Championship Manager 96/97 is a re-release of Championship Manager 2 with seasonal updates for the 1996/1997 season. The game starts with the new season, and players, managers and teams have been brought up to date, with revised histories for the English and Scottish players. It also includes bug fixes, gameplay balancing and improvements. Next to the technical aspects, it introduces the Bosman ruling that allows professional football players in the European Union to move freely to another club at the end of their term of contract with their present team.