1996–97 Chelsea F.C. season  During the 1996–97 English football season, Chelsea competed in the Premier League. With Glenn Hoddle leaving to become England manager, Chelsea gave the managerial role to midfielder Ruud Gullit, who used his continental connections to bring in world-class international players such as France center-back Frank Leboeuf, and Italian superstars such as midfielder Roberto Di Matteo, Parma's playmaker Gianfranco Zola and the Champions League winning striker and Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli. Gullit had a dream start to his managerial career as Chelsea won the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, ending Chelsea's 26-year trophy drought and making him the first foreign manager to win a major trophy with an English club. Zola was voted FWA Footballer of the Year after a brilliant first season at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 12 goals and contributed many assists, while fellow countryman and record £4.5 million signing Roberto Di Matteo scored one of Chelsea's goals in the triumphant Wembley final. The club suffered a tragedy in late October when director Matthew Harding was killed in a helicopter crash in Cheshire when returning home from the club's League Cup exit at Bolton. Statistics taken from . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .