1994–95 FA Premier League
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 → |
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.
Overview
[edit]Transfers
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]- ^ Due to Wimbledon lacking a home stadium, they played their home games at Selhurst Park, which is the home stadium of Crystal Palace.
Personnel and kits
[edit](as of 14 May 1995)
Managerial changes
[edit]Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Ham United | ![]() |
Resigned | 10 August 1994 | Pre-season | ![]() |
10 August 1994 |
Tottenham Hotspur | ![]() |
Sacked | 1 November 1994 | 11th | ![]() |
1 November 1994 |
Everton | ![]() |
8 November 1994 | 22nd | ![]() |
10 November 1994 | |
Aston Villa | ![]() |
10 November 1994 | 19th | ![]() |
10 November 1994 | |
Tottenham Hotspur | ![]() |
End of caretaker spell | 15 November 1994 | 13th | ![]() |
15 November 1994 |
Queens Park Rangers | ![]() |
Resigned | 18th | ![]() | ||
Leicester City | ![]() |
Resigned | 22 November 1994 | 20th | ![]() |
22 November 1994 |
Aston Villa | ![]() |
End of caretaker spell | 25 November 1994 | 19th | ![]() |
25 November 1994 |
Ipswich Town | ![]() |
Resigned | 5 December 1994 | 22nd | ![]() |
5 December 1994 |
Leicester City | ![]() |
End of caretaker spell | 14 December 1994 | 21st | ![]() |
14 December 1994 |
Ipswich Town | ![]() |
28 December 1994 | 22nd | ![]() |
28 December 1994 | |
Coventry City | ![]() |
Sacked | 14 February 1995 | 13th | ![]() |
15 February 1995 |
Arsenal | ![]() |
21 February 1995 | 12th | ![]() |
21 February 1995 | |
Norwich City | ![]() |
Resigned | 9 April 1995 | 20th | ![]() |
9 April 1995 |
League table
[edit]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.
- ^ Everton qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup winners.
Results
[edit]Season statistics
[edit]Top scorers
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Alan_Shearer_2008.jpg/170px-Alan_Shearer_2008.jpg)
Rank | Player | Club | Goals[6] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Blackburn Rovers | 34 |
2 | ![]() |
Liverpool | 25 |
3 | ![]() |
Queens Park Rangers | 24 |
4 | ![]() |
Nottingham Forest | 22 |
5 | ![]() |
Newcastle United Manchester United |
21 |
6 | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur | 20 |
7 | ![]() |
Southampton | 19 |
8 | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur | 18 |
![]() |
Arsenal | ||
10 | ![]() |
Manchester City | 15 |
![]() |
Aston Villa | ||
![]() |
Blackburn Rovers |
Hat-tricks
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Andy_Cole_%2813047502155%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/170px-Andy_Cole_%2813047502155%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Blackburn Rovers | Coventry City | 4–0 (H)[7] | 27 August 1994 |
![]() |
Liverpool | Arsenal | 3–0 (H)[8] | 28 August 1994 |
![]() |
Manchester United | Manchester City | 5–0 (H)[9] | 10 November 1994 |
![]() |
Blackburn Rovers | Queens Park Rangers | 4–0 (H)[10] | 26 November 1994 |
![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur | Newcastle United | 4–2 (H)[11] | 3 December 1994 |
![]() |
West Ham United | Manchester City | 3–0 (H)[12] | 17 December 1994 |
![]() |
Blackburn Rovers | West Ham United | 4–2 (H)[13] | 30 October 1994 |
Ipswich Town | 4–1 (H)[14] | 2 January 1995 | ||
![]() |
Aston Villa | Wimbledon | 7–1 (H)[15] | 11 February 1995 |
![]() |
Manchester United | Ipswich Town | 9–0 (H)[16] | 4 March 1995 |
![]() |
Coventry City | Liverpool | 3–2 (A)[17] | 14 March 1995 |
![]() |
Leeds United | Ipswich Town | 4–0 (H)[18] | 5 April 1995 |
![]() |
Arsenal | 4–1 (H)[19] | 15 April 1995 |
- Note: 5 – player scored 5 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Clean sheets
[edit]Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[20] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Manchester United | 20 |
2 | ![]() |
Liverpool | 17 |
![]() |
Leeds United | ||
4 | ![]() |
Blackburn | 16 |
5 | ![]() |
Crystal Palace | 14 |
![]() |
Everton | ||
7 | ![]() |
Nottingham Forest | 13 |
![]() |
West Ham United | ||
![]() |
Newcastle United | ||
10 | ![]() |
Chelsea | 11 |
![]() |
Coventry City | ||
![]() |
Arsenal | ||
![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Discipline
[edit]Player
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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
[edit]Monthly awards
[edit]Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
August | ![]() |
Newcastle United | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur |
September | ![]() |
Nottingham Forest | ![]() |
Newcastle United |
October | ![]() |
Manchester United | ![]() |
Manchester United |
November | ![]() |
Blackburn Rovers | ![]() |
Blackburn Rovers |
![]() | ||||
December | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur | ![]() |
Southampton |
January | ![]() |
Aston Villa | ![]() |
Sheffield Wednesday |
February | ![]() |
Newcastle United | ![]() |
Everton |
March | ![]() |
Coventry City | ![]() |
Leeds United |
April | ![]() |
Leeds United | ![]() |
Arsenal |
Annual awards
[edit]PFA Team of the Year |
Award | Winner | Club |
---|---|---|
Premier League Manager of the Season | ![]() |
Blackburn Rovers |
Premier League Player of the Season | ![]() | |
PFA Players' Player of the Year | ||
PFA Young Player of the Year | ![]() |
Liverpool |
FWA Footballer of the Year | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur |
PFA Team of the Year[30] | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeeper | ![]() (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||||
Defenders | ![]() (Liverpool) |
![]() (Manchester United) |
![]() (Blackburn Rovers) |
![]() (Blackburn Rovers) | ||||||||
Midfielders | ![]() (Blackburn Rovers) |
![]() (Southampton) |
![]() (Manchester United) | |||||||||
Forwards | ![]() (Tottenham Hotspur) |
![]() (Blackburn Rovers) |
![]() (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||
See also
[edit]References and notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d "English Premier League 1994–95". statto.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Premier League 1994/1995 – Attendances". Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ "Blackburn Rovers winning the Premier League might never be surpassed". The Telegraph. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ "Liverpool 2 Blackburn 1". LFC History. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ "Remember when... Eric Cantona kung-fu kicked a fan". Independent.co.uk. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Premier League Player Stats – Goals". Premier League. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ Barton, Mark (29 August 1994). "Football: Sutton punishes sorry Coventry: Rovers leave it late". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ McNulty, Phil (25 February 2004). "The hat-trick Hall of Fame". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Smith, Rory (8 May 2009). "Manchester United v Manchester City: Five classic derbies". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ "Blackburn 4–0 QPR". Soccerbase. Retrieved 14 July 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 Newcastle United". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 3 May 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "West Ham United 3–0 Manchester City". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 August 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Hodgson, Guy (3 January 1995). "Blackburn put clear by superb Shearer". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ "Liverpool 4–0 Southampton". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 August 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Bramwell, Neil (12 February 1995). "Seven up for Villa". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "A nightmare revisited". BBC Sport. 3 July 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Tyler, Martin (23 April 2009). "Andrey the giant". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Allsop, Derick (6 April 1995). "Yeboah's hat-trick buries Ipswich". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ Houston, Bob (16 April 1995). "Hat-trick is the Wright response". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "Premier League Player Stats – Clean Sheets". Premier League. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Player Stats – Yellow Cards". PremierLeague.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Player Stats – Red Cards". PremierLeague.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Premier League Club Stats – Yellow Cards". PremierLeague.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Premier League Club Stats – Red Cards". PremierLeague.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ "Manager profile, Kenny Dalglish". Premier League. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ "Seasonal Awards 1994/95". Premier League. Archived from the original on 11 December 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year
- ^ England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year
- ^ England Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year
- ^ Lynch, Tony (October 1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. Random House UK. p. 150. ISBN 978-0091791353.