1996–97 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was a major struggle for Oldham which resulted in Graeme Sharp resigning in February. Sharp was succeeded by Neil Warnock, who had previously achieved promotion success with Scarborough, Notts County (twice), Huddersfield Town and Plymouth Argyle but was unable to save Oldham from relegation to the third tier for the first time in 23 years which was confirmed three months later following Bradford City's win against Charlton Athletic.

Oldham Athletic's score comes first

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Stoke City	H	1–2	8,021	Redmond
24 August 1996	Crystal Palace	A	1–3	12,822	McCarthy
28 August 1996	Swindon Town	A	0–1	8,025
31 August 1996	Ipswich Town	H	3–3	5,339	Rickers, Redmond, Banger
7 September 1996	Sheffield United	H	0–2	7,323
10 September 1996	Birmingham City	A	0–0	17,228
13 September 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	2–3	10,296	McCarthy (2)
21 September 1996	Barnsley	H	0–1	7,043
28 September 1996	Charlton Athletic	A	0–1	12,178
1 October 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–1	5,817	Ormondroyd
5 October 1996	Port Vale	H	3–0	6,051	Ormondroyd (2), Banger
12 October 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–3	14,813	Allott
16 October 1996	Norwich City	A	0–2	12,271
19 October 1996	Reading	H	1–1	7,171	Örlygsson (pen)
26 October 1996	Southend United	H	0–0	6,606
29 October 1996	Grimsby Town	A	3–0	3,532	Ormondroyd, Halle (2)
2 November 1996	Bradford City	A	3–0	10,855	Barlow (3)
9 November 1996	Portsmouth	H	0–0	7,639
15 November 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–1	8,327	Ormondroyd
23 November 1996	Oxford United	H	2–1	4,851	Barlow, Halle
30 November 1996	Southend United	A	1–1	5,001	Richardson (pen)
7 December 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–2	5,590
14 December 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	22,528	Ormondroyd
21 December 1996	Manchester City	H	2–1	12,992	Ormondroyd, Banger
28 December 1996	Sheffield United	A	2–2	16,130	Henry, Rickers
18 January 1997	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	12,103	Barlow
25 January 1997	Huddersfield Town	H	1–2	8,588	Richardson
1 February 1997	Portsmouth	A	0–1	9,135
8 February 1997	Grimsby Town	H	0–3	6,549
15 February 1997	Oxford United	A	1–3	6,868	Graham
22 February 1997	Bradford City	H	1–2	9,524	Ormondroyd
1 March 1997	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	10,180	Banger
4 March 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–2	5,417	Örlygsson , Banger
8 March 1997	Manchester City	A	0–1	30,729
15 March 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–2	9,661	Rickers (2), Barlow
18 March 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	4,969	Barlow
23 March 1997	Crystal Palace	H	0–1	5,282
29 March 1997	Stoke City	A	1–2	11,755	Barlow
31 March 1997	Swindon Town	H	5–1	5,699	Richardson (pen), Barlow (3), Rush
5 April 1997	Ipswich Town	A	0–4	11,730
8 April 1997	Birmingham City	H	2–2	5,942	Richardson (pen), Reid
12 April 1997	Port Vale	A	2–3	11,701	Garnett, Duxbury
15 April 1997	Barnsley	A	0–2	17,476
19 April 1997	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–0	10,702
26 April 1997	Reading	A	0–2	8,301	Ritchie
4 May 1997	Norwich City	H	3–0	5,562	McCarthy, Rush, Barlow

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  IRL Gary Kelly[a] — GK  ENG Jon Hallworth — DF  ENG Craig Fleming — DF  ENG Mark Foran (on loan from Peterborough United) — DF  ENG Shaun Garnett — DF  ENG Richard Graham — DF  ENG Andy Holt — DF  ENG Steve Redmond — DF  ENG Carl Serrant — DF  NOR Gunnar Halle — DF  AUS Steve Ingham — MF  ENG Mark Allott — MF  ENG David Beresford — MF  ENG Lee Duxbury — MF  ENG John Gannon — MF  ENG Nick Henry

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Andrew Hughes — MF  ENG Martin Pemberton — MF  ENG Paul Reid — MF  ENG Lee Richardson — MF  ENG Paul Rickers — FW  ENG Andy Ritchie — MF  ENG Ian Snodin — MF  ISL Þorvaldur Örlygsson — FW  ENG Nicky Banger — FW  ENG Stuart Barlow — FW  ENG David McNiven — FW  ENG Scott McNiven[b] — FW  ENG Ian Ormondroyd — FW  ENG Matthew Rush — FW  WAL Sean McCarthy — FW  NIR John Morrow