| Competition: | FA Women's Premier League |
| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Winners: | Arsenal 3rd title |
| Relegated: | Southampton Saints Ilkeston Town |
| Matches: | 90 |
| Total Goals: | 318 |
| League Topscorer: | Joanne Broadhurst (21) |
| Prevseason: | 1995-96 |
| Nextseason: | 1997-98 |
The 1996-97 season of the FA Women's Premier League was the 6th season of the former top flight of English women's association football. nb table does not balance - it is five goals adrift (total goals scored 318-313 and goal difference confirms as five out)
| width=30 abbr="Position" | Pos | width=150 | Team | width=30 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=30 abbr="Won" | W | width=30 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=30 abbr="Lost" | L | width=30 abbr="Goals for" | GF | width=30 abbr="Goals against" | GA | width=30 abbr="Goal difference" | GD | width=30 abbr="Points" | Pts | width=200 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Arsenal | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 65 | 9 | +56 | 49 | Champions | |||||||||||
| 2. | Doncaster Belles | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 44 | 15 | +29 | 41 | ||||||||||||
| 3. | Croydon | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 31 | ||||||||||||
| 4. | Liverpool | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 30 | ||||||||||||
| 5. | Millwall Lionesses | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 19 | +6 | 27 | ||||||||||||
| 6. | Everton | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 27 | ||||||||||||
| 7. | Wembley | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 27 | -1 | 22 | ||||||||||||
| 8. | Tranmere Rovers | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 23 | 48 | -25 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 9. | Southampton Saints | 18 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 16 | 61 | -45 | 9 | Relegated to Northern / Southern Divisions | |||||||||||
| 10. | Ilkeston Town | 18 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 56 | -42 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joanne Broadhurst | Arsenal | 21 |
| 2 | Karen Walker | Doncaster Belles | 18 |
| 3 | Kerry Davis | Croydon | 13 |
| 4 | Louise Thomas | Everton | 12 |
| 5 | Vicky Exley | Doncaster Belles | 11 |
| Andrea McGrady | Everton | 11 | |
| Kelly Smith | Arsenal | 11 | |
| 6 | Hope Powell | Croydon | 10 |
| Marieanne Spacey | Arsenal | 10 | |
| 7 | Sue Smith | Tranmere Rovers | 9 |
| 8 | Karen Burke | Liverpool | 8 |
| Shirley Oakford | Liverpool | 8 | |
| 9 | Kara Reynolds | Arsenal | 7 |
| Rachel Yankey | Arsenal | 7 |