In the fifth FA Premiership season, Manchester United continued to dominate the English game when they claimed their fourth title in five years... a staggering input of honours when you consider that up to that year they had only missed one championship to Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95.
In 1996-97, the Red Devils won the title with the least number of points compared with the previous three, gathering a total of 75 points.
In 1993, they gained 84 points, 92 in 1994 and in 1995 they had finished with 82 points.
At the end of the 1996-97 campaign, Manchester United finished seven points ahead of Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool, all with a tally of 68 points.
United, who lost twice at Old Trafford that season, to Chelsea 1-2 and Derby 2-3, led the standings on two occasions. Yet, on January 29 they took over from Liverpool, who were at the helm since December 17, and never looked back.
Along the season, United also suffered huge defeats at Newcastle (5-0) and Southampton (6-3) but Alex Ferguson's experience left his opponents in United's wake.
The shock news that arrived during celebrations at Old Trafford − Eric Cantona's decision to retire from the game − gave the fans a terrible feeling which, at first, they found hard to stomach.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who retired this year, finished as Manchester United's top scorer with a total of 17 goals in the league, followed by Cantona on 11 and David Beckham on eight.
So, for the second year running Kevin Keegan failed in his quest to take the championship crown to the north east. Many attributed his setback to the fact that he sold his best player, Andy Cole, to his main rival Ferguson.
If the Cantona exit was a shock, Keegan then dropped a bombshell when he decided to quit on January 7. Kenny Dalglish took over the hot seat at St James' Park.
Arsenal appointed Arsene Wenger in September, replacing Bruce Rioch. For a period of time the team was temporarily guided by Stewart Houston and Pat Rice till the Frenchman arrived at Highbury.
Transfers
Arsenal: Patrick Vieira from Milan, Nicolas Anelka from Paris SG; John Hartson to West Ham.
Aston Villa: Fernando Nelson from Sporting Lisbon, Sasa Curcic from Bolton; Paul McGrath to Derby.
Blackburn: Per Pedersen from Odense BK; Mike Newell to Birmingham.
Chelsea: Gianluca Vialli from Juventus, Roberto di Matteo from Lazio, Gianfranco Zola from Parma.
Coventry: Gary McAllister from Leeds, Darren Huckerby from Newcastle.
Derby: Aljosa Asanovic from Hajduk, Paulo Wanchope from Sporting Everdiano, Christian Dailly from Dundee United.
Everton: Nick Barmby from Middlesbrough, Gary Speed from Leeds; Vinny Samways to Las Palmas.
Leeds: Lee Bowyer from Charlton, Nigel Martyn from Crystal Palace; Phil Masinga to St Gallen.
Leicester: Muzzy Izzet from Chelsea, Kasey Keller from Millwall; Iwan Roberts to Wolves.
Liverpool: Patrik Berger from Borussia Dortmund, Bjorn Tore Kvarme from Rosenborg; John Scales to Tottenham.
Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Molde, Karel Poborsky from Slavia Prague; Lee Sharpe to Leeds.
M'boro: Fabrizio Ravanelli from Juventus, Emerson from Porto; Jan-Age Fjortoft to Sheffield United.
Newcastle: Alan Shearer from Blackburn, Des Hamilton from Bradford; Paul Kitson to West Ham.
N. Forest: Dean Saunders from Galatasaray, Pierre Van Hooijdonk from Celtic; Tommy Wright to Manchester City.
Sheffield Wednesday: Andy Booth from Huddersfield, Benito Carbone from Inter; Marc Degryse to PSV.
Southampton: Maik Taylor from Barnet, Eyal Berkovich from Haifa Maccabi; Richard Hall to West Ham.
Sunderland: Alex Rae from Millwall, Niall Quinn from Manchester City; Alex Chamberlain to Watford.
Tottenham: Ramon Vega from Cagliari, Steffan Iversen from Rosenborg; Gerard McMahon to Stoke.
West Ham: Paulo Futre from Milan, Florian Raducoiu from Espanyol; Tony Cottee to Selangor.
Wimbledon: Ben Thatcher from Millwall, Duncan Jupp from Fulham; Alan Reeves to Preston.
Other statistics
Middlesbrough's Ravanelli scored two hat-tricks in the league, vs Liverpool at home (3-3) and vs Derby at home (6-1).
Sheffield Wednesday's David Pleat and Graeme Souness, of Southampton, won the managerial award twice during the campaign.
The monthly player award was not won more than once by any player, but Southampton had two players on the winners' list: Matthew Le Tissier and Michael Evans.
Southampton, who just escaped the drop, occupied the bottom place on three occasions.
Champions Manchester United claimed seven doubles, including against top-four sides Arsenal and Liverpool. While Blackburn and West Ham failed to chalk up a double, Tottenham, Everton and Southampton suffered most as they were defeated five times at home and away by the same team.
No club succeeded in registering a blank in the list for red cards.
The clubs with the most dismissals were Southampton, Coventry and Arsenal (six sendings-off each). Gunners' skipper Tony Adams was red-carded on two occasions.
Individual awards
PFA Player of the Year: Alan Shearer (Newcastle).
PFA Young Player of the Year: David Beckham (Manchester United).
Football Writers Footballer of the Year: Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea).
Manager of the Year: Alex Ferguson (Manchester United).
Managers' Association Boss of the Year: Danny Wilson (Barnsley).
'Goal of the season': Beckham's long punt against Wimbledon.
'Match of the season': Liverpool-Newcastle 4-3 at Anfield.
Domestic prize winners: FA Cup − Chelsea; League Cup − Leicester; Fair Play League champions − Wimbledon.