During the 1995–96 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was their tenth successive season in the top flight of English football and although they finished 14th, lower than on any of the previous nine occasions, they finished high enough to maintain their top flight membership.
Season summary With the FA Premier League's lowest crowds and transfer budget, Wimbledon had begun most of their top division seasons since promotion in 1986 as pre-season relegation favourites, but the "Crazy Gang" spirit kept Wimbledon going once again, although their 14th-place finish was their lowest since joining the top flight 10 seasons earlier.
Dean Holdsworth and Efan Ekoku were once again a formidable strikerforce, while Vinnie Jones was as combative as ever and Oyvind Leonhardsen's performances attracted attention from several bigger clubs. Manager Joe Kinnear retained all his key players and added several new signings during the close season, as he aimed to defy expectations once again.
It was the last season at Wimbledon for long-serving goalkeeper Hans Segers, who lost his place early in the season to Paul Heald and was transferred to Wolves soon afterwards. Within a few months however, Kinnear had decided on Neil Sullivan as his regular goalkeeper.
The season saw Wimbledon play in European competition for the first (and the only) time in their history, in the Intertoto Cup. However, as Selhurst Park was unavailable the club were forced to play the matches at Brighton & Hove Albion's Goldstone Ground. The lack of home support affected Wimbledon's performances, and they finished fourth in their group of five after a 4–0 home defeat to Turkish club Bursaspor, a 1–1 draw at Slovak side Košice, a 0–0 draw with Israelis Beitar Jerusalem at home and a 3–0 away defeat at Belgian team Charleroi.
Kit Core became Wimbledon's kit manufacturers for the season. Birmingham-based electronics company Elonex remained the kit sponsors.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Results Wimbledon's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 19 August 1995 Bolton WanderersH3–29,317Ekoku, Earle, Holdsworth 23 August 1995 Queens Park RangersA3–011,837Leonhardsen, Holdsworth, Goodman 26 August 1995 Manchester UnitedA1–332,226Earle 30 August 1995 Sheffield WednesdayH2–26,352Goodman, Holdsworth (pen) 9 September 1995 LiverpoolH1–019,530Harford 16 September 1995 Aston VillaA0–226,928 23 September 1995 Leeds UnitedH2–413,307Holdsworth, Reeves 30 September 1995 Tottenham HotspurA1–325,321Earle 16 October 1995 West Ham UnitedH0–19,411 21 October 1995 Newcastle UnitedA1–636,434Gayle 28 October 1995 SouthamptonH1–27,982Euell 6 November 1995 Nottingham ForestA1–420,810Jones 18 November 1995 MiddlesbroughH0–013,780 22 November 1995 Manchester CityA0–123,617 25 November 1995 Coventry CityA3–312,523Jones (pen), Goodman, Leonhardsen 3 December 1995 Newcastle UnitedH3–318,002Holdsworth (2), Ekoku 9 December 1995 Leeds UnitedA1–127,984Leonhardsen 16 December 1995 Tottenham HotspurH0–116,193 23 December 1995 Blackburn RoversH1–17,105Earle 26 December 1995 ChelseaA2–121,906Earle, Ekoku 30 December 1995 ArsenalA3–137,640Earle (2), Holdsworth 1 January 1996 EvertonH2–311,121Holdsworth, Ekoku 13 January 1996 Bolton WanderersA0–116,216 20 January 1996 Queens Park RangersH2–19,123Leonhardsen, Clarke 3 February 1996 Manchester UnitedH2–425,380Gayle, Euell 10 February 1996 Sheffield WednesdayA1–219,085Gayle 24 February 1996 Aston VillaH3–312,193Goodman (2), Harford 2 March 1996 ChelseaH1–117,048S. Clarke (own goal) 13 March 1996 LiverpoolA2–234,063Ekoku, Holdsworth 16 March 1996 ArsenalH0–318,335 23 March 1996 EvertonA4–231,382Gayle, Castledine, Clarke, Goodman 30 March 1996 Nottingham ForestH1–09,807Holdsworth 6 April 1996 West Ham UnitedA1–120,402Jones 8 April 1996 Manchester CityH3–011,844Earle (2), Ekoku 13 April 1996 MiddlesbroughA2–129,192Earle, Ekoku 17 April 1996 Blackburn RoversA2–324,174Earle, Gayle 27 April 1996 Coventry CityH0–215,540 5 May 1996 SouthamptonA0–015,172
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR36 January 1996 WatfordA1–111,187LeonhardsenR3R17 January 1996 WatfordH1–05,142ClarkeR47 February 1996 MiddlesbroughA0–028,915R4R13 February 1996 MiddlesbroughH1–05,520HoldsworthR517 February 1996 Huddersfield TownA2–217,307Ekoku (2)R5R28 February 1996 Huddersfield TownH3–17,015Ekoku, Goodman (2)QF9 March 1996 ChelseaA2–230,805Holdsworth, EarleQFR20 March 1996 ChelseaH1–321,380Goodman
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 19 September 1995 Charlton AthleticH4–53,717Holdsworth (2), Earle, ClarkeR2 2nd Leg 3 October 1995 Charlton AthleticA3–3 (lost 7–8 on agg)9,823Earle, Holdsworth (2, 1 pen) UEFA Intertoto Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersGroup 10 24 June 1995 BursasporH0–41,8792 July 1995 KošiceA1–14,023Piper15 July 1995 Beitar JerusalemH0–070222 July 1995CharleroiA0–32,014 Note: Home games in the Intertoto Cup were played at the Goldstone Ground due to unavailability of White Hart Lane
Players First-team squad Squad at end of season
Left club during the season
Others Iain Laidlaw (born 10 December 1976) is a defender who had represented the club in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, signed for the club that summer, but was released in 1997 without making a league appearance.
Transfers
In DatePosNameFromFee25 July 1995GKPaul HealdLeyton Orient£125,000
Out DatePosNameFromFee5 June 1995DFWarren BartonNewcastle United£4,000,0008 August 1995FWSteve AnthrobusShrewsbury Town£25,000
Transfers in: £125,000 Transfers out: £4,025,000 Total spending: £3,900,000
Notes
References