1994–95 in English football

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The 1994-1995 season was the 115th season of competitive football in England.

[edit] Overview

[edit] Premiership

Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw with West Ham United into a win on the final day of the season. Newly promoted Nottingham Forest finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup along with fourth placed Liverpool (also League Cup winners) and fifth placed Leeds United.

After this season the Premier League would be reduced to 20 clubs, so there would be four relegation places this time round. They were occupied by Crystal Palace, Norwich City (who had narrowly missed out on the league title two years earlier), Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

[edit] Division One

The streamlining of the Premier League meant that just two clubs would be promoted from Division One in 1995. Middlesbrough won the Division One title in their first season under Bryan Robson, while Reading were the club that were to fail to win promotion despite finishing second in the table. Instead, they competed in the playoffs, losing to Bolton Wanderers in the final, who achieved their second promotion in three years under Bruce Rioch - as well as being League Cup runners-up.

1995 saw four clubs relegated from Division One - Swindon Town (relegated for the second straight season), Burnley, Bristol City and Notts County. Sunderland narrowly avoided the drop following the arrival of enthusiastic new manager Peter Reid, who over the next few years would bring dramatic improvements to the Wearsiders.

[edit] Division Two

There would only be two promotion places in Division Two for 1994-95. They were occupied by champions Birmingham City and playoff winners Huddersfield Town, both enjoying success after seasons of disappointment.

Going down were Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Chester City and Leyton Orient. This was the first time that five clubs had been relegated from any of the league's four divisions.

[edit] Division Three

This season saw three clubs go up from Division Three instead of four clubs. They were champions Carlisle United, runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Chesterfield.

Exeter City, who almost went out of business in mid-season, finished bottom of Division Three but kept their league status because Conference champions Macclesfield Town were unable to meet the league's stadium capacity requirements.

[edit] Successful players

Alan Shearer was the English league's top scorer with 34 Premiership goals for champions Blackburn Rovers.

20-year-old Robbie Fowler collected a League Cup winner's medal with Liverpool as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year award, following another season of strong goalscoring.

Peter Schmeichel established himself as a world-class goalkeeper by conceding just 4 goals in 18 home Premiership fixtures with Manchester United.

Stan Collymore scored 22 Premiership goals for Nottingham Forest and was soon on his way to Liverpool for an English record fee of £8.4million.

Experienced Scottish striker John Hendrie was the driving force in Middlesbrough's return to the Premiership after a two-year absence.

36-year-old Tranmere striker John Aldridge was Division One's leading goalscorer with 24 league goals.

Bolton midfielder Jason McAteer established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in England and would soon be on his way to Liverpool.

Wrexham striker Gary Bennett scored a staggering 39 goals in all competitions.

Huddersfield Town striker Andrew Booth who scored an impressive 30 goals during this season as well as make international honors with the England Under 21 squad.

Walsall wingers Scott Houghton and Martin O'Connor almost single handedly earned their club's promotion to Division Two.

[edit] Successful managers

Kenny Dalglish become only the third manager to win the English league title with different clubs after he guided Blackburn Rovers to their first league title since 1914.

Joe Royle completed his first season as Everton manager by winning the F.A Cup.

Roy Evans won the League Cup in his first full season as Liverpool manager.

Frank Clark took newly promoted Nottingham Forest to third place in the Premiership to achieve UEFA Cup qualification and bring European football to the club for the first time since the early 1980s.

Bryan Robson made an excellent start to his management career by winning the Division One championship and gaining promotion to the Premiership with Middlesbrough.

Bruce Rioch won the Division One playoffs and took Bolton to their first cup final in nearly 40 years.

Jimmy Quinn took Reading to a second-place finish in Division One and only the streamlining of the Premiership prevented them from reaching the top flight for the very first time.

Neil Warnock achieved his fourth promotion in less than a decade as he guided Huddersfield Town to glory in the Division Two playoffs.

John Duncan helped Chesterfield win the Division Three playoffs and brought some long-awaited success to Saltergate.

Chris Nicholl had a strong first season as Walsall manager by gaining promotion to Division Two.

Barry Fry won the Division Two title with Birmingham City, who were also Auto Windscreen Shield winners.

[edit] Attendances

A total of 26,150,028 attended matches in competitions organised by the Football Association and the Football League and hosted by league clubs. Of that number, 21,856,223 attended Premiership and Football League matches. This ensured that attendace at league matches had increased for the ninth consecutive season.^[1]

In the Premiership, 11,213,371 attended the 420 matches held in 1994-95, the highest attendance in the top division since the 1980-81 season. Meanwhile, Football League clubs attracted 10,583,498, a decline of half a million from the previous season.

The ten most supported teams in league matches this season were as follows:

Rank	Team	Average attendance	League division
1	Manchester United	43,682	Premier League
2	Arsenal	35,505	Premier League
3	Newcastle United	34,690	Premier League
4	Liverpool	34,176	Premier League
5	Leeds United	32,925	Premier League
6	Everton	31,294	Premier League
7	Aston Villa	29,280	Premier League
8	Tottenham Hotspur	27,259	Premier League
9	Sheffield Wednesday	26,572	Premier League
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	25,940	Endsleigh League Division One

The attendance at FA Cup matches from the First Round to the Final was 2,015,261, an increase of 25,641 from the previous season. The attendance at the Final was 79,592^[2].

[edit] Events

[edit] Walker's title dream comes true for Blackburn

The five-year revival of Blackburn Rovers under the ownership of Jack Walker paid off as they were crowned Premiership champions and finished top of the English league for the first time in 81 years. Key force in the title glory was 34-goal striker Alan Shearer, also PFA Player of the Year. His strike partner Chris Sutton also had a major influence on Blackburn's success, as did midfielder Tim Sherwood (captain) and goalkeeper Tim Flowers. Manager Kenny Dalglish, who had won three titles with Liverpool, became only the third manager in English football to win the league title with different clubs.

[edit] Everton's triumph leaves United with nothing

Everton had a terrible start to the 1994-95 season. Failure to win any of their first 12 Premiership games cost manager Mike Walker his job and looked to have cost Everton their top flight status less than a decade after they had been league champions. But in came Oldham Athletic's Joe Royle as his successor, and the signing of controversial striker Duncan Ferguson helped revive Everton's fortunes. Their Premiership survival was confirmed at the end of April and on 20th May they beat Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup final thanks to a Paul Rideout goal. Rideout's goal - and the brilliant goalkeeping of veteran Neville Southall - meant that Everton had won their first major honour in eight years, while United endured their first trophyless season in six years.

[edit] The Eric Cantona kung-fu incident

Eric Cantona, the Manchester United and France striker had a unique talent but unpredictable temper. On the 25th January 1995 he was sent off in a Premiership game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park for lashing out at Eagles defender Richard Shaw. Cantona then kicked Palace supporter Matthew Simmons, who taunted him from the stands.

His club fined him two weeks wages and banned him from playing for the rest of the season. The FA fined Cantona £10,000 and extended his ban from football to September 30, 1995, for a total of eight months - one of the longest suspensions ever handed out in English football. FIFA later confirmed that this ban was worldwide. A jury at Croydon Magistrates Court found him guilty of common assault and the judge sentenced him to 14 days in prison, although he was immediately released on bail pending an appeal - which was successful in quashing his prison sentence. He received a 120-hour community service order instead, opting to coach children in the Greater Manchester area.

Cantona was not the only player facing jail. Chelsea captain Dennis Wise was convicted of assaulting a taxi driver and jailed for three months, although a successful appeal saw both his conviction and his prison sentence quashed.

[edit] Arsenal caught up in bungs scandal and drugs controversy

Arsenal were another Premiership club to be hit by controversy in the 1994-95 season. In November, winger Paul Merson admitted that he was addicted to alcohol, cocaine and gambling. He went on a three-month rehab course before resuming his career. Just before Merson's return, it was revealed that manager George Graham had accepted £425,000 worth of illegal payments from a Scandinavian agent who had overseen the signing of Pal Lydersen and John Jensen three years earlier. Graham, one of the most successful managers in the club's history, was sacked after nine years at the Highbury helm.

[edit] Nayim ends Arsenal's Euro dream

Despite the controversy of George Graham's sacking and Paul Merson's personal problems, Arsenal reached the European Cup Winners Cup final under caretaker manager Stewart Houston, where they faced Real Zaragoza of Spain. The scores were level (1-1) at half time and a penalty shoot-out was looking certain with 120 minutes on the clock. But a freak goal from 40 yards out from Nayim - a former Tottenham player - in the dying seconds of the game saw the trophy go to the Spaniards.

[edit] Honours

Competition	Winner
FA Cup	Everton
League Cup	Liverpool
FA Premier League	Blackburn Rovers
Football League First Division	Middlesbrough
Football League Second Division	Birmingham City
Football League Third Division	Carlisle United

[edit] English national team

Date	Opposition	Venue	Competition	Result	Score
7th Sep 1994	USA	Wembley Stadium	Friendly	Won	2-0
12th Oct 1994	Romania	Wembley Stadium	Friendly	Drew	1-1
16th Nov 1994	Nigeria	Wembley Stadium	Friendly	Won	1-0
15th Feb 1995	Rep of Ireland	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland	Friendly		0-1 ab
29th March 1995	Uruguay	Wembley Stadium	Friendly	Drew	0-0
3rd Jun 1995	Japan	Wembley Stadium	Umbro Cup	Won	2-1
8th Jun 1995	Sweden	Elland Road, Leeds	Umbro Cup	Drew	3-3
11th Jun 1995	Brazil	Wembley Stadium	Umbro Cup	Lost	1-3

ab = Abandoned after 27 minutes because of crowd violence with the Republic leading 1-0 and no official result recorded, although caps were awarded.

[edit] League tables

[edit] FA Carling Premiership

For more detail on the Premiership this season see FA Premier League 1994-95

Blackburn Rovers were crowned champions of the English league for the first time since 1914 after four years of heavy spending on and off the pitch. Strikers Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton scored more than 60 goals between them all season, while captain Tim Sherwood and goalkeeper Tim Flowers ensured that there was solidity and consistency away from the attack.

Manchester United narrowly missed out on a third successive league title, while newly promoted Nottingham Forest made a huge impact and finished third to qualify for Europe for the first time in over a decade. Liverpool showed signs of a return to their former glory with a fourth place finish and a Coca-Cola Cup triumph. The final European place went to Leeds United.

Smaller clubs including Southampton and Wimbledon defied the odds to finish in the top half of the table and overtake larger clubs including Aston Villa, Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday, who all changed managers during or after a season which had seen them all fall well short of expectations.

Ipswich Town and Leicester City were relegated by a wide margin, while Norwich City were the next to go down due to a terrible second half to the season, which dragged them out of the Premiership just two years after they had almost been champions. The final relegation place went to Crystal Palace, who found it difficult to score goals all season long. Their relegation was confirmed of the final day of the season; despite a thrilling comeback against sixth-placed Newcastle United, they lost 3-2 and went down from the Premiership just 12 months after winning promotion.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	Blackburn	42	27	8	7	80	39	89
2.	Man Utd	42	26	10	6	77	28	88
3.	Nottingham F	42	22	11	9	72	43	77
4.	Liverpool	42	21	11	10	65	37	74
5.	Leeds Utd	42	20	13	9	59	38	73
6.	Newcastle	42	20	12	10	67	47	72
7.	Tottenham	42	16	14	12	66	58	62
8.	Q.P.R.	42	17	9	16	61	59	60
9.	Wimbledon	42	15	11	16	48	65	56
10.	Southampton	42	12	18	12	61	63	54
11.	Chelsea	42	13	15	14	50	55	54
12.	Arsenal	42	13	12	17	52	49	51
13.	Sheffield Wed	42	13	12	17	49	57	51
14.	West Ham	42	13	11	18	44	48	50
15.	Everton	42	11	17	14	44	51	50
16.	Coventry	42	12	14	16	44	62	50
17.	Man City	42	12	13	17	53	64	49
18.	Aston Villa	42	11	15	16	51	56	48
19.	Crystal Palace	42	11	12	19	34	49	45
20.	Norwich	42	10	13	19	37	54	43
21.	Leicester	42	6	11	25	45	80	29
22.	Ipswich	42	7	6	29	36	93	27

[edit] Endsleigh League Division One

A dream start in management saw Bryan Robson guide Middlesbrough to the Division One title and regain the Premiership place that was lost two years ago. Reading finished second - the highest in their history - but the streamlining of the Premiership prevented them from winning promotion and they lost 4-3 to Bolton Wanderers after extra time in the playoff final, having led 2-0 at half time. Losing semi-finalists were Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tranmere Rovers.

Barnsley and Watford were the unlucky sides to narrowly miss out on the playoffs, while an expensively-assembled Derby County side finished a disappointing ninth at the end of what many fans had hoped would be a promotion winning season.

Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland - three famous clubs which had seen better days - narrowly avoided relegation to Division Two, but managerial changes at each of these clubs gave fans hope that a return to the elite might not be far away.

Swindon Town suffered a second successive relegation, joining Bristol City, Burnley and Notts County in Division Two.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	Middlesbrough	46	23	13	10	67	40	82
2.	Reading	46	23	10	13	58	44	79
3.	Bolton	46	21	14	11	67	45	77
4.	Wolves	46	21	13	12	77	61	76
5.	Tranmere	46	22	10	14	67	58	76
6.	Barnsley	46	20	12	14	63	52	72
7.	Watford	46	19	13	14	52	46	70
8.	Sheffield Utd	46	17	17	12	74	55	68
9.	Derby	46	18	12	16	66	51	66
10.	Grimsby	46	17	14	15	62	56	65
11.	Stoke	46	16	15	15	50	53	63
12.	Millwall	46	16	14	16	60	60	62
13.	Southend	46	18	8	20	54	73	62
14.	Oldham Ath	46	16	13	17	60	60	61
15.	Charlton	46	16	11	19	58	66	59
16.	Luton	46	15	13	18	61	64	58
17.	Port Vale	46	15	13	18	58	64	58
18.	Portsmouth	46	15	13	18	53	63	58
19.	West Brom	46	16	10	20	51	57	58
20.	Sunderland	46	12	18	16	41	45	54
21.	Swindon	46	12	12	22	54	73	48
22.	Burnley	46	11	13	22	49	74	46
23.	Bristol City	46	11	12	23	42	63	45
24.	Notts County	46	9	13	24	45	66	40

[edit] Endsleigh League Division Two

Birmingham City sealed an immediate return to Division One by lifting the Division Two championship trophy, joined by playoff winners Huddersfield Town. The unlucky sides in the playoffs were Brentford, Crewe Alexandra and Bristol Rovers.

Unfavoured Leyton Orient, Chester City and Cardiff City were (perhaps inevitably) relegated to Division Three. But the other two relegated teams were surprise candidates for the drop. Plymouth Argyle had almost won promotion to Division One a year earlier. Cambridge United had narrowly missed out on a place in the then-new Premier League three years earlier and poor form in the run in sealed their fate after Bournemouth avoided the drop in the final two games of the season after spending most of it in the bottom five.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	Birmingham	46	25	14	7	84	37	89
2.	Brentford	46	25	10	11	81	39	85
3.	Crewe	46	25	8	13	80	68	83
4.	Bristol Rovers	46	22	16	8	70	40	82
5.	Huddersfield	46	22	15	9	79	49	81
6.	Wycombe	46	21	15	10	60	46	78
7.	Oxford	46	21	12	13	66	52	75
8.	Hull	46	21	11	14	70	57	74
9.	York City	46	21	9	16	67	51	72
10.	Swansea	46	19	14	13	57	45	71
11.	Stockport	46	19	8	19	63	60	65
12.	Blackpool	46	18	10	18	64	70	64
13.	Wrexham	46	16	15	15	65	64	63
14.	Bradford	46	16	12	18	57	64	60
15.	Peterborough	46	14	18	14	54	69	60
16.	Brighton	46	14	17	15	54	53	59
17.	Rotherham	46	14	14	18	57	61	56
18.	Shrewsbury	46	13	14	19	54	62	53
19.	Bournemouth	46	13	11	22	49	69	50
20.	Cambridge	46	11	15	20	52	69	48
21.	Plymouth	46	12	10	24	45	83	46
22.	Cardiff	46	9	11	26	46	74	38
23.	Chester	46	6	11	29	37	84	29
24.	Leyton Orient	46	6	8	32	30	75	26

[edit] Endsleigh League Division Three

Ambitious Carlisle United sealed the Division Three title to end eight years of basement division football, joined by runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Chesterfield.

Debt-ridden Exeter City finished joint bottom of the league with Scarborough, but retained their league status due to Conference champions Macclesfield Town lacking a stadium adeqaute for Football League capacity standards.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	Carlisle	42	27	10	5	67	31	91
2.	Walsall	42	24	11	7	75	40	83
3.	Chesterfield	42	23	12	7	62	37	81
4.	Bury	42	23	11	8	73	36	80
5.	Preston	42	19	10	13	58	41	67
6.	Mansfield	42	18	11	13	84	59	65
7.	Scunthorpe	42	18	8	16	68	63	62
8.	Fulham	42	16	14	12	60	54	62
9.	Doncaster	42	17	10	15	58	43	61
10.	Colchester	42	16	10	16	56	64	58
11.	Barnet	42	15	11	16	56	63	56
12.	Lincoln	42	15	11	16	54	55	56
13.	Torquay	42	14	13	15	54	57	55
14.	Wigan	42	14	10	18	53	60	52
15.	Rochdale	42	12	14	16	44	67	50
16.	Hereford	42	12	13	17	45	62	49
17.	Northampton	42	10	14	18	45	67	44
18.	Hartlepool	42	11	10	21	43	69	43
19.	Gillingham	42	10	11	21	46	64	41
20.	Darlington	42	11	8	23	43	57	41
21.	Scarborough	42	8	10	24	49	70	34
22.	Exeter	42	8	10	24	36	70	34

[edit] Transfer deals

For subsequent transfer deals see 1995-96 in English football.

[edit] Diary of the season

6 July 1994 - Tottenham Hotspur's 12-point penalty is reduced to 6 points on appeal at a Football Association hearing, while the £600,000 fine is increased to £1.5million and the FA Cup ban remains in place.

2 August 1994 - Tottenham sell winger Vinny Samways to Everton for £2.2million.

4 August 1994 - Aston Villa pay Wimbledon £1.35million for long-serving striker John Fashanu.

3 August 1994 - Tottenham Hotspur pay Monaco £2million for German striker Jürgen Klinsmann.

22 August 1994 - The FA Premier League season opens with Liverpool beating newly-promoted Crystal Palace 6-1 at Selhurst Park.

28 August 1994 - 19-year-old striker Robbie Fowler scores a hat-trick for Liverpool in less than five minutes.

3 September 1994 - Former Wolverhampton Wanderers and England captain Billy Wright dies of cancer aged 70.

9 September 1994 - Romanian World Cup midfielder Gheorghe Popescu signs for Tottenham Hotspur in a £2.9million deal from PSV Eindhoven.

21 September 1994 - Gary Lineker, England's second highest goalscorer of all time, announces his retirement from playing. Since leaving Tottenham in 1992, he has played for Negoya Grampus Eight of Japan.

1 November 1994 - Osvaldo Ardiles is sacked after 16 months as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

8 November 1994 - Mike Walker is sacked after 10 months as manager of Everton.

9 November 1994 - The Times reports that 16 Football League clubs are set to break away from the league to form a second tier of the Premier League.

10 November 1994 - Ron Atkinson is sacked as manager of Aston Villa, while Tottenham Hotspur appoint Gerry Francis from Queens Park Rangers.

13 November 1994 - Division Two promotion chasers Oxford United suffer a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of non-league Marlow Town in the FA Cup third round.

11 November 1994 - Joe Royle, the longest-serving manager in England with 12 years at Oldham Athletic, is named as the new manager of Everton.

14 November 1994 - Ray Wilkins, 38, quits as Crystal Palace player-coach to return to Queens Park Rangers as their new player-manager, while Brian Little resigns as manager of Leicester City, sparking

25 November 1994 - Brian Little is named as the new Aston Villa manager on his 41st birthday.

5 December 1994 - John Lyall resigns after four-and-a-half years in charge of Ipswich Town, who stand bottom of the FA Premier League.

9 December 1994 - The Football Association quashes Tottenham's FA Cup ban and 6-point deduction.

11 December 1994 - Arsenal manager George Graham denies allegations that he received an illegal £285,000 payment as part of a transfer deal.

15 December 1994 - Mark McGhee leaves Reading to take charge of Leicester City. He is replaced at Elm Park by 35-year-old players Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding.

18 December 1994 - John Lyall is sacked after four-and-a-half years in charge of Ipswich Town, who are currently bottom of the Premier League.

19 December 1994 - Former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness denies allegations that he received a £30,000 illegal payment in connection with a player transfer.

28 December 1994 - Ipswich Town appoint their former player George Burley as their new manager. Burley, 38, had recently quit Colchester United and without a proven track record he was perhaps a surprise candidate for the job.

10 January 1995 - Manchester United break the English transfer fee record by signing Andy Cole from Newcastle United in a deal worth £7million; £6million cash plus £1million-rated winger Keith Gillespie, 19.

21 January 1995 - Leeds United pay a club record £3.4million for Eintracht Frankfurt's Ghanian striker Tony Yeboah.

25 January 1995 - After being sent off for kicking an opponent in Manchester United's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace, Eric Cantona leaps into the crowd and kicks spectator Matthew Simmons, who had allegedly been making racist remarks about the Frenchman.

27 January 1995 - Eric Cantona is suspended by his employers for the rest of the season and fined £20,000 after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

14 February 1995 - George Graham, whose job as Arsenal manager is reportedly under threat due to sub-standard Premier League form as well as allegations of illegal payments, pays Vitesse Arnhem £2million for Holland winger Glenn Helder.

21 February 1995 - George Graham is sacked as Arsenal manager after he admits to receiving an illegal payment of £425,000 from Norweigan agent Rune Hauge when Arsenal signed Pal Lydersen in 1991 and John Jensen in 1992. Assistant manager Stewart Houston will take over as manager until the end of the season before Arsenal find a permanent manager to succeed Graham, who had been in charge at Highbury since May 1986 and had won six major trophies.

24 February 1995 - The Football Association extends Eric Cantona's suspension until 30 September and he is fined a further £10,000.

4 March 1995 - Andy Cole becomes the first player to score five goals in a Premier League game in Manchester United's 9-0 home win over Ipswich Town - which is also the biggest win yet in the Premier League.

13 March 1995 - Chelsea captain Dennis Wise (28) is sentenced to three months in prison for assault and criminal damage, but is released on bail pending an appeal against his conviction and sentence. The court case follows an alleged attack on a taxi driver in London.

23 March 1995 - A judge at Croydon Crown Court sentences Eric Cantona to 14 days in prison for his attack on Matthew Simmons. He is released on bail, pending an appeal against the sentence. Meanwhile, Cantona's team-mate Paul Ince faces charges relating to the incident, while Matthew Simmons will also face prosecution.

31 March 1995 - Eric Cantona's prison sentence is quashed on appeal and he is sentenced to 120 hours of community service.

1 April 1995 - Nottingham Forest achieve a record Premier League away win when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 7-1 at Hillsborough.

6 April 1995 - It is announced that Eric Cantona's community service order will take place in the form of coaching football to young boys in the Manchester area.

9 April 1995 - 35-year-old Crystal Palace supporter Paul Nixon is murdered by a group of Manchester United fans. Mr Nixon had been trying to escape a brawl between supporters of the two teams. The semi-final ended in a 2-2 draw.

12 April 1995 - Manchester United reach the FA Cup final after beating Crystal Palace 2-0 in the semi-final replay. Their opponents will be Everton, who crushed Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in the other semi-final.

30 April 1995 - Middlesbrough clinch the Division One championship - and the only automatic promotion place to the Premier League for this season - by beating Luton Town in the final game at 93-year-old Ayresome Park and at the end of Bryan Robson's first season in management. Middlesbrough will relocate to the new 30,000-seat Riverside Stadium in August.

14 May 1995 - Blackburn Rovers are crowned league champions for the first time in 81 years, despite losing 2-1 at Liverpool on the final day of the season. Blackburn's title status was confirmed after their nearest contenders Manchester United could only manage a 1-1 draw with West Ham United. The final Premier League relegation place goes to Crystal Palace, despite their dynamic fightback from being 3-0 down at Newcastle United they still lost 3-2. Aston Villa's safety is confirmed by a 1-1 draw with already-relegated Norwich at Carrow Road.

19 May 1995 - Trevor Francis is sacked after four years as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

20 May 1995 - Everton win the FA Cup thanks to a Paul Rideout goal in the final, which leaves Manchester United (who narrowly missed out on repeating the double) without a major trophy for the first time since 1989.

24 May 1995 - Paul Ince is cleared of assaulting a Crystal Palace supporter in the skirmish that followed Eric Cantona's attack on Matthew Simmons four months ago. It was already known that the spectator who accused Ince of assault had a history of football-related violence dating back to the early 1970s.

30 May 1995 - Manchester City, still looking for a new manager following the dismissal of Brian Horton, agree to sell striker Niall Quinn to Sporting Lisbon of Portugal in a £2million deal.

5 June 1995 - Niall Quinn's transfer to Sporting Lisbon falls through after he fails to agree a contract.

23 June 1995 - Manchester United announce the sale of striker Mark Hughes to Chelsea for £1.5million and midfielder Paul Ince to Inter Milan for £7.5million.

[edit] Deaths

Billy Wright, 70, captain of Wolves and England during the 1950s. At club level won three league championships and two F.A Cups. Was Arsenal manager from 1962 to 1966 but had little success. Made history as England's first 100-cap player.

Ted Drake, 82, played as a centre forward for Arsenal before the Second World War and managed Chelsea to league championship glory in 1955.

Johnny Berry, 68, Manchester United winger from the 1950s who retired after being injured in the Munich Air Disaster. After retiring as a player, he ran a sports shop in Aldershot with his brother Peter.

Harold Pearson, 86, kept goal for West Bromwich Albion when they won the F.A Cup in 1931 and played once for England. At the time of his death was believed to be the oldest surviving England international.

Noel Brotherston, 38, who died of a heart attack, was a striker for Northern Ireland who played for clubs including Blackburn Rovers and Bury. He retired from playing in 1988.

[1]

[2]