| What The Papers Say - 1996 |
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| Back in the day we used to have fantastic coverage from the Gloucester Citizen and in these pages you can see how good it was with a digested version of their headlines. This was 1996. |
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| May 9th 1996 |
City are reported to have bid £25,000 for Bromsgrove Rovers striker Reckey Carter according to club chairman Keith Gardner, although Keith McMaster, his counterpart at the Victoria Ground has denied that his club have recieved an offer.
Carter had joined Bromsgrove at the start of the 1993/4 campaign for £3000 and had been top scorer each season.
Gardner said that City had hoped to raise more than £40,000 by selling David Holmes (Rushden & Diamonds £25k), Keith Knight (£5k) and Shaun Rouse who had been holding out for a contract extension, and money in line with recent signings.
The City chairman also added that Leroy Rosenior was looking to sign a Southern League centre-half, a midfielder, a Midlands based Vauxhall Conference striker and Chelmsford City's Mark Bellingham who would be the only player likely to command a fee.
Hopes of making Knight's loan to Cheltenham Town permanent seemed to have hit a brick wall with manager Chris Robinson describing it as a "Dead Duck" with City holding out for the £5000 that Newport AFC had offered, only for Knight to turn down the move. Kidderminster Harriers were also linked with a loan move although according to Knight it had become personal and he vowed never to play for Keith Gardner again, even considering taking a year out of football whilst he was under contract at City.
Gardner publicly slammed Knight in reply saying that just because he wanted to go to Cheltenham it didn't mean that City had to accept what they were offering. |
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| May 16th 1996 |
Both David Coles and Andy Adebowale have reject the offers of new contracts. Goalkeeper Coles was said to be considering offers from several other clubs including two from the Vauxhall Conference. Coles who will be 32 in the summer and Adebowale (29) were signed by former manager John Murphy but Leroy Rosenior admitted that he hadn't expected them to accept his first offer.
The club had offered Coles a one year deal due to what Rosenior had described as his dodgy knees although Coles stressed that he'd only missed twenty games in the last six years. He also stated that he wasn't in the game for the money but as there was a lot of it flying around the club he only wanted what he felt was due.
Adebowale on the other hand was having problems travelling from his home in west London [he lived near to Wormwood Scrubs]. |
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| May 17th 1996 |
Reckey Carter has been transfer listed by Bromsgrove after asking to leave. The club have confirmed that they have received a written bid from City although they are likely to want more than the £25,000 which has been reported.
Manager Leroy Rosenior has shortlisted four or five strikers and has tabled his bid before he jets off on holiday to Spain and expected to conclude the deal either way upon his return. |
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| May 18th 1996 |
Geoff Medcroft is named as the new boss of City's reserve team.
The former Tuffley Rovers and Forest Green manager had been in charge of the youth setup at Meadow Park for the past three years and agreed to combine roles at City. |
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| May 29th 1996 |
Former boss John Murphy will be unveiled as the new manager of Witney Town by the end of the week.
Cheltenham based Murphy, who had an unhappy eighteen month spell at City admitted that he'd considered giving up management and turned down offers from Vauxhall Conference and Beazer Premier clubs to take up the reins at Witney.
He is hoping the both Bob Baird and Brian Hughes will join him at the ambitious Oxfordshire club and would like players who have been loyal to him in the past like Neil Reeves and Alan Bird to join too, although the likes of Shaun Rouse and Keith Knight may well prove to be too expensive for him. |
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| June 3rd 1996 |
The Beazer Homes League is no longer as City will now be competing in the Dr Martens Airware League after the R.Griggs group, the backers of Rushden & Diamonds agreed a four year deal worth £600,000.
Last years deal with Beazer Homes was only worth £67,000 and the housebuilders wanted to continue on a season by season basis but the more lucrative offer from Dr Martens, who already sponsor the League Cup was accepted instead. They will pay £100,000 per season and make up the rest with benefits to clubs including clothing and will restart the Manager of the Month awards.
The structure of next seasons league is confirmed with Cambridge City getting a reprieve from relegation. Only three clubs - Ilkeston Town, VS Rugby and Stafford Rangers will go down because no-one was willing to switch from the Unibond League who will now run with 23 clubs. Locally Hellenic League champions Cirencester Town will join Forest Green Rovers and Cinderford Town in the Southern Division. |
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| June 4th 1996 |
Defender and Captain Gary Kemp, one of the few non-contract players at the club is weighing up his options after receiving an offer from Bath City.
Striker Deion Vernon has been placed on the transfer list on months after joing the club from £3000 from Bath. Leroy Rosenior is expecting to sign several strikers by the end of the week with both Rushden's Dale Watkins and Reckey Carter known targets.
However losing Kemp (27) would be a hammer blow as Bath manager Tony Ricketts had made the bank worker a "reasonable offer" and the chance to play with the Romans in the Vauxhall Conference may suit the ambitious centre-half.
Rosenior, who is aiming for a sixteen or seventeen man squad had this week tied up deals with young defender Andy Webber and midfielder Andy Tucker although he was uncertain about the availability of Steve Mardenborough who was being offered non-contract terms.
Simon Black, the striker loaned from Birmingham City at the end of last season was unlikely to be involved this year as he wanted to stay in the Football League. |
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| June 5th 1996 |
City are facing a fine from the Department of Trade and Industry after failing to lodge their yearly accounts with Companies House. As a private limited company the club were supposed to have lodged their accounts by the end of April although as of today they still hadn't been filed. A company which does not file any accounts could become the subject of legal action with directors subject to a fine of upto £5000.
City Chairman Keith Gardner was unavailable for comment.
Former City player Marcus Phillips has been released by Dutch Premier division club Utrecht. He made 12 appearances during a three month spell at the club including games against Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven but when the club signed three new midfielders at the end of the season it was the end for Phillips. A return to City looks unlikely as Phillips, who is back home with his parents near Trowbridge wants to remain in the professional game, "I'll play in England, Holland or even on the Moon as long as I'm a pro" he said. |
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| June 6th 1996 |
Steve White, Hereford United's 37 year old striker is a target for City boss Leroy Rosenior.
White took the Bulls to the brink of promotion with 33 goals last season as they were beaten in the division three playoffs but despite being offered a new contract at Edgar Street City Chairman Keith Garnder has been in constant touch with the play at his holiday hotel in St Lucia.
"He is very interested in joining us to see out his playing career with a view to moving into the management structure" said Gardner. |
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| June 7th 1996 |
Prolific striker Dale Watkins has signed for City in what Chairman Keith Gardner describes as a "sensational deal".
City tried to sign him for £25,000 last season but have now got their man on a free transfer and Gardner insisted that the club hadn't broken the bank or the clubs rigid wage structure to sign Watkins who previously bagged almost a hundred goals in 120 games for Rushden & Diamonds.
Gardner revealed that Watkins had contacted the club when he became a free agent as Rushden did not re-engage him at the right time and despite a late offer from FA Trophy winners Macclesfield Town Peterborough based Watkins opted for the Tigers due to the influence of manager Leroy Rosenior. |
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| June 8th 1996 |
Keith Gardner has stated that City's late accounts are no real problem and that they would be filed within the next few weeks. They had been delayed due to "sweeps" by both the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise.
Clark Whitehill will become the clubs new accountants after signing a sponsorship deal with the club and partner Roger Downes wil become City's financial consulatant. |
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| June 11th 1996 |
Brian Godfrey has left Cinderford Town to lead Stroud League Uplands United ambitious bid for Dr Martens League football within ten years.
Uplands are putting the finishing touches to their £330,000 plans for new pitches and a clubhouse mainly thanks to a grant of £200,000 from the National Lottery.
Stonehouse based Godfrey was assistant manager to Tim Harris at the Causeway but cited the awkward travelling to the Forest and Uplands' ambition as his reason for leaving. |
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| June 15th 1996 |
Hereford United manager Graham Turner has revealed that he has heard nothing about City's interest in Steve White, who has still not signed a contract with the Division Three club. Former City defender Murray Fishlock though had signed a new two year deal at Hereford.
Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon will be the highlights of City's pre-season campaign. The Tigers start with a home game against Kidderminster Harriers on July 27th as well as games against Yeovil Town and North Leigh. |
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| June 19th 1996 |
City have added Birmingham City to their list of pre-season friendlies.
The Blues, who have just appointed Trevor Francis as manager will play at Meadow Park on July 25th although it's uncertain whether new signings Steve Bruce, Barry Horne and Gary Ablett will feature but Francis' assistant Mick Mills has said that it will be a strong team including players easily recognisable by the public.
Ex-Tiger's striker Simon Black won't feature as he was one of the sixteen players given free transfers from Birmingham's thirty-six strong squad soon after Francis arrived. He has signed a two year contract with Doncaster Rovers. |
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| June 22nd 1996 |
City's new reserve team will compete in the Central Conference of Midlands based sides including the likes of Cheltenham Town, Hednesford Town, Kettering Town, Kidderminster Harriers as well as possibly Worcester City and Newport AFC. Stoke City and Hereford United will be the only league sides involved.
Manager Geoff Medcroft hopes to sign up the likes of Tom Rutter, Gary Cornwall and Darren McCluskey from his youth team and is likely to move the U-18's matches to Mondays nights so that the reserves can play on Wednesdays. |
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| June 29th 1996 |
| City have been paired with Cinderford Town in the first Round of the Dr Martens League Cup. In the County Cup City will host the winners of Cinderford and Forest Green Rovers. |
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| July 2nd 1996 |
City yesterday signed their second striker of the summer with the arrival of Adie Mings from Bath City. The 27 year old has signed a two year deal after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.
Chairman Keith Gardner has already set them a target, "I'm quite sure that Adie's partnership with Dale Watkins will produce at least 50 goals"! |
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| July 3rd 1996 |
City have added to their backroom staff with the appointment of former Torquay United player Don O'Riordan as player/coach.
O'Riordan (39) who has signed a one-year deal featured for Dorchester Town last season and was the best player on the park when the two teams clashed according to Leroy Rosenior. |
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| July 8th 1996 |
Goalkeeper David Coles has got the two year contract that he wanted whilst Gary Kemp is expected to sign a new deal and midfielder Shaun Rouse is also close to agreeing terms that will keep him at Meadow Park until 1999.
Boss Leroy Rosenior also expects to add Hednesford Town striker Henry Wright to his squad. Coles added that he'd talked to the likes of Trowbridge Town, Dover Athletic and Slough Town but they were all put off by the £3000 fee that City were demanding.
Kemp's chance of a move to Twerton Park looks to have fallen through owing to financial problems at the Conference club so Rosenior was keen to get him to commit his future to the club whilst there were still question marks over Andy Adebowale, Deion Vernon and Steve Mardenborough.
The club have been handed a tough draw in the FA Cup with a trip to ICIS League Division One side Basingstoke Town. |
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| Legs Eleven - Gloucester City players at training last night (July 10th 1996) |
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| July 10th 1996 |
Captain Gary Kemp has agreed a new one year deal with the club in what Keith Gardner describes as "The most important signing that City have made this summer". Also signing was Henry Wright from Hednesford as well as the manager himself who put his name to a two year deal.
Twenty players turned up for pre-season training last nightincluding the unsettled Keith Knight and David Holmes, as well as Dale Watkins and Adie Mings whose fee is to be decided by tribunal. City have offered Bath a fee of upto £8500 based on appearances, whilst City also tried to lure ex-keeper Dave Mogg back to Meadow Park but the two clubs couldn't agree a fee so David Coles was offered improved terms instead.
Five players not present were Simon Cooper, Don O'Riordan, Ian Howell, Andy Adebowale and Coles. Wayne Dobbins won't be involved with the club next season while Neil Reeves has signed for Weston.
Rosenior signed his contract last night while assistant Joe Roach also agreed a deal. |
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| July 12th 1996 |
| City have reported Cheltenham Town to the Southern League over comments that they say bring thwe game into disrepute. The reaction comes after Cheltenham reported City to the FA for not paying the outstanding monies owed from the £4000 transfer of Simon Cooper to City and commented about it in the local media. Keith Gardner said that he'd made contact with Southern League secretary Dennis Strudwick but he would not say if the league would take any action. |
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| July 13th 1996 |
Wantaway striker David Holmes could be set for a move to Halesowen Town. Holmes has said repeatedly since the departure of former manager John Murphy that he does not want to play for the club although he did take part in this weeks pre-season training sessions.
He went on loan to last season champions Rushden & Diamonds but they didn't want to make the signing permanent and with City having paid £25,000 for him, albeit in instalments they'll be looking for a similar fee if he moves on.
The deal will be dependant on whether the Yeltz are able to seal a big money move for defender Jim Rodwell who has been attracting interest from both Liverpool and Leeds united. |
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| July 20th 1996 |
Midfielder Shaun Rouse has finally agreed an extension to his contract and will stay at Meadow Park until the end of the 1997-98 season. After seeing the new players that Rosenior has signed Rouse firmly belives that City can win something this year. Rouse added that he never really wanted to leave but the troubles at the end of last season were a major distraction.
The Tigers will open their campaign with two long away trips in the first eight days. City's first game is away at newly promoted Ashford Town before a midweek home game against Merthyr Tydfil and then another long trip to Cambridge City follows on the second saturday. |
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| July 22nd 1996 |
| Cirencester Town 1-3 City - |
Transfer listed striker David Holmes is likely to stay with City if his proposed move to Halesowen falls through. The Derby based player who is looking for a club closer to home because of the long distance travelling to Gloucester scored City's second goal in their 3-1 friendly win at Cirencester on Saturday with Steve Mardenborough and a penalty from Dale Watkins getting the other two. Pete Lango pulled one back for the home team.
City : D. Coles, J. Holloway, D. Johnson, G. Thorne, G. Kemp, S. Rouse, S. Mardenborough, D. O'Riordan, D. Holmes, D. Watkins, H. Wright.
Subs : S. Cooper, P. Milsom, A. Webber, A. Tucker, D. Vernon. |
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| July 23rd 1996 |
| Leroy Rosenior is still keen to offer midfielder Andy Adebowale a new contract but he'll need to find him first! Londoner Adebowale, a £6500 signing from Merthyr Tydfil in November 1994 has expressed a desire to leave due to the travelling and is on the transfer list but the situation cannot be resolved until contact can be made with the player who is believed to be away on holiday. |
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| July 26th 1996 |
| City 2-3 Birmingham City - |
| City lost 2-3 at home to a Birmingham City side at Meadow Park last night devoid of it's big names who'd played in a behind closed doors friendly at Derby that afternoon, although manager Trevor Francis and his assistant Mick Mills were present. |
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| July 27th 1996 |
David Holmes has come off the transfer list after agreeing a new one year contract with the club. The striker who joined from Gresley Rovers in March 1995 had been available for transfer for four months but with Don O'Riordan making the same journey from Derby Holmes has a travel partner and is now enjoying his football with City again.
Gloucester City will have to wait and see if they are on the road to promotion but they are already on the Information Superhighway thanks to assistant club secretary Jason Mills. "There will be news, fixtures, match reports and I will update it regularly" said Mills, if you have the equipment you can access it at . |
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| July 29th 1996 |
| City 2-3 Kidderminster Harriers - |
City suffered another 2-3 home friendly defeat on Saturday, this time against Conference side Kidderminster Harriers.
Harriers took the lead through Mark Shepherd before David Holmes equalised from the penalty spot in the first half. However two goals in three minutes from John Deakin and Neil Cartwright meant that Paul Milsom's 77th goal was little more than a consolation.
Leroy Rosenior tried a three man defence with attacking full backs for the first time and said that he'd learned alot from the game, mainly though that he didn't want to play three at the back!
The manager also used the game as an opportunity to whittle down his squad to eighteen players with winger Keith Knight being the most notable absentee.
City : D. Coles, S. Mardenborough, D. Johnson, G. Thorne, G. Kemp, S. Cooper, D. Webb, I. Howell, D. Holmes, D. Watkins, H. Wright.
Subs : J. Holloway, A. Mings, P. Milsom, D. O'Riordan, S. Rouse, A. Tucker, D. Vernon. |
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| July 31st 1996 |
Steve Fergusson has re-signed for the Tigers from Worcester City in time for tonights friendly against Tottenham Hotspur.
The popular 35 year old can play at the heart of defence or in attack and joins on a two year contract for a nominal fee, the first instalment of which is believe to be around £1250. Fergusson was thought to be close to joining Halesowen Town as he'd been training with them and the move is quite a coup for Leroy Rosenior.
City now have 22 contracted players at their disposal and Fergusson is the fifth signing of the closed season but Keith Gardner denied that the club were spending too much money. The club have spent £2500 on Adie Mings, rising to £8500 on appearances and are looking at goalkeeper Shane Cook although they have re-opened talks with Bath City regarding a move for David Mogg. Gardner stated that the club were spending around £3000 per week on players wages. |
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| August 1st 1996 |
| City 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur - |
City are to receive a cash injection of £200,000 from a mystery local businessman that will effectively wipe out the clubs debts before the start of the season, although Keith Gardner refused to reveal too many details at this time.
2700 people packed into Meadow Park last night as City beat a youthful Tottenham team 3-1 in a pre-season friendly. |
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| August 2nd 1996 |
Keith Gardner is insisting that Wimbledon bring a strong side to Meadow Park for tomorrows friendly, arranged as part of the deal that took Steve Talboys to Selhurst Park in 1992. Gardner is keen to avoid a repeat of the friendly against Tottenham when none of the star names turned up despite them saying that the likes of David Kerslake, Jason Cundy and Ronnie Rosenthal would play.
Former Trowbridge centre-half Paul Thorpe was given a trial by City in their reserve team match at Tuffley Rovers last night. A City squad with seven first team players including Keith Knight, Shaun Rouse and Adie Mings lost 0-2. |
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| August 5th 1996 |
| City 1-1 Wimbledon - |
City drew 1-1 with a Wimbledon team sadly lacking star names like Vinnie Jones and Dean Holdsworth.
City are mourning the sudden death of physio Bernard Tandy who died in the early hours of yesterday morning. He'd been at almost every training session and match since becoming involved with the club in the late 1950's and had seen twenty-four managers come and go at three different grounds. City directors will meet on Wednesday to discuss instigating an annual memorial trophy in Tandy's honour. |
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| August 6th 1996 |
| City 0-0 Yeovil Town - |
| City performed well last night as they held ICIS League favourites Yeovil Town to a 0-0 draw at Meadow Park despite missing David Holmes, Dale Watkins and Steve Fergusson through injury. |
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| August 8th 1996 |
| Forest Green Rovers have offered £3000 for City's out of favour winger Keith Knight to replace new signing Mike Wyatt who snatched from under their noses by Bath City. Bath are also interested in City striker Paul Milsom whilst talks are still ongoing between Leroy Rosenior and Tony Ricketts about a move for goalkeeper David Mogg. |
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| August 11th 1996 |
| North Leigh 1-3 City - |
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| August XXst 1996 |
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| August 14th 1996 |
City have signed left back John McGrath from Worcester City just four days ahead of the new season. Thirty-two year old McGrath, known as Jock has been at St Georges Lane for ten years apart from three seasons with Kidderminster Harriers where he played in the FA Trophy Final.
City's reserve team beat Northen Senior League side Hardwicke 5-0 last night. Goals came from Steve Nicholas (19), Toby Andrews (46), Marco Carlo (61), Dave Mitchell (65) and Gary Cornwall (88). |
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| August 19th 1996 |
| Ashford Town 0-3 City - |
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| August XXst 1996 |
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| August 21st 1996 |
| City 6-3 Merthyr Tydfil - |
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| August XXst 1996 |
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| August 26th 1996 |
| Cambridge City 0-1 City - |
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| August XXst 1996 |
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| August 27th 1996 |
| City 0-3 Halesowen Town - |
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| August XXst 1996 |
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| September 2nd 1996 |
| City 1-0 Kings Lynn - |
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| September XXst 1996 |
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| September 5th 1996 |
| AFC Newport 0-4 City - |
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| September XXth 1996 |
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| September 9th 1996 |
| City 3-1 Baldock Town - |
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| September XXst 1996 |
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| September 16st 1996 |
| Basingstoke Town 0-3 City - |
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| September XXst 1996 |
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| September 23rd 1996 |
| City 3-1 Chelmsford City - |
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| September XXst 1996 |
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| September 25th 1996 |
| Merthyr Tydfil 1-0 City - |
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| September XXst 1996 |
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| September 30th 1996 |
| City 1-3 Thatcham Town - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 7th 1996 |
| Sittingbourne 1-1 City - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 9th 1996 |
| City 5-0 Cinderford Town - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 14th 1996 |
| City 1-0 Nuneaton Borough - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 16th 1996 |
| Halesowen Town 5-4 City - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 21st 1996 |
| Hastings Town 0-2 City - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 28th 1996 |
| City 1-2 Gresley Rovers - |
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| October XXst 1996 |
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| October 30th 1996 |
| Cinderford Town 2-1 City - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 4th 1996 |
| Burton Albion 3-1 City - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 5th 1996 |
| City 3-0 Forest Green Rovers - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 11th 1996 |
| City 2-1 Crawley Town - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 18th 1996 |
| Salisbury City 0-4 City - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 25th 1996 |
| Kings Lynn 2-1 City - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| November 27th 1996 |
| City 2-1 AFC Newport - |
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| November XXst 1996 |
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| December 1st 1996 |
| City 3-1 Kingstonian - |
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| December XXst 1996 |
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| December 9th 1996 |
| City 2-4 Burton Albion - |
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| December XXst 1996 |
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| December 11th 1996 |
| Cheltenham Town 1-0 City - |
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| December XXst 1996 |
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| December 16th 1996 |
| City 1-1 Sittingbourne - |
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| December XXst 1996 |
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| December 23rd 1996 |
| Nuneaton Borough 2-0 City - |
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| December XXst 1996 |
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| December 27th 1996 |
| City 2-1 Cheltenham Town - |
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