Carling English Premier League 1996-1997 Season Review

Man Utd lift the Premier League trophy for the fourth time in five seasons After the euphoria of England's run to the UEFA Euro 1996 semi-finals on home soil and a gripping title race between Manchester United and Newcastle United the previous Premier League campaign, the two sides were the main protagonists again in 1996/97, with Sir Alex Ferguson's side winning their fourth PL crown in just five seasons. Newcastle, who had let a 12-point lead slip to Man Utd in 1995/96, made a statement of their intent clear with the world record signing of England striker Alan Shearer, who arrived at his hometown club from Blackburn Rovers for £15m in July. But it was another English star, who had not featured in Euro 1996, that made his mark on the opening day of the season. Manchester United academy starlet David Beckham scored from inside his own half as the Red Devils beat Wimbledon 3-0 at Selhurst Park. Fabrizio Ravanelli, who joined Middlesbrough after scoring in Juventus' UEFA Champions League final victory over Ajax the previous season, scored a hat-trick in Boro's 3-3 draw with Liverpool on his debut in August. Other notable recruits included his former Juve team-mate Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea, for whom Ruud Gullit was made player-manager after an impressive debut season, while Patrick Vieira arrived at Arsenal and Patrik Berger joined Liverpool, who saw legendary striker Ian Rush depart for Leeds United. After two defeats from their opening three matches Newcastle won six on the bounce before they welcomed Man Utd to St James' Park in October. The Premier League leaders thrashed the defending champions 5-0, with Philippe Albert's sublime chip rounding off a memorable victory. A shock 6-3 loss to Southampton and a 2-1 home defeat to Chelsea followed for Man Utd. But United soon embarked on a 16-match unbeaten run, starting with a 1-0 win against Arsenal, who had appointed Arsene Wenger as manager from Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight the previous month. It was the first defeat of Wenger's long and successful reign at the north London club, and it allowed Man Utd to wrestle the momentum back in the 1996/97 title race. United's form was inspired by Eric Cantona, who scored a sublime chip in a 5-0 win against Sunderland. That was one of 11 strikes in 1996/97 for the Frenchman, who netted over 10 goals for the fourth successive Premier League campaign before announcing his shock retirement in May at the age of 30.