81 | 56 | +25 | 73 |
| 4 | Halesowen Town | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 77 | 54 | +23 | 73 |
| 5 | Kings Lynn | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 65 | 61 | +4 | 68 |
| 6 | Burton Albion | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 70 | 53 | +17 | 66 |
| 7 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 61 | 52 | +9 | 66 |
| 8 | Sittingbourne | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 76 | 65 | +11 | 64 |
| 9 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 69 | 61 | +8 | 60 |
| 10 | Worcester City | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 52 | 50 | +2 | 59 |
| 11 | Atherstone United | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 46 | 47 | -1 | 58 |
| 12 | Salisbury City | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 57 | 66 | -9 | 58 |
| 13 | Sudbury Town | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 72 | 72 | 0 | 55 |
| 14 | Gravesend and Northfleet | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 63 | 73 | -10 | 55 |
| 15 | Dorchester Town | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 62 | 66 | -4 | 51 |
| 16 | Hastings Town | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 49 | 60 | -11 | 51 |
| 17 | Crawley Town | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 49 | 67 | -18 | 47 |
| 18 | Cambridge City | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 57 | 65 | -8 | 46 |
| 19 | Ashford Town | 42 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 53 | 79 | -26 | 45 |
| 20 | Baldock Town | 42 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 52 | 90 | -38 | 41 |
| 21 | Newport AFC | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 40 | 60 | -20 | 40 |
| 22 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 6 | 14 | 22 | 49 | 70 | -21 | 32 |
| Season Summary 1996/97 |
|---|
| Competition | Summary |
|---|---|
| Southern League Premier Division | 19th (22) - Relegation Spot but Reprieved |
| FA Cup | 2nd Round Proper |
| FA Trophy | 3rd Qualifying Round |
| Southern League Cup | 1st Round |
| Kent Senior Cup | 2nd Round |
| Eastern Floodlight Cup | Quarter Final |
| Player Stats 1996/97 |
|---|
| No Missing matches |
| Player | League Apps | League Goals | Cup Apps | Cup Goals | Total Apps |  -  |
Total Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maurice Munden | 40 (0) | 0 | 13 (0) | 0 | 53 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Carlton Wynter | 37 (0) | 6 | 14 (0) | 4 | 51 (0) | 0 - 0 | 10 |
| Nigel Donn | 40 (1) | 0 | 10 (2) | 0 | 50 (3) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Ross | 33 (6) | 5 | 11 (2) | 1 | 44 (8) | 0 - 0 | 6 |
| Jason Wheeler | 29 (3) | 0 | 13 (0) | 0 | 42 (3) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Paul O Brien | 29 (7) | 1 | 12 (1) | 0 | 41 (8) | 0 - 0 | 1 |
| Andy Allon | 28 (3) | 3 | 12 (0) | 0 | 40 (3) | 0 - 0 | 3 |
| Tommy Warrilow | 26 (3) | 4 | 13 (0) | 5 | 39 (3) | 0 - 0 | 9 |
| Andy Pearson | 34 (0) | 3 | 5 (0) | 0 | 39 (0) | 0 - 0 | 3 |
| Stuart White | 27 (2) | 2 | 11 (0) | 3 | 38 (2) | 0 - 0 | 5 |
| Nicky Dent | 23 (1) | 11 | 12 (0) | 9 | 35 (1) | 0 - 0 | 20 |
| Andy Morris | 15 (1) | 2 | 12 (0) | 0 | 27 (1) | 0 - 0 | 2 |
| Paul Chambers | 19 (3) | 3 | 6 (6) | 1 | 25 (9) | 0 - 0 | 4 |
| Dave Scott | 21 (2) | 2 | 2 (0) | 0 | 23 (2) | 0 - 0 | 2 |
| Matt Carruthers | 13 (4) | 1 | 7 (3) | 5 | 20 (7) | 0 - 0 | 6 |
| Mark Stanton | 13 (4) | 2 | 2 (1) | 2 | 15 (5) | 0 - 0 | 4 |
| Tom Parks | 7 (9) | 2 | 2 (3) | 1 | 9 (12) | 0 - 0 | 3 |
| Steve Lawrence | 8 (0) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 9 (0) | 0 - 0 | 3 |
| Aaron O Leary | 5 (4) | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 | 5 (7) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| ? Sowerby | 3 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Darren Keown | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| ? Lillis | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Tony Reynolds | 0 (1) | 0 | 2 (4) | 0 | 2 (5) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Rob Beazleigh | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 (1) | 1 | 2 (4) | 0 - 0 | 1 |
| Kieran O Shaughnessy | 1 (2) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 - 0 | 1 |
| Richard Graham | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| ? Joynes | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Joe Radford | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| David Williams | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Peter McRobert | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Peter Magri | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Clifford | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| missing player details | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 - 0 | 0 |
| Own Goal | --- | 2 | --- | 0 | --- | --- | 2 |