1994–95 in English football

The 1994-1995 season was the 115th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

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 with West Ham United into a win on the final day of the season. Newly promoted Nottingham Forest finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup along with fourth placed Liverpool (also League Cup winners) and fifth placed Leeds United.

After this season the Premier League would be reduced to 20 clubs, so there would be four relegation places this time round. They were occupied by Crystal Palace, Norwich City (who had narrowly missed out on the league title two years earlier), Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

Division One

The streamlining of the Premier League meant that just two clubs would be promoted from Division One in 1995. Middlesbrough won the Division One title in their first season under Bryan Robson, while Reading were the club that were to fail to win promotion despite finishing second in the table. Instead, they competed in the playoffs, losing to Bolton Wanderers in the final, who achieved their second promotion in three years under Bruce Rioch - as well as being League Cup runners-up.

1995 saw four clubs relegated from Division One - Swindon Town (relegated for the second straight season), Burnley, Bristol City and Notts County. Sunderland narrowly avoided the drop following the arrival of enthusiastic new manager Peter Reid, who over the next few years would bring dramatic improvements to the Wearsiders.

Division Two

There would only be two promotion places in Division Two for 1994-95. They were occupied by champions Birmingham City and playoff winners Huddersfield Town, both enjoying success after seasons of disappointment.

Going down were Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Chester City and Leyton Orient. This was the first time that five clubs had been relegated from any of the league's four divisions.

Division Three

This season saw three clubs go up from Division Three instead of four clubs. They were champions Carlisle United, runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Chesterfield.

Exeter City, who almost went out of business in mid-season, finished bottom of Division Three but kept their league status because Conference champions Macclesfield Town were unable to meet the league's stadium capacity requirements.

uccessful players

Alan Shearer was the English league's top scorer with 34 Premiership goals for champions Blackburn Rovers.

20-year-old Robbie Fowler collected a League Cup winner's medal with Liverpool as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year award, following another season of strong goalscoring.

Peter Schmeichel established himself as a world-class goalkeeper by conceding just 4 goals in 18 home Premiership fixtures with Manchester United.

Stan Collymore scored 22 Premiership goals for Nottingham Forest and was soon on his way to Liverpool for an English record fee of £8.4million.

Experienced Scottish striker John Hendrie was the driving force in Middlesbrough's return to the Premiership after a two-year absence.

36-year-old Tranmere striker John Aldridge was Division One's leading goalscorer with 24 league goals.

Bolton midfielder Jason McAteer established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in England and would soon be on his way to Liverpool.

Wrexham striker Gary Bennett scored a staggering 39 goals in all competitions.

Huddersfield Town striker Andrew Booth who scored an impressive 30 goals during this season as well as make international honors with the England Under 21 squad.

Walsall wingers Scott Houghton and Martin O'Connor almost single handedly earned their club's promotion to Division Two.

uccessful managers

Kenny Dalglish become only the third manager to win the English league title with different clubs after he guided Blackburn Rovers to their first league title since 1914.

Joe Royle completed his first season as Everton manager by winning the F.A Cup.

Roy Evans won the League Cup in his first full season as Liverpool manager.

Frank Clark took newly promoted Nottingham Forest to third place in the Premiership to achieve UEFA Cup qualification and bring European football to the club for the first time since the early 1980s.

Bryan Robson made an excellent start to his management career by winning the Division One championship and gaining promotion to the Premiership with Middlesbrough.

Bruce Rioch won the Division One playoffs and took Bolton to their first cup final in nearly 40 years.

Jimmy Quinn took Reading to a second-place finish in Division One and only the streamlining of the Premiership prevented them from reaching the top flight for the very first time.

Neil Warnock achieved his fourth promotion in less than a decade as he guided Huddersfield Town to glory in the Division Two playoffs.

John Duncan helped Chesterfield win the Division Three playoffs and brought some long-awaited success to Saltergate.

Chris Nicholl had a strong first season as Walsall manager by gaining promotion to Division Two.

Barry Fry won the Division Two title with Birmingham City, who were also Auto Windscreen Shield winners.

Attendances

A total of 26,150,028 attended matches in competitions organised by the Football Association and the Football League and hosted by league clubs. Of that number, 21,856,223 attended Premiership and Football League matches. This ensured that attendace at league matches had increased for the ninth consecutive season. [News of the World: "The News of the World Football Annual 1995-6, p.6. London: Invincible Press, 1995]

In the Premiership, 11,213,371 attended the 420 matches held in 1994-95, the highest attendance in the top division since the 1980-81 season. Meanwhile, Football League clubs attracted 10,583,498, a decline of half a million from the previous season.

The ten most supported teams in league matches this season were as follows:
ab = Abandoned after 27 minutes because of crowd violence with the Republic leading 1-0 and no official result recorded, although caps were awarded.

League tables

FA Carling Premiership

* For more detail on the Premiership this season see FA Premier League 1994-95

Blackburn Rovers were crowned champions of the English league for the first time since 1914 after four years of heavy spending on and off the pitch. Strikers Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton scored more than 60 goals between them all season, while captain Tim Sherwood and goalkeeper Tim Flowers ensured that there was solidity and consistency away from the attack.

Manchester United narrowly missed out on a third successive league title, while newly promoted Nottingham Forest made a huge impact and finished third to qualify for Europe for the first time in over a decade. Liverpool showed signs of a return to their former glory with a fourth place finish and a Coca-Cola Cup triumph. The final European place went to Leeds United.

Smaller clubs including Southampton and Wimbledon defied the odds to finish in the top half of the table and overtake larger clubs including Aston Villa, Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday, who all changed managers during or after a season which had seen them all fall well short of expectations.

Ipswich Town and Leicester City were relegated by a wide margin, while Norwich City were the next to go down due to a terrible second half to the season, which dragged them out of the Premiership just two years after they had almost been champions. The final relegation place went to Crystal Palace, who found it difficult to score goals all season long. Their relegation was confirmed of the final day of the season; despite a thrilling comeback against sixth-placed Newcastle United, they lost 3-2 and went down from the Premiership just 12 months after winning promotion.

Endsleigh League Division Three

Ambitious Carlisle United sealed the Division Three title to end eight years of basement division football, joined by runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Chesterfield.

Debt-ridden Exeter City finished joint bottom of the league with Scarborough, but retained their league status due to Conference champions Macclesfield Town lacking a stadium adeqaute for Football League capacity standards.

Transfer deals

For subsequent transfer deals see 1995-96 in English football.

Diary of the season

6 July 1994 - Tottenham Hotspur's 12-point penalty is reduced to 6 points on appeal at a Football Association hearing, while the £600,000 fine is increased to £1.5million and the FA Cup ban remains in place.

2 August 1994 - Tottenham sell winger Vinny Samways to Everton for £2.2million.

4 August 1994 - Aston Villa pay Wimbledon £1.35million for long-serving striker John Fashanu.

3 August 1994 - Tottenham Hotspur pay Monaco £2million for German striker Jürgen Klinsmann.

22 August 1994 - The FA Premier League season opens with Liverpool beating newly-promoted Crystal Palace 6-1 at Selhurst Park.

28 August 1994 - 19-year-old striker Robbie Fowler scores a hat-trick for Liverpool in less than five minutes.

3 September 1994 - Former Wolverhampton Wanderers and England captain Billy Wright dies of cancer aged 70.

9 September 1994 - Romanian World Cup midfielder Gheorghe Popescu signs for Tottenham Hotspur in a £2.9million deal from PSV Eindhoven.

21 September 1994 - Gary Lineker, England's second highest goalscorer of all time, announces his retirement from playing. Since leaving Tottenham in 1992, he has played for Negoya Grampus Eight of Japan.

1 November 1994 - Osvaldo Ardiles is sacked after 16 months as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

8 November 1994 - Mike Walker is sacked after 10 months as manager of Everton.

9 November 1994 - The Times reports that 16 Football League clubs are set to break away from the league to form a second tier of the Premier League.

10 November 1994 - Ron Atkinson is sacked as manager of Aston Villa, while Tottenham Hotspur appoint Gerry Francis from Queens Park Rangers.

13 November 1994 - Division Two promotion chasers Oxford United suffer a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of non-league Marlow Town in the FA Cup third round.

11 November 1994 - Joe Royle, the longest-serving manager in England with 12 years at Oldham Athletic, is named as the new manager of Everton.

14 November 1994 - Ray Wilkins, 38, quits as Crystal Palace player-coach to return to Queens Park Rangers as their new player-manager, while Brian Little resigns as manager of Leicester City, sparking

25 November 1994 - Brian Little is named as the new Aston Villa manager on his 41st birthday.

5 December 1994 - John Lyall resigns after four-and-a-half years in charge of Ipswich Town, who stand bottom of the FA Premier League.

9 December 1994 - The Football Association quashes Tottenham's FA Cup ban and 6-point deduction.

11 December 1994 - Arsenal manager George Graham denies allegations that he received an illegal £285,000 payment as part of a transfer deal.

15 December 1994 - Mark McGhee leaves Reading to take charge of Leicester City. He is replaced at Elm Park by 35-year-old players Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding.

18 December 1994 - John Lyall is sacked after four-and-a-half years in charge of Ipswich Town, who are currently bottom of the Premier League.

19 December 1994 - Former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness denies allegations that he received a £30,000 illegal payment in connection with a player transfer.

28 December 1994 - Ipswich Town appoint their former player George Burley as their new manager. Burley, 38, had recently quit Colchester United and without a proven track record he was perhaps a surprise candidate for the job.

10 January 1995 - Manchester United break the English transfer fee record by signing Andy Cole from Newcastle United in a deal worth £7million; £6million cash plus £1million-rated winger Keith Gillespie, 19.

21 January 1995 - Leeds United pay a club record £3.4million for Eintracht Frankfurt's Ghanian striker Tony Yeboah.

25 January 1995 - After being sent off for kicking an opponent in Manchester United's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace, Eric Cantona leaps into the crowd and kicks spectator Matthew Simmons, who had allegedly been making racist remarks about the Frenchman.

27 January 1995 - Eric Cantona is suspended by his employers for the rest of the season and fined £20,000 after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

14 February 1995 - George Graham, whose job as Arsenal manager is reportedly under threat due to sub-standard Premier League form as well as allegations of illegal payments, pays Vitesse Arnhem £2million for Holland winger Glenn Helder.

21 February 1995 - George Graham is sacked as Arsenal manager after he admits to receiving an illegal payment of £425,000 from Norweigan agent Rune Hauge when Arsenal signed Pal Lydersen in 1991 and John Jensen in 1992. Assistant manager Stewart Houston will take over as manager until the end of the season before Arsenal find a permanent manager to succeed Graham, who had been in charge at Highbury since May 1986 and had won six major trophies.

24 February 1995 - The Football Association extends Eric Cantona's suspension until 30 September and he is fined a further £10,000.

4 March 1995 - Andy Cole becomes the first player to score five goals in a Premier League game in Manchester United's 9-0 home win over Ipswich Town - which is also the biggest win yet in the Premier League.

13 March 1995 - Chelsea captain Dennis Wise (28) is sentenced to three months in prison for assault and criminal damage, but is released on bail pending an appeal against his conviction and sentence. The court case follows an alleged attack on a taxi driver in London.

23 March 1995 - A judge at Croydon Crown Court sentences Eric Cantona to 14 days in prison for his attack on Matthew Simmons. He is released on bail, pending an appeal against the sentence. Meanwhile, Cantona's team-mate Paul Ince faces charges relating to the incident, while Matthew Simmons will also face prosecution.

31 March 1995 - Eric Cantona's prison sentence is quashed on appeal and he is sentenced to 120 hours of community service.

1 April 1995 - Nottingham Forest achieve a record Premier League away win when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 7-1 at Hillsborough.

6 April 1995 - It is announced that Eric Cantona's community service order will take place in the form of coaching football to young boys in the Manchester area.

9 April 1995 - 35-year-old Crystal Palace supporter Paul Nixon is murdered by a group of Manchester United fans. Mr Nixon had been trying to escape a brawl between supporters of the two teams. The semi-final ended in a 2-2 draw.

12 April 1995 - Manchester United reach the FA Cup final after beating Crystal Palace 2-0 in the semi-final replay. Their opponents will be Everton, who crushed Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in the other semi-final.

30 April 1995 - Middlesbrough clinch the Division One championship - and the only automatic promotion place to the Premier League for this season - by beating Luton Town in the final game at 93-year-old Ayresome Park and at the end of Bryan Robson's first season in management. Middlesbrough will relocate to the new 30,000-seat Riverside Stadium in August.

14 May 1995 - Blackburn Rovers are crowned league champions for the first time in 81 years, despite losing 2-1 at Liverpool on the final day of the season. Blackburn's title status was confirmed after their nearest contenders Manchester United could only manage a 1-1 draw with West Ham United. The final Premier League relegation place goes to Crystal Palace, despite their dynamic fightback from being 3-0 down at Newcastle United they still lost 3-2. Aston Villa's safety is confirmed by a 1-1 draw with already-relegated Norwich at Carrow Road.

19 May 1995 - Trevor Francis is sacked after four years as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

20 May 1995 - Everton win the FA Cup thanks to a Paul Rideout goal in the final, which leaves Manchester United (who narrowly missed out on repeating the double) without a major trophy for the first time since 1989.

24 May 1995 - Paul Ince is cleared of assaulting a Crystal Palace supporter in the skirmish that followed Eric Cantona's attack on Matthew Simmons four months ago. It was already known that the spectator who accused Ince of assault had a history of football-related violence dating back to the early 1970s.

30 May 1995 - Manchester City, still looking for a new manager following the dismissal of Brian Horton, agree to sell striker Niall Quinn to Sporting Lisbon of Portugal in a £2million deal.

5 June 1995 - Niall Quinn's transfer to Sporting Lisbon falls through after he fails to agree a contract.

23 June 1995 - Manchester United announce the sale of striker Mark Hughes to Chelsea for £1.5million and midfielder Paul Ince to Inter Milan for £7.5million.

Deaths

* Billy Wright, 70, captain of Wolves and England during the 1950s. At club level won three league championships and two F.A Cups. Was Arsenal manager from 1962 to 1966 but had little success. Made history as England's first 100-cap player.

* Kevin Morris, Swindon Town physiotherapist, was found dead in his fume-filled car.

* Ted Drake, 82, played as a centre forward for Arsenal before the Second World War and managed Chelsea to league championship glory in 1955.

* Johnny Berry, 68, Manchester United winger from the 1950s who retired after being injured in the Munich Air Disaster. After retiring as a player, he ran a sports shop in Aldershot with his brother Peter.

* Harold Pearson, 86, kept goal for West Bromwich Albion when they won the F.A Cup in 1931 and played once for England. At the time of his death was believed to be the oldest surviving England international.

* Noel Brotherston, 38, who died of a heart attack, was a striker for Northern Ireland who played for clubs including Blackburn Rovers and Bury. He retired from playing in 1988.