1996–97 FA Women's Premier League

FA Women's Premier League
Northern Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Bradford City
Promoted	Bradford City
Matches played	72
Goals scored	307 (4.26 per match)
Biggest home win	Bradford City 8–0 Notts County
Biggest away win	Notts County 0–8 Bradford City
Longest winless run	Notts County (16)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

FA Women's Premier League
National Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Arsenal; 3rd title
Relegated	Southampton Saints; Ilkeston Town
Matches played	90
Goals scored	318 (3.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Joanne Broadhurst (21)
Biggest home win	Arsenal 7–0 Southampton Saints (3 November 1996)
Biggest away win	Southampton Saints 0–9 Arsenal (26 January 1997)
Highest scoring	Everton 7–3 Ilkeston Town; (13 April 1997)
Longest unbeaten run	Arsenal (17)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

FA Women's Premier League
Season	1996–97
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 FA Women's Premier League season was the 6th season of the FA Women's Premier League.^[1]^[2]^[3]

National Division

Locations of the FA Women's Premier League National Division Teams

Locations of the FA Women's Premier League National Division Teams (Greater London)

Changes from last season:

Tranmere Rovers were promoted from the Northern Division
Southampton Saints were promoted from the Southern Division
Villa Aztecs were relegated to the Northern Division
Wolverhampton Wanderers were relegated to the Northern Division

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Arsenal (C)	18	16	1	1	65	9	+56	49
2	Doncaster Belles	18	13	2	3	44	15	+29	41
3	Croydon	18	9	4	5	39	26	+13	31
4	Liverpool	18	9	3	6	30	16	+14	30
5	Millwall Lionesses	18	7	6	5	20	19	+1	27
6	Everton	18	8	3	7	36	36	0	27
7	Wembley	18	6	4	8	26	27	−1	22
8	Tranmere Rovers	18	3	3	12	23	48	−25	12
9	Southampton Saints (R)	18	3	0	15	16	61	−45	9	Relegation to the Southern Division
10	Ilkeston Town (R)	18	1	4	13	14	56	−42	7	Relegation to the Northern Division

Source: FA WPL
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	CRO	DON	EVE	LIV	ILK	MIL	SOU	TRA	WEM
Arsenal	—	2–1	3–2	4–1	3–0	4–0	6–0	7–0	4–2	3–0
Croydon	0–2	—	5–2	2–2	1–0	6–0	2–1	2–0	3–3	2–3
Doncaster Belles	1–0	4–1	—	0–0	1–0	4–1	0–1	6–0	5–1	1–0
Everton	1–5	1–1	0–4	—	3–1	7–3	1–0	4–1	4–0	1–3
Liverpool	0–2	4–1	1–2	2–0	—	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1
Ilkeston Town	0–3	0–3	0–4	2–3	0–3	—	1–2	1–4	1–3	1–7
Millwall Lionesses	0–4	0–0	0–0	3–0	0–2	0–0	—	2–1	5–0	1–1
Southampton Saints	0–9	0–2	1–4	2–5	1–6	2–3	0–2	—	1–0	0–3
Tranmere Rovers	0–3	2–4	1–3	1–2	0–5	1–1	1–1	4–1	—	1–3
Wembley	1–1	0–3	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–2	0–2	1–3	—

Source: FA WPL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Joanne Broadhurst	Arsenal	21
2	Karen Walker	Doncaster Belles	18
3	Kerry Davis	Croydon	13
4	Louise Thomas	Everton	12
5	Vicky Exley	Doncaster Belles	11
	Andrea McGrady	Everton	11
	Kelly Smith	Arsenal	11
6	Hope Powell	Croydon	10
6	Marieanne Spacey	Arsenal	10
7	Sue Smith	Tranmere Rovers	9
8	Karen Burke	Liverpool	8
8	Shirley Oakford	Liverpool	8
9	Kara Reynolds	Arsenal	7
9	Rachel Yankey	Arsenal	7

Northern Division

Bradford City

Blyth Spartans Kestrels

Map showing the locations of the teams in the Northern Division of the FA Women's Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Stourport Swifts

Notts County

Aston Villa

Sheffield Wednesday

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Map showing the locations of the teams in the Northern Division of the FA Women's Premier League

Changes from last season:

Tranmere Rovers were promoted to the National Division
Bradford City were promoted to the Northern Division
Langford were transferred to the Southern Division
Villa Aztecs were relegated from the National Division
Wolverhampton Wanderers were relegated from the National Division
Garswood St Helens United became Garswood Saints
RTM Newcastle Kestrels became Blyth Spartans Kestrals
Kidderminster Harriers became Stourport Swifts
Town & County became Town & County Diamonds

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Bradford City (C, P)	16	15	0	1	56	13	+43	45	Promotion to the National Division
2	Aston Villa	16	12	1	3	50	15	+35	37
3	Blyth Spartans Kestrels	16	9	2	5	40	25	+15	29
4	Huddersfield Town	16	8	3	5	37	32	+5	27
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	16	7	1	8	30	29	+1	22
6	Sheffield Wednesday	16	4	4	8	25	36	−11	16
7	Garswood Saints	16	3	5	8	26	29	−3	14
8	Stourport Swifts	16	3	2	11	22	60	−38	11	Resigned from the league after the end of the season
9	Notts County	16	0	4	12	21	68	−47	4
10	Bronte (X)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Club dissolved in November. All results expunged for this season.

Source: WPL
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (X) ?

Bronte withdrew in November, all records from that season were expunged.

Results

Home \ Away	ASV	BSK	BRC	GAS	HUT	NOC	SHW	STS	WOW
Aston Villa	—	3–3	0–1	2–1	1–2	5–2	5–0	3–0	3–0
Blyth Spartans Kestrels	0–1	—	0–2	3–1	3–3	4–2	0–1	5–0	3–2
Bradford City	2–1	5–1	—	4–2	4–1	8–0	1–0	4–0	3–2
Garswood Saints	1–2	2–5	1–2	—	0–1	2–2	0–0	4–1	0–1
Huddersfield Town	0–6	0–1	1–3	1–1	—	7–2	2–2	4–2	1–0
Notts County	2–4	0–1	0–8	2–2	0–3	—	2–2	1–4	0–5
Sheffield Wednesday	0–4	3–0	0–2	2–2	3–4	7–2	—	5–2	3–2
Stourport Swifts	1–7	0–6	1–6	0–5	1–6	1–1	1–3	—	1–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–3	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	4–3	1–0	2–4	—

Source: WPL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Southern Division

FA Women's Premier League
Southern Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Berkhamsted Town
Promoted	Berkhamsted Town
Relegated	Oxford United
Matches played	90
Goals scored	370 (4.11 per match)
Biggest home win	Wimbledon 8–0 Leyton Orient (23 February 1997)
Biggest away win	Oxford United 0–7 Berkhamsted Town (26 January 1997)
Highest scoring	Brighton & Hove Albion 9–2 Oxford United (8 September 1996)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Town & County Diamonds

Oxford United

Brighton & Hove Albion

Whitehawk

Langford

Map showing the locations of the teams in the Southern Division of the FA Women's Premier League

Wimbledon

Leyton Orient

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Map showing the locations of the teams in the Division One South of the WFA National League (Greater London)

Changes from last season:

Southampton Saints were promoted to the National Division
Whitehawk were promoted to the Southern Division
Langford were transferred from the Northern Division
Brentford were relegated from the Southern Division

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Berkhamsted Town (C, P)	18	14	2	2	57	16	+41	44	Promotion to the National Division
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	18	13	2	3	59	33	+26	41
3	Whitehawk	18	12	1	5	39	17	+22	37
4	Wimbledon	18	10	2	6	65	28	+37	32
5	Three Bridges	18	7	5	6	36	27	+9	26
6	Langford	18	7	5	6	28	33	−5	26
7	Ipswich Town	18	5	4	9	24	26	−2	19
8	Leyton Orient	18	3	4	11	27	50	−23	13
9	Town & County Diamonds	18	2	3	13	18	65	−47	9
10	Oxford United (R)	18	2	2	14	17	75	−58	8	Relegation

Source: FA WPL
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BET	BHA	IPT	LAN	LEO	OXU	THB	TCD	WHI	WIM
Berkhamsted Town	—	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	5–0	4–0	6–1	4–0	4–2
Brighton & Hove Albion	5–3	—	4–2	3–0	4–3	9–2	1–1	6–2	2–3	2–1
Ipswich Town	0–1	2–2	—	0–0	3–1	0–0	0–4	1–2	0–1	1–2
Langford	2–2	1–6	2–0	—	1–6	7–0	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–3
Leyton Orient	1–1	1–2	0–1	0–3	—	3–3	1–1	5–1	1–3	0–6
Oxford United	0–7	0–4	0–5	0–1	1–2	—	1–4	3–1	0–5	1–7
Three Bridges	0–2	2–3	1–2	1–1	4–1	0–2	—	2–0	2–0	4–2
Town & County Diamonds	0–5	0–3	0–4	1–4	1–1	5–2	2–2	—	0–5	0–7
Whitehawk	1–0	2–3	2–1	0–1	4–0	4–0	2–0	4–0	—	2–1
Wimbledon	3–4	7–0	1–1	2–3	8–0	6–2	3–3	3–1	1–0	—

Source: FA WPL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

^ Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League National Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
^ Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League Northern Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
^ Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League Southern Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

[1] Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League National Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

[2] Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League Northern Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

[3] Association, The Football. "FA Women's Premier League Southern Division 1996-97". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

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