La Second Division 1896-1897 fu il quinto campionato avente questa dicitura, e vide la vittoria del Notts County.
Tom Boucher (Notts County) e J. Murphy (Notts County) sono i migliori marcatori del torneo con 22 reti.
Classifica finale
|
Pos. |
Squadra |
Pt |
G |
V |
N |
P |
GF |
GS |
MED |
|---|
 | 1. | Notts County |
42 | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 92 | 43 | 2,140 |
| 2. | Newton Heath |
39 | 30 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 56 | 34 | 1,647 |
| 3. | Grimsby Town |
38 | 30 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 66 | 45 | 1,467 |
| 4. |  Small Heath |
37 | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 69 | 47 | 1,468 |
| 5. | Newcastle Utd |
35 | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 56 | 52 | 1,077 |
| 6. | Manchester City |
32 | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 58 | 50 | 1,160 |
| 7. |  Gainsborough Trinity |
31 | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 50 | 47 | 1,064 |
| 8. | Blackpool |
31 | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 59 | 56 | 1,054 |
| 9. | Leicester Fosse |
30 | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 59 | 56 | 1,054 |
| 10. | Woolwich Arsenal | 30 | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 68 | 70 | 0,971 |
| 11. | Darwen |
28 | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 67 | 61 | 1,098 |
| 12. | Walsall |
26 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 53 | 69 | 0,768 |
| 13. | Loughborough |
25 | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 50 | 64 | 0,781 |
| 14. | Burton Swifts |
24 | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 46 | 61 | 0,754 |
 | 15. | Burton Wanderers |
20 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 19 | 31 | 67 | 0,463 |
| 16. | Lincoln City |
12 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 27 | 85 | 0.318 |
Verdetti
- Ai play-off il Notts County ottenne la promozione in First Division e il Sunderland ottenne la permanenza in First Division.
- Burnley retrocesso in Second Division 1897-1898.
- Newton Heath, squadra della Second Division, rimase nella sua categoria.
- In seguito il Burton Wanderers non rinnovò la sua partecipazione a questo campionato.
Tabellone
| | Blp | Brs | Brw | Drw | Gbt | Gri | Lef | Lin | Lou | Mcy | New | Nwh | Ntc | Smh | Wal | Woo |
| Blackpool |
–––– | 3-0 | 5-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 3-0 | 3-1 | 4-1 | 2-2 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 3-2 | 1-3 | 3-2 | 1-1 |
| Burton Swifts |
2-2 | –––– | 1-1 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 4-0 | 3-1 | 5-0 | 3-0 | 3-5 | 1-4 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Burton Wanderers |
3-1 | 1-0 | –––– | 1-0 | 3-2 | 5-1 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2-6 | 1-0 | 0-3 |
| Darwen |
2-3 | 5-1 | 3-0 | –––– | 3-2 | 3-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 5-1 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 0-2 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 12-0 | 4-1 |
| Gainsborough Trinity |
2-0 | 4-1 | 2-1 | 2-4 | –––– | 1-1 | 0-2 | 7-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 3-2 | 1-3 | 2-0 | 4-1 |
| Grimsby Town |
2-2 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 4-2 | 1-1 | –––– | 4-1 | 3-1 | 8-1 | 3-1 | 3-2 | 2-0 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 0-1 | 3-1 |
| Leicester Fosse |
2-1 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 4-1 | 0-0 | 4-2 | –––– | 4-1 | 4-2 | 3-3 | 5-0 | 1-0 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 4-1 | 6-3 |
| Lincoln City |
3-1 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 1-0 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 2-1 | –––– | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 2-1 | 2-3 |
| Loughborough |
4-1 | 0-2 | 6-0 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 3-0 | –––– | 2-0 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 2-0 | 1-2 | 8-0 |
| Manchester City |
4-2 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 3-1 | 4-0 | 3-0 | 1-1 | –––– | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 3-0 | 5-0 | 1-1 |
| Newcastle United |
4-1 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 5-1 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 4-1 | 3-0 | –––– | 2-0 | 2-2 | 4-3 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Newton Heath |
2-0 | 1-1 | 3-0 | 3-1 | 2-0 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 6-0 | 2-1 | 4-0 | –––– | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Notts County |
3-1 | 6-1 | 5-0 | 4-0 | 2-0 | 1-3 | 6-0 | 8-0 | 3-1 | 3-3 | 3-1 | 3-0 | –––– | 1-2 | 5-2 | 7-4 |
| Small Heath |
1-3 | 1-2 | 3-2 | 5-1 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 3-1 | 3-1 | 1-0 | 3-1 | –––– | 3-3 | 5-2 |
| Walsall |
2-0 | 5-2 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 5-0 | 5-1 | 3-2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 1-6 | –––– | 5-3 |
| Woolwich Arsenal |
4-2 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 1-0 | 6-1 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 6-2 | 2-0 | 1-2 | 5-1 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 1-1 | –––– |
Calcio
Inghilterra
