place and Nottingham Forest and Leeds United occupy the two places directly above the drop zone. Bolton Wanderers are now top of Division One, one point ahead of Barnsley and two points ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Norwich City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace complete the top six. 6 October 1996 – Steve Coppell is appointed manager of Manchester City following the resignation of Alan Ball. 12 October 1996 – David Beckham scores the only goal of the match as Manchester United defeat Liverpool 1–0 in the Premier League at Old Trafford. 14 October 1996 – Sheffield Wednesday sign Italian midfielder Benito Carbone from Inter Milan for a club record £3 million. 15 October 1996 – Southampton sign Dutch defender Ulrich van Gobbel from Galatasaray for £1.3 million. 17 October 1996 – West Ham United goalscoring legend Tony Cottee, who has lost his place in the first team this season, signs for Malaysian club Selangor for £750,000. 19 October 1996 – Wimbledon's recent run of fine form continues as they beat Chelsea 4–2 in the league at Stamford Bridge. 20 October 1996 – Newcastle United beat Manchester United 5–0 in a Premier League fixture, which ends the division's longest unbeaten start to the season. 22 October 1996 – Chelsea director Matthew Harding, 42, is killed with four other people in a helicopter crash in Cheshire on his journey home from the club's League Cup defeat against Bolton Wanderers. 25 October 1996 – Ray Harford resigns as manager of Blackburn Rovers, bottom of the FA Premier League just 18 months after being champions, and coach Tony Parkes takes over until the end of the season. 26 October 1996 – Manchester United endure another heavy defeat, this time a 6–3 crushing at Southampton in which Norwegian striker Egil Østenstad scores a hat-trick. 29 October 1996 – Everton pay a club record £5.75 million to Middlesbrough for Nick Barmby. 30 October 1996 – Manchester United, unbeaten since they first played in Europe 40 years ago, finally suffer a home defeat in a European fixture when they lost 1–0 at home to Fenerbahçe in their fourth group match of the UEFA Champions League. 31 October 1996 – Arsenal end their first month under Arsène Wenger's management as Premier League leaders on goal difference ahead of Newcastle United, while Wimbledon are close behind in third, Liverpool are fourth (with two games in hand over the top