1995–96 FA Premier League

Updated on Dec 09, 2023

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Season 1995 (1995)–96 Cup Winners' Cup Liverpool Goals scored 988		Champions League Manchester United Start date 1995 Matches played 380

Champions Manchester United 3rd Premier League title 10th English title UEFA Cup Newcastle United Aston Villa Arsenal Top goalscorer Alan Shearer (31 goals) Relegated Bolton Wanderers F.C., Queens Park Rangers F.C., Manchester City F.C. Similar 1996–97 FA Premier League, 1994–95 FA Premier League, 1997–98 FA Premier League, 1993–94 FA Premier League, 1998–99 FA Premier League

The 1995–96 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership due to the competition's sponsorship by the Carling brewery) was the fourth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the 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.

Transfers

Before the season began, the English transfer record was broken for the third time in 12 months when Liverpool paid £8.4 million for the Nottingham Forest striker Stan Collymore. The record fee for a defender was broken when Newcastle United paid £4 million for Wimbledon's Warren Barton. Arsenal paid a club record £7.5 million for Internazionale's 26-year-old Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp. Newcastle spent £6 million for 28-year-old Queens Park Rangers striker Les Ferdinand.

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.

Summary

Manchester United and Newcastle United emerged as the primary title contenders for the 1995–96 season. The two sides played on 27 December 1995, 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 Manchester United then lost 4–1 at Tottenham on New Year's Day and drew 0–0 with Aston Villa, allowing Newcastle to establish a 12-point lead in January 1996.

Manchester United and Newcastle met again in early March, and a goal by Eric Cantona gave 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.

Liverpool and Aston Villa emerged as possible title contenders early in the season, but for most of the campaign it was a two-horse race between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Middlesbrough's early promise, which saw them occupy fourth place in late October, was wiped away by an injury crisis which saw their league form slump, and they could only manage a 12th-place finish.

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.

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.

Relegated teams

The Premier League relegation places went to Bolton, 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.

Player and managerial awards

PFA Players' Player of the Year was Les Ferdinand of Newcastle.

PFA Young Player of the Year was 21-year-old Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, who won the award for the second consecutive season.

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was Eric Cantona, who returned from his eight-month suspension to score 19 competitive goals for Manchester United.

FA Premier League Manager of the Year was Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.

Managerial changes

Arsenal appointed Bruce Rioch as manager, who was previously manager of newly promoted Bolton Wanderers.

Bolton Wanderers was jointly managed by Roy McFarland and Colin Todd until Christmas, at which point McFarland was dismissed and Todd assumed full managerial duties.

Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle left at the end of the season to take charge of the England team.

Manchester City appointed Alan Ball as manager.

Sheffield Wednesday replaced Trevor Francis with Luton Town's David Pleat.

Southampton appointed David Merrington before the start of the season, but he was sacked and replaced with Graeme Souness following the season.

Personnel and kits

(as of 5 May 1996)

Final league table

Updated to games played on 15 September 2012.
Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Liverpool qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up, as winners Manchester United already qualified for the Champions League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.