Premiership Years

1993-94 Season – Overview

Kevin Keegan brought Newcastle right back into the top flight after their outstanding display during the 92-93 season. They got off to a mixed start as they lost 1-0 to Tottenham on the opening day of the season and followed that up by an impressive 1-1 draw to champions Manchester united. Newly promoted side Swindon, faired worse in their opening premiership season, Glenn Hoddle abandoned them to move to Chelsea and Swindon continuously stumbled. They suffered heavy defeats to Everton, Liverpool, Leeds united and Aston Villa with score lines of 6-2, 5-0, 5-1 and 5-1 respectively. Swindon ended up bottom of the table with only five victories the entire season and conceding over 100 goals.
Defending Champions, Manchester united were fighting with Blackburn for the top spot through out the season. One of the most thrilling matches of the season came between Manchester United and Liverpool at Anfield, as United strolled into a 3-0 lead, Liverpool recovered, with 2 goals by Nigel Clough and ended up drawing the match 3-3. As the season progressed to mid January, United found themselves 16 points clear of Blackburn and they were touching the title. As Manchester United began to drop points and Blackburn continued their sparkling form, things looked as if a change towards the top could occur. Eric Cantona was dismissed twice in one week and United’s best player had to serve a lengthy suspension. He missed United’s crunch match against Blackburn on the 2nd April. Alan Shearer headed Blackburn in front and he followed that by adding a second with a thunderous left foot shot, the gap was now only three points, with both having played 35 matches. Both teams won the following weekend, United beat Oldham 3-2, while Blackburn thrashed Everton 3-0. Blackburn ran out of steam against Coventry as they lost 2-1 and Manchester united retained their title.
Newcastle finished a very impressive third place in their first season in the premiership, with the help of Andy Cole’s 34 league goals, which in turn made him top scorer.
Sheffield United, Crystal palace, Oldham and Swindon were all relegated from the premiership.
Wimbledon had their best ever season in league football as they finished sixth, a position which, a year later, would have qualified them for Europe. Dean Holdsworth helped them to their highest position with 17 goals and their highlight of the season was a 4-1 victory over title contenders, Blackburn.