1994–95 FA Premier League

Premier League
Season 1994 (1994)–95
Champions Blackburn Rovers
1st Premier League title
3rd English title
Relegated Crystal Palace
Leicester City
Norwich City
Ipswich Town
Champions League Blackburn Rovers
Cup Winners' Cup Everton
UEFA Cup Manchester United
Nottingham Forest
Liverpool
Leeds United
Matches played 462
Goals scored 1,195 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorer Alan Shearer
(34 goals)
Biggest home win Manchester United 9–0 Ipswich Town
(4 March 1995)
Biggest away win Sheffield Wednesday 1–7 Nottingham Forest
(1 April 1995)
Highest scoring Manchester United 9–0 Ipswich Town
(4 March 1995)
Longest winning run 7 games[1]
Blackburn Rovers
Longest unbeaten run 13 games[1]
Nottingham Forest
Longest winless run 12 games[1]
Everton
Southampton
Longest losing run 8 games[1]
Ipswich Town
Highest attendance 43,868[2]
Manchester United v Sheffield Wednesday
(7 May 1995)
Lowest attendance 5,268[2]
Wimbledon v Manchester City
(21 March 1995)

The 1994–95 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Premier League, the top division of professional football in England.

Controversial incidents

In January 1995, Manchester United's 28-year-old French striker Eric Cantona (then holder of the PFA Players' Player of the Year award) assaulted a Crystal Palace fan in his team's 1–1 draw at Selhurst Park. 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 midfielder Dennis Wise was convicted of criminal damage and assault, relating to a fight with a taxi driver in London. He was given a three-month prison sentence but the conviction and prison sentence were quickly overturned on appeal.

Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson admitted in November 1994 that he was an alcoholic and was also addicted to cocaine and gambling. He underwent a three-month drug rehabilitation programme before being allowed to resume his playing career.

Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong 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 just one season after winning promotion.

Arsenal manager George Graham 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 agent Rune Hauge relating to the purchases of Norwegian and Danish players Pål Lydersen and John Jensen three years earlier. Graham was later banned from football for one year by the FA.

Transfers

Just before the start of the 1994–95 season, the English transfer record was broken when Blackburn Rovers paid £5 million for 21-year-old Norwich City striker Chris Sutton. But that record was broken again in January when Manchester United paid £6 million for Newcastle United's Andy Cole, in a deal which also saw £1 million-rated Keith Gillespie move to Newcastle. Other significant transfers before and during the 1994–95 season included: Vinny Samways (Tottenham to Everton, £2 million), David Rocastle (Manchester City to Chelsea, £1.25 million), Jürgen Klinsmann (Monaco to Tottenham Hotspur, £2 million), John Scales (Wimbledon to Liverpool, £3 million) and Paul Kitson (Derby County 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, and also was Blackburn's first major trophy in 67 years (last 1927–28 FA Cup).[3] Kenny Dalglish'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.[4] This meant that Blackburn Rovers qualified for the European Cup for the first time in their history, while Manchester United finished second earning a UEFA Cup place. A single point separated the two sides, who for more than half of the season enjoyed a wide gap in terms of point between themselves and the rest of the league, despite the likes of Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Newcastle United briefly topping the league during the first three months of the season.

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 in the club's first full season following the appointment of Roy Evans) and fifth placed Leeds United.

Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City were promoted to the league following the 1993–94 First Division season.

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 Premier League, 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, 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, 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 was sacked within a week of the defeat.

Player and managerial awards

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 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.

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, their former player, from Division One club Oldham Athletic as his successor. A dismal start to the season for Tottenham Hotspur cost manager Ossie Ardiles his job, and in came Gerry Francis from London and Premier League rivals Queen's Park Rangers to take over from him, with veteran midfielder Ray Wilkins making a swift return to Loftus Road after a brief spell playing for Crystal Palace to become player-manager at the West London club. League Cup holders Aston Villa, who had been Premier League runners-up two seasons ago, sacked manager Ron Atkinson amid a relegation battle for a club whose fans were expecting a title challenge. His successor was Brian Little, who had just walked out on struggling Leicester City to be succeeded by Mark McGhee from Division One club Reading.

Just before Christmas, John Lyall resigned as manager of Ipswich Town, the Premier League's bottom club. George Burley of Colchester United made the big step up from Division Three to take over at Portman Road.

February saw two managerial changes. Firstly, Phil Neal 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 was sacked after nine successful years in charge of Arsenal. His assistant Stewart Houston 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, who resigned with three weeks of the season remaining after a catastrophic run of defeats which had seen Norwich sink from 7th place to 20th. Long-serving player Gary Megson took over as caretaker for the remaining five games, but was unable to prevent relegation. After the season ended, the club appointed Wycombe Wanderers manager Martin O'Neill as Deehan's permanent replacement.

After the season ended, 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 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 return as manager after two years. Trevor Francis, 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 from Luton Town.[8] Finally, Brian Horton 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.

Personnel and kits

(as of 14 May 1995)

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Scotland Stewart Houston (caretaker) England Tony Adams Nike JVC
Aston Villa England Brian Little England Kevin Richardson Asics Müller
Blackburn Rovers Scotland Kenny Dalglish England Tim Sherwood Asics McEwan's Lager
Chelsea England Glenn Hoddle England Dennis Wise Umbro Coors
Coventry City England Ron Atkinson England Brian Borrows Pony Peugeot
Crystal Palace England Alan Smith England Gareth Southgate Nutmeg TDK
Everton England Joe Royle England Dave Watson Umbro NEC
Ipswich Town Scotland George Burley England Steve Palmer Umbro Fisons
Leeds United England Howard Wilkinson Scotland Gary McAllister Asics Thistle Hotels
Leicester City Scotland Mark McGhee England Steve Walsh Fox Leisure Walkers
Liverpool England Roy Evans Wales Ian Rush Adidas Carlsberg
Manchester City England Brian Horton England Keith Curle Umbro Brother
Manchester United Scotland Alex Ferguson England Steve Bruce Umbro Sharp
Newcastle United England Kevin Keegan England Peter Beardsley Asics Scottish and Newcastle Breweries
Norwich City England Gary Megson (caretaker) England Jon Newsome Ribero Norwich and Peterborough
Nottingham Forest England Frank Clark England Stuart Pearce Umbro Labatt's
Queens Park Rangers England Ray Wilkins England David Bardsley Clubhouse Compaq
Sheffield Wednesday England Trevor Francis England Chris Waddle Puma Sanderson
Southampton England Alan Ball England Matt Le Tissier Pony Dimplex
Tottenham Hotspur England Gerry Francis England Gary Mabbutt Umbro Holsten
West Ham United England Harry Redknapp England Steve Potts Pony Dagenham Motors
Wimbledon Republic of Ireland Joe Kinnear England Vinnie Jones Ribero Elonex

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Blackburn Rovers (C) 42 27 8 7 80 39 +41 89 1995–96 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Manchester United 42 26 10 6 77 28 +49 88 1995–96 UEFA Cup First round
3 Nottingham Forest 42 22 11 9 72 43 +29 77
4 Liverpool 42 21 11 10 65 37 +28 74
5 Leeds United 42 20 13 9 59 38 +21 73
6 Newcastle United 42 20 12 10 67 47 +20 72
7 Tottenham Hotspur 42 16 14 12 66 58 +8 62
8 Queens Park Rangers 42 17 9 16 61 59 +2 60
9 Wimbledon 42 15 11 16 48 65 −17 56
10 Southampton 42 12 18 12 61 63 −2 54
11 Chelsea 42 13 15 14 50 55 −5 54
12 Arsenal 42 13 12 17 52 49 +3 51
13 Sheffield Wednesday 42 13 12 17 49 57 −8 51
14 West Ham United 42 13 11 18 44 48 −4 50
15 Everton 42 11 17 14 44 51 −7 50 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round[lower-alpha 1]
16 Coventry City 42 12 14 16 44 62 −18 50
17 Manchester City 42 12 13 17 53 64 −11 49
18 Aston Villa 42 11 15 16 51 56 −5 48
19 Crystal Palace (R) 42 11 12 19 34 49 −15 45 Relegation to 1995–96 Football League First Division
20 Norwich City (R) 42 10 13 19 37 54 −17 43
21 Leicester City (R) 42 6 11 25 45 80 −35 29
22 Ipswich Town (R) 42 7 6 29 36 93 −57 27
Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Everton qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.

Results

Home \ Away[1] ARS AST BLBCHECOVCRYEVEIPSLEELEILIVMCIMUNNEWNWCNOTQPRSHWSOUTOTWHUWDN
Arsenal 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 4–1 1–3 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 2–3 5–1 1–0 1–3 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–0
Aston Villa 0–4 0–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 4–4 2–0 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 7–1
Blackburn Rovers 3–1 3–1 2–1 4–0 2–1 3–0 4–1 1–1 3–0 3–2 2–3 2–4 1–0 0–0 3–0 4–0 3–1 3–2 2–0 4–2 2–1
Chelsea 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 0–3 4–0 0–0 3–0 2–3 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–1
Coventry City 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–4 0–0 2–0 2–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 2–3 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–3 0–4 2–0 1–1
Crystal Palace 0–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 3–0 1–2 2–0 1–6 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–0
Everton 1–1 2–2 1–2 3–3 0–2 3–1 4–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–4 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0
Ipswich Town 0–2 0–1 1–3 2–2 2–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 4–1 1–3 1–2 3–2 0–2 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 2–1 1–3 1–1 2–2
Leeds United 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–3 3–0 3–1 1–0 4–0 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 4–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–2 3–1
Leicester City 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–2 2–0 1–3 1–2 0–1 0–4 1–3 1–0 2–4 1–1 0–1 4–3 3–1 1–2 3–4
Liverpool 3–0 3–2 2–1 3–1 2–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 4–0 1–0 1–1 4–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 3–0
Manchester City 1–2 2–2 1–3 1–2 0–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–0 2–0 3–3 2–3 3–2 3–3 5–2 3–0 2–0
Manchester United 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 2–0 9–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 5–0 2–0 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 1–0 3–0
Newcastle United 1–0 3–1 1–1 4–2 4–0 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 5–1 3–3 2–0 2–1
Norwich City 0–0 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–0 2–2 0–2 1–0 1–2
Nottingham Forest 2–2 1–2 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 4–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–2 4–1 3–0 2–2 1–1 3–1
Queens Park Rangers 3–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–1 2–3 1–2 3–2 2–0 2–1 1–2 2–3 3–0 2–0 1–1 3–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–1
Sheffield Wednesday 3–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 5–1 1–0 0–0 4–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–7 0–2 1–1 3–4 1–0 0–1
Southampton 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 2–0 3–1 1–3 2–2 0–2 2–2 2–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 4–3 1–1 2–3
Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 3–4 3–1 0–0 1–3 0–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 4–2 1–0 1–4 1–1 3–1 1–2 3–1 1–2
West Ham United 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 1–3 2–2 3–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–2 3–0
Wimbledon 1–3 4–3 0–3 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 3–2 1–0 2–2 1–3 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–0

Source:
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goal scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers 34
2 Robbie Fowler Liverpool 25
3 Les Ferdinand Queens Park Rangers 24
4 Stan Collymore Nottingham Forest 22
5 Andy Cole Newcastle United/Manchester United 21
Jürgen Klinsmann Tottenham Hotspur 21
7 Matt Le Tissier Southampton 19
8 Teddy Sheringham Tottenham Hotspur 18
Ian Wright Arsenal 18
10 Uwe Rösler Manchester City 15
Dean Saunders Aston Villa 15
Chris Sutton Blackburn Rovers 15

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Kevin Keegan Newcastle United Jürgen Klinsmann Tottenham Hotspur
September Frank Clark Nottingham Forest Rob Lee Newcastle United
October Alex Ferguson Manchester United Paul Ince Manchester United
November Kenny Dalglish Blackburn Rovers Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers
Chris Sutton
December Gerry Francis Tottenham Hotspur Matt Le Tissier Southampton
January Brian Little Aston Villa Chris Waddle Sheffield Wednesday
February Kevin Keegan Newcastle United Duncan Ferguson Everton
March Ron Atkinson Coventry City Tony Yeboah Leeds United
April Howard Wilkinson Leeds United David Seaman Arsenal

Championship squad

[9] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 England GK Tim Flowers
2 England DF Tony Gale
3 England DF Alan Wright
3 Republic of Ireland DF Jeff Kenna
4 England MF Tim Sherwood (captain)
5 Scotland DF Colin Hendry
6 England DF Graeme Le Saux
7 England MF Stuart Ripley
8 Scotland FW Kevin Gallacher
9 England FW Alan Shearer
10 England FW Mike Newell
11 England MF Jason Wilcox
12 England DF Nicky Marker
13 England GK Bobby Mimms
No. Position Player
14 England DF Lee Makel
15 England DF Richard Brown
15 Netherlands MF Richard Witschge (on loan from Bordeaux)
16 England FW Chris Sutton
17 Australia MF Robbie Slater
18 Scotland DF Andy Morrison
19 Scotland MF Peter Thorne
20 Norway DF Henning Berg
22 England MF Mark Atkins
23 England MF David Batty
24 England MF Paul Warhurst
25 England DF Ian Pearce
31 Republic of Ireland GK Shay Given

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

See also

References and notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "English Premier League 1994–95". statto.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Premier League 1994/1995 – Attendances". Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Blackburn Rovers winning the Premier League might never be surpassed". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Liverpool 2 Blackburn 1". LFC History. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  5. ↑ England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year
  6. ↑ England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year
  7. ↑ England Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  9. ↑ "Premier League 94/95 / Blackburn Rovers/Most frequent starting line-up". Stat Bunker. Retrieved 21 January 2010.

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