1995–96 Fa Premier League

FA Premier League
Season	1995–96
Dates	19 August 1995 – 5 May 1996
Champions	Manchester United; 3rd Premier League title; 10th English title
Relegated	Manchester City; Queens Park Rangers; Bolton Wanderers
Champions League	Manchester United
Cup Winners' Cup	Liverpool
UEFA Cup	Newcastle United; Aston Villa; Arsenal
Matches played	380
Goals scored	988 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alan Shearer; (31 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Peter Schmeichel (18 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Blackburn Rovers 7–0 Nottingham Forest; (18 November 1995)
Biggest away win	Bolton Wanderers 0–6 Manchester United; (25 February 1996)
Highest scoring	Sheffield Wednesday 6–2 Leeds United; (16 December 1995)
Longest winning run	6 games; Manchester United
Longest unbeaten run	15 games; Liverpool
Longest winless run	14 games; Coventry City; Wimbledon
Longest losing run	8 games; Manchester City; Middlesbrough
Highest attendance	53,926; Manchester United 5–0 Nottingham Forest; (28 April 1996)
Lowest attendance	6,352; Wimbledon 2–2 Sheffield Wednesday; (30 August 1995)
Total attendance	10,472,882
Average attendance	27,560
	← 1994–95 1996–97 →

Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the FA Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs were promoted instead of the usual three, Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers.

Manchester United won the Premier League and qualified for the UEFA Champions League, while Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Newcastle United qualified for the UEFA Cup. Liverpool also qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as runners-up of the FA Cup which was won by Manchester United.

Summary

Liverpool and Aston Villa emerged as possible title contenders early in the season, while Middlesbrough's early promise saw them occupy fourth place in late October, but an injury crisis saw their league form slump, and they could only manage a 12th-place finish. Most of the campaign was a two-horse race between Manchester United and Newcastle United. The two sides played on 27 December, with Newcastle 10 points ahead in the league. A 2–0 home win for Manchester United cut the gap to seven points, and two days later they beat Queens Park Rangers 2–1 to reduce the gap to just four points. But a 4–1 defeat at Tottenham on New Year's Day and a 0–0 draw with Aston Villa allowed Newcastle to establish a 12-point lead in January.

Manchester United and Newcastle met again in early March, and a goal by Eric Cantona gave Manchester United a 1–0 away win and cut the gap to a single point. With one game left of the season, Manchester United led the Premier League by two points, having taken lead of the league halfway through March and stayed on top ever since. In case of the two clubs being tied for first place, the Premier League made preliminary preparations for a championship play-off match at Wembley. For Newcastle to win their first title since 1927, they had to win against Tottenham and hope that Middlesbrough beat their Mancunian rivals. But the Premier League title went to Old Trafford as Manchester United won 3–0 and Newcastle could only manage a 1–1 draw with Tottenham.

Despite the arrival of Dennis Bergkamp, Arsenal never looked like serious title challengers, their best chance of success coming in the League Cup, where they reached the semi-finals, losing on away goals to Aston Villa. However, the North London side still qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing fifth.

Aston Villa won the Coca-Cola sponsored League Cup competition this season, beating Leeds United 3–0 at Wembley.

Title holders Blackburn recorded the lowest ever finish by a Premier League title-holder by finishing 7th. This record was matched by Manchester United in 2013–14 and broken by Chelsea in 2015–16 and again by Leicester City in 2016–17.

Six days after clinching their third league title in four seasons, Manchester United became the first team to complete a second league championship and FA Cup double when a Cantona goal gave them a 1–0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup final.

The Premier League relegation places went to Bolton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City. Bolton had spent a large proportion of their first Premier League season bottom of the table. Manchester City failed to beat Liverpool on the final day of the season, consigning them to the final relegation place on goal difference behind Southampton and Coventry City.

English performance in European competition

Blackburn Rovers, the 1994–95 Premier League champions, finished bottom of their group in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester United were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the first round, with Liverpool and Leeds United both being knocked out at the second round. Everton were beaten in the second round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The only English team still in European competition after Christmas were Nottingham Forest, who reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top eighteen teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers, returning to the top flight after two and fifteen years respectively. This was also Bolton Wanderers' first season in the Premier League. They replaced Crystal Palace, Norwich City, Leicester City and Ipswich Town, who were relegated to the First Division after their top flight spells of one, nine, one and three years respectively. This was the first season in which the league was contested by twenty teams as opposed to previous seasons which were contested by twenty-two teams.

Stadiums and locations

London

Greater Manchester

London teams:
Arsenal
Chelsea
Queens Park Rangers
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wimbledon

Greater Manchester teams:
Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City
Manchester United

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Locations of the 1995–96 Premier League teams

Arsenal

Chelsea

Queens Park
Rangers

Tottenham
Hotspur

West Ham United

Wimbledon

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Greater London Premier League football clubs

Bolton Wanderers

Manchester City

Manchester United

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Greater Manchester Premier League football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Arsenal	London (Highbury)	Arsenal Stadium	38,419
Aston Villa	Birmingham	Villa Park	39,399
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367
Bolton Wanderers	Bolton	Burnden Park	25,000
Chelsea	London (Fulham)	Stamford Bridge	36,000
Coventry City	Coventry	Highfield Road	23,489
Everton	Liverpool (Walton)	Goodison Park	40,157
Leeds United	Leeds	Elland Road	40,204
Liverpool	Liverpool (Anfield)	Anfield	42,730
Manchester City	Manchester (Moss Side)	Maine Road	35,150
Manchester United	Manchester (Old Trafford)	Old Trafford	55,314
Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough	Riverside Stadium	30,000
Newcastle United	Newcastle upon Tyne	St James' Park	36,649
Nottingham Forest	West Bridgford	City Ground	30,539
Queens Park Rangers	London (Shepherd's Bush)	Loftus Road	18,439
Sheffield Wednesday	Sheffield	Hillsborough Stadium	39,859
Southampton	Southampton	The Dell	15,200
Tottenham Hotspur	London (Tottenham)	White Hart Lane	36,230
West Ham United	London (Upton Park)	Boleyn Ground	28,000
Wimbledon	London (Selhurst)	Selhurst Park	26,309

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	Bruce Rioch	Tony Adams	Nike	JVC
Aston Villa	Brian Little	Andy Townsend	Reebok	AST Research
Blackburn Rovers	Ray Harford	Tim Sherwood	Asics	CIS
Bolton Wanderers	Colin Todd	Alan Stubbs	Reebok	Reebok
Chelsea	Glenn Hoddle	Dennis Wise	Umbro	Coors
Coventry City	Ron Atkinson	Brian Borrows	Pony	Peugeot
Everton	Joe Royle	Dave Watson	Umbro	Danka
Leeds United	Howard Wilkinson	Gary McAllister	Asics	Thistle Hotels
Liverpool	Roy Evans	Ian Rush	Adidas	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Alan Ball	Keith Curle	Umbro	Brother
Manchester United	Alex Ferguson	Steve Bruce	Umbro	Sharp
Middlesbrough	Bryan Robson	Nigel Pearson	Erreà	Cellnet
Newcastle United	Kevin Keegan	Peter Beardsley	Adidas	Newcastle Brown Ale
Nottingham Forest	Frank Clark	Stuart Pearce	Umbro	Labatt's
Queens Park Rangers	Ray Wilkins	David Bardsley	View From	Compaq
Sheffield Wednesday	David Pleat	Peter Atherton	Puma	Sanderson
Southampton	Dave Merrington	Matt Le Tissier	Pony	Sanderson
Tottenham Hotspur	Gerry Francis	Gary Mabbutt	Pony	Hewlett-Packard
West Ham United	Harry Redknapp	Steve Potts	Pony	Dagenham Motors
Wimbledon	Joe Kinnear	Vinnie Jones	Core	Elonex

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Manchester City	Brian Horton	Sacked	16 May 1995	Pre-season	Alan Ball	2 July 1995
Sheffield Wednesday	Trevor Francis	Sacked	20 May 1995		David Pleat	14 June 1995
Arsenal	Stewart Houston	End of caretaker spell	8 June 1995		Bruce Rioch	8 June 1995
Bolton Wanderers	Bruce Rioch	Signed by Arsenal	8 June 1995		Roy McFarland Colin Todd	20 June 1995
Blackburn Rovers	Kenny Dalglish	Retired	25 June 1995		Ray Harford	25 June 1995
Southampton	Alan Ball	Signed by Manchester City	2 July 1995		David Merrington	14 July 1995
Bolton Wanderers	Roy McFarland	Sacked	2 January 1996	20th	Colin Todd	2 January 1996

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Matt Le Tissier	Southampton	Nottingham Forest	3–4 (A)	15 August 1995
Robbie Fowler⁴	Liverpool	Bolton Wanderers	5–2 (H)	23 August 1995
Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	Coventry City	5–1 (H)	23 August 1995
Tony Yeboah	Leeds United	Wimbledon	4–2 (H)	23 August 1995
Les Ferdinand	Newcastle United	Wimbledon	6–1 (H)	21 October 1995
Gary McAllister	Leeds United	Coventry City	3–1 (H)	28 October 1995
Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	Nottingham Forest	7–0 (H)	18 November 1995
Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	West Ham United	4–2 (H)	2 December 1995
Dion Dublin	Coventry City	Sheffield Wednesday	4–3 (A)	4 December 1995
Savo Milošević	Aston Villa	Coventry City	4–1 (H)	16 December 1995
Robbie Fowler	Liverpool	Arsenal	3–1 (H)	23 December 1995
Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	Bolton Wanderers	3–1 (H)	3 February 1996
Gavin Peacock	Chelsea	Middlesbrough	5–0 (H)	4 February 1996
Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	Tottenham Hotspur	3–2 (A)	16 March 1996
Mark Hughes	Chelsea	Leeds United	4–1 (H)	13 April 1996
Andrei Kanchelskis	Everton	Sheffield Wednesday	5–2 (A)	27 April 1996

Award	Winner	Club
Premier League Manager of the Season	Alex Ferguson	Manchester United
PFA Players' Player of the Year	Les Ferdinand	Newcastle United
PFA Young Player of the Year	Robbie Fowler	Liverpool
FWA Footballer of the Year	Eric Cantona	Manchester United

PFA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	David James (Liverpool)
Defence	Gary Neville (Manchester United)	Tony Adams (Arsenal)	Ugo Ehiogu (Aston Villa)	Alan Wright (Aston Villa)
Midfield	Steve Stone (Nottingham Forest)	Rob Lee (Newcastle United)	Ruud Gullit (Chelsea)	David Ginola (Newcastle United)
Attack	Les Ferdinand (Newcastle United)		Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)

1995–96 Fa Premier League

Summary

English performance in European competition

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

See also

References and notes

External links

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United (C)	38	25	7	6	73	35	+38	82	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Newcastle United	38	24	6	8	66	37	+29	78	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Liverpool	38	20	11	7	70	34	+36	71	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
4	Aston Villa	38	18	9	11	52	35	+17	63	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Arsenal	38	17	12	9	49	32	+17	63	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Everton	38	17	10	11	64	44	+20	61	Excluded from the UEFA Cup
7	Blackburn Rovers	38	18	7	13	61	47	+14	61
8	Tottenham Hotspur	38	16	13	9	50	38	+12	61
9	Nottingham Forest	38	15	13	10	50	54	−4	58
10	West Ham United	38	14	9	15	43	52	−9	51
11	Chelsea	38	12	14	12	46	44	+2	50
12	Middlesbrough	38	11	10	17	35	50	−15	43
13	Leeds United	38	12	7	19	40	57	−17	43
14	Wimbledon	38	10	11	17	55	70	−15	41
15	Sheffield Wednesday	38	10	10	18	48	61	−13	40
16	Coventry City	38	8	14	16	42	60	−18	38
17	Southampton	38	9	11	18	34	52	−18	38
18	Manchester City (R)	38	9	11	18	33	58	−25	38	Relegation to Football League First Division
19	Queens Park Rangers (R)	38	9	6	23	38	57	−19	33
20	Bolton Wanderers (R)	38	8	5	25	39	71	−32	29

Home \ Away	ARS	AVL	BLB	BOL	CHE	COV	EVE	LEE	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NEW	NFO	QPR	SHW	SOU	TOT	WHU	WIM
Arsenal	—	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	4–2	4–2	0–0	1–0	1–3
Aston Villa	1–1	—	2–0	1–0	0–1	4–1	1–0	3–0	0–2	0–1	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	4–2	3–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–0
Blackburn Rovers	1–1	1–1	—	3–1	3–0	5–1	0–3	1–0	2–3	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	7–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	4–2	3–2
Bolton Wanderers	1–0	0–2	2–1	—	2–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–6	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–3	0–3	1–0
Chelsea	1–0	1–2	2–3	3–2	—	2–2	0–0	4–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	5–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	0–0	1–2	1–2
Coventry City	0–0	0–3	5–0	0–2	1–0	—	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–4	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–3	2–2	3–3
Everton	0–2	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–2	—	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–3	4–0	1–3	3–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–4
Leeds United	0–3	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	2–2	—	1–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	1–3	2–0	1–0	1–3	2–0	1–1
Liverpool	3–1	3–0	3–0	5–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	5–0	—	6–0	2–0	1–0	4–3	4–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–2
Manchester City	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–2	—	2–3	0–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0
Manchester United	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	—	2–0	2–0	5–0	2–1	2–2	4–1	1–0	2–1	3–1
Middlesbrough	2–3	0–2	2–0	1–4	2–0	2–1	0–2	1–1	2–1	4–1	0–3	—	1–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	4–2	1–2
Newcastle United	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	3–1	0–1	1–0	—	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	6–1
Nottingham Forest	0–1	1–1	1–5	3–2	0–0	0–0	3–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	—	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	4–1
Queens Park Rangers	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	—	0–3	3–0	2–3	3–0	0–3
Sheffield Wednesday	1–0	2–0	2–1	4–2	0–0	4–3	2–5	6–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	0–1	2–1
Southampton	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–3	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	3–4	2–0	0–1	—	0–0	0–0	0–0
Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	0–1	2–3	2–2	1–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–3	1–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	—	0–1	3–1
West Ham United	0–1	1–4	1–1	1–0	1–3	3–2	2–1	1–2	0–0	4–2	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	—	1–1
Wimbledon	0–3	3–3	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–4	1–0	3–0	2–4	0–0	3–3	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	0–1	0–1	—

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
Month	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Kevin Keegan	Newcastle United	David Ginola	Newcastle United
September	Kevin Keegan	Newcastle United	Tony Yeboah	Leeds United
October	Frank Clark	Nottingham Forest	Trevor Sinclair	Queens Park Rangers
November	Alan Ball	Manchester City	Rob Lee	Newcastle United
December	Roy Evans	Liverpool	Robbie Fowler	Liverpool
January			Stan Collymore	Liverpool
January			Robbie Fowler	Liverpool
February	Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Dwight Yorke	Aston Villa
March	Alex Ferguson	Manchester United	Eric Cantona	Manchester United
April	Dave Merrington	Southampton	Andrei Kanchelskis	Everton