| Year: | 1896 |
| Team: | Yale Bulldogs |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Record: | 13–1 |
| Head Coach: | Sam Thorne |
| Hc Year: | 1st |
| Stadium: | Yale Field |
The 1896 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 1896 college football season. The Bulldogs finished with a 13–1 record under first-year head coach Sam Thorne. The team recorded nine shutouts and won its first 13 games by a combined 212 to 29 score. It then lost its final game against rival Princeton by a 24–6 score.[1]
Two Yale players, quarterback Clarence Fincke and tackle Fred T. Murphy, were consensus picks for the 1896 College Football All-America Team.[2] Leslie's Weekly also picked three other Yale players (ends Lyman Bass and Louis Hinkey and center Burr Chamberlain) as 1896 first-team All-America players.[3]