The 1994–95 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the competition, since its formation in 1992 as the top division of professional football in England. Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the FA Premier League from 22 to 20 starting from the following season, a total of four clubs were to be relegated.
Season | 1994–95 |
---|---|
Dates | 20 August 1994 – 14 May 1995 |
Champions | Blackburn Rovers 1st Premier League title 3rd English title |
Relegated | Crystal Palace Norwich City Leicester City Ipswich Town |
Champions League | Blackburn Rovers |
Cup Winners' Cup | Everton |
UEFA Cup | Manchester United Nottingham Forest Liverpool Leeds United (through UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking) |
Matches played | 462 |
Goals scored | 1,195 (2.59 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Alan Shearer (34 goals) |
Best goalkeeper | Peter Schmeichel (20 clean sheets) |
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 1–0 Sheffield Wednesday (7 May 1995) |
Lowest attendance | 5,268[2] Wimbledon 2–0 Manchester City (21 March 1995) |
Total attendance | 11,203,236[2] |
Average attendance | 24,249[2] |
← 1993–94 1995–96 → |
Overview
Transfers
Just before the start of the 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).
Summary
The title was won by Blackburn Rovers, whose last title success was in 1914, and also was Blackburn's first major trophy in 67 years (the last being 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 looking like title contenders 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.
The number of teams in the league for the following year would be reduced to 20. This was to be achieved by increasing the number of teams facing relegation to four, and reducing the number of teams being promoted from Division 1 to two. Ipswich Town were relegated in bottom place after winning just seven league games and conceding 93 goals. Newly promoted Leicester City also went down, winning just six times in the league and never being outside the bottom two after November. Norwich City, who had been in contention for a UEFA Cup place halfway through the season, suffered a nosedive in form during the second half of the season and were relegated just two seasons after being title contenders. The final relegation place on the last day of the season went to Crystal Palace, who still lost 3-2 despite a strong fightback at Newcastle after being 3-0 down.
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 who verbally abused him[5] 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.
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 Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest (both teams returning to the top flight after a season's absence), and Leicester City (returning after a top flight absence of seven years). This was also Leicester City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic and Swindon Town, who were relegated to the First Division after their top flight spells of four, three and one year respectively. This was the final season with twenty-two teams as all seasons after this one have twenty teams.
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and kits
(as of 14 May 1995)
Managerial changes
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Ham United | Billy Bonds | Resigned | 10 August 1994 | Pre-season | Harry Redknapp | 10 August 1994 |
Tottenham Hotspur | Osvaldo Ardiles | Sacked | 1 November 1994 | 11th | Steve Perryman (caretaker) | 1 November 1994 |
Everton | Mike Walker | 8 November 1994 | 22nd | Joe Royle | 10 November 1994 | |
Aston Villa | Ron Atkinson | 10 November 1994 | 19th | Jim Barron (caretaker) | 10 November 1994 | |
Tottenham Hotspur | Steve Perryman | End of caretaker spell | 15 November 1994 | 13th | Gerry Francis | 15 November 1994 |
Queens Park Rangers | Gerry Francis | Resigned | 18th | Ray Wilkins | ||
Leicester City | Brian Little | Resigned | 22 November 1994 | 20th | Kevin MacDonald (caretaker) | 22 November 1994 |
Aston Villa | Jim Barron | End of caretaker spell | 25 November 1994 | 19th | Brian Little | 25 November 1994 |
Ipswich Town | John Lyall | Resigned | 5 December 1994 | 22nd | Paul Goddard (caretaker) | 5 December 1994 |
Leicester City | Kevin MacDonald | End of caretaker spell | 14 December 1994 | 21st | Mark McGhee | 14 December 1994 |
Ipswich Town | Paul Goddard | 28 December 1994 | 22nd | George Burley | 28 December 1994 | |
Coventry City | Phil Neal | Sacked | 14 February 1995 | 13th | Ron Atkinson | 15 February 1995 |
Arsenal | George Graham | 21 February 1995 | 12th | Stewart Houston | 21 February 1995 | |
Norwich City | John Deehan | Resigned | 9 April 1995 | 20th | Gary Megson (caretaker) | 9 April 1995 |
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 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
2 | Manchester United | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 77 | 28 | +49 | 88 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[a] |
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 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[b] |
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 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 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Leeds United were rewarded entry to the UEFA Cup through UEFA Fair Play ranking.
Results
Home \ Away | ARS | AVL | BLB | CHE | COV | CRY | EVE | IPS | LEE | LEI | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NOR | NFO | QPR | SHW | SOU | TOT | WHU | WIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | — |
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank | Player | Club | Goals[6] |
---|---|---|---|
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 |
6 | Jürgen Klinsmann | Tottenham Hotspur | 20 |
7 | Matt Le Tissier | Southampton | 19 |
8 | Teddy Sheringham | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 |
Ian Wright | Arsenal | ||
10 | Uwe Rösler | Manchester City | 15 |
Dean Saunders | Aston Villa | ||
Chris Sutton | Blackburn Rovers |
Hat-tricks
Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Sutton | Blackburn Rovers | Coventry City | 4–0 (H)[7] | 27 August 1994 |
Robbie Fowler | Liverpool | Arsenal | 3–0 (H)[8] | 28 August 1994 |
Andrei Kanchelskis | Manchester United | Manchester City | 5–0 (H)[9] | 10 November 1994 |
Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers | Queens Park Rangers | 4–0 (H)[10] | 26 November 1994 |
Teddy Sheringham | Tottenham Hotspur | Newcastle United | 4–2 (H)[11] | 3 December 1994 |
Tony Cottee | West Ham United | Manchester City | 3–0 (H)[12] | 17 December 1994 |
Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers | West Ham United | 4–2 (H)[13] | 30 October 1994 |
Ipswich Town | 4–1 (H)[14] | 2 January 1995 | ||
Tommy Johnson | Aston Villa | Wimbledon | 7–1 (H)[15] | 11 February 1995 |
Andy Cole5 | Manchester United | Ipswich Town | 9–0 (H)[16] | 4 March 1995 |
Peter Ndlovu | Coventry City | Liverpool | 3–2 (A)[17] | 14 March 1995 |
Tony Yeboah | Leeds United | Ipswich Town | 4–0 (H)[18] | 5 April 1995 |
Ian Wright | Arsenal | 4–1 (H)[19] | 15 April 1995 |
- Note: 5 – player scored 5 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Clean sheets
Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[20] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Schmeichel | Manchester United | 20 |
2 | David James | Liverpool | 17 |
John Lukic | Leeds United | ||
4 | Tim Flowers | Blackburn | 16 |
5 | Nigel Martyn | Crystal Palace | 14 |
Neville Southall | Everton | ||
7 | Mark Crossley | Nottingham Forest | 13 |
Luděk Mikloško | West Ham United | ||
Pavel Srníček | Newcastle United | ||
10 | Dmitri Kharine | Chelsea | 11 |
Steve Ogrizovic | Coventry City | ||
David Seaman | Arsenal | ||
Ian Walker | Tottenham Hotspur |
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 12[21]
- Francis Benali (Southampton)
- Ken Monkou (Southampton)
- Andy Pearce (Sheffield Wednesday)
- Most red cards: 2[22]
- Duncan Ferguson (Everton)
- Vinnie Jones (Wimbledon)
- Pavel Srníček (Newcastle United)
- Andy Townsend (Aston Villa)
- Jason Wilcox (Blackburn Rovers)
Club
- Most yellow cards: 72[23]
- Wimbledon
- Fewest yellow cards: 35[23]
- Liverpool
- Most red cards: 8[24]
- Leicester City
- Fewest red cards: 0[24]
- Leeds United
- Southampton
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 |
Annual awards
Award | Winner | Club |
---|---|---|
Premier League Manager of the Season | Kenny Dalglish[25] | Blackburn Rovers |
Premier League Player of the Season | Alan Shearer[26][27] | |
PFA Players' Player of the Year | ||
PFA Young Player of the Year | Robbie Fowler[28] | Liverpool |
FWA Footballer of the Year | Jürgen Klinsmann[29] | Tottenham Hotspur |
PFA Team of the Year[30] | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeeper | Tim Flowers (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||||
Defenders | Rob Jones (Liverpool) |
Gary Pallister (Manchester United) |
Colin Hendry (Blackburn Rovers) |
Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn Rovers) | ||||||||
Midfielders | Tim Sherwood (Blackburn Rovers) |
Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) |
Paul Ince (Manchester United) | |||||||||
Forwards | Jürgen Klinsmann (Tottenham Hotspur) |
Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers) |
Chris Sutton (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||
See also
References and notes
External links
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