User:QmunkE/To be moved

Manager George Graham achieved more success with Arsenal in 1992-93, guiding them to a unique double of both domestic cups - they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup. This success was achieved with many players still at the club from the championship winning side of 1991 which lost just one out of 38 fixtures - including David Seaman, Alan Smith, Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. There were also some new players in the squad. They included high-scoring striker Ian Wright (a £2.5million acquisition from Crystal Palace shortly after the title success) and Danish midfielder John Jensen - who had been signed after scoring for Denmark in their surprise Euro 92 final win over Germany.

The downside to Arsenal's season was their goal-shy Premiership form, they scored the fewest goals in the division (40) despite briefly leading the table in November.

Arsenal's next challenge would be the Cup Winners' Cup. Their triumph in both cup competitions allowed third-placed Premiership side Norwich City to take up the UEFA spot normally awarded to the League Cup winner.

England's representatives in the 1995-96 Cup Winners' Cup would be Everton, whose new manager Joe Royle had guided them to 15th place in the Premiership and finally to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the F.A Cup final, which left Alex Ferguson's team (so near to a second successive double and third successive Premiership title) without a major trophy for the first time since 1989.

The only automatic promotion place to the 1995-96 Premiership went to Division One champions Middlesbrough, who had excelled in their first season under new player-manager Bryan Robson. The playoff final was contested between Bolton Wanderers and Reading. Reading led 2-0 at half time, but the game went into extra time after Bolton scored twice. The final score in a dramatic game was 4-3 to Bolton, who returned to the top division after a 15-year absence. Reading, who at that point had never played in the top division in their history, became the first runners-up of Division One/Second Division/Championship not to win promotion.

Aston Villa, in their first full season under Brian Little, made huge progress during 1995-96. Their new-look side, made up of players like Gary Charles, Ian Taylor, Mark Draper, Savo Milosevic and Tommy Johnson, beat Leeds United 3-0 in the League Cup final, reached the F.A Cup semi final and finished fourth in the Premiership.

Manchester United's fourth Premiership title came at the end of a season which was occasionally marred by several disappointments. In late October, they conceded a total of 13 goals in three successive defeats against Newcastle, Southampton and Chelsea. In the same period, they also lost their 40-year unbeaten home record in Europe after losing 1-0 to Turkish minnows Fenerbahçe in the Champions League group stage. Despite this, and another home defeat in the group stage against Juventus, they reached the competition's semi finals for the first time in 28 years before finally bowing out to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup for the first time since 1993 after losing 1-0 in a replay away to Wimbledon. Two weeks after the end of the season, Manchester United's influential captain Eric Cantona announced his retirement from football at the age of 31 and sent shockwaves throughout football. He was idolized by many throughout football and his retirement was met by a reaction of stunned shock from players and fans alike.

F.A Cup winners were Chelsea, whose Dutch manager Ruud Gullit became the first foreign manager to win the famous trophy. He was also in his first season of management, having taken over at Stamford Bridge the previous summer after Glenn Hoddle became the new England manager. A 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in the final saw a major trophy grace the Stamford Bridge boardroom for the first time since 1971.

League Cup winners were newly promoted Leicester City, who began the season as relegation favourites. But the East Midlanders, managed by Martin O'Neill, surprised all the observers by beating Middlesbrough after a replay in the League Cup final and finished ninth in the Premiership.

Chelsea also completed a 'double', but the success came after a surprise managerial change. In February, Ruud Gullit was sacked after 18 months in charge following a dispute with chairman Ken Bates over transfer funds. 33-year-old Italian striker Gianluca Vialli was placed in charge and quickly guided them to success in the finals of the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup.

Michael Owen made his full season debut for Liverpool and helped his side finish third, by becoming the joint-top scorer, with Dion Dublin. He was rewarded with a shock England call up to the World Cup, at the tender age of 18.

ARSENAL: The Gunners were restricted to 10th place in the final table due to a shortage of goals, but the season ended on a high note as they became the first English team to win both domestic cup competitions in the same season.

ASTON VILLA: Ron Atkinson's heavy spending almost paid off as Villa clinched runners-up spot in the final table, with the Dean Saunders/Dalian Atkinson striker partnership proving exceptionally lethal.

BLACKBURN ROVERS: Blackburn's first top flight season for 27 years was a great success as they finished fourth, and they could have done even better had it not been for Alan Shearer's injury which ruled him out for the second half of the season.

CHELSEA: Ian Porterfield lost his job after Chelsea's fine start to the season faded away, and mid table security was not enough to win his successor David Webb a long-term contract.

COVENTRY CITY: The Sky Blues beat relegation for the 26th season running, thanks largely to the signing of striker Mick Quinn, who could have taken the club to an even higher finish had his goalscoring been more consistent.

CRYSTAL PALACE: Palace went down with 49 points - the highest tally of any club ever to be relegated from the top flight - and Steve Coppell's nine-year reign as manager came to an end after they failed to find an effective replacement for Ian Wright.

EVERTON: The champions of '87 fell further behind the leading pack as they finished a disappointing 13th in the final table of the new Premier League, causing the pressure to mount on manager Howard Kendall.

IPSWICH TOWN: John Lyall's newly-promoted Tractor Boys looked like outsiders for the title as late as February, but they failed to keep up their strong form and finished 16th at the end of the season.

LEEDS UNITED: Howard Wilkinson's defending champions looked a thin shadow of their former selves as they finished 17th in the league and failed to win a single away game all season long.

LIVERPOOL: The F.A Cup winners failed to make an impact on Europe, spent much of the season around the middle of the league before finishing 6th, and new striker Paul Stewart failed to live up to his hefty price tag.

MANCHESTER CITY: After two successive fifth-place finishes, Peter Reid's men finished ninth in the league and would have slumped even lower had it not been for David White's impressive goalscoring record.

MANCHESTER UNITED: 26 years of hurt ended as Manchester United were crowned champions of the English league for the first time since the Matt Busby Era, thanks largely to the effective management of Alex Ferguson, prolific striker partnership of Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes, as well as the superb skills of young winger Ryan Giggs.

MIDDLESBROUGH: Newly promoted Middlesbrough slid out of the Premiership after a run of bad results beginning in February saw them slide from mid table to last-but-one place at the end of the season.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Brian Clough's glorious 18-year reign as manager ended on a low note as his demoralised Forest side were relegated in bottom place.

OLDHAM ATHLETIC: A superb 4-3 win at Southampton on the final day of the season saw Oldham achieve one of the most remarkable escapes from relegation that the English game has ever seen.

QUEENS PARK RANGERS: Gerry Francis's West London side finished 5th in the Premiership to finish highest of all the London clubs, as well as overtaking more established sides including Liverpool and Leeds United.

SHEFFIELD UNITED: Dave Bassett continued to make the most of Sheffield United's limited resources as the Blades achieved a secure 14th place finish and reached the F.A Cup semi finals.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: Trevor Francis saw his South Yorkshiremen enjoy another strong season as they finished 7th in the league and were runners-up in both cup competitions, although their return to European competition for the first time in nearly 30 years was short-lived.

SOUTHAMPTON: Star striker Matt le Tissier almost single-handedly saved Southampton from relegation once again, but manager Ian Branfoot was looking increasingly closer to being ousted after his side endured another low finish.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: A 9th place finish was hardly exceptional for Spurs, but their best chance of success ended in the spring when they lost to neighbours Arsenal in the F.A Cup semi-final.

WIMBLEDON: Joe Kinnear defied the odds in his first full season as manager by guiding the Dons to a secure 12th place finish.

ARSENAL: A six-place improvement on last season's finish was good news for George Graham and his men, but the real success of the season came in the form of glory on the continent as the Gunners lifted the Cup Winners Cup.

ASTON VILLA: Last season's runners-up dipped to tenth place in the league, but compensated for their sub-standard Premiership season by defeating Manchester United in the League Cup final and ending their opposition's bid for a unique treble of domestic trophies.

BLACKBURN ROVERS: The Jack Walker revolution at Ewood Park continued as Blackburn finished second in the Premiership and qualified for Europe for the first time in their history, thanks largely to 31 goals from super striker Alan Shearer.

CHELSEA: Glenn Hoddle's first season as Chelsea manager brought an unremarkable 14th place Premiership finish, but they still qualified for Europe because they had been runners-up in the F.A Cup to double winners Manchester United.

COVENTRY CITY: A mid-season change of manager did little to hinder Coventry's fortunes and they finished the season in a respectable 11th place.

EVERTON: Howard Kendall's second spell as manager ended just before Christmas, and his successor Mike Walker only just managed to stave off relegation thanks to an incredible 4-2 win over Wimbledon on the last day of the season.

IPSWICH TOWN: John Lyall's side started the season well, but then endured a slump in form and only narrowly clung on to their Premiership status.

LEEDS UNITED: After last season's dismal form, Howard Wilkinson's side recovered well to finish 5th in the final table, although they never looked like repeating the title success of two seasons earlier.

LIVERPOOL: Graeme Souness quit halfway through the season, and his successor Roy Evans could do little to prevent Liverpool from achieving anything more than an 8th place finish.

MANCHESTER CITY: Peter Reid's sudden dismissal just after the start of the season, and his successor Brian Horton only just managed to achieve survival with his goal-shy side.

MANCHESTER UNITED: Alex Ferguson's star-studded squad enjoyed one of their best seasons yet (if not the very best) as they retained the Premiership title and lifted the F.A Cup.

NEWCASTLE UNITED: The prolific striker partnership of Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley were instrumental in Newcastle's rousing return to the top flight as they finished third in the Premiership and returned to European competition for the first time in 20 years.

NORWICH CITY: Mike Walker's departure to Everton saw Norwich's league form slump and his successor John Deehan was unable to prevent them from sliding into 12th place in the final table.

OLDHAM ATHLETIC: After three years of excitement which saw Oldham defy the odds to hold onto their place among the elite, their luck finally ran out as they slid into Division One.

QUEENS PARK RANGERS: Another solid season for the West Londoners saw them prove to be a match for most of the rest of the Premiership, and they finished 9th in the final table.

SHEFFIELD UNITED: Dave Bassett's luck finally ran out when a last-minute goal on the final day of the season saw Chelsea beat the Blades 3-2 and sent them into Division One.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: The Owls matched last season's 7th place finish, but this time there were no cup finals to give them hope of silverware.

SOUTHAMPTON: Ian Branfoot's unpopular reign at the helm ended in January, and his successor Alan Ball did well to keep them in the Premiership against all odds, not to mention the ever-consistent form of star striker Matt le Tissier.

SWINDON TOWN: Swindon's first season as a top flight club ended in relegation as they endured a terrible season, conceding 100 league goals and winning just five games.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Osvaldo Ardiles returned to White Hart Lane in hope of repeating the success he enjoyed there as a player, but a 15th place finish and a season-long relegation battle were very disappointing for one of the country's top clubs.

WEST HAM UNITED: West Ham's return to the Premiership failed to turn many heads, but they finished well clear of the danger zone in a secure 13th place.

WIMBLEDON: Joe Kinnear's men pulled off one of the major surprises of the season by achieving a remarkable sixth place finish ahead of some of the league's more established sides.

Manchester United, who had finished runners-up in the Premiership and FA Cup in 1994-95, took a radically different route in reshaping their team for the 1995-96 season. Midfielder Paul Ince was sold to Inter Milan for £7.5million, long serving striker Mark Hughes joined Chelsea for £1.5million and unsettled Russian winger Andrei Kanchelskis (leading scorer the previous season) was sold to Everton for £5million. Alex Ferguson was heavily criticised for making these sales, even more so when the season began without a major signing and United lost their first game 3-1 at Aston Villa. But the new-look side quickly pulled themselves together and put on some impressive performances. The Neville brothers (full-backs Gary, 20, and Phil, 18), 20-year-old midfielders David Beckham and Nicky Butt, and 21-year-old striker Paul Scholes, proved themselves as talented top level players. Eric Cantona returned from his suspension at the beginning of October and scored a penalty equaliser in his side's 2-2 home draw with Liverpool.