The 1993–94 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the FA Premier League, the top division of professional football in England. Manchester United won the league by eight points over nearest challengers Blackburn Rovers, their second consecutive league title. Swindon Town finished bottom of the league in their first season of top-flight football and were relegated along with Sheffield United and Oldham Athletic. Manchester United also broke their own record of the most points in a season, set by themselves the previous season. This would be surpassed by Chelsea in the 2004–05 season.
Overview New league sponsors From the start of the 1993–94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries.
Transfers Just before the start of the season, Roy Keane became the most expensive footballer signed by an English football team. The 22-year-old Irish midfielder left relegated Nottingham Forest for Manchester United for a fee of £3.75 million.
During the 1993–94 season, many players were transferred between Premier League clubs for fees exceeding £1 million. They included David White (Manchester City to Leeds United), David Rocastle (Leeds United to Manchester City), Roy Wegerle (Blackburn Rovers to Coventry City) and Tim Flowers (Southampton to Blackburn Rovers). At £2.5 million, Flowers became the most expensive goalkeeper in English football.
Summary Manchester United led the 1993–94 Premier League for almost all of the season, eventually finishing as champions eight points ahead of runners-up Blackburn Rovers. They also won the FA Cup after beating Chelsea 4–0 in the final, thereby becoming only the fourth team to achieve this feat in the 20th century (after Tottenham in 1961, Arsenal in 1971 and Liverpool in 1986). Their lead of the Premier League stood at 11 points by the end of October and peaked at 16 points at one stage, but a run of bad results in March was followed by defeat at Blackburn at the beginning of April, which meant that they now led the league merely on goal difference. A return to form towards the end of April then saw United seal the league title with two games still to play.
Norwich City, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa were among the sides who showed promise early in the season before Manchester United established a runaway lead. Norwich reached the third round of the UEFA Cup after famously beating Bayern Munich in the second round, but their league form slumped after manager Mike Walker departed to Everton in January, and the Norfolk side finished 12th. Everton's brief lead of the league in the opening stages of the season was followed by a slump in form, and manager Howard Kendall stepped down at the beginning of December with the Toffees now in the bottom half of the table. They only narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season. Aston Villa finished a disappointing 10th in the league, but won the Football League Cup for the fourth time.
Finishing runners-up in the Premier League were Blackburn Rovers, whose top scorer Alan Shearer found the net 31 times in the league. In third place came Newcastle United, whose 22-year-old striker Andy Cole was the Premier League's leading scorer with 34 goals in 40 games, with a total of 41 goals in all competitions. In fourth place came Arsenal, who achieved success in European competition with a 1–0 win over Parma in the Cup Winners' Cup final.
Swindon Town managed just five league wins all season and were relegated in bottom place having conceded 100 league goals in 42 games; their record for the most goals conceded in a Premier League season would last for three decades before it was surpassed by Sheffield United in 2024, though this is lower than the all-time record of 125 goals against Blackpool in the 1930-31 Football League, a season in which Manchester United were relegated, unlike Blackpool, with 115 goals conceded. Oldham Athletic, who had avoided relegation on goal difference the previous season, were relegated on the final day of the season after failing to win at Norwich City. The final relegation place went to Sheffield United, who were relegated from the top flight after a 3–2 defeat at Chelsea, with the winning goal coming in injury time (a draw would have been enough to survive, and a loss would have still been enough had Everton not won their final match, 3–2 at home to Wimbledon after coming from 0–2 down). Ipswich Town, who failed to win any of their final 11 games, avoided relegation by holding Blackburn to a goalless draw at Ewood Park, and were less than a minute from being relegated, only to be saved by Chelsea’s late win over Sheffield United.
Teams Twenty-two teams competed in the league—the top nineteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Newcastle United, West Ham United and Swindon Town. Newcastle United and West Ham United returned to the top flight after absences of four and one year, respectively, while Swindon Town played in the top flight for the first time. They replaced Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, who were relegated to the First Division after their top flight spells of four, one and sixteen years, respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Arsenal London Highbury Aston Villa Birmingham Villa Park Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park Chelsea London Stamford Bridge Coventry City Coventry Highfield Road Everton Liverpool Goodison Park Ipswich Town Ipswich Portman Road Leeds United Leeds Elland Road Liverpool Liverpool Anfield Manchester City Manchester Maine Road Manchester United Manchester Old Trafford Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park Norwich City Norwich Carrow Road Oldham Athletic Oldham Boundary Park Queens Park Rangers London Loftus Road Sheffield United Sheffield Bramall Lane Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Hillsborough Stadium Southampton Southampton The Dell Swindon Town Swindon County Ground Tottenham Hotspur London White Hart Lane West Ham United London Boleyn Ground Wimbledon London Selhurst Park
Personnel and kits (as of 8 May 1994) Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal George Graham Tony AdamsAdidasJVCAston Villa Ron Atkinson Kevin RichardsonAsicsMüllerBlackburn Rovers Kenny Dalglish Tim SherwoodAsicsMcEwan's LagerChelsea Glenn Hoddle Dennis WiseUmbroAmigaCoventry City Phil Neal Brian BorrowsRiberoPeugeotEverton Mike Walker Dave WatsonUmbroNECIpswich Town John Lyall Steve PalmerUmbroFisonsLeeds United Howard Wilkinson Gordon StrachanAsicsThistle HotelsLiverpool Roy Evans Ian RushAdidasCarlsbergManchester City Brian Horton Keith CurleUmbroBrotherManchester United Alex Ferguson Bryan RobsonUmbroSharpNewcastle United Kevin Keegan Peter BeardsleyAsicsMcEwan's LagerNorwich City John Deehan Ian ButterworthRiberoNorwich and PeterboroughOldham Athletic Joe Royle Mike MilliganUmbroJD SportsQueens Park Rangers Gerry Francis David BardsleyClubhouseCSFSheffield United Dave Bassett Brian GayleUmbroLaverSheffield Wednesday Trevor Francis Chris WaddlePumaSandersonSouthampton Alan Ball Matt Le TissierPonyDimplexSwindon Town John Gorman Shaun TaylorLokiBurmahTottenham Hotspur Osvaldo Ardiles Gary MabbuttUmbroHolstenWest Ham United Billy Bonds Steve PottsPonyDagenham MotorsWimbledon Joe Kinnear Vinnie JonesRiberoLBC
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Chelsea David Webb End of caretaker spell 11 May 1993 Pre-season Glenn Hoddle 4 June 1993 Ipswich Town John Lyall Promoted to Director of Football 30 May 1993 Mick McGiven 1 June 1993 Swindon Town Glenn Hoddle Signed by Chelsea 4 June 1993 John Gorman 4 June 1993 Tottenham Hotspur Doug Livermore Ray Clemence Sacked 19 June 1993 Osvaldo Ardiles 19 June 1993 Manchester City Peter Reid Sacked 26 August 1993 20th Tony Book (caretaker) 27 August 1993 Tony Book End of caretaker spell 28 August 1993 17th Brian Horton 28 August 1993 Coventry City Bobby Gould Resigned 23 October 1993 14th Phil Neal 23 October 1993 Everton Howard Kendall 4 December 1993 13th Jimmy Gabriel (caretaker) 4 December 1993 Jimmy Gabriel End of caretaker spell 6 January 1994 19th Mike Walker 6 January 1994 Norwich City Mike Walker Signed by Everton 8th John Deehan Southampton Ian Branfoot Sacked 10 January 1994 21st Dave Merrington (caretaker) 10 January 1994 Dave Merrington End of caretaker spell 20 January 1994 20th Alan Ball 20 January 1994 Liverpool Graeme Souness Sacked 28 January 1994 5th Roy Evans 30 January 1994 Ipswich Town Mick McGiven Became assistant manager 15 February 1994 14th John Lyall 16 February 1994
League table
Results
Season statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Andy ColeNewcastle United342 Alan ShearerBlackburn Rovers313 Matt Le TissierSouthampton25 Chris SuttonNorwich City5 Ian WrightArsenal236 Peter BeardsleyNewcastle United217 Mark BrightSheffield Wednesday198 Eric CantonaManchester United189 Dean HoldsworthWimbledon17 Rod WallaceLeeds United10 Tony CotteeEverton16 Les FerdinandQueens Park Rangers
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Coventry City Arsenal 3–0 (A) Everton Sheffield United 4–2 (H) Arsenal Ipswich Town 4–0 (H) 4 Norwich City Everton 5–1 (A) Blackburn Rovers Leeds United 3–3 (A) Newcastle United Wimbledon 4–0 (H) Liverpool Southampton 4–2 (H) Queens Park Rangers Everton 3–0 (A) Newcastle United Liverpool 3–0 (H) Arsenal Swindon Town 4–0 (A) Everton 6–2 (H) Swindon Town Coventry City 3–1 (H) Aston Villa Swindon Town 5–0 (H) Southampton Liverpool 4–2 (H) Newcastle United Coventry City 4–0 (H) Arsenal Ipswich Town 5–1 (A) Southampton 4–0 (A) Southampton Norwich City 5–4 (A) Wimbledon Oldham Athletic 3–0 (H) Note: 4 – player scored 4 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 David SeamanArsenal192 Peter SchmeichelManchester United153 Luděk MikloškoWest Ham United144 Tim FlowersSouthampton / Blackburn Rovers135 Dmitri KharineChelsea11 Steve OgrizovicCoventry City Hans SegersWimbledon Neville SouthallEverton9 Tony CotonManchester City10 Craig ForrestIpswich Town Bryan GunnNorwich City
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 10 Dane Whitehouse (Sheffield United)
Most red cards: 2 Eric Cantona (Manchester United) Chris Makin (Oldham Athletic)
Club Most yellow cards: 44 Sheffield United
Fewest yellow cards: 12 Coventry City
Most red cards: 4 Oldham Athletic Sheffield United
Fewest red cards: 0 Blackburn Rovers Coventry City Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Manchester City Wimbledon
Awards
Monthly awards Month Manager of the Month References Manager Club August Alex Ferguson Manchester United September Joe Kinnear Wimbledon October Mike Walker Norwich City November Kevin Keegan Newcastle United December Trevor Francis Sheffield Wednesday January Kenny Dalglish Blackburn Rovers February Joe Royle Oldham Athletic March Joe Kinnear Wimbledon April
Annual awards
PFA Team of the Year
Award Winner Club Premier League Manager of the Season Alex Ferguson Manchester United PFA Players' Player of the Year Eric CantonaEngland Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Players' Players of the Year PFA Young Player of the Year Andy ColeEngland Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year Newcastle United FWA Footballer of the Year Alan ShearerEngland Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year Blackburn Rovers
PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Tim Flowers(Blackburn Rovers) Defenders Gary Kelly(Leeds United) Gary Pallister(Manchester United) Tony Adams(Arsenal) Denis Irwin(Manchester United) Midfielders Paul Ince(Manchester United) Gary McAllister(Leeds United) David Batty(Blackburn Rovers) Forwards Alan Shearer(Blackburn Rovers) Eric Cantona(Manchester United) Peter Beardsley(Newcastle United)
Attendances