FA Premier League 1994-95 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Promoted teams

Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

and Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

were promoted from the Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

won the 1993-94 playoff

Football League Play-Offs

The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine some of the promotion places within the Football League. Essentially, each division of the league offers a certain number of automatic promotion places to the top two or three clubs. A further promotion place is...

Controversial incidents

In January 1995, Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

's 28-year-old French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

Eric Cantona

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...

(then holder of the PFA Players' Player of the Year

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football...

award) assaulted a Crystal Palace fan in his team's 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park is an English football stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon. It is the current home ground of Crystal Palace Football Club. Its present capacity is 26,309.-History:...

. Cantona was banned from football for eight months, fined £20,000 and sentenced to 14 days in prison. The prison sentence was later reduced to 120 hours community service on appeal.

Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

Dennis Wise

Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....

was convicted of criminal damage and assault, relating to a fight with a taxi

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

driver in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He was given a three-month prison sentence but the conviction and prison sentence were quickly overturned on appeal.

Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

midfielder Paul Merson

Paul Merson

Paul Charles Merson is a retired English football player, and former player-manager of Walsall. His playing career has included spells at Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and finishing his playing career at Tamworth. He also played for England 21 times...

admitted in November 1994 that he was an alcoholic and was also addicted to cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

and gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

. He underwent a three-month drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

programme before being allowed to resume his playing career.

Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong

Chris Armstrong (footballer born 1971)

Christopher Peter "Chris" Armstrong is an English former England B international footballer who has played as a striker for Wrexham , Millwall, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers between 1989 and 2005.-Crystal Palace:After short spells with Wrexham and Millwall, Armstrong found...

failed a drugs test in February 1995 but admitted that he had done wrong and returned to action after just four weeks undergoing rehabilitation. Armstrong was Palace's leading goalscorer in 1994-95, helping them reach the semi finals of both domestic cup competitions, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated back to the First Division

Football League First Division

just one season after winning promotion.

Arsenal manager George Graham

George Graham (footballer)

George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...

was sacked in February 1995 after nearly nine years in charge, when it was revealed that he had accepted an illegal payment of £425,000 from Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

agent Rune Hauge

Rune Hauge

Rune Hauge is a Norwegian football agent.In English football, Hauge is best known as the agent who represented John Jensen and Pål Lydersen during their transfers to Arsenal in the early 1990s. This would lead to Arsenal manager George Graham becoming embroiled in allegations that Hauge paid him a...

relating to the purchases of Norwegian and Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

players Pal Lydersen

Pål Lydersen

Pål Lydersen is a Norwegian former football player.A full back, Lydersen played for I.K. Start, until he was signed by English club Arsenal in 1991...

and John Jensen

John Jensen

John Jensen , nicknamed Faxe, is a former Danish international footballer who is unemployed. He is known for his temper and is often outspoken in interviews. His playing career lasted over a decade, during which he played most famously for Arsenal F.C...

three years earlier. Graham was later banned from football for one year by the FA

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

Transfers

Just before the start of the 1994-95 season, the English transfer record was broken when Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

paid £5 million for 21-year-old Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

striker Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...

. But that record was broken again in January when Manchester United paid £6 million for Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

's Andy Cole

Andy Cole

Andrew Alexander Cole is a retired English footballer. He is most well known by the name Andy Cole , but in 2000, he reputedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole...

, in a deal which also saw £1 million-rated Keith Gillespie

Keith Gillespie

Keith Robert Gillespie is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays in midfield for Longford Town....

move to Newcastle. Other significant transfers before and during the 1994-95 season included: Vinny Samways

Vinny Samways

Vincent "Vinny" Samways is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.Samways was born in Bethnal Green, London, and began his football career in Tottenham Hotspur's youth system. He won the FA Cup with Tottenham in 1991, and helped them reach the semi-finals of...

(Tottenham to Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

, £2 million), David Rocastle

David Rocastle

David Carlyle Rocastle, nicknamed Rocky, was an English football player, who spent the majority of his career at Arsenal...

(Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

to Chelsea, £1.25 million), Jürgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...

(Monaco

AS Monaco FC

Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...

to Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, £2 million), John Scales

John Scales

John Robert Scales is an English former professional football player who played as a central defender.-Bristol Rovers:...

(Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...

to Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

, £3 million) and Paul Kitson

Paul Kitson

For the English footballer who spent most of his career in the United States, see Paul Kitson .Paul Kitson is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker...

(Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

to Newcastle United, £2.2 million).

Premier League standings and European cup competition qualification

The title race was won by Blackburn Rovers, whose last title success was in 1914. Kenny Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish

Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...

's side secured the championship on the last day of the season despite losing 2-1 at his former club Liverpool, as Manchester United could only manage a 1-1 draw at West Ham. This meant that Blackburn Rovers qualified for the European Champions Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

for the first time in their history, while Manchester United finished second earning a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

place. Also qualifying for the UEFA Cup were Nottingham Forest (who finished third in their first season back in the Premier League), Liverpool (who finished fourth and won their fifth League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

in the club's first full season following the appointment of Roy Evans

Roy Evans

Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...

) and fifth placed Leeds United.

Relegated teams

1994-95 was the last season of the 22-club Premier League. The FA had decided to decrease the division to 20 clubs. To accommodate the redistribution of clubs across the Football League and Premiership, four teams were relegated from the Premier League and two promoted from Division One, alongside four relegations from Division One and two promotions from Division Two.

The bottom place in the 1994-95 final Premier League table was occupied by Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

, who conceded 93 goals and won just seven games. Second from bottom came Leicester City, who won just six Premier League games in their first top division season for eight years. Third from bottom was Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

, who won just one of their final 20 games after spending the first half of the season near the top of the table. The final relegation place went to Crystal Palace, who went down on the final day. They lost 3-2 to Newcastle on the final day of the season, and manager Alan Smith

Alan Smith (manager)

Alan Smith is an English former football manager who began his coaching career as Steve Coppell's assistant at Crystal Palace. When Palace suffered relegation from the Premiership in 1993, Coppell resigned and Smith moved up to the manager's seat...

was sacked within a week of the defeat.

Player and managerial awards

PFA Players' Player of the Year
PFA Players' Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football...

was Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

.
PFA Young Player of the Year
PFA Young Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

was Robbie Fowler
Robbie Fowler
Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United....

.
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

was Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...

.
FA Premier League Manager of the Year
FA Premier League Manager of the Year
In the Premier League, the FA Premier League Manager of the Year Award is an annual award given to a manager who is recognised for their overall...

was Kenny Dalglish.

Managerial changes

Of the 22 clubs who featured in the 1994-95 Premier League campaign, 15 of them changed managers during the season or during the preceding and subsequent close seasons.

Billy Bonds

Billy Bonds

William Arthur "Billy" Bonds MBE is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager...

resigned as manager of West Ham United before the season began due to a dispute with the club's directors, and was replaced by his assistant Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp

Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....

.

By the end of November, five more clubs had changed manager. After a disastrous start to the season, Everton sacked Mike Walker and recruited Joe Royle

Joe Royle

Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...

, their former player, from Division One club Oldham Athletic

Oldham Athletic A.F.C.

Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...

as his successor. A dismal start to the season for Tottenham Hotspur cost manager Ossie Ardiles his job, and in came Gerry Francis

Gerry Francis

Gerald Charles James Francis is an English former footballer and manager, now working as First Team coach at Stoke City.-Playing career:Francis made his debut for Queens Park Rangers v Liverpool in March 1969...

from London

London

and Premier League rivals Queen's Park Rangers to take over from him, with veteran midfielder Ray Wilkins

Ray Wilkins

Raymond Colin Wilkins MBE , often known as "Butch" Wilkins, is an English former footballer and at present a television pundit...

making a swift return to Loftus Road

Loftus Road

Loftus Road is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers of the Premier League and has a capacity of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End,...

after a brief spell playing for Crystal Palace to become player-manager at the West London

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

club. League Cup holders Aston Villa, who had been Premier League runners-up two seasons ago, sacked manager Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson

Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...

amid a relegation battle for a club whose fans were expecting a title challenge. His successor was Brian Little

Brian Little (footballer)

Brian Little is an English former football player and manager who is currently without a job after being relieved of his duties as manager of Gainsborough Trinity on 22 August 2011. Little has previously managed Darlington, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City,...

, who had just walked out on struggling Leicester City to be succeeded by Mark McGhee

Mark McGhee

Mark Edward McGhee is a former Scottish professional football player. McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and spent spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, Celtic, IK Brage and Reading...

from Division One club Reading

Reading F.C.

Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

.

Just before Christmas, John Lyall

John Lyall

John Angus Lyall was an English footballer and manager of Scottish descent. His mother, Catherine, was from the Isle of Lewis, his father, James, was from Kirriemuir. He was born in Ilford, Essex.- Youth team career :...

resigned as manager of Ipswich Town, the Premier League's bottom club. George Burley

George Burley

George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...

of Colchester United

Colchester United F.C.

Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

made the big step up from Division Three to take over at Portman Road

Portman Road

Portman Road is an association football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted a number of England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003...

.

February saw two managerial changes. Firstly, Phil Neal

Phil Neal

Philip George "Phil" Neal is a former footballer who was, at one time, the most successful player in English football history. He played for Liverpool 650 times over an eleven year period and is the only player to have appeared in the first five of their European Cup finals, winning four of them...

was sacked after just over a year in charge of Coventry City, who replaced him with Ron Atkinson. Then, after it emerged that he had accepted £425,000 worth of illegal payments from an agent who had been involved in two transfers three years earlier, George Graham

George Graham (footballer)

George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...

was sacked after nine successful years in charge of Arsenal. His assistant Stewart Houston

Stewart Houston

Stewart Mackie Houston is a Scottish former football player and coach.A left back, Houston's first professional club were Chelsea, but he failed to break into the first team and only made 14 appearances in five years. He was sold to Brentford in 1972...

was put in charge of the first team until the end of the season.

The final manager to lose his job during the course of the season was Norwich City's John Deehan

John Deehan

John Matthew Deehan is an English former footballer who in recent years has had several spells in coaching and management. He is currently unemployed having previously held the position of Director of football at Grimsby Town....

, who resigned with three weeks of the season remaining after a catastrophic run of defeats which had seen Norwich sink from 7th place to 21st. Long-serving player Gary Megson

Gary Megson

Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers...

took over as caretaker for the remaining five games, but was unable to prevent relegation. After the season ended, the club appointed Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

manager Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...

as Deehan's permanent replacement.

After the season ended, Kenny Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish

voluntarily stepped down from his role as manager of champions Blackburn Rovers, and announced his retirement from club management. Dalglish became Blackburn's director of football, while his assistant Ray Harford

Ray Harford

Raymond Thomas Harford was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation.-Playing career:...

took over as manager.

Three managers lost their jobs at the end of the season. Alan Smith was dismissed after his Crystal Palace side, who had reached both domestic cup semi-finals, were unable to escape relegation, paving the way for Steve Coppell's

Steve Coppell

Stephen James "Steve" Coppell is an English former footballer and manager, currently without a club.As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and represented England at the World Cup...

return as manager after two years. Trevor Francis

Trevor Francis

Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...

, whose Sheffield Wednesday side had finished 13th after top-seven finishes and three strong cup runs in the previous three seasons, was dismissed and succeeded by David Pleat

David Pleat

David John Pleat is an English football player turned manager and sports commentator.He is remembered by his contemporaries primarily for his career as manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Luton Town football clubs, and for an oft-televised clip of him running onto the pitch in 1983 to celebrate after...

from Luton Town

Luton Town F.C.

Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

. Finally, Brian Horton

Brian Horton

Brian Horton is an English former footballer and manager, who is working as Phil Brown's assistant at Preston North End.Horton played for Hednesford Town, Port Vale, Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town and Hull City as a midfielder...

was sacked as Manchester City manager after two unsuccessful seasons in charge, and replaced by Southampton's Alan Ball. Ball in turn was replaced by his assistant at Southampton, David Merrington

David Merrington

David Robert Merrington is a former football manager.As a player Merrington appeared in midfield for Burnley, playing 98 league games including a spell as captain. He later played for Bristol City before retiring and going into coaching .Merrington was a brief caretaker manager for Sunderland A.F.C...

Personnel and kits

(as of 14 May 1995)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...	Stewart Houston Stewart Houston Stewart Mackie Houston is a Scottish former football player and coach.A left back, Houston's first professional club were Chelsea, but he failed to break into the first team and only made 14 appearances in five years. He was sold to Brentford in 1972... (caretaker)	Tony Adams Tony Adams (footballer) Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends...	Nike Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...	JVC JVC , usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...	Brian Little Brian Little (footballer) Brian Little is an English former football player and manager who is currently without a job after being relieved of his duties as manager of Gainsborough Trinity on 22 August 2011. Little has previously managed Darlington, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City,...	Kevin Richardson Kevin Richardson (footballer) Kevin Richardson is an English former footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing for Everton, Watford, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Southampton, Barnsley and Blackpool, and also spent a season in La Liga with Real Sociedad. He was...	Asics ASICS ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...	Müller Müller (company) Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller is a multinational producer of dairy products, with a headquarters in Fischach in the German state of Bavaria. The group includes a number of companies operating under the Müller name, including the original Molkerei Alois Müller GmbH & Co. KG and Müller Dairy ...
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....	Kenny Dalglish Kenny Dalglish Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...	Tim Sherwood Tim Sherwood Timothy "Tim" Sherwood is an English former professional footballer who was captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership title-winning side...	Asics ASICS ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...	McEwan's Lager
Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...	Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....	Dennis Wise Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....	Umbro	Coors Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
Coventry City Coventry City F.C. Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...	Ron Atkinson Ron Atkinson Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...	Brian Borrows Brian Borrows Brian Borrows is a retired English football defender. He played for Everton and Bolton Wanderers, but spent the majority of his career with Coventry City...	Pony Pony International Pony International, commonly referred to as simply Pony, is an American brand of footwear and other apparel. Founded in 1972 on Madison Avenue in New York, Pony was created by industry veteran Roberto Mueller, along with financing provided by adidas Chairman Horst Dassler . Pony became one of the...	Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...	Alan Smith Alan Smith (manager) Alan Smith is an English former football manager who began his coaching career as Steve Coppell's assistant at Crystal Palace. When Palace suffered relegation from the Premiership in 1993, Coppell resigned and Smith moved up to the manager's seat...	Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009...	Nutmeg Nutmeg The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...	TDK TDK , formerly , is a Japanese company which manufactures electronic materials, electronic components, and recording and data-storage media, and markets them globally. Their motto is "Contribute to culture and industry through creativity"...
Everton Everton F.C. Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...	Joe Royle Joe Royle Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...	Dave Watson Dave Watson David "Dave" Watson is an English former professional footballer who made 12 appearances for the English national team. He is now the youth team coach at Newcastle United.-Playing career:...	Umbro	NEC NEC , a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
Ipswich Town Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....	George Burley George Burley George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...	Steve Palmer Steve Palmer Stephen Leonard Palmer is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Watford and Queens Park Rangers. He played either as centre-half or a central midfielder....	Umbro	Fisons Fisons Fisons plc was a leading British pharmaceutical, scientific instrument and horticultural chemical manufacturer. The Company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it was acquired by Rhone-Poulenc in 1995....
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Leicester City Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...	Mark McGhee Mark McGhee Mark Edward McGhee is a former Scottish professional football player. McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and spent spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, Celtic, IK Brage and Reading...	Steve Walsh Steve Walsh (footballer) Steven Walsh is a former professional footballer, who spent most of his career at Leicester City. He also played for Wigan, Norwich, Tamworth and Coventry City, over a career lasting 21 years. He was a defender and an occasional striker...	Fox Leisure	Walkers Walkers (snack foods) Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
Liverpool Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...	Roy Evans Roy Evans Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...	Ian Rush Ian Rush Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...	Adidas Adidas Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...	Carlsberg
Manchester City Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...	Brian Horton Brian Horton Brian Horton is an English former footballer and manager, who is working as Phil Brown's assistant at Preston North End.Horton played for Hednesford Town, Port Vale, Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town and Hull City as a midfielder...	Keith Curle Keith Curle Keith Curle is an English former professional football player, who is currently first team coach at Queens Park Rangers.As a player, he was capped three times by England at senior level.-Playing career:...	Umbro	Brother Brother Industries is a diversified Japanese company that produces or imports a wide variety of products including printers, sewing machines, large machine tools, label printers, and typewriters, fax machines, and other computer-related electronics. It markets its multifunction printers as Multi-Function Centers...
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Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...	Kevin Keegan Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....	Peter Beardsley Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...	Asics ASICS ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...	McEwan's Lager
Norwich City Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...	Gary Megson Gary Megson Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers... (caretaker)	Jon Newsome Jon Newsome Jon Newsome is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1989 until 2000, notably in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Norwich City...	Ribero	Norwich and Peterborough Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Norwich and Peterborough Building Society is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. At the time of merger, it was the ninth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of £4.9 billion...
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QPR Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...	Ray Wilkins Ray Wilkins Raymond Colin Wilkins MBE , often known as "Butch" Wilkins, is an English former footballer and at present a television pundit...	David Bardsley David Bardsley David John Bardsley is an English former professional footballer.-Club career:Bardsley started with Blackpool in 1982 and subsequently moved to Watford in 1983 for £150,000 where he was noted for his pace, and played every game in Watford's run to the 1984 FA Cup Final, where they eventually lost...	Clubhouse	Compaq Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...	Trevor Francis Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...	Chris Waddle Chris Waddle Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...	Puma	Sanderson Arthur Sanderson & Sons Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd is a British manufacturer of fabrics and wallpaper. The company was founded 1860 in London by Arthur Sanderson who began by importing French wallpapers but later established a factory of his own in Chiswick. After his death, the business was taken over by his three...
Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...	Alan Ball	Matt Le Tissier	Pony	Dimplex Dimplex Dimplex North America Limited is the world leader in electric heating, offering a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial products. The company’s commitment to innovation has fostered outstanding product development and design excellence....
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Wimbledon Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...	Joe Kinnear Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United....	Vinnie Jones Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...	Ribero	LBC LBC LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...

Final league table

41
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.... (C)	42	27	8	7	80	39
89	UEFA Champions League 1995–96 Group stage
2	Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...	42	26	10	6	77	28
88	UEFA Cup 1995–96 First round
3		Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...	42	22	11	9	72	43
77
4		Liverpool Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...	42	21	11	10	65	37
74
5	Leeds United Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...	42	20	13	9	59	38
73
6	Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...	42	20	12	10	67	47
72
7	Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....	42	16	14	12	66	58
62
8	Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...	42	17	9	16	61	59
60
9	Wimbledon Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...	42	15	11	16	48	65
56
10	Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...	42	12	18	12	61	63
54
11	Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...	42	13	15	14	50	55
54
12	Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...	42	13	12	17	52	49
51
13	Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...	42	13	12	17	49	57
51
14	West Ham United West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...	42	13	11	18	44	48
50
15	Everton Everton F.C. Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...	42	11	17	14	44	51
50	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1995–96 First round¹
16	Coventry City Coventry City F.C. Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...	42	12	14	16	44	62
50
17	Manchester City Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...	42	12	13	17	53	64
49
18	Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...	42	11	15	16	51	56
48
19	Crystal Palace Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in... (R)	42	11	12	19	34	49
45	Relegated to Football League First Division 1995–96
20		Norwich City Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The... (R)	42	10	13	19	37	54
43
21		Leicester City Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester... (R)	42	6	11	25	45	80
29
22	Ipswich Town Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02.... (R)	42	7	6	29	36	93
27

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

¹ Everton qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Premier League 1994-95 Winners
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.... 1st Title

Results

Arsenal

The sacking of long-serving and highly successful manager George Graham

George Graham (footballer)

George Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...

following a bungs scandal saw Arsenal endure their most frustrating season in 10 years. They finished 12th in the Premier League - below unfancied London

London

rivals Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

and Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

- and also had to endure the loss of Paul Merson

Paul Merson

for three months while he underwent treatment to combat drug and gambling addictions.

Graham's assistant Stewart Houston

Stewart Houston

took over as manager until the end of the season, and gave the fans something to hope for as the team reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final for the second year in succession. With 120 minutes showing on the clock in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, a penalty shoot-out was looking certain as Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

were drawing 1-1 with Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

. But a last minute goal by former Tottenham player Nayim

Nayim

Mohammed Ali Amar , commonly known as Nayim, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a central midfielder....

from 40 yards out saw the Gunners lose defence of the trophy and it went to the Spaniards instead.

The close season saw Bruce Rioch

Bruce Rioch

Bruce David Rioch is an English-born football manager and former player. He was manager of Aalborg BK in the Danish Superliga, until his sacking on 23 October 2008....

(formerly of Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

) installed as the club's new manager. Rioch's arrival coincided with the departure of long-serving players Paul Davis

Paul Davis (footballer)

Paul Vincent Davis is an English former footballer.Born in Dulwich, London, Davis signed for Arsenal as an apprentice in 1977 and turned professional the following year...

and Alan Smith, with Davis winding down his career at lowly Brentford

Brentford F.C.

Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

and Smith hanging up his boots due to injury. Kevin Campbell

Kevin Campbell (footballer)

Kevin Joseph Campbell is an English former football player who played as a striker.-Playing career:Campbell began his career as a trainee with Arsenal, joining the club on schoolboy forms in 1985...

moved to Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

, while Stefan Schwarz

Stefan Schwarz

Hans-Jürgen Stefan Schwarz is a Swedish former footballer.Born to a German father, he played as a midfielder and a left-back. He started playing football at youth level in Kulladals FF and began his career at his hometown club Malmö FF...

moved to Fiorentina. Rioch spent heavily by (briefly) breaking the English transfer record in a £7.5million swoop for Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp , is a former Dutch professional footballer who is currently the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, and Arsenal, and also represented the Netherlands at international level...

of Inter Milan, as well as paying almost £5million for England captain David Platt from Sampdoria. These expensive acquisitions gave Arsenal fans hope of their team re-establishing themselves as title contenders.

Aston Villa

Two seasons earlier, Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

narrowly missed out on the league title. The season before, they dipped to 10th place in the league but still had success as Coca-Cola Cup

Football League Cup

winners. But the decline continued into 1994-95

1994-95 in English football

-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...

and Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson

Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...

paid for this with his job in November. Within days, former Villa favourite Brian Little

Brian Little (footballer)

was back at the club as Atkinson's successor, and managed to keep Villa clear of the drop.

Before the season was over, a new era was already in the making at Villa Park

Villa Park

Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...

. A number of players now past their best were off-loaded to new clubs; these included Ray Houghton

Ray Houghton

Raymond James "Ray" Houghton is a retired Scottish-born footballer who represented the Republic of Ireland at international level, qualifying through his Irish father...

, Garry Parker

Garry Parker

Garry Parker is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder for Luton Town, Hull City, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Leicester City, mostly in the top division of English football, in the 1980s and 1990s. He was capped by his country at under-21 and B international level...

, Kevin Richardson

Kevin Richardson (footballer)

Kevin Richardson is an English former footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing for Everton, Watford, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Southampton, Barnsley and Blackpool, and also spent a season in La Liga with Real Sociedad. He was...

and Earl Barrett

Earl Barrett

Earl Delisser Barrett is an English former footballer who played in the Football League and Premier League for Manchester City, Chester City, Oldham Athletic, Aston Villa, Everton, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. He played mainly at right back though could also adapt to a central...

. The close season saw more players from the Atkinson era pass through the Villa Park exit door; Shaun Teale

Shaun Teale

Shaun Teale is a former English professional footballer. He is perhaps most famous for being in the League Cup winning team of Aston Villa in 1994.-Playing career:...

, Dalian Atkinson

Dalian Atkinson

Dalian Robert Atkinson is an English former footballer who played as a striker in the Football League and Premier League for Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Manchester City, in La Liga for Real Sociedad, in Ligue 1 for Metz, in the Turkish Super League for Fenerbahçe, in Saudi...

, Dean Saunders

Dean Saunders

Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....

and John Fashanu

John Fashanu

John "Fash" Fashanu is a British television presenter and ex-footballer of Nigerian and Guyanese descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward, who scored 134 league goals in a career lasting 17 years...

. Little brought in younger players like Mark Draper

Mark Draper

Mark Draper is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and represented England at under-21 level. He currently works as the Kit Man at Notts County.-Career:...

, Ian Taylor

Ian Taylor (footballer)

Ian Kenneth Taylor is an English former footballer, best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen year career in the Football League and Premier League, making 478 league appearances....

, Savo Milosevic

Savo Miloševic

Savo Milošević is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and...

, Nii Lamptey

Nii Lamptey

Nii Odartey Lamptey is a former Ghanaian footballer. He is known foremost for his erratic career, in which he became a superstar as a teenager and then suffered a long string of failures which burnt him out well before his time...

, Carl Tiler

Carl Tiler

Carl Tiler is an English former footballer who played as a central defender. He made more than 250 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, representing nine different clubs.-Playing career:...

, Gary Charles

Gary Charles

Gary Charles is an English former footballer who played at right-back.-Playing career:Charles won two caps for the England team and turned out at club level for Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Aston Villa, S.L. Benfica, and finally West Ham United. Charles was famously fouled by Paul Gascoigne in...

and Alan Wright

Alan Wright

Alan Geoffrey Wright is an English professional footballer. He is a coach in the Centre of Excellence at his first club, Blackpool, a role he assumed in June 2011....

, to give some much-needed strength to a side of fading stars as well as giving such much-needed hope to fans of a club which had been rescued from the threat of a rapid decline.

Blackburn Rovers

The title "champions of England" returned to Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

after 81 years, thanks to the seemingly limitless funds provided by owner Jack Walker

Jack Walker

Jack Walker was a British industrialist and businessman, from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker invested tens of millions of pounds in Blackburn Rovers football club after amassing a personal fortune of £600 million...

, the managerial know-how of Kenny Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish

, and the prolific striker partnership of Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

and Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

. It was a close-run race, although Blackburn were top of the league for most of the season their lead was threatened right up to the final day by Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

. In fact, the title would have gone to Old Trafford for the third year running had Alex Ferguson's

Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

men been able to score a winner against West Ham

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

on the final day of the season. In the end, however, United's failure to beat the East Londoners meant that Blackburn were champions despite losing 2-1 to Dalglish's old club Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

.

When Jack Walker took over as owner in 1991, Blackburn were a struggling side in the old Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, who had been outside the top flight

Football League First Division

since 1966 and had not won a major trophy since 1928. They were playing within the antiquated surroundings of Ewood Park

Ewood Park

Ewood Park is a football stadium in the English town of Blackburn, Lancashire, and is the home of Blackburn Rovers Football Club — one of the founder members of the Football League and Premier League. Rovers have played there since they moved from Leamington Street in the summer of 1890. The...

, with three of their four stands dating from before the First World War.

Four years on, they had broken the domestic transfer fee record twice (as well as buying England's first £2 million goalkeeper, Tim Flowers

Tim Flowers

Timothy David "Tim" Flowers is an English former football goalkeeper and the former manager of Conference North team Stafford Rangers.-Club career:...

), were playing at an extensively rebuilt stadium capable of holding over 30,000 seated spectators, and boasted one of the finest squads in Europe.

Chelsea

It was another unsatisfying season for Chelsea Football club

Chelsea F.C.

, who failed to make much of an impact in the league (though their 11th place finish was a 3-place improvement on the previous season's standing) but once again enjoyed a memorable cup run. They entered the Cup Winners' Cup after a 23-year exile from European competitions, and reached the semi-finals where they went out to a single Real Zaragoza goal - ending their hopes of an all-English final with Arsenal.

The summer of 1995 saw manager Glenn Hoddle

Glenn Hoddle

Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....

bring in two of the most famous names in world football - Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit

OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...

and Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes

Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....

. He also terminated the contract of misfit striker Robert Fleck

Robert Fleck (footballer)

Robert William Fleck is a former professional footballer. He was a striker who began his career with Rangers.Despite not being a first team regular, he scored many important goals for the club under Graeme Souness....

as well as deciding to end his own playing career. The only other significant change to the squad was the sale of out-of-favour midfielder David Hopkin

David Hopkin

David Hopkin is a Scottish former professional football player who is assistant manager at .-Club career:Hopkin started his career at Morton before earning a move to Premier League side Chelsea in 1992...

to Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

Coventry City

After last season's solid 11th place finish, Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

broke their transfer record in September by paying Manchester United £2million for striker Dion Dublin

Dion Dublin

Dion Dublin , is a retired English footballer. He was capped four times for England. Dublin started his career as a centre back with Norwich City, but made his name at Cambridge United as a goal-scoring centre forward. However, in his later years he showed his versatility by becoming an...

. But the investment was not enough to keep Coventry clear of the drop zone, and manager Phil Neal

Phil Neal

paid for these failings when he was sacked in February.

The appointment of Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson

Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...

as manager gave Coventry fans hope for something more than Premier League survival. Atkinson, a hugely successful manager with West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

and Aston Villa, quickly brought in 37-year-old Leeds United midfielder Gordon Strachan

Gordon Strachan

Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,...

as his assistant, and Premier League survival was comfortably achieved with a 16th place finish.

At the end of the season, Atkinson off-loaded several out-of-favour players including Steven Pressley

Steven Pressley

Steven John "Elvis" Pressley is a retired Scottish footballer, who is now the manager of Scottish First Division club Falkirk. Pressley had a long playing career, playing for both halves of the Old Firm and making over 100 league appearances for both Dundee United and Hearts...

, Mick Quinn

Mick Quinn

Mick Quinn is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as founding member of English rock band Supergrass. He formed the DB Band with bassist Paul Wilson, formerly of Shake Appeal in 2010 and released début EP "Stranger In The Alps" on the 17th September 2011...

, Cobi Jones

Cobi Jones

Cobi N'Gai Jones is a retired American soccer player who formerly served as assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer , with whom he had been involved as a player and coach since the team's inaugural season in 1996...

, Mike Marsh

Mike Marsh (footballer)

Mike Marsh is a footballer and now a coach, who came through the ranks at Liverpool and was part of their 1992 FA Cup-winning side.-Professional career:...

and Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn (footballer)

Sean Flynn is a retired English football defender, who played in the FA Premier League with Coventry City and Derby County.-Professional career:...

. He brought in Paul Telfer

Paul Telfer (footballer)

Paul Norman Telfer is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a full-back for various clubs, including Luton Town, Coventry City, Southampton and Celtic. He also made one appearance for the Scotland national football team...

and John Salako

John Salako

John Salako is an English former professional football player who played for a variety of clubs and has also represented England at senior level. He was a part of the Crystal Palace team which reached the 1990 FA Cup Final. A severe knee injury sustained against Leeds United in 1991 put him out...

to give Sky Blues fans hope that their team would soon be challenging for honours.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

returned to the Premier League a year after leaving it, and over the next few months they would experience one of the most unusual seasons in their history. They were the division's lowest scoring team with just 34 goals, but reached the semi-finals of both cup competitions, they also finished fourth from bottom in the Premier League, which - due to the streamlining of the division to 20 clubs - cost them their top flight status, thus giving them the distinction of finishing in the last four of all competitions they'd entered that year. Manager Alan Smith

Alan Smith (manager)

was sacked just days afterwards, with Steve Coppell

Steve Coppell

returning to the manager's seat two years after handing the reins over to his former assistant Smith.

The aftermath of Palace's relegation saw the sale of numerous players including Richard Shaw

Richard Shaw (footballer)

Richard Shaw is an English former professional football player, and currently a coach for Millwall....

, John Salako

John Salako

, Chris Armstrong

Chris Armstrong (footballer born 1971)

, Andy Preece

Andy Preece

Andrew Preece is a part-time English footballer and manager. He is currently the player-manager at Northwich Victoria.-Career:...

, Darren Patterson

Darren Patterson

Darren James Patterson is a Northern Irish former footballer and manager. As a player he was primarily a central defender who could also play at full back or as a defensive midfielder. He is the interim assistant manager at Bristol Rovers, where he has previously held the positions of Head of...

and Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009...

. A barely recognisable Palace squad would kick off the Endsleigh League Division One

Football League First Division

campaign with one of the youngest-ever squads to be faced with a challenge for promotion to the Premier League.

Everton

After the previous season's

1993-94 in English football

The 1993-1994 season was the 114th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:From the start of this season, the FA Premier League would be sponsored by Carling Breweries - an association which would last for eight years...

"houdini" escape act which preserved Everton's

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

top flight status, manager Mike Walker was expected to take the club forward and challenge for honours. But a failure to win any of their first 12 Premier League games saw the board run out of patience with Walker and terminated his contract after less than a year at the helm. Former player Joe Royle

Joe Royle

Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...

was named as Walker's successor, and quickly set about reshaping a squad of broken men.

As the season progressed, Everton slowly improved and by April their survival was effectively confirmed. They finished a secure 15th, but the biggest news of May was an FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

final appearance. The opposition were Premier League runners-up Manchester United, who were most people's favourites to win. But a goal from Everton's Paul Rideout

Paul Rideout

Paul Rideout is a retired English professional football player who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a youth coach with Sporting Kansas City, heading their U-16, U-17 and U-18 teams.-Playing career:...

, and a succession of thrilling saves by goalkeeper Neville Southall

Neville Southall

Neville Southall MBE is a former Wales international footballer, best known for his time with Everton. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985...

, gave Everton their first major trophy for eight years and their first European campaign of the post-Heysel era.

Royle's arrival at Everton also saw the arrival of powerful Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

striker Duncan Ferguson, with Earl Barrett

Earl Barrett

and Daniel Amokachi

Daniel Amokachi

Daniel Owefin Amokachi nicknamed "The Bull" is a former football striker from Nigeria.- Career :While playing for Ranchers Bees, Amokachi was discovered by Nigerian national team coach Clemens Westerhof, who brought the talented player to the 1990 African Nations Cup, and soon Amokachi moved to...

soon arriving. On their way out were Brett Angell

Brett Angell

Brett Ashley Mark Angell is an English association football coach and former player, now coaching in New Zealand. His brother Darren also played football professionally....

, Gary Rowett

Gary Rowett

Gary Rowett is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. In May 2009 he was appointed assistant manager to Paul Peschisolido at Burton Albion.-Career:...

and Ian Snodin

Ian Snodin

Ian Snodin is a retired footballer most notable for playing for Doncaster Rovers and Everton. He also played for Leeds United, Sunderland, Oldham Athletic and Scarborough.-Early career:...

.

Everton fans were given more hope of sustained success after the season was over, when it was announced that the club had agreed to sign Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

winger Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis is a Ukrainian-born Russian football manager and former association footballer who played as a right winger. Kanchelskis is the only player in history to have scored in each of the Glasgow, Merseyside and Manchester local derbies.Currently, he is managing FC...

from Manchester United for a club record fee of £5million.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

conceded 93 Premier League goals and recorded just 7 wins all season as one of the worst seasons in their history saw them return to the second tier of the league

Football League First Division

after three seasons in the top flight.

Manager John Lyall

John Lyall

reverted back to manager after being Director of Football for the previous season but left in December with relegation already looking more than likely, and former player George Burley

George Burley

was soon back at the club as manager. But the transition did little to alter Ipswich's fortunes and a 9–0 humiliation

Manchester United F.C. 9–0 Ipswich Town F.C.

The 1994–95 season match between Manchester United and Ipswich Town at Old Trafford took place on 4 March 1995. The two teams went into the match at opposite ends of the table, although Ipswich had beaten United earlier in the season 3–2 at Portman Road...

at the hands of Manchester United in early March effectively crushed any remaining hopes of survival.

With an ageing squad, Burley was given little option but to resort to his young reserves in hope of rebuilding his side ready to push for a Premier League comeback.

Leeds United

Leeds United were a solid but unremarkable side for much of the 1994-95 season, but the January signing of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

ian striker Tony Yeboah

Tony Yeboah

Anthony "Tony" Yeboah is a Ghanaian former footballer most noted for his time at European clubs 1. FC Saarbrücken, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United and Hamburger SV during the 1990s...

breathed new life into a dull-but-dependale side and they coasted to fifth place in the final table to earn a much-deserved UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

place.

Manager Howard Wilkinson

Howard Wilkinson

Howard Wilkinson is a former English football player and manager, and has recently stepped down as a Non-Executive Director at Sheffield Wednesday after formerly relinquishing the chairman role to Milan Mandaric...

knew that there were other parts of the Leeds set-up which needed reinforcements as well as the attack, and he used the 1995 close season to bring in experienced defenders Richard Jobson

Richard Jobson (footballer)

Richard Jobson is an English former footballer who made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League and Premier League over a twenty-year career, representing Watford, Hull City, Oldham Athletic, Leeds United, Southend United, Manchester City, Tranmere Rovers and Rochdale...

and Paul Beesley

Paul Beesley

Paul Beesley is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Beesley joined Wigan Athletic in 1984, staying for five years and making over 150 league appearances. He joined Leyton Orient for £175,000 on 20 October 1989...

. Wilkinson was also given hope by the promise of numerous up-and-coming young players including Andy Gray, Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell

Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...

and Noel Whelan

Noel Whelan

Noel Whelan is a former English professional footballer who last played for Darlington. He has previously played for a number of league clubs including Leeds United, Coventry City and Middlesbrough...

. The close season also saw plans unveiled for upgrading an already-impressive Elland Road

Elland Road

Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...

into a 65,000-seat "Wembley of the North", though it seemed very doubtful whether the ambitious plans would ever be realised.

Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

finally made it back to the top flight after a seven-year exile and two successive Wembley playoff final defeats. Even with one of the country's most sought-after young managers in Brian Little

Brian Little (footballer)

, they were still tipped to go straight back down to the Endsleigh League

Football League First Division

. By the time manager Brian Little

Brian Little (footballer)

moved to Aston Villa in November, the Foxes looked doomed, and Little's successor Mark McGhee

Mark McGhee

was unable to prove the pundits wrong. Leicester were never out of the bottom two after November and were relegated with just 6 wins and only Ipswich Town below them. The sale of key player Mark Draper at least gave the club a cash windfall to reduce the financial impact of relegation.

Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

got their act together in 1994-95 after two dismal seasons, and the hard work of manager Roy Evans

Roy Evans

Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...

(in his first full season as manager) quickly paid off with triumph in the League Cup - a 2-1 Wembley win over Bolton Wanderers gave them their record fifth success in the competition and took their total of major trophies to 34. With promising midfielder Steve McManaman

Steve McManaman

Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

earning plaudits in a new playmaker role and young striker Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler

Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United....

emerging, the side looked to a new era. Fowler excelled in front of goal and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year

PFA Young Player of the Year

The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

, while vintage striker Ian Rush

Ian Rush

Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...

showed little sign of his advancing years thanks to a continued supply of goals. Young midfielders like Jamie Redknapp

Jamie Redknapp

Jamie Frank Redknapp is a retired English footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a football pundit with Sky Sports, and an editorial columnist with the Daily Mail....

also excelled, as did new defenders Rob Jones, Phil Babb

Phil Babb

Philip 'Phil' Andrew Babb is an English-born Irish former footballer who played as a central defender.Active in England and Portugal, he made over 300 professional career appearances, namely spending six Premier League seasons with Liverpool...

and John Scales

John Scales

John Robert Scales is an English former professional football player who played as a central defender.-Bristol Rovers:...

.

The close season saw Liverpool break the national transfer record with an £8.4million swoop for Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

striker Stan Collymore

Stan Collymore

Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...

, an investment which saw Liverpool rated as serious title contenders for the first time in the past 3 to 4 seasons.

Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

endured another torrid season which saw them continue to fall well short of the standards of their city rivals. Their goalscoring rate improving dramatically from 38 to 53, but they slipped one place into 17th - though still enough to achieve survival. But it was too late to save manager Brian Horton's

Brian Horton

job and he was sacked to make way for Alan Ball of Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

.

Key striker Niall Quinn

Niall Quinn

Niall John Quinn honorary MBE is a former Irish international footballer, and the ex-chairman of Sunderland AFC. He still works at the club as an overseas manager. He is also heavily involved in the management side of horse racing...

recovered from a serious knee injury but failed to make an impact on City's dismal showing, though new German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

striker Uwe Rosler

Uwe Rösler

Uwe Rösler is a German football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Brentford.Rösler was previously a successful player who played for several clubs, most notably Manchester City , where he was the leading goalscorer for three consecutive seasons from 1995–96 to 1997–98, and 1...

was among the Premier League's top target men with 15 league goals. His strike partner Paul Walsh

Paul Walsh

Paul Anthony Walsh is a retired English footballer.Walsh was a diminutive and pacy centre forward who shot to fame in the 1980s during spells with Charlton, Luton, Liverpool and Tottenham.-Charlton Athletic:...

was also a frequent goalscorer, with 12 Premier League strikes.

One of the few things that gave City fans something to look forward to was the emergence of exciting young players like Garry Flitcroft

Garry Flitcroft

Garry William Flitcroft is an English football manager and former footballer. Since May 2010 he has been the manager of Northern Premier League team Chorley.-Playing career:...

, Richard Edghill

Richard Edghill

Richard Edghill is an English footballer who plays as a defender and is currently unattached.-Manchester City:...

and Steve Lomas

Steve Lomas

Stephen "Steve" Lomas is the football manager of St Johnstone and a former Northern Ireland international player. He played for Manchester City, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Gillingham, finishing his playing career at United Counties Football League Premier Division club St Neots Town...

. The close season arrival of Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

midfielder Georgi Kinkladze was another exciting prospect which suggested that the dark clouds that had recently hung over Maine Road

Maine Road

Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003...

might not have cast too lengthy a shadow.

Manchester United

1994-95 was one of the most dramatic, headline-filling seasons in the history of one of the world's most famous football clubs, but it ended without a major trophy for Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

.

The season began with just one major close-season signing (defender David May from Blackburn), but manager Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

was under increasing pressure to delve into the transfer market as Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

approached, with Blackburn now top of the Premier League and United lacking some of the fire power that had brought them two successive league titles.

The answer to this mini-crisis was the January acquisition of Andy Cole

Andy Cole

Andrew Alexander Cole is a retired English footballer. He is most well known by the name Andy Cole , but in 2000, he reputedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole...

from Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

for an English record fee valued at £7million (£6million cash plus £1million-rated Keith Gillespie

Keith Gillespie

Keith Robert Gillespie is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays in midfield for Longford Town....

in part-exchange). Cole started to repay his fee by scoring 12 goals in the final 18 Premier League games of the season (including 5 in a record-breaking 9-0 win over Ipswich) but United were in the headlines once again before January was out, when iconic Frenchman Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona

kicked a Crystal Palace supporter after being taunted by the crowd following his dismissal in a game at Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park

. Cantona was eventually banned from football for 8 months as well as receiving fines totalling £30,000.

Unfortunately for United, the title slipped away on the final day of the season when they just couldn't get the better of a rock solid West Ham side who held them to a 1-1 draw at Upton Park

Boleyn Ground

The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...

. A win would have given them their third successive title, as table-topping Blackburn lost their final game of the season at Liverpool. There was more frustration a week later in the 1995 FA Cup Final, when they lost 1-0 to a resurgent Everton side.

And as United fans thought their share of misery was over, there was controversy over the close season as the sales of Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes

Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....

, Paul Ince

Paul Ince

Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town...

and Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Kanchelskis

were announced for a combined total of £14million. The fans' frustration was compounded when the new season approaching without a major signing, and increasing doubt surrounded the future of Eric Cantona; he was linked with a move to join Paul Ince at Inter Milan.

Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

made the best start to any top division season in their history, winning their first six games to go top. By Christmas

Christmas

, they were no longer title favourites but still looked certain of a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

place. But things failed to improve in the new year, and the sale of Andy Cole to Manchester United seemed to accelerate their fall from grace. A sixth place finish in the final table meant that they just missed out on another European campaign, but they were given hope of a fresh chase for honours next time round thanks to the close season signings of David Ginola

David Ginola

David Karl Ginola is a French former international football player who has also worked as an actor and model.Ginola was born in Gassin, Var...

and Les Ferdinand

Les Ferdinand

Leslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE is a former English footballer. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Besiktas J.K., Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., during which period he earned a number of appearances for England...

.

The 1994-95 season also saw the arrival of Marc Hottiger

Marc Hottiger

Marc Hottiger is a retired Swiss football defender.He was capped 63 times and scored 5 goals for the Swiss national team between 1989 and 1996...

, Philippe Albert

Philippe Albert

Philippe Julien Albert is a former Belgian football defender. He played with R. Charleroi S.C., KV Mechelen, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Newcastle United in England...

, Paul Kitson

Paul Kitson

For the English footballer who spent most of his career in the United States, see Paul Kitson .Paul Kitson is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker...

and Keith Gillespie

Keith Gillespie

Keith Robert Gillespie is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays in midfield for Longford Town....

, as well as the late and close season departures of Barry Venison

Barry Venison

Barry Venison is a retired English footballer who enjoyed a successful playing career from 1981 to 1997. He later worked as an television pundit.-Sunderland:...

, Alex Mathie

Alex Mathie

Alexander Mathie is a Scottish former footballer who made over 200 appearances as a striker for a number of British clubs...

, Mike Jeffrey and Paul Bracewell

Paul Bracewell

Paul Bracewell , in Heswall, Merseyside), but was brought up in Newport, Shropshire, is an English former international footballer who played as a midfielder, although his career was hampered by injuries as the years went by.-Career:...

Norwich City

Despite losing striker Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

to Blackburn before the start of the season in England's first £5million transfer, Norwich made a strong start to the season and seemed capable of reproducing their impressive form of the two previous seasons. By Christmas, they stood seventh in the table and looked good bets for a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

place.

But then it all went wrong, after an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Bryan Gunn

Bryan Gunn

Bryan James Gunn is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which he came to be most closely associated...

. The Canaries went into a sudden freefall, won only one of their final 20 league games and plunged into 20th place and relegation - ending their nine-year tenure in the top flight just two years after they had narrowly missed out on the league title.

Just weeks before the end of the season, manager John Deehan

John Deehan

handed in his notice and vacated the manager's seat to make way for 36-year-old player-coach Gary Megson

Gary Megson

. Megson in turn quit his job after failing save Norwich from the drop, and the man selected by chairman Robert Chase

Robert Chase

Dr. Robert Chase is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Jesse Spencer. His character was a part of the team of diagnosticians who worked under Gregory House until the end of the third season when House fires him. However, he was then re-hired in season 6...

to revert Norwich's declining fortunes was Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

Nottingham Forest

After achieving promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

continued to succeed in life after Brian Clough

Brian Clough

Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...

as new manager Frank Clark guided them to an impressive third place finish and UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

qualification - to give them their first European campaign of the post-Heysel era.

Striker Stan Collymore

Stan Collymore

was on target 22 times in the league and speculation that he would be on his way to another club proved correct at the end of the season when he sold to Liverpool for a national record fee of £8.4million. The failure of Clark to buy a proven replacement cast significant doubt over whether Forest could mount a serious challenge for honours in the post-Collymore era.

Queens Park Rangers

When manager Gerry Francis

Gerry Francis

moved across London

London

to take charge of Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

in November, there was much speculation as to who would replace him at Loftus Road

Loftus Road

. That question was answered within days when the club's board announced that Ray Wilkins

Ray Wilkins

Raymond Colin Wilkins MBE , often known as "Butch" Wilkins, is an English former footballer and at present a television pundit...

, 38, had been appointed as player-manager - just months after he had left the club to become player-coach at Crystal Palace.

Wilkins kept QPR in contention for a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

place, and in the end they finished eighth - just three places short of the promised land. This could easily have been achieved had it not been for a nine-match winless run during the season - longer than any winless run in the Premier League that season. He also took them to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they bowed out to Manchester United.

Prolific goalscorer Les Ferdinand

Les Ferdinand

was, perhaps inevitably, sold in the summer - subject of a £6million move to Newcastle United. Wilkins did not delve into the club's funds to buy a replacement, preferring to make the most of young talent like Danny Dichio and Kevin Gallen

Kevin Gallen

Kevin Andrew Gallen is an English professional footballer who is without a club. He most recently played for Braintree Town and is currently working for Queens Park Rangers academy in a youth development role similar to that previously held by his brother Joe Gallen.A former England Under-21...

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

were among the pre-season favourites for a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

places, having finished seventh in the first two Premier League seasons, finished third in 1992 and won the League Cup in 1991, with many fine players still on the club's payroll. But they were still without striker David Hirst

David Hirst (footballer)

David Eric Hirst is an English former professional footballer, an exciting but injury prone striker who played for Sheffield Wednesday for much of his career.-Playing career:...

for much of the season due to injury, and this played at least some part in the Owls enduring their worst league form since relegation in 1990.

Right up till early May, the Owls were in real danger of relegation and this was enough for the club's board, who wielded the axe on manager Trevor Francis

Trevor Francis

Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...

after four years in charge. His successor was the former Luton

Luton Town F.C.

and Tottenham manager David Pleat

David Pleat

, who looked to the continent in hope of returning the Owls to their winning ways and brought in Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

forward Marc Degryse

Marc Degryse

Marc Gabriel Degryse , nicknamed Le Lutin d'Ardooie and The Little One, is a former Belgian footballer, who played as a forward.-Club career:...

Southampton

Southampton F.C.

finally got their act together after four seasons of battling relegation, and most importantly managed to hang on to Matthew Le Tissier

Matthew Le Tissier

Matthew "Matt" Le Tissier is a retired English footballer who played for Southampton and England.An attacking midfielder with exceptional technical skills, Le Tissier is the second-highest ever scorer for Southampton behind Mick Channon and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990. He was...

. They never featured in the relegation battle, and finished in 10th place above some much more fancied teams including Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday.

Manager Alan Ball made some significant signings during the season - Neil Heaney

Neil Heaney

Neil Heaney is an English former footballer who played as a winger for a number of British clubs.-Career:...

from Arsenal, Gordon Watson

Gordon Watson

Gordon William George Watson is a retired English football player whose career was almost ended when he suffered a double fracture in the right leg in a tackle with Huddersfield Town defender Kevin Gray on 1 February 1997....

from Sheffield Wednesday and Neil Shipperley

Neil Shipperley

Neil Jason Shipperley is a retired English professional footballer, who played as a centre-forward. He is the former manager of Walton Casuals of the Isthmian League Division One South....

from Chelsea - but then stunned the club at the end of the season by accepting the offer of the Manchester City manager's job. Long-serving coach David Merrington

David Merrington

was named as his successor.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

began the season coming to terms with the heaviest punishment ever handed out to an English club. As punishment for financial irregularities committed under the club's previous owners during the 1980s, they were fined £600,000, deducted 12 league points and banned from the 1994-95 FA Cup. Manager Ossie Ardiles reacted defiantly by adopting an impressive new attacking formation, while chairman Alan Sugar

Alan Sugar

Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...

challenged his club's sanctions in court. The fine was later increased to £1.5million, but the points deduction and FA Cup ban were eventually revoked.

On the field, the new ultra-attacking style of football was not bringing as much success as Ardiles might have liked, and in November he paid for these shortcomings with his job, following a 3-0 defeat in the League Cup

Football League Cup

to Notts County. QPR manager Gerry Francis was named as his successor, and guided Spurs to seventh in the final table - their highest finish for five years. He also took them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where their Wembley dream was crushed by Everton who ran out 4-1 winners.

The close season saw 30-goal striker (and FWA Player of the Year) Jürgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann

return to his homeland in a £1.5million move to Bayern Munich, and in came Chris Armstrong

Chris Armstrong (footballer born 1971)

from Crystal Palace as his replacement. At a club record fee of £4.5million, 24-year-old Armstrong was slammed as a "waste of money" by many supporters, who were sceptical of such a large sum of money being spent on a player who had scored just nine league goals (although his tally for 1994-95 reached 19 thanks to Palace's cup exploits), seen his old club relegated and failed a drugs test.

Gheorghe Popescu

Gheorghe Popescu

Gheorghe Gică Popescu is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender, and was a key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in an illustrious career that saw him amass many honours...

and Nick Barmby

Nick Barmby

Nicholas Jon "Nick" Barmby is an English footballer who plays for Hull City as a midfielder, where he is also caretaker manager. At his peak he earned a total of 23 caps for England between 1995 and 2001...

also moved on at the end of the season, leaving Francis to re-organise in midfield.

West Ham United

Before the season started, the West Ham

West Ham United F.C.

board of directors heard speculation that assistant manager Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp

Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....

was about to be offered his old job as Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....

manager. They reacted by dismissing manager Billy Bonds

Billy Bonds

William Arthur "Billy" Bonds MBE is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager...

and promoting Redknapp to the manager's seat. Redknapp then earned the instant admiration of the Upton Park faithful by signing Don Hutchison

Don Hutchison

Donald Hutchison is a Scottish ex-footballer who generally played in midfield but sometimes as a forward. He was a much travelled player with spells at both Liverpool and Everton as well as Sheffield United, Sunderland and West Ham United twice...

and re-signing striker Tony Cottee

Tony Cottee

Anthony Richard "Tony" Cottee is a former football player who now works as a television football commentator...

, who returned to the club after six years at Everton. Redknapp also strengthened the squad over the next months by bringing in Julian Dicks

Julian Dicks

Julian Andrew Dicks , is a retired football player and manager, last attached to Isthmian League Division One North club Grays Athletic.-Playing career:...

, Les Sealey

Les Sealey

Leslie Jesse "Les" Sealey was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Coventry City, Luton Town, Manchester United, Aston Villa and West Ham United...

and Stan Lazaridis

Stan Lazaridis

Stanley "Stan" Lazaridis is a former football player. He was predominantly a left winger though he had been known to perform at left-back...

.

The Hammers spent much of the season battling against relegation but a good run of form during the final month pulled them up to a secure 14th place finish.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

failed to build upon their club-best finish of sixth place which had been achieved the previous season

1993-94 in English football

, but a ninth place finish was still an excellent showing for the only Premier League club without their own home, and also with the smallest resources and fan base at this level. Joe Kinnear's

Joe Kinnear

Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United....

men maintained their reputation as one of the hardest Premier League sides to beat, and finished above many big-spending, well-supported clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday and Everton.

Wimbledon's need to sell their biggest assets was highlighted in the close season when they sold full-back Warren Barton

Warren Barton

Warren Dean Barton is a former English football player and a TV Pundit for Fox Soccer Channel.-Club career:...

to Newcastle United for £4million - the most expensive defender signed by any British club. But many of their other key assets - Dean Holdsworth

Dean Holdsworth

Dean Christopher Holdsworth is an English former professional football player, now manager. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22 year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majority of his goals and appearances came at Brentford, Wimbledon, and Bolton...

, Robbie Earle

Robbie Earle

Robert Fitzgerald "Robbie" Earle MBE is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals....

and Hans Segers

Hans Segers

Johannes Segers is a Dutch goalkeeper, who spent most of his playing career in England.-Career:Segers was born in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant. His early career was with home-town club PSV Eindhoven, before being signed for Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough during the 1983-84 season...

included - were retained for the new season

1995-96 in English football

- Premiership :Newcastle United were 12 points clear at the top of Manchester United, but Alex Ferguson's relatively young and inexperienced side overhauled them during the second half of the season to win the title....

to give Dons fans hope of another season giving the big boys a run for their money. Early in the 1994-95 season, long-serving striker John Fashanu

John Fashanu

departed to Aston Villa for £1.35million, only to retire at the end of the campaign. In Fashanu's place, Wimbledon bought Efan Ekoku

Efan Ekoku

Efangwu Goziem "Efan" Ekoku is an English-born Nigerian former footballer who played as a striker.- Playing career :...

from Norwich City and he was the club's leading goalscorer with nine league goals.

Top goal scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Alan Shearer Alan Shearer Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...	Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....	34
2	Robbie Fowler Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United....	Liverpool Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...	25
3	Les Ferdinand Les Ferdinand Leslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE is a former English footballer. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Besiktas J.K., Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., during which period he earned a number of appearances for England...	Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...	24
4	Stan Collymore Stan Collymore Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...	Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...	22
5	Andy Cole Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole is a retired English footballer. He is most well known by the name Andy Cole , but in 2000, he reputedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole...	Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger... /Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...	21
5	Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...	Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....	21
7	Matt Le Tissier	Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...	19
8	Teddy Sheringham Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...	Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....	18
8	Ian Wright Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...	Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...	18
10	Uwe Rosler Uwe Rösler Uwe Rösler is a German football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Brentford.Rösler was previously a successful player who played for several clubs, most notably Manchester City , where he was the leading goalscorer for three consecutive seasons from 1995–96 to 1997–98, and 1...	Manchester City Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...	15
	Dean Saunders Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....	Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...	15
	Chris Sutton Chris Sutton Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...	Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....	15

Monthly awards

Month	Manager	Player
August	Kevin Keegan Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United.... (Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger... )	Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that... (Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane.... )
September	Frank Clark (Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship... )	Rob Lee Rob Lee Robert Martin "Rob" Lee is a retired English footballer who played the majority of his career for Charlton Athletic and Newcastle United.-Charlton Athletic:... (Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger... )
October	Alex Ferguson Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986... (Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958... )	Paul Ince Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town... (Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958... )
November	Kenny Dalglish Kenny Dalglish Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and... (Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001.... )	Alan Shearer Alan Shearer Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team... & Chris Sutton Chris Sutton Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English... (Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.... )
December	Gerry Francis Gerry Francis Gerald Charles James Francis is an English former footballer and manager, now working as First Team coach at Stoke City.-Playing career:Francis made his debut for Queens Park Rangers v Liverpool in March 1969... (Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years... )	Matt Le Tissier (Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club... )
January	Brian Little Brian Little (footballer) Brian Little is an English former football player and manager who is currently without a job after being relieved of his duties as manager of Gainsborough Trinity on 22 August 2011. Little has previously managed Darlington, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City,... (Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder... )	Chris Waddle Chris Waddle Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France... (Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the... )
February	Kevin Keegan Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United.... (Newcastle United Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger... )	Duncan Ferguson Duncan Ferguson Duncan Cowan Ferguson is a Scottish former footballer. He was notorious for his "hardman" image and nicknamed "Big Dunc" and "Duncan Disorderly".... (Everton Everton F.C. Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football... )
March	Ron Atkinson Ron Atkinson Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits... (Coventry City Coventry City F.C. Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry... )	Tony Yeboah Tony Yeboah Anthony "Tony" Yeboah is a Ghanaian former footballer most noted for his time at European clubs 1. FC Saarbrücken, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United and Hamburger SV during the 1990s... (Leeds United)
April	Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson is a former English football player and manager, and has recently stepped down as a Non-Executive Director at Sheffield Wednesday after formerly relinquishing the chairman role to Milan Mandaric... (Leeds United)	David Seaman David Seaman David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury... (Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups... )

Championship squad

Players in bold played enough games to earn a championship medal.

External links

1994-95 Premier League Season at RSSSF
1994–95 League statistics from RSSSF

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