- 1995–96 Manchester United F.C. season
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Manchester United 1995–96 season Chairman 
Martin EdwardsManager 
Alex FergusonPremier League 1st FA Cup Winners League Cup Second Round UEFA Cup Second Round Top goalscorer League:
Eric Cantona (14)
All:
Eric Cantona (19)Highest home attendance 53,926 vs Nottingham Forest (28 April 1996) Lowest home attendance 31,966 vs West Ham United (23 August 1995) Average home attendance 40,851 
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours← 1994–95 1996–97 → The 1995–96 season was Manchester United's fourth season in the Premier League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1] United finished the season by becoming the first English team to win The double (league title and FA Cup) twice. Their triumph was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Alex Ferguson had sold experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis before the start of the season, and not made any major signings. Instead, he had drafted in young players like Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.
Eric Cantona returned from a nine-month suspension at the beginning of October, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions, the last one being the winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. He also picked up a Premier League winner's medal and the FWA Player of the Year award. The title had been sealed on the final day of the season with a 3–0 win at Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough.
Veteran defenders Steve Bruce and Paul Parker moved on at the end of the season, as did goalkeeper Tony Coton, who had only joined the club in January and never played a first team game. As the season drew to a close, speculation mounted that United would sign a world class striker – possibly Alan Shearer – to partner Eric Cantona in the bid to bring the European Cup to Old Trafford.
Contents
FA Premier League
Manchester United opened the 1995–96 season with a 3–1 defeat away to Aston Villa, after which they were written off by all the media, most famously by Alan Hansen who claimed "you'll never win anything with kids". The kids were partnered with veterans like Steve Bruce, Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel, and began to look a convincing outfit, particularly with a 2–1 away win against defending champions Blackburn Rovers. However, the team's form dipped in December, highlighted by a 4–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The team, however, was galvanised by the return of Eric Cantona from his eight-month suspension and went on a series of 1–0 victories, in which Cantona would usually score the goal. When Newcastle slipped up with a 1–1 draw away to Nottingham Forest, United capitalised by defeating Forest 5–0, meaning that they needed only to better Newcastle's result on the final day of the season to reclaim the league title. United won 3–0 away at Middlesbrough to claim their third title in four years.
Date Opponents H / A Result
F – AScorers Attendance League
position19 August 1995 Aston Villa A 1 – 3 Beckham 82' 34,655 19th 23 August 1995 West Ham United H 2 – 1 Scholes 50', Keane 68' 31,966 5th 26 August 1995 Wimbledon H 3 – 1 Keane (2) 27', 79', Cole 59' 32,226 4th 28 August 1995 Blackburn Rovers A 2 – 1 Sharpe 46', Beckham 67' 29,843 2nd 9 September 1995 Everton A 3 – 2 Sharpe (2) 3', 49', Giggs 73' 39,496 2nd 16 September 1995 Bolton Wanderers H 3 – 0 Scholes (2) 19', 85', Giggs 34' 32,812 1st 23 September 1995 Sheffield Wednesday A 0 – 0 34,101 3rd 1 October 1995 Liverpool H 2 – 2 Butt 2', Cantona 70' (pen.) 34,934 3rd 14 October 1995 Manchester City H 1 – 0 Scholes 4' 35,707 2nd 21 October 1995 Chelsea A 4 – 1 Scholes (2) 3', 10', Giggs 79', McClair 85' 31,019 2nd 28 October 1995 Middlesbrough H 2 – 0 Pallister 43', Cole 87' 36,580 2nd 4 November 1995 Arsenal A 0 – 1 38,317 2nd 18 November 1995 Southampton H 4 – 1 Giggs (2) 1', 4', Scholes 8', Cole 69' 39,301 2nd 22 November 1995 Coventry City A 4 – 0 Irwin 28', McClair (2) 47', 76', Beckham 57' 23,400 2nd 27 November 1995 Nottingham Forest A 1 – 1 Cantona 60' (pen.) 29,263 2nd 2 December 1995 Chelsea H 1 – 1 Beckham 60' 42,019 2nd 9 December 1995 Sheffield Wednesday H 2 – 2 Cantona (2) 17', 84' 41,849 2nd 17 December 1995 Liverpool A 0 – 2 40,546 2nd 24 December 1995 Leeds United A 1 – 3 Cole 30' 39,801 2nd 27 December 1995 Newcastle United H 2 – 0 Cole 5', Keane 53' 42,024 2nd 30 December 1995 Queens Park Rangers H 2 – 1 Cole 44', Giggs 52' 41,890 2nd 1 January 1996 Tottenham Hotspur A 1 – 4 Cole 36' 32,852 2nd 13 January 1996 Aston Villa H 0 – 0 42,667 3rd 22 January 1996 West Ham United A 1 – 0 Cantona 8' 24,197 2nd 3 February 1996 Wimbledon A 4 – 2 Cole 42', Perry 45' (o.g.), Cantona (2) 70', 80' (pen.) 25,380 2nd 10 February 1996 Blackburn Rovers H 1 – 0 Sharpe 14' 42,681 2nd 21 February 1996 Everton H 2 – 0 Keane 30', Giggs 82' 42,459 2nd 25 February 1996 Bolton Wanderers A 6 – 0 Beckham 5', Bruce 15', Cole 70', Scholes (2) 76', 79', Butt 90' 21,381 2nd 4 March 1996 Newcastle United A 1 – 0 Cantona 51' 36,584 2nd 16 March 1996 Queens Park Rangers A 1 – 1 Cantona 90' 18,817 2nd 20 March 1996 Arsenal H 1 – 0 Cantona 66' 50,028 1st 24 March 1996 Tottenham Hotspur H 1 – 0 Cantona 50' 50,157 1st 6 April 1996 Manchester City A 3 – 2 Cantona 7' (pen.), Cole 41', Giggs 77' 29,668 1st 8 April 1996 Coventry City H 1 – 0 Cantona 47' 50,332 1st 13 April 1996 Southampton A 1 – 3 Giggs 89' 15,262 1st 17 April 1996 Leeds United H 1 – 0 Keane 72' 48,382 1st 28 April 1996 Nottingham Forest H 5 – 0 Scholes 41', Beckham (2) 44', 54', Giggs 69', Cantona 89' 53,926 1st 5 May 1996 Middlesbrough A 3 – 0 May 15', Cole 54', Giggs 80' 29,921 1st Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Manchester United 38 25 7 6 73 35 +38 82 2 Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 +29 78 3 Liverpool 38 20 11 7 70 34 +36 71 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
FA Cup
United won the FA Cup in 1996 by beating Liverpool 1–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, with the only goal coming from Eric Cantona in the 85th minute. On the way to the final, Manchester United defeated Sunderland, Reading, Manchester City, Southampton and Chelsea.
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – AScorers Attendance 6 January 1996 Round 3 Sunderland H 2 – 2 Butt 12', Cantona 79' 41,563 16 January 1996 Round 3
ReplaySunderland A 2 – 1 Scholes 70', Cole 89' 21,378 27 January 1996 Round 4 Reading A 3 – 0 Giggs 36', Parker 56', Cantona 89' 14,780 18 February 1996 Round 5 Manchester City H 2 – 1 Cantona 39' (pen.), Sharpe 77' 42,692 11 March 1996 Round 6 Southampton H 2 – 0 Cantona 49', Sharpe 90' 45,446 31 March 1996 Semi-final Chelsea N 2 – 1 Cole 55', Beckham 59' 38,421 11 May 1996 Final Liverpool N 1 – 0 Cantona 85' 79,007 League Cup
As in the previous seasons, United rested many of their first-team players in the League Cup, instead using the competition to provide first team experience to the club's younger players and reserves. This proved to be a bad move, as the Red Devils fell at the first hurdle, losing in the Second Round to York City, 4–3 on aggregate.
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – AScorers Attendance 20 September 1995 Round 2
First legYork City H 0 – 3 29,049 3 October 1995 Round 2
Second legYork City A 3 – 1 Scholes (2) 6', 80', Cooke 13' 9,386 UEFA Cup
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – AScorers Attendance 12 September 1995 Round 2
First legRotor Volgograd A 0 – 0 33,000 26 September 1995 Round 2
Second legRotor Volgograd H 2 – 2 Scholes 59', Schmeichel 89' 29,724 Squad statistics
No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 GK 
Peter Schmeichel36 0 6 0 1 0 2 1 45 1 2 DF Paul Parker5(1) 0 1(1) 1 1 0 0(1) 0 7(3) 1 3 DF 
Denis Irwin31 1 6 0 1 0 1 0 39 1 4 DF Steve Bruce30 1 5 0 1(1) 0 2 0 38(1) 1 5 MF Lee Sharpe21(10) 4 4(2) 2 2 0 2 0 36 6 6 DF Gary Pallister21 1 3 0 2 0 2 0 28 1 7 FW 
Eric Cantona (c)30 14 7 5 1 0 0 0 38 19 9 MF Brian McClair12(10) 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 13(10) 3 11 MF 
Ryan Giggs30(3) 11 7 1 2 0 2 0 41(3) 12 12 DF David May11(5) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 13(5) 1 13 GK Tony Coton0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 FW Graeme Tomlinson0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 MF Roy Keane29 6 7 0 0(1) 0 2 0 38(1) 6 17 FW Andy Cole32(2) 11 7 2 1 0 1 0 42(2) 13 18 MF Simon Davies1(5) 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 2(6) 0 19 MF Nicky Butt31(1) 2 7 1 0 0 2 0 40(1) 3 20 DF Gary Neville30(1) 0 5(1) 0 1 0 1 0 37(2) 0 21 DF 
Pat McGibbon0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 22 MF Paul Scholes16(10) 10 0(2) 1 1 2 1(1) 1 18(13) 14 23 DF Phil Neville21(3) 0 6(1) 0 1(1) 0 1 0 29(5) 0 24 MF David Beckham26(7) 7 3 1 2 0 2 0 33(7) 8 25 GK Kevin Pilkington2(1) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4(1) 0 26 DF Chris Casper0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 MF Terry Cooke1(3) 0 0 0 1(1) 1 0(1) 0 2(5) 1 29 MF Ben Thornley0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 30 DF John O'Kane0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1(1) 0 31 DF William Prunier2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Transfers
United's first departure of the 1995–96 season was Matthew Barrass, who joined San Diego Nomads on 1 July. A day later, David Gardner was released, Paul Heckingbottom joined Sunderland, Patrick Lee joined Middlesbrough, and Paul Lyons joined Rochdale. Richard Irving signed for Nottingham Forest on 19 July, while a week later, Ashley Westwood departed for Crewe Alexandra. Gary Walsh signed for Middlesbrough on 11 August, Andrei Kanchelskis joined Everton, while in late September, Elliott Dickman joined Sunderland, and Stephen Hall was released. John Hudson was released on 5 November.
United's only summer arrival of the 1995–96 season was Nick Culkin, who signed from York City on 25 September.
United's only winter departure was Matthew Wicks, who joined Arsenal on a free transfer on 23 January. Former captain Steve Bruce left for Birmingham City on 22 May, while on 30 June, Dessie Baker, Daniel Hall, Paul Parker, and Phillip Whittam left the club.
United's only winter arrival was Tony Coton, who signed from United's rivals Manchester City on 31 January. Raimond van der Gouw joined United from Vitesse on 25 June 1996.
In
Date Pos. Name From Fee 25 September 1995 GK Nick Culkin York City£250k 31 January 1996 GK Tony Coton Manchester City£500k 25 June 1996 GK 
Raimond van der Gouw VitesseFree Out
Date Pos. Name To Fee 1 July 1995 MF Matthew Barrass
San Diego NomadsFree 2 July 1995 MF David GardnerUnattached Free 2 July 1995 DF Paul Heckingbottom SunderlandFree 2 July 1995 MF Patrick Lee MiddlesbroughFree 2 July 1995 MF Paul Lyons RochdaleFree 19 July 1995 FW Richard Irving Nottingham Forest£75k 26 July 1995 DF Ashley Westwood Crewe Alexandra£40k 11 August 1995 GK Gary Walsh Middlesbrough£250k 25 August 1995 MF 
Andrei Kanchelskis Everton£5m 27 September 1995 DF Elliott Dickman SunderlandFree 30 September 1995 FW Stephen HallUnattached Free 5 November 1995 MF John HudsonUnattached Free 23 January 1996 DF Matthew Wicks ArsenalFree 22 May 1996 DF Steve Bruce Birmingham CityFree 30 June 1996 FW Dessie BakerUnattached Free 30 June 1996 DF Daniel HallUnattached Free 30 June 1996 DF Paul Parker Derby CountyFree 30 June 1996 DF Phillip WhittamUnattached Free Loan in
Date from Date to Pos. Name From 29 December 1995 1 March 1996 DF William Prunier BordeauxLoan out
Date from Date to Pos. Name To 1 July 1995 1 August 1995 MF Michael Appleton Wimbledon15 September 1995 15 October 1995 MF Michael Appleton Lincoln City6 November 1995 15 February 1996 MF Ben Thornley Stockport County11 January 1996 11 April 1996 DF Chris Casper Bournemouth29 January 1996 29 February 1996 MF Terry Cooke Sunderland2 February 1996 20 March 1996 GK Kevin Pilkington Rochdale22 February 1996 18 May 1997 MF Ben Thornley Huddersfield Town22 March 1996 22 May 1996 FW Graeme Tomlinson Luton TownReferences
- ^ "Manchester United Season 1995/96". StretfordEnd.co.uk. http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season1996.html. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
See also
Manchester United F.C. seasons 1883–84 · 1884–85 · 1885–86 · 1886–87 · 1887–88 · 1888–89 · 1889–90 · 1890–91 · 1891–92 · 1892–93 · 1893–94 · 1894–95 · 1895–96 · 1896–97 · 1897–98 · 1898–99 · 1899–1900 · 1900–01 · 1901–02 · 1902–03 · 1903–04 · 1904–05 · 1905–06 · 1906–07 · 1907–08 · 1908–09 · 1909–10 · 1910–11 · 1911–12 · 1912–13 · 1913–14 · 1914–15 · 1915–16 · 1916–17 · 1917–18 · 1918–19 · 1919–20 · 1920–21 · 1921–22 · 1922–23 · 1923–24 · 1924–25 · 1925–26 · 1926–27 · 1927–28 · 1928–29 · 1929–30 · 1930–31 · 1931–32 · 1932–33 · 1933–34 · 1934–35 · 1935–36 · 1936–37 · 1937–38 · 1938–39 · 1939–40 · 1940–41 · 1941–42 · 1942–43 · 1943–44 · 1944–45 · 1945–46 · 1946–47 · 1947–48 · 1948–49 · 1949–50 · 1950–51 · 1951–52 · 1952–53 · 1953–54 · 1954–55 · 1955–56 · 1956–57 · 1957–58 · 1958–59 · 1959–60 · 1960–61 · 1961–62 · 1962–63 · 1963–64 · 1964–65 · 1965–66 · 1966–67 · 1967–68 · 1968–69 · 1969–70 · 1970–71 · 1971–72 · 1972–73 · 1973–74 · 1974–75 · 1975–76 · 1976–77 · 1977–78 · 1978–79 · 1979–80 · 1980–81 · 1981–82 · 1982–83 · 1983–84 · 1984–85 · 1985–86 · 1986–87 · 1987–88 · 1988–89 · 1989–90 · 1990–91 · 1991–92 · 1992–93 · 1993–94 · 1994–95 · 1995–96 · 1996–97 · 1997–98 · 1998–99 · 1999–2000 · 2000–01 · 2001–02 · 2002–03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2006–07 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–121995–96 in English football FA competitions Premier League and
Football LeaguePremier League · Football League (First Division · Second Division · Third Division) · League Cup (Final) · Football League Trophy (Final) · Play-offs (First Division Final · Second Division Final · Third Division Final)Football Conference Football Conference · Conference League CupLower leagues European competitions Champions League · UEFA Cup · Cup Winners' Cup · Intertoto CupRelated to national team Club seasonsPremier League Arsenal · Aston Villa · Blackburn Rovers · Bolton Wanderers · Chelsea · Coventry City · Everton · Leeds United · Liverpool · Manchester City · Manchester United · Middlesbrough · Newcastle United · Nottingham Forest · Queens Park Rangers · Sheffield Wednesday · Southampton · Tottenham Hotspur · West Ham United · WimbledonFirst Division Barnsley · Birmingham City · Charlton Athletic · Crystal Palace · Derby County · Grimsby Town · Huddersfield Town · Ipswich Town · Leicester City · Luton Town · Millwall · Norwich City · Oldham Athletic · Portsmouth · Port Vale · Reading · Sheffield United · Southend United · Stoke City · Sunderland · Tranmere Rovers · Watford · West Bromwich Albion · Wolverhampton WanderersSecond Division Blackpool · Bournemouth · Bradford City · Brentford · Brighton & Hove Albion · Bristol City · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Carlisle United · Chesterfield · Crewe Alexandra · Hull City · Notts County · Oxford United · Peterborough United · Shrewsbury Town · Stockport County · Swansea City · Swindon Town · Walsall · Wrexham · Wycombe Wanderers · York CityThird Division Barnet · Bury · Cambridge United · Cardiff City · Chester City · Colchester United · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Exeter City · Fulham · Gillingham · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Leyton Orient · Lincoln City · Mansfield Town · Northampton Town · Plymouth Argyle · Preston North End · Rochdale · Scarborough · Scunthorpe United · Torquay United · Wigan AthleticSouthern League NewportList of transfersCategories:- Manchester United F.C. seasons
- English football clubs 1995–96 season
- English football championship-winning seasons
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