| Competition: | Primeira Divisão |
| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Winners: | Porto 16th title |
| Relegated: | Espinho União de Leiria Gil Vicente |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Porto (group stage) Sporting CP (second qualifying round) |
| Continentalcup2: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Boavista (first round) |
| Continentalcup3: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Benfica (first round) Braga (first round) V. Guimarães (first round) |
| League Topscorer: | Mário Jardel (30 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Boavista 7–0 Gil Vicente (27 April 1997) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Espinho 0–5 Porto (26 October 1996) |
| Highest Scoring: | 4–3 (3 times) 5–2 (2 times) |
| Matches: | 306 |
| Total Goals: | 721 |
| Prevseason: | 1995–96 |
| Nextseason: | 1997–98 |
The 1996–97 Primeira Divisão was the 63rd edition of top flight of Portuguese football. It started on 25 August 1996 with a match between Benfica and Braga, and ended on 15 June 1997. The league was contested by 18 clubs with Porto as the defending champions.
Porto won the league and qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage, along with Sporting CP, who qualified for the second round, Boavista qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, and Benfica, Braga and V. Guimarães qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Cup; in opposite, Espinho, União de Leiria and Gil Vicente were relegated to the Liga de Honra. Mário Jardel was the top scorer with 30 goals.
Felgueiras, Campomaiorense and Tirsense, were consigned to the Liga de Honra following their final classification in 1995–96 season.
The other three teams were replaced by Rio Ave, Vitória de Setúbal and Espinho from the Liga de Honra.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| União de Leiria | Vítor Manuel | 20 October 1996 | 17th | Eurico Gomes | 21 October 1996 | |
| Belenenses | 27 October 1996 | 15th | Vítor Manuel | 28 October 1996 | ||
| Marítimo |  Marinho Peres | 17 November 1996 | 12th | Manuel José | 18 November 1996 | |
| Boavista | 19 November 1996 | 10th | João Alves | 20 November 1996 | ||
| Gil Vicente | Bernardino Pedroto | 1 December 1996 | 17th | Fernando Festas | 2 December 1996 | |
| Sporting |  Robert Waseige | 12 December 1996 | 3rd | Octávio Machado | 20 December 1996 | |
| Rio Ave | Henrique Calisto | 22 December 1996 | 18th | Carlos Brito | 23 December 1996 | |
| Boavista | João Alves | 12 January 1997 | 10th | Mário Reis | 27 January 1997 | |
| União de Leiria | Eurico Gomes | 19 January 1997 | 16th | Quinito | 20 January 1997 | |
| Benfica | Paulo Autuori | 19 January 1997 | 2nd |  Mário Wilson | 20 January 1997 | |
| Marítimo | Manuel José | 26 January 1997 | 12th | Rui Vieira | 27 January 1997 | |
| Benfica | Mário Wilson | 26 January 1997 | 3rd | Manuel José | 27 January 1997 | |
| Vitória de Setúbal | Mário Reis | 26 January 1997 | 7th | Mourinho Félix | 27 January 1997 | |
| Marítimo | Rui Vieira | 16 February 1997 | 11th | Augusto Inácio | 17 February 1997 | |
| Vitória de Setúbal | Mourinho Félix | 10 March 1997 | 11th | 11 March 1997 | ||
| Gil Vicente | Fernando Festas | 23 March 1997 | 18th | José Marconi | 24 March 1997 | |
| Espinho | Zinho | 11 May 1996 | 16th | Edmundo Duarte | 12 May 1996 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mário Jardel | Porto | 30 | |
| 2 | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Boavista | 20 | |
| 3 | Gaúcho | Estrela da Amadora | 16 | |
| 4 | Constantino Jardim | Leça | 15 | |
| Nuno Gomes | Boavista | |||
| 6 | Karoglan | Braga | 14 | |
| 7 | Gilmar | Vitória de Guimarães | 13 | |
| 8 | Edmilson | Marítimo | 12 | |
| 9 | Edmilson | Porto | 11 | |
| 10 | Marcos Severo | Salgueiros | 10 |
