The 1996–97 season was the
96th season in
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
's history and their 66th consecutive season in
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
, the top division of
Spanish football.
Season summary
Athletic had been without a permanent head coach since replacing
Dragoslav Stepanović with
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
José María Amorrortu
José María Amorrortu Prieto (born 22 July 1953) is a Spanish former Association football, football Forward (association football), forward and Coach (sport), manager.
Playing career
Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Amorrortu signed with Athletic Bilbao ...
in March 1996. They filled the vacancy ahead of the new season by appointing Spanish-born Frenchman
Luis Fernández, previously manager of
Paris Saint-Germain in his adopted homeland.
Fernández's appointment led to an immediate improvement in league form, and Bilbao finished the
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
season in 6th place. This was their best league finish since
1993–94, and also meant a return to the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
in
1997–98.
Their performance in the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
, however, left room for improvement. They were eliminated at the last sixteen stage by
Racing Santander, following an ill-tempered second leg at
San Mamés which saw three players red carded.
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
:1. Mendiguren was transferred to
Las Palmas during the season.
:2. Bolo was loaned to
Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...
during the season.
Results
La Liga
League table
See also
*
1996–97 La Liga
The 1996–97 La Liga season, the 66th since its establishment, started on 31 August 1996 and finished on 23 June 1997.
Promotion and relegation
Teams promoted from 1995–96 Segunda División
* Hércules
* Logroñés
* Extremadura
Teams rel ...
*
1996–97 Copa del Rey
The 1996–97 Copa del Rey was the 95th staging of the Copa del Rey.
The competition started on 4 September 1996 and concluded on 28 June 1997 with the final, held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and m ...
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Athletic Bilbao season
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
Athletic Bilbao seasons
1996 in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
1997 in the Basque Country (autonomous community)