Last updated June 13, 2024 by colgadosporelfutbol
Sevilla 1996-97 and its season, They are remembered as one of the most complicated campaigns in the club's history. This period was marked by a series of absurdities that culminated in the team's relegation to the Second Division., ending a streak of 44 consecutive years in the highest category of Spanish football. It was the so-called League of Stars, marked by the money of the teles and the ‘Ley Bosman‘. And for Sevilla FC it was a real nightmare.
They stayed in position 20 from the last league 22 first, consequence of what happened in the summer of 1995 in a situation in which the Sevilla club was also directly involved.
Sevilla's signings 1996-97 They were terrible
And that group was able to bring together some of the worst footballers in the history of Sevilla like Ivica the Sailor, Hibic, Petros Marinakis and Colusso among others. All of them illustrious Sevilla fans. With the money from TV and the opening of borders for community footballers, Sevilla went out of their way bringing in all these players whose level was more than doubtful. But beware, that the Seville team was not by far the only one.
All these horrors regarding transfers, were accompanied by very important departures such as the sale of Davor Suker to Real Madrid for 800 millions of old pesetas. Croatian, He had been the star of Sevilla in previous years and they replaced him with another Croatian like Mornar but who obviously, He was nowhere near Davor's level..
That was not all, at the winter market that year, They signed players like Robert Prosinecki and a Bebeto that he only lasted a couple of months at Sevilla and that he played alone 5 matches even though they had paid 600 millions of pesetas for him. Prosi performance was better with 4 goals in 22 games in total, but he could do nothing to avoid the relegation of a team that was doomed from the day 1.
Sevilla 1996-97 He had different technical bodies
To try to reverse the bad streak, Sevilla made several changes to its coaching staff during the season. But none of them worked or gave the desired performance..
José Antonio Camacho
It started with José Antonio Camacho who signed in the summer of 1996. But nevertheless, with the team occupying nineteenth place in the League and eliminated from the Copa del Rey, Cieza's coach was removed from office in February 1997, after falling against Real Sociedad in a match in which they came back from behind 2 goals in the absence of 6 minutes.
Carlos Bilardo
After Camacho, An old acquaintance of the house arrived like the Argentine Carlos Bilardo. But nevertheless, In his second stage as Sevilla coach he only lasted 2 months. He resigned after seeing the scoring in that squad full of ‘horrors’ football. In its previous stage, the 1996-97, had achieved a seventh place.
Julian Rubio
The former Sevilla player took over as coach of the first team after the departure of Carlos Salvador Bilardo, with only a third of the season remaining. Under his leadership, The team began to improve and hopes of salvation were raised. But nevertheless, The burden accumulated during the season prevented the comeback in the classification, leading the team to a tragic relegation at the Carlos Tartiere stadium in Oviedo.
The relegation to the Second Division had a profound impact on Sevilla FC, both in economic and emotional terms. This setback forced the club to rethink its strategy and seek a deep restructuring..
Revival and restructuring
Relegation acted as a catalyst for a significant change in the club's structure.. A few years later and after another decline in the year 2000, under the direction of Monchi as sports director, Sevilla FC after leaving the goal, began to focus on the development of young talents and making strategic signings. This innovative and well-planned approach allowed the club to not only return to the First Division, but also achieve important successes in national and international competitions in the following years. But that, It's another story. This was the squad of that season 96-97.
