1993–94 FA Premier League


The 1993–94 FA Premier League was the second season of the Premier League, the top division of professional football in England. Manchester United won the league by eight points over nearest challengers Blackburn Rovers, their second consecutive league title. Swindon Town finished bottom of the league in their first season of top-flight football and were relegated along with Sheffield United and Oldham Athletic. Manchester United also broke their own record of the most points in a season, set by themselves the previous season. This would be surpassed by Chelsea in the 2004-05 season.

Overview

New league sponsors

From the start of the 1993–94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries.

Transfers

Just before the start of the season, Roy Keane became the most expensive footballer signed by an English football team. The 22-year-old Irish midfielder left relegated Nottingham Forest for Manchester United for a fee of £3.75 million.
During the 1993–94 season, many players were transferred between Premier League clubs for fees exceeding £1 million. They included David White, David Rocastle, Roy Wegerle and Tim Flowers. At £2.5 million, Flowers became the most expensive goalkeeper in English football.

Summary

Manchester United led the 1993–94 Premier League for almost all of the season, eventually finishing as champions eight points ahead of runners-up Blackburn Rovers. They also won the FA Cup after beating Chelsea 4–0 in the final, thereby becoming only the fourth team to achieve this feat in the 20th century. Their lead of the Premier League stood at 11 points by the end of October and peaked at 16 points two months later, but a run of bad results in March was followed by defeat at Blackburn at the beginning of April, which meant that they now led the league merely on goal difference. A return to form then saw United seal the league title with two games still to play.
Norwich City, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa were among the sides who showed promise early in the season before Manchester United established a runaway lead. Norwich reached the third round of the UEFA Cup after famously beating Bayern Munich in the second round, but their league form slumped after manager Mike Walker departed to Everton in January, and the Norfolk side finished 12th. Everton's brief lead of the league in the opening stages of the season was followed by a slump in form, and manager Howard Kendall stepped down at the beginning of December with the Toffees now in the bottom half of the table. They only narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season. Aston Villa finished a disappointing 10th in the league, but won the Football League Cup for the fourth time.
Finishing runners-up in the Premier League were Blackburn Rovers. In third place came Newcastle United, whose 22-year-old striker Andy Cole was the Premier League's leading scorer with 34 goals in 40 games, with a total of 41 goals in all competitions. In fourth place came Arsenal, who achieved success in European competition with a 1–0 win over Parma in the Cup Winners' Cup final.
Swindon Town managed just five league wins all season and were relegated in bottom place having conceded 100 league goals in 42 games. Oldham Athletic, who had avoided relegation on goal difference the previous season, were relegated on the final day of the season after failing to win at Norwich City. The final relegation place went to Sheffield United, who were relegated from the top flight after a 3–2 defeat at Chelsea, with the winning goal coming in injury time.

Teams

Twenty-two teams competed in the league – the top nineteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Newcastle United, West Ham United and Swindon Town. Newcastle United and West Ham United returned to the top flight after absences of four years and one year respectively, while Swindon Town played in the top flight for the first time. They replaced Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, ending their top flight spells of four, one and sixteen years respectively.

Stadiums and Locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
ArsenalLondon Arsenal Stadium
Aston VillaBirminghamVilla Park
Blackburn RoversBlackburnEwood Park
ChelseaLondon Stamford Bridge
Coventry CityCoventryHighfield Road
EvertonLiverpool Goodison Park
Ipswich TownIpswichPortman Road
Leeds UnitedLeedsElland Road
LiverpoolLiverpool Anfield
Manchester CityManchesterMaine Road
Manchester UnitedOld TraffordOld Trafford
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' Park
Norwich CityNorwichCarrow Road
Oldham AthleticOldhamBoundary Park
Queens Park RangersLondon Loftus Road
Sheffield UnitedSheffield Bramall Lane
Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Hillsborough Stadium
SouthamptonSouthamptonThe Dell
Swindon TownSwindonCounty Ground
Tottenham HotspurLondon White Hart Lane
West Ham UnitedLondon Boleyn Ground
WimbledonLondon Selhurst Park

Personnel and kits

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Arsenal George Graham Tony AdamsAdidasJVC
Aston Villa Ron Atkinson Kevin RichardsonASICSMüller
Blackburn Rovers Kenny Dalglish Tim SherwoodASICSMcEwan's Lager
Chelsea Glenn Hoddle Dennis WiseUmbroAmiga
Coventry City Phil Neal Brian BorrowsRiberoPeugeot
Everton Mike Walker Dave WatsonUmbroNEC
Ipswich Town John Lyall Steve PalmerUmbroFisons
Leeds United Howard Wilkinson Gordon StrachanASICSThistle Hotels
Liverpool Roy Evans Ian RushAdidasCarlsberg
Manchester City Brian Horton Keith CurleUmbroBrother
Manchester United Alex Ferguson Bryan RobsonUmbroSharp
Newcastle United Kevin Keegan Peter BeardsleyASICSMcEwan's Lager
Norwich City John Deehan Ian ButterworthRiberoNorwich and Peterborough
Oldham Athletic Joe Royle Mike MilliganUmbroJD Sports
Queens Park Rangers Gerry Francis David BardsleyClubhouseCSF
Sheffield United Dave Bassett Brian GayleUmbroLaver
Sheffield Wednesday Trevor Francis Chris WaddlePumaSanderson
Southampton Alan Ball/ Matt Le TissierPonyDimplex
Swindon Town John Gorman Shaun TaylorLokiBurmah
Tottenham Hotspur Osvaldo Ardiles Gary MabbuttUmbroHolsten
West Ham United Billy Bonds Steve PottsPonyDagenham Motors
Wimbledon Joe Kinnear Vinnie JonesRiberoLBC

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Andy ColeNewcastle United34
2 Alan ShearerBlackburn Rovers31
3 Matt Le TissierSouthampton25
3 Chris SuttonNorwich City25
5 Ian WrightArsenal23
6 Peter BeardsleyNewcastle United21
7 Mark BrightSheffield Wednesday19
8 Eric CantonaManchester United18
9 Dean HoldsworthWimbledon17
9 Rod WallaceLeeds United17

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Coventry CityArsenal3–0 14 8 1993
EvertonSheffield United4–2 21 8 1993
ArsenalIpswich Town4–0 11 9 1993
Norwich CityEverton5–1 25 9 1993
Blackburn RoversLeeds United3–3 23 10 1993
Newcastle UnitedWimbledon4–0 30 10 1993
LiverpoolSouthampton4–2 30 10 1993
Queens Park RangersEverton3–0 20 10 1993
Newcastle UnitedLiverpool3–0 21 10 1993
ArsenalSwindon Town4–0 27 12 1993
EvertonSwindon Town6–2 15 1 1994
Swindon TownCoventry City3–1 5 2 1994
Aston VillaSwindon Town4–0 12 2 1994
SouthamptonLiverpool4–2 14 2 1994
Newcastle UnitedCoventry City4–0 23 2 1994
ArsenalIpswich Town5–1 5 3 1994
ArsenalSouthampton4–0 19 3 1994
SouthamptonNorwich City5–4 9 4 1994
WimbledonOldham Athletic3–0 26 4 1994

Top assists

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

AwardWinnerClub
Premier League Manager of the Season Alex FergusonManchester United
PFA Players' Player of the Year Eric CantonaManchester United
PFA Young Player of the Year Andy ColeNewcastle United
FWA Footballer of the Year Alan ShearerBlackburn Rovers