Manchester United won the 1996-97 Premier League title and relegation race on 75 points, 7 points ahead of Newcastle United. Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest finished in the relegation places.
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English Premier League standings, 1996-97
Team
W
D
L
GD
PTS
L10
Streak
Manchester United (MUN)
21
12
5
+32
75
5-3-2
W1
Newcastle United (NEW)
19
11
8
+33
68
5-5-0
W1
Arsenal (ARS)
19
11
8
+30
68
6-2-2
W1
Liverpool (LIV)
19
11
8
+25
68
4-3-3
D1
Aston Villa (AVL)
17
10
11
+13
61
4-3-3
W1
Chelsea (CHE)
16
11
11
+3
59
5-1-4
W1
Sheffield Wednesday (SHW)
14
15
9
-1
57
3-3-4
D1
Wimbledon (WIM)
15
11
12
+3
56
3-3-4
W2
Leicester City (LEI)
12
11
15
-8
47
2-4-4
W2
Tottenham Hotspur (TOT)
13
7
18
-7
46
3-2-5
L2
Leeds United (LEE)
11
13
14
-10
46
1-7-2
D4
Derby County (DER)
11
13
14
-13
46
4-2-4
L1
Blackburn Rovers (BLB)
9
15
14
-1
42
2-3-5
L1
West Ham United (WHU)
10
12
16
-9
42
3-5-2
L1
Everton (EVE)
10
12
16
-13
42
2-3-5
L2
Southampton (SOU)
10
11
17
-6
41
4-3-3
L1
Coventry City (COV)
9
14
15
-16
41
3-4-3
W1
Sunderland (SUN)
10
10
18
-18
40
3-2-5
L1
Middlesbrough (MID)
10
12
16
-9
39
3-5-2
D3
Nottingham Forest (NFO)
6
16
16
-28
34
0-7-3
L1
The dashed line on the chart is the relegation line: the pace of the best team in the drop zone.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 12 times.
Manchester United trailed by as many as 10 points on December 17, 1996.
Manchester United took first place for good on January 29, 1997.
Newcastle United won 7 games in a row from September 4, 1996 to October 20, 1996, the longest run of the race.
Sheffield Wednesday led by 5 points as late as September 3, 1996.
Manchester United went 6-2-0 from December 17, 1996 to January 29, 1997, turning a deficit of 10 points into a lead of 1 point.
The top two ended the day within three points of each other on 86 of the 108 days played.
Six teams held first place.
Manchester United spent 106 of the season's 268 charted days in first place.