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 Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...
, the top division of professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in England.
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
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
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...
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
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
left relegated
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
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
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
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
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
after beating Chelsea 4–0 in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
, 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
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
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
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
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
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
for the fourth time.
Finishing runners-up in the Premier League were Blackburn Rovers, whose top scorer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...
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
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
in the
Cup Winners' Cup final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
.
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
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
. 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
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
and
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
, who were relegated to the
First Division after their top flight spells of four, one and sixteen years, respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and kits
(as of 8 May 1994)
Managerial changes
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers
Hat-tricks
:Note:
4 – player scored 4 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Clean sheets
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
Annual awards
Attendances
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
drew the highest average home attendance in the second edition of the Premier League.
See also
*
1993–94 in English football
References and notes
External links
League and cup results for all the 1993/94 Premier Division clubsat footballsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:1993-94 FA Premier League
Premier League seasons
Eng
1993–94 in English football leagues