1993–94 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

Season summary

It was another strong season for a resurgent Blackburn, who were in the higher reaches of the Premier League all season long and, at one stage in early April, were level on points with leaders Manchester United, whose lead from late October until well into the new year had been in excess of 10 points. The return of Alan Shearer from a long-term injury saw him make a swift return to his superb form of old, with the 23-year-old hitman scoring 31 goals in the league, including both of Blackburn's goals in an early April win over Manchester United at Ewood Park.

In the end, though, it wasn't quite enough to snatch the title crown off Manchester United, who had returned to their winning ways by the end of April after Blackburn took their turn to drop points, and Kenny Dalglish's men had to settle for runners-up spot and a UEFA Cup place. This meant that Blackburn would be competing in Europe for the very first time in the 1994-95 season, although in the UEFA Cup rather than the European Cup as would have happened if they had won the league. Blackburn's fourth place finish a year earlier had not been enough for a UEFA Cup place due to English clubs still not having all their UEFA Cup places back despite their ban from European competitions arising from the Heysel disaster having been lifted for the 1990-91 season.

Blackburn fans were thrilled after the end of the season when 21-year-old Norwich City striker Chris Sutton joined the club for an English record fee of £5 million. With the most expensive striker-partnership in the country, the club's fans were given all the more reason to expect their team to succeed in at least one of the four major competitions that they would be contesting next season.

Kit

Japanese company Asics manufactured Blackburn's kit this season. British brewery McEwan's Lager were the kit sponsors.

Final league table

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

¹ Arsenal qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions

² Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners

³ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Results

Blackburn Rovers' score comes first

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Left the club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.