The Premier League is 20 years old and has enjoyed plenty of highlights. Here, Total Football continues its new series looking back at some of the highs and lows.
After tasting success the previous season, Manchester United did the league and cup double in convincing fashion.
Meanwhile at the bottom, Everton stayed up by the skin of their teeth on a dramatic final day which saw Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic and Swindon Town lose their Premier League status.
CHAMPIONS: Manchester United
RUNNERS-UP: Blackburn Rovers
THIRD PLACE: Newcastle United
RELEGATED: Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town
TOP SCORERS: Andy Cole (Newcastle) 34, Alan Shearer (Blackburn) 31, Chris Sutton (Norwich) 25, Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) 25, Ian Wright (Arsenal) 23, Peter Beardsley (Newcastle) 21, Mark Bright (Sheffield Wednesday) 19, Eric Cantona (Manchester United) 18, Rod Wallace (Leeds) 17, Dean Holdsworth (Wimbledon) 17, Les Ferdinand (QPR) 16, Tony Cottee (Everton) 16, Kevin Campbell (Arsenal) 14, Ian Rush (Liverpool) 14
BIGGEST WIN: Newcastle United 7-1 Swindon Town (11 March 1994)
HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Norwich City 4-5 Southampton (9 April 1994), Everton 6-2 Swindon Town (15 January 1994), Newcastle United 7-1 Swindon Town (11 March 1994)
PFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Eric Cantona (Manchester United)
PFA YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Andy Cole (Newcastle United)
Following their first title success in 26 years in the previous campaign, Manchester United extended their dominance in English football, confirming this by achieving the prestigious double of league and cup.
Alex Ferguson’s team lost only four games all season in a campaign full of stylish football and creative flair. The likes of Eric Cantona, Lee Sharpe and Ryan Giggs combining well with the older guard of Denis Irwin, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister to make the Red Devils an almost unstoppable combination.
Pre-season saw Roy Keane make the biggest move, as the champions beat off stiff competition from the likes of Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers to sign the Republic of Ireland midfielder from relegated Nottingham Forest for £3.75 million. Peter Beardsley returned to Newcastle United from Everton for £1.4 million, Nigel Clough swapped the City Ground for Anfield and Leeds United broke their club record to sign Brian Deane from Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, paying the Blades £2.9 million.
Also, squad names were used for the first time and the league had its first sponsor, with Carling backing the league. It was known in this day of age as the FA Carling Premiership.
Setting the standard
The defending champions came out of the blocks in formidable fashion, winning comfortably 2-0 on the opening weekend at Norwich with goals from Ryan Giggs and Bryan Robson. They went onto win five of their first six matches and only lost once before Christmas; a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea in September.
In the first half of the campaign, Norwich, Leeds and Arsenal made sporadic challenges but there was a distinct gulfing class between Ferguson’s side and the rest in the league, as they opened up a staggering 16 point lead by the start of 1994.
Perhaps this added to the pressures of club chairman, with far more managerial changes during the season. First to go was Peter Reid, as poor results in the first four games saw him get the boot from Manchester City. He was replaced by Brian Horton from Oxford United. Bobby Gould resigned as Coventry boss minutes after the Sky Blues lost 5-1 at QPR in October and before Christmas; Howard Kendall stepped down as Everton manager after just one win in seven matches.
The only team that looked like making a consistent challenge to Manchester United was Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers. With Alan Shearer returning to full fitness in October, he was unleashed and scored 31 goals as Rovers kept just about in touch. They also paid Southampton £2.5million to bring Tim Flowers to Ewood Park in November, making him Britain’s most expensive goalkeeper.
Cole the goal
Newcastle United were welcomed in the Premier League fold for 1993-94 and with it, brought an attractive and likeable style to the division of gung-ho football. It led to some exciting matches at St. James Park in the Kevin Keegan era. In Andy Cole, the Magpies had a poacher who quickly earnt the nickname ‘Cole the goal.’
He scored a stunning 34 times and with new signing Peter Beardsley, they netted 55 between them. This included a first half hat-trick from Cole in November to dismantle an ailing Liverpool side and a 7-1 drubbing of Swindon Town in March, equalling the biggest Premier League win of all-time.
Swindon themselves set records but not for the right reasons. This was their first and only adventure in the top flight and they had to wait until late November for their first win of the season; a 1-0 home success over QPR. Only four more wins followed as John Gorman’s side went straight back down, conceding 100 goals in the process, which is still a Premier League record.
Another club feeling the pinch were Southampton. Manager Ian Branfoot felt Matt Le Tissier was lazy and overweight, dropping the Saints icon to the bench at the end of September. With results not coming, Le Tiss was restored to the starting eleven and scored one of the greatest Premier League goals of all-time in October against Newcastle. Branfoot was sacked in January and replaced by Exeter boss Alan Ball.
Liverpool also changed managers after regular underachievement in Graeme Souness’s reign. A shock FA Cup exit at the hands of lowly Bristol City finished the Scot’s reign off, with Roy Evans succeeding him. A young talent did blossom in the form of Robbie Fowler but eighth was all that the red half of Merseyside could manage in the final table. April also saw farewell to the famous standing terraces in the Kop end at Anfield, to be bulldozed for a new all-seater stand in conjunction with the Taylor report following the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989.
Sticky Toffees
It was worse for Merseyside neighbours Everton, who made the controversial appointment of Mike Walker as manager in January. Walker walked out on Norwich, who were in the top six at the time and had knocked the mighty Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Cup, amidst a storm of an illegal approach from the sticky Toffees.
His gamble nearly didn’t pay off and Everton would play their part in a gripping final Saturday of the season, mired in the bottom three and fighting for safety along with Southampton, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United.
Everton went 2-0 down to high-flying Wimbledon inside 20 minutes through a penalty and a Gary Ablett OG and Dean Holdsworth missed two sitters which would have consigned them to the Endsleigh League. Everton recovered to 2-2 through a Graham Stuart penalty and a stunning strike from Welshman Barry Horne but they still needed a crucial third to have any chance of survival.
They got it through Stuart, whose shot in the closing stages, slipped through Hans Segers grasp and ended in the net. Results went Everton’s way and the great escape had come true. It was pure agony for Sheffield United, who did go 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge against FA Cup finalists Chelsea and reached the highs of 15th in the league midway through the second half.
Results went against the Blades however and a Mark Stein header in the 90th minute sealed a 3-2 win for Chelsea and sent Dave Bassett’s men down, along with Oldham Athletic and Swindon. Draws at Blackburn and West Ham respectively were enough to keep Ipswich and Southampton up respectively.
Back-to-back titles for United
A dip in form from Alex Ferguson’s side in March almost cost Manchester United the healthy advantage they had built up. This included a second reverse to Chelsea and at the beginning of April; a Shearer double in a match at Ewood Park put Blackburn within striking distance.
The Red Devils had made it hard for themselves as ever and they lost a fortnight later to Wimbledon too but on the same day, Blackburn slipped up 3-1 at Southampton. A further setback followed for Rovers by conceding a late equaliser to Karl Ready of QPR in their next match and a 2-1 defeat on Monday 2nd May at Highfield Road against Coventry City ensured back-to-back titles for United, without kicking a ball to achieve this for the second successive season. They added the FA Cup a fortnight later at Wembley, crushing Chelsea 4-0.
Newcastle finished a creditable third, with Arsenal having a much better campaign this time around. Ian Wright scored another 23 goals and the North Londoners had the meanest defence in the league, only shipping in 28 league goals on their way to fourth. Leeds finished fifth ahead of Wimbledon. The previous season’s runners-up Aston Villa won the Coca Cola Cup but could only muster a tenth place finish this time around in the league and a run of one win in ten games saw Norwich slip to 12th.
However, season 1993-94 belonged to only one team, Manchester United.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Comments
Post a Comment