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.
On a dramatic final day in 1994/1995, Blackburn Rovers lost 2-1 at Anfield to Liverpool but Manchester United’s failure to beat West Ham meant there were celebrations for the Lancashire club.
The title was heading back to Ewood Park after 81 years of absence. Four clubs went down this season with Crystal Palace, Norwich City, Leicester City and Ipswich Town the unlucky quartet.
The season will sadly be remembered more for plenty of off-the-field scandals.
CHAMPIONS: Blackburn Rovers
RUNNERS-UP: Manchester United
THIRD PLACE: Nottingham Forest
RELEGATED: Crystal Palace, Norwich City, Leicester City, Ipswich Town
TOP SCORERS: Alan Shearer (Blackburn) 34, Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) 25, Les Ferdinand (QPR) 24, Stan Collymore (Nottingham Forest) 22, Andy Cole (Newcastle & Manchester United) 21, Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham) 20, Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) 19, Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham) 18, Ian Wright (Arsenal) 18, Chris Sutton (Blackburn) 15, Paul Rideout (Everton) 15, Uwe Rosler (Manchester City) 15, Dean Saunders (Aston Villa) 15
BIGGEST WIN: Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4 March 1995)
HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4 March 1995), Aston Villa 7-1 Wimbledon (11 February 1995), Sheffield Wednesday 1-7 Nottingham Forest (1 April 1995)
PFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
PFA YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Robbie Fowler (Liverpool)
Manchester United had been the dominant force so far in the Premier League but Blackburn Rovers and Kenny Dalglish had pushed them close the previous season and went one better this season.
Jack Walker had piled millions into the Ewood Park side to revive their fortunes and it worked on a dramatic final day, with United being pipped to the post by Rovers. Just a single point separated the two teams.
Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton formed the famous SOS partnership with Shearer scoring 34 times, walking away with the golden boot and the PFA Players Player of the Year award.
Sutton had an excellent first season after his British transfer record move from Norwich City and along with the likes of Tim Flowers; skipper Tim Sherwood, Colin Hendry and Graeme Le Saux, the Lancastrians had a superb team unit that managed to go all the way.
The biggest attention in pre-season was focused around Tottenham’s move for German World Cup star Jurgen Klinsmann.
Klinsmann arrived for £2m from AS Monaco, with a reputation for diving but he enjoyed the humour from his first press conference when he said; “I just wanted to ask if there are any diving schools in London?” By the end of the season, Klinsmann had won over the neutrals, the North London supporters and the media, ending up winning the Football Writers Award before returning to Germany.
Other summer moves saw John Fashanu move from Wimbledon to Aston Villa and Bruce Grobbelaar ending his long association with Liverpool by joining Southampton.
Both would make the headlines for all the wrong reasons, in a season dogged by scandal and violence off-the-field.
Off-field problems
In November 1994, police investigated allegations of match-fixing involving Fashanu, Grobbelaar and Wimbledon goalkeeper Hans Segers.
All three players denied the charges and played on for their respective clubs, in a trial that took three years to conclude.
In the same month, Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson broke down in a press conference after admitting regular use of cocaine, alcohol and gambling addictions.
The FA sent him on a three month rehabilitation course before resuming his playing career the following February.
Later that year, Arsenal sacked their championship winning manager George Graham after nine years in charge.
It was later revealed that Graham had accepted illegal payments from a Norwegian agent regarding the signing of Danish midfielder John Jensen. The FA banned him from the game for a year.
Other bad headlines included Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong failing a drugs test and Chelsea midfielder Dennis Wise being sentenced to three months in jail (overturned on appeal) for an altercation with a London taxi driver.
One incident engulfed the whole season though and that was Eric Cantona’s moment of madness at Selhurst Park on a cold January night in 1995.
Cantona was dismissed for kicking out at Crystal Palace defender Richard Shaw during United’s 1-1 draw with the London side. As he walked from the field, he reacted badly to provocation from a Crystal Palace supporter.
What followed next was unforgettable. Cantona leaped into the crowd in a kung-fu style and assaulted the Palace fan, having to be dragged away by goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and kit man Norman Davies.
He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, a £20,000 fine and banned from football for eight months. United had to play on for the rest of the season without their talismanic Frenchman.
Early pacesetters
The opening weekend was all about Klinsmann’s debut for Tottenham and he didn’t disappoint. He scored a diving header in Spurs exciting 4-3 win at Sheffield Wednesday and with the eagerness of strike partner Teddy Sheringham; the entire squad did a celebratory dive, one of the best goal celebrations in Premier League history.
Another hotshot in blistering form early on was Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler. Against Arsenal on 28 August 1994, he set a sensational record of three goals in 4 minutes 33 seconds, which is still the fastest for a hat-trick in Premier League history.
The early pacesetters were Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. Both clubs made it until the end of October unbeaten, although both fell away as autumn turned to winter.
Kevin Keegan then made the bold decision to sell top scorer Andy Cole to Manchester United in January for £7m, with Keith Gillespie heading to St. James Park as part of the deal.
The Magpies dropped to sixth but under Frank Clark, Forest finished strongly, coming third. It was a brilliant return to the top flight for the Midlands side, which included 22 strikes from Stan Collymore and a 7-1 away win at Sheffield Wednesday in April.
As Newcastle and Forest faltered, it quickly became a two-horse race between Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United. United recovered from European distractions early on, which saw them chalk up three successive away losses at Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday but Blackburn hit top spot in November and rarely relinquished their advantage.
Ferguson’s side did set another record in March 1995, which still stands today. Cole scored five as the Red Devils crushed hapless Ipswich 9-0 at Old Trafford, which is the biggest win in Premier League history.
Under pressure managers
With four clubs going down, there was added pressure on managers throughout the season and it led to a real managerial merry-go-round.
Spurs sacked Ossie Ardiles in November after poor results. He was replaced by Gerry Francis, who left QPR after a disagreement with the board over the appointment of former playing legend Rodney Marsh as a football consultant.
Ray Wilkins succeeded Francis at Loftus Road and Everton’s worst ever start to a league season saw them sack Mike Walker and hire Joe Royle from division one side Oldham Athletic.
That decision turned into a masterstroke as Royle guided Everton to comfortable safety and victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
After throwing away a 3-1 lead at Wimbledon in November to lose 4-3, Ron Atkinson admitted that Aston Villa were in a ‘rubbish position.’ In the bottom four, Doug Ellis sacked ‘Big Ron’ and in came Brian Little, who had walked out on struggling Leicester City. He was replaced by Mark McGhee but with just six wins all season, the Foxes never looked likely to stay up.
John Lyall resigned as Ipswich boss and despite surprising wins over Manchester United and Liverpool; it was too late for George Burley to keep the Tractor Boys up.
To compound a miserable season for East Anglia, Norwich went on a catastrophic run of one win in 19 matches that saw them drop from 7th in January to relegation. John Deehan resigned and caretaker boss Gary Megson ended up fighting a losing battle.
Joining Ipswich, Leicester and Norwich in being relegated to the Endsleigh League Division One was Crystal Palace. Despite reaching two domestic cup semi-finals, Alan Smith was dismissed, paving the way for Steve Coppell to return.
Atkinson returned to the dugout with Coventry after Phil Neal lost his job in February and at the end of the season, Brian Horton was sacked by Manchester City, Trevor Francis was dismissed by Sheffield Wednesday and Alan Ball resigned as Southampton boss.
The final run-in
Blackburn did open up a six point lead but had a late season blip, which included a shock home defeat to Manchester City and a lacklustre 2-0 reverse at West Ham.
Manchester United were held 0-0 by Chelsea on Easter Monday but recovered to edge out Coventry City in a thriller at Highfield Road, before a David May goal sank Sheffield Wednesday.
Blackburn responded on VE day with a Shearer header taking care of Newcastle and when Southampton took an early lead at Old Trafford two nights later through a Simon Charlton header, the title looked like being Blackburn’s.
Unbelievable bad defending from the Saints allowed Cole to equalise and a controversial Denis Irwin penalty with nine minutes left took the race for the title to the last day.
Blackburn went to Anfield with victory ensuring the championship and they made the perfect start after 20 minutes, with a trademark strike from Shearer.
Manchester United made the journey to West Ham and conceded in the first half to a Michael Hughes effort.
They responded in the second half with an unmarked Brian McClair heading in the equaliser and when John Barnes drew Liverpool level against Blackburn, the title was back in the balance.
At Upton Park, United threw the kitchen sink in their efforts to grab a winner and snatch the title. Some wasteful finishing from Cole and inspired goalkeeping by Ludek Mikolsko denied them though. So, when Jamie Redknapp’s stoppage time free kick beat Tim Flowers to give Liverpool a 2-1 lead, the outcome didn’t matter.
The full-time score from East London came in seconds later, confirming a 1-1 draw wasn’t enough for Ferguson’s men and the party could begin on Merseyside.
In just three seasons after promotion, through Kenny Dalglish’s shrewd management, Jack Walker’s money and Alan Shearer’s goals, Blackburn Rovers were the champions.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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