FA Premier League 1992–93

:"This article describes the FA Premier League 1992-93 season."Infobox Football league season
competition = Premier League
season = 1992-93
winners = Manchester United
promoted = Blackburn Rovers
Ipswich Town
Middlesbrough
relegated = Crystal Palace
Middlesbrough
Nottingham Forest
continentalcup1 = Champions League
continentalcup1 qualifiers = Manchester United
continentalcup2 = Cup Winners' Cup
continentalcup2 qualifiers = Arsenal
continentalcup3 = UEFA Cup
continentalcup3 qualifiers = Aston Villa
Norwich City
league topscorer = Teddy Sheringham (22)
biggest home win =
biggest away win =
highest scoring =
total goals =
average goals =
longest wins =
longest unbeaten =
longest losses =
highest attendance =
lowest attendance =
average attendance =
prevseason = 1991-92
nextseason = 1993-94The FA Premier League was introduced for the 1992-93 season, in a 22-club format breakaway league in place of the old Football League First Division. The new league was backed up by a five-year, £305 million deal with BSkyB to televise Premiership matches. In concept, the Premier League was identical to the old First Division of the Football League, which was now reduced to three divisions.

Television money

The lucrative BSkyB sponsorship of the Premier League saw clubs spending more on transfer fees and player wages than in previous seasons. Just before the season began, newly promoted Blackburn Rovers paid an English record transfer fee of £3.6 million for Southampton's 22-year-old England striker Alan Shearer. Champions Leeds United paid £2 million for the Arsenal midfielder David Rocastle, who was replaced at Highbury by the £1.5 million Danish midfielder John Jensen. Shortly after the season began, Aston Villa paid £2.5 million for the Liverpool striker Dean Saunders and Tottenham paid £2 million for the Nottingham Forest striker Teddy Sheringham. During the 1992-93 season, tens of millions of pounds were spent by Premiership clubs on new players.

Promoted teams

Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough were promoted from the old Football League Second Division as champions and runners-up respectively. Blackburn Rovers took the third promotion place after winning the 1991-92 Second Division playoff. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1991-92.html England 1991/1992 ] ]

First Premier League champions

The first Premier League title went to Manchester United, the club's first title for 26 years. Manchester United's Premiership title success was achieved with a 10-point lead over runners-up Aston Villa.

Runner-up clubs

Although Manchester United ended the season as champions by a 10-point margin, the Premiership title was also contested for by three other clubs. Runners-up Aston Villa led the table for much of the season, but their challenge faded in the final weeks of the season and were out of contention three games before the season was over after they lost 1-0 at home to Oldham Athletic. Norwich City led the Premiership at Christmas in the unusual position of having a negative goal difference, their defensive frailties having been highlighted by a 7-1 defeat at Blackburn early in the season. Norwich eventually finished in third place, achieving European qualification in Mike Walker's debut season as manager. Blackburn, in the top division for the first time in almost 30 years, finished in fourth place.

Relegated teams

Nottingham Forest's league form had suffered through the sale of key players like Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham, and they were bottom of the Premiership for much of the 1992-93 season. Their relegation was confirmed in early May when they lost to Sheffield United, and manager Brian Clough announced his retirement after 18 years as manager, which had yielded one league title, two European Cups and four League Cups. Next to go were newly-promoted Middlesbrough, who fell from mid-table at Christmas to go down in second from bottom place. Last to go down were Crystal Palace, who failed to win their final game of the season which would have instead consigned Oldham Athletic to the final relegation place.

FA and League Cup

The season was notable for being the first time that both major cup finals were contested by the same two teams. On both occasions Arsenal defeated Sheffield Wednesday. The FA Cup also featured two derbies. The Steel City derby between Wednesday and Sheffield United and the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It was initially decided that the London clubs should play their match at Wembley Stadium while Elland Road was to be the venue for the other semi-final. This caused consternation among the Sheffield fans who started to put pressure on the Football Assocition that led to the match to be moved to the larger and more prestigious Wembley venue.

Player and managerial awards

*PFA Players' Player of the Year was Paul McGrath, a central defender who contributed to Aston Villa's runners-up finish in the Premier League. Aged 34 at the time, he is one of the oldest players ever to receive the award. [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsPFAPlyr.html England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year ] ]
*PFA Young Player of the Year was Ryan Giggs, the 19-year-old Manchester United left winger who had also won the award in the previous season. [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsPFAYngPlyr.html England Player Honours - Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year ] ]
*Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was Chris Waddle, who made his return to English football with Sheffield Wednesday after three years in France with Marseille. 32-year-old Waddle helped his club reach the finals of both domestic cup competitions, although they lost 2-1 to Arsenal in both finals. [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamHons/HonsFWAFbYr.html England Player Honours - Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year ] ]
*Alex Ferguson was voted Manager of the YearFact|date=February 2007 after achieving Manchester United's first league title for 26 years. It was also the fourth season in a row he had won a competition with the Old Trafford club, having previously won the FA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup.

Managerial changes

*Chelsea sacked Ian Porterfield in January and named David Webb (who scored their winning goal in the 1970 FA Cup final) as his successor on a short-term contract. Webb's contract was not renewed at the end of the season and he was replaced by Swindon Town's Glenn Hoddle.
*Coventry City appointed West Bromwich Albion's Bobby Gould as their new manager after deciding against giving caretaker manager Don Howe the permanent job as Terry Butcher's successor.
*Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell resigned at the end of the season after his side's relegation from the Premiership and was succeeded by coach Alan Smith.
*Norwich City promoted Mike Walker from youth team manager to first team manager at the start of the season, replacing Dave Stringer who had been at the helm since December 1987.
*Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough retired after his 18th season at the club ended in relegation. Leyton Orient F.C. Managing Director Frank Clark, who had played in Forest's 1979 European Cup triumph was named as his successor.
*Tottenham Hotspur removed Peter Shreeves from the role of head coach after one season and replaced him with joint coaches Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence, who like their predecessor worked under Chief Executive and former manager Terry Venables - who himself gained more involvement in first-team affairs.
*Wimbledon decided not give temporary manager Peter Withe the job on a permanent basis (he had been in charge since the previous October) and promoted coach Joe Kinnear to the manager's job instead.

Final league table

Club-by-club review

Arsenal

Arsenal briefly topped the new Premier League in October, but they failed to find a regular supply of goals and were the division's lowest-scoring team on 40 goals. This dismal shortage of goals restricted them to 10th place in the final table - placing them below less fancied sides including Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers.

But the season still brought great success as George Graham's side became the first English team to win the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season, as they triumphed 2-1 over Sheffield Wednesday in both finals. This superb run of success in the cup competitions was more than adequate compensation for their sub-standard league campaign, as they achieved qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Aston Villa

Ron Atkinson's heavy spending on fashionable players including Dean Saunders, Dalian Atkinson and Earl Barrett almost brought them title glory in the first season of the new Premier League. They topped the league at several stages during the season and were rarely outside the top three. As April lagged away, their hopes of title glory were looking increasingly slim but they were still in with an outside chance right up to the beginning of May, when a shock 1-0 home defeat against struggling Oldham Athletic gave the title to Manchester United.

The striker partnership of Dean Saunders and Dalian Atkinson (nicknamed the "D-men" by Villa fans) was perhaps the most crucial element in Villa's impressive season, which saw them clinch a UEFA Cup place for the second time in three seasons. Experienced central defender Paul McGrath was also a vital asset to the club, with his superb form earning him the PFA Player of the Year award.

Blackburn Rovers

The dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Blackburn Rovers saw them clinch a return to the top flight after a 26-year exile, and chairman Jack Walker handed a lucrative transfer budget to manager Kenny Dalglish to ensure that Rovers stayed there. The biggest of all the big-money deals was the English record fee acquisition of Alan Shearer from Southampton. Shearer scored 16 goals in his first 21 league appearances for the club, but a knee injury ended his season at the end of December and this helped kill any hopes Blackburn had of winning the title.

Despite Shearer's long absence, Blackburn still managed an impressive fourth place finish in the final table and there were other players who excelled on the pitch, namely Roy Wegerle, Mike Newell, Colin Hendry and Stuart Ripley.

They also set the record for the Premier League's biggest win, crushing Norwich City 7-1 in October.

Chelsea

Chelsea began the new Premier League campaign in familiar style - near the top but never looking like serious title contenders. A midseason slump in form, which dragged them down the table, saw them go 12 matches in succession without a single league victory, giving them the longest winless run of any top division team this season. Manager Ian Porterfield paid for Chelsea's failings with his job in January, and David Webb was brought in on a short-term contract as his successor. Webb took the Blues to a secure 11th place finish in the final table, but this was not enough to satisfy the board, who decided against offering a long-term contract to Webb. The manager's job went to Glenn Hoddle, who at 36 had achieved the first success of his managerial career by guiding Swindon Town into the top flight for the first time in their history.

Coventry City

Coventry City were many people's favourites for relegation as the new Premier League campaign got underway, but they were in the top half of the table for much of the season. Their solid form was helped no end by the arrival of powerful striker Micky Quinn, who joined the club from Newcastle United in November and scored 10 goals in his first 6 league games. Although less prolific later in the season, he still managed 17 league goals which helped to slow the rate of Coventry's last decline and they finished an unremarkable but secure 15th in the final table. Defender Phil Babb and striker Peter Ndlovu were also consistent performers throughout the season, and established themselves as top-class players who went a long way to securing Coventry's survival. Coventry were the first ever outright leaders of the Premier League.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace's form, particularly up front, had suffered since the departure of prolific striker Ian Wright in October 1991, as they had finished 3rd in the league five months after his departure, but finished the 1991-92 campaign in 10th place. This season brought an even more worrying run of dismal form, as Palace found it increasingly difficult to score goals and were soon deep in relegation trouble. Their fate was sealed on the final day of the season, when Oldham Athletic's remarkable 4-3 win at Southampton condemned the Eagles to relegation on goal difference. Manager Steve Coppell's nine years at the helm ended with his resignation several days later, and his assistant Alan Smith took over. With 49 points from 42 games, Palace's points total was the joint highest of any club ever to be relegated from the top flight and gave the fans more reason for hope for an immediate return to the elite.

Everton

Everton were one of Europe's top footballing sides during the 1980s, but with an almost total squad turnover in the space of a few seasons they were few people's favourites for the new Premier League title. Their form throughout the 1992-93 season was generally disappointing and showed little flair. Their 13th place finish brought further frustration to the blue half of Merseyside, which after so many years as the country's top footballing city was beginning to lose its balance of power to Manchester and London. The pressure upon Howard Kendall to re-create the glory days of not so long ago was more intense than ever.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town's top flight comeback was marked with a solid start which saw them hold the longest unbeaten start to the new Premier League campaign, and they were still as high as fourth in the league in February. There was even talk of John Lyall's men being able to make a late surge for the title. But they hit relegation form during the final three months of the season and finished 16th in the final table - only by winning their final game of the season did they banish any lingering fears of relegation.

Leeds United

Leeds United kept largely the same squad that had won the last ever championship of the original Football League and their only major close-season signing was Arsenal midfielder David Rocastle, but apart from an eventful run in the European Cup (their first European campaign for 18 years) their season lacked notability. They failed to win a single away game, and finished in 17th place in the final table, just three places clear of relegation. To rub salt into the wound, they were significantly lower than less fashionable and expensively-assembled sides like Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Wimbledon.

Manager Howard Wilkinson delved into the transfer market at the end of the season and brought in Sheffield United striker Brian Deane to give the club's fans hope of chasing honours the following season.

Liverpool

Liverpool Football Club, who in the last 30 years have rarely endured a trophyless season, had their toughest season for years as they made their Premier League debut. Costly new striker Paul Stewart failed to deliver the goods expected by such an expensive player, vintage striker Ian Rush scored just three goals in the first six months of the campaign, and the Anfield faithful were left wondering what had happened to a team which had dominated the domestic and European scene for so many years.

The Reds entered March in 15th place, just a few points clear of the relegation zone. But a strong end-of-season run - which included an impressive return to form by Ian Rush - saw Liverpool climb to sixth place in the final table. The acquisition of striker Nigel Clough from relegated Nottingham Forest gave Graeme Souness hope of make a serious challenge for honours the following season.

Manchester City

Manchester City enjoyed another solid season which brought them their third successive top-10 finish, though after two successive fifth-place finishes Peter Reid's side finished slightly lower in ninth place. Striker David White was on target 16 times in the league and established himself as one of the country's most lethal target men. But they never looked like giving neighbours United a run for their money in the title chase, and their last chance of silverware was blown in March when they were eliminated from the FA Cup by Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals.

Manchester United

Manchester United's 26-year title drought finally ended on 2 May 1993 when they were crowned champions of the new Premier League, 12 months after being pipped to the title by Leeds United. Manager Alex Ferguson had spent seven seasons building a side which could mount a title challenge, and after three seasons of success in the cup competitions his hard work had paid off with the league championship trophy.

The first few months of the season had seen United suffer some disappointing results (including five successive draws as well as home defeats against Everton and Wimbledon) which had seen them occupy 10th place in mid-November. But the arrival of dynamic striker Eric Cantona kick-started their season and they were top of the league for much of the season that remained after the turn of 1993. Cantona was not the only key player in United's title triumph. Young winger Ryan Giggs retained the PFA Young Player of the Year award, while Paul Ince came of age in the midfield. The likes of Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and Mark Hughes provided experience , while Ukrainian Andrei Kanchelskis proved himself a threat on the right hand side of midfield.

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough returned to the top flight after a three-year exile, and for much of the season they looked good enough to beat the drop, occupying a seemingly secure 12th place on Boxing Day, although they never looked capable of challenging the top three and failed to make much of an impact in either of the cup competitions. But an eight-match losing run starting in February pushed them into the drop zone and in the end they could not avoid the drop.

Norwich City

With a relatively inexperienced manager in Mike Walker, and the loss of influential striker Robert Fleck to Chelsea, Norwich City were the favourites of countless pundits and spectators for relegation from the new Premier League. A 4-2 win over Arsenal early in the season suggested that they might be able to beat the drop, but few could have imagined then just how successful the Canaries would be. They frequently topped the table for much of the season (despite having a negative goal difference, which was highlighted by a 7-1 thrashing at Blackburn in October) and fielded some of the most exciting players around in the likes of Ian Crook, Efan Ekoku, Chris Sutton and Mark Robins. They eventually finished third in the table - their highest-ever finish, which also booked them their first-ever European place (in the UEFA Cup).

Nottingham Forest

Brian Clough announced at the end of April that this would be his final season as manager after 18 years at the helm. When he arrived at the City Ground back in January 1975, Forest were an ungainly Second Division side with little to shout about except two FA Cup victories from their distant past. Within six years, they had won the league title, two League Cups and most incredibly two back-to-back European Cups. By 1990, they had added two more League Cups.

But Clough's reign as manager was to end on a low note as they were relegated from the inaugural Premier League in bottom place, having sold key players like Teddy Sheringham and Des Walker without finding suitable replacements. Clough had tried every last trick in the book to try and keep Forest among the elite, including moving his son Nigel to centre-back when signing striker Robert Rosario from Coventry City. But his luck finally ran out at the beginning of May when Forest lost to fellow strugglers Sheffield United, who in turn secured their own survival.

Forest endured six successive defeats during the season - the top division record for the season.

Former player Frank Clark arrived from Leyton Orient in the summer as Clough's successor, with promotion back to the Premier League being his first priority. That task was made a little less uphill with the capture of highly-rated striker Stan Collymore from Southend United.

Oldham Athletic

Despite scoring 63 goals this season, Oldham Athletic were nine points adrift of safety as they entered the final week of the campaign. Even if Oldham could get the maximum points from an away game at Aston Villa, second in the table and needing a win to keep their title hopes alive, and then Liverpool and Southampton at home, they also needed Crystal Palace to lose their final game if survival were to be achieved. It appeared to be a difficult, improbable task.

But the unthinkable happened and Oldham pulled off a remarkable Houdini act by beating Villa 1-0 on the Sunday, live on TV, Liverpool 3-2 mid-week, and the Saints 4-3 on the final day, whilst Crystal Palace were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal.

Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers had their best season for years in the first season of the new Premier League, as they outperformed all the other London clubs to achieve a fifth place finish in the final table. The frequent goals of striker Les Ferdinand and the competent left-wing play of Andy Sinton were vital in QPR's success, which saw manager Gerry Francis earn himself high regard in the game as a manager after enjoying so much success as a player. The only disappointment of the season was the failure to earn a UEFA Cup place, as English teams had still yet to earn back all of their places in Europe since the expiry of the ban arising from the Heysel Disaster.

heffield United

Sheffield United had returned to the top flight in 1990 after a 14-year exile, and achieved secure mid table finishes in their first two campaigns despite beginning both seasons with winless runs exceeding 10 games. the first Premier League campaign saw them battle relegation virtually all along, but they entered the history books as the team who scored the first-ever Premier League goal thanks to Brian Deane's early strike against Manchester United on the opening day of the season. They also had the distinction of ending Nottingham Forest's 16-year tenure in the top flight, and in doing so they also sealed their own survival. An impressive run to the FA Cup semi-finals saw them take on neighbours Wednesday in one of the most fiercely-contested derby games of modern times, but in the end it was the Owls who went through to the final.

Manager Dave Bassett was left facing another trying season ahead of him when Brian Deane was sold to Leeds United.

heffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday had one of their most challenging seasons yet in the first season of the new Premier League - first they competed in the UEFA Cup after finished third the previous season, their first European campaign since the 1960s. Although their European campaign was short-lived, they made a serious challenge for honours on the domestic scene, despite never looking like serious title challengers. The addition of striker Mark Bright and midfielder Chris Waddle strengthened an already impressive squad, with Bright's strike-partner David Hirst pledging his loyalty to the club despite interest from Manchester United.

The Owls reached the League Cup final where they lost 2-1 to Arsenal, and after the league season was over they returned to Wembley for the FA Cup final. Once again, their opponents were Arsenal. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw, but Arsenal ran out as 2-1 winners in the replay a few days later. This left Hillsborough with a bare trophy cabinet and an upcoming season without European action, but it was still a very successful season for a club who had been languishing in the doldrums as a thin shadow of their former selves a decade or so earlier.

outhampton

Southampton's glory days of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they won the FA Cup and came second in the league title race, were very much a distant memory in the first season of the Premier League as they battled against relegation all season long. In the end, it was the brilliance of striker Matthew Le Tissier that almost single-handedly saved the Saints from going down.

Manager Ian Branfoot was faced with increasing hostility from the club's angry fans who expected more than what they were getting, and his task was made all the more difficult by the fear of losing Le Tissier and goalkeeper Tim Flowers to bigger clubs, as speculation had been mounting for months that both players were being targeted in the transfer market.

Tottenham Hotspur

Under new Head coaches Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence,Tottenham Hotspur were among the pre-season candidates for the title of the new Premier League, but an eighth place finish reflected on the fact that they had never looked like real title contenders at any stage during the 1992-93 season, in spite of new striker Teddy Sheringham's impressive total of 22 goals. Their last real chance of silverware was thrown away at the end of March when they were eliminated from the FA Cup in the semi-finals by neighbours Arsenal, who went on to lift the trophy.

Controversy surrounded the club at the end of the season as chairman Alan Sugar wielded the axe on chief executive Terry Venables and head coach Doug Livermore. This decision proved unpopular and led to a High Court case which eventually found in Sugar's favour, and former player Ossie Ardiles returned to the club as the new manager.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon enjoyed another satisfying season in which they finished comfortably clear of the relegation zone despite having a meagre transfer budget, no home of their own, and the top flight's smallest fan base. Their 12th place finish put them above defending champions Leeds United as well as landlords Crystal Palace (who were relegated), and would have finished higher still had it not been for a difficult first half of the season which had seen them occupy a bottom-three place as late as Boxing Day.

Top goal scorers

ee also

*1992-93 in English football

References and notes