During the 1993–94 English football season,

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. ...

competed in the second season of the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Season summary

The appointment of

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

as Chelsea's new player-manager was awaited with much optimism for the new season, as previous managers had not been able to secure anything better than mid-table finishes in the three previous seasons. However, as the 1993–94 season lagged away, it looked as though Hoddle's appointment had done little to boost Chelsea's mediocre fortunes as they hovered around the middle of the Premier League. In the end, they finished 14th - three places lower than last season, but an appearance in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

final meant that they would be qualifying for the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised ...

whether they won or not, as their opponents

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

had already won the Premier League title and qualified for the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. As the players entered the dressing rooms for half-time at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, the scoreline was 0–0, but Chelsea's dream was shattered in the second half as United scored four goals to win 4–0, but at least Chelsea would be playing in Europe next season for the first time in over 20 years. The wait for a major trophy, however, entered its 24th season. Striker Mark Stein was added to the squad in mid-season, and quickly proved himself to be a competent Premier League goalscorer after impressing in the lower leagues. Pre-season signings

Gavin Peacock Gavin Keith Peacock (born 18 November 1967) is an English former professional footballer and sports television pundit. As a player he was midfielder and striker from 1984 until 2002, notably playing in the Premier League for Newcastle United ...

was also impressive. Hoddle bolstered his squad for 1994–95 by signing

David Rocastle David Carlyle Rocastle (2 May 1967 – 31 March 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the roles of a playmaker and a winger. He spent the majority of his career at Arsenal where he was nicknamed "Rocky". Ro ...

from

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

in a bid to strengthen the midfield following

Andy Townsend Andrew David Townsend (born 23 July 1963) is a former professional footballer and sports co-commentator for Premier League Productions and CBS Sports. As a player he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Aston ...

's mid-season move to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

Final league table

Results

''Chelsea's score comes first''

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

⁴ Barnet's home tie against Chelsea was switched to Stamford Bridge under police advice and instruction from Barnet.

League Cup

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1993-94 Chelsea F.C. season Chelsea F.C. seasons

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