# 1992–93 Chelsea F.C. season

During the 1992–93 English football season, Chelsea F.C. competed in the inaugural season of the FA Premier League.
The season was the club's 88th year in existence since their foundation in 1905. It was their 58th season within England's highest tier of football and their fourth season of their current top-flight spell following promotion at the end of the 1988–89 season.

## Season summary

Chelsea started the season well and stood second after 19 games, but went into freefall after that, going 12 matches without a win, a run that pulled Chelsea down to 12th, replacing hopes of a title challenge with relegation fears. Manager Ian Porterfield paid for the team's poor form by becoming the first manager to be sacked in the new Premier League on 15 February. He was replaced by David Webb, the scorer of the Chelsea winner that won the 1970 FA Cup Final. Webb managed to steer Chelsea to safety, but his contract was not renewed by the board. Instead, they appointed former Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle, who had just taken Swindon Town to their first ever top-flight campaign, as player-manager.
The club ended the season with 56 points, having won 14, drawn 14 and lost 14 matches. By finishing 11th of 22 clubs, it was Chelsea's first top-half finish since coming 5th in 1989–90. With 54 goals conceded, this was Chelsea's best defence in the top flight, a record broken next season as well.
Chelsea went out in the third round of the FA Cup this season, beaten 2–1 by Middlesbrough away at Ayresome Park.

## Kit

Chelsea retained the previous season's home kit, manufactured by Umbro and sponsored by Commodore. It featured a geometric pattern on the players' right shoulder, repeated on the left leg of the shorts, an Umbro trademark of the time also used by Everton and Manchester United's home shirts of the same time. For this season, Chelsea re-introduced white socks as first choice for the first time since 1984–85. White socks had been introduced by Tommy Docherty for Chelsea in 1965, to make Chelsea stand out among other clubs wearing blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks.
The away kit was based on football kits of the game's early days as part of a nostalgia craze following the 1990 World Cup. It was a white shirt with red pinstripes, red shorts and socks. Its laces were also worn on the Umbro home kits of Aston Villa and Sheffield United. The Chelsea lion badge was included in a blue shield; the kits for next season retained this style. The kit was the final one in which Chelsea wore a red garment, the colour having been a popular away kit throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Chelsea wore a third kit of all-yellow with a blue collar and pattern on the front, also worn by Everton. The kit was from an Umbro range called Porto.

## In

| No. | Pos. | Player | From | Date | Fee |
| Summer ||||||
| | DF | Mal Donaghy | Manchester United | 1 July 1992 | £100,800 |
| | FW | John Spencer | Rangers | 1 July 1992 | free transfer |
| | GK | Nick Colgan | Drogheda United | 1 July 1992 | undisclosed |
| | FW | Robert Fleck | Norwich City | 1 July 1992 | undisclosed |

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 9 | Manchester City | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 57 | |
| 10 | Arsenal | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 56 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Chelsea | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 51 | 54 | −3 | 56 | |
| 12 | Wimbledon | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 56 | 55 | +1 | 54 | |
| 13 | Everton | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 53 | 55 | −2 | 53 | |
* ↑ Arsenal qualified by winning the FA Cup and therefore did not take up their UEFA Cup spot for winning the League Cup, which reverted to the league.

## Results

Chelsea's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 15 August 1992 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–1 | 20,699 | Harford |
| 19 August 1992 | Norwich City | A | 1–2 | 15,164 | Stuart |
| 22 August 1992 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–3 | 26,338 | Jones, Stuart, Newton |
| 26 August 1992 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–0 | 19,575 | |
| 29 August 1992 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–0 | 22,910 | Harford |
| 2 September 1992 | Aston Villa | A | 3–1 | 19,125 | Fleck, Newton, Wise |
| 5 September 1992 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 34,199 | Harford |
| 12 September 1992 | Norwich City | H | 2–3 | 16,880 | Harford, Townsend |
| 20 September 1992 | Manchester City | A | 1–0 | 22,420 | Harford |
| 26 September 1992 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–0 | 19,760 | |
| 3 October 1992 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | 27,780 | Wise |
| 17 October 1992 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–1 | 16,707 | Hall, Harford |
| 24 October 1992 | Coventry City | A | 2–1 | 15,626 | Harford, Stuart |
| 31 October 1992 | Sheffield United | H | 1–2 | 13,763 | Townsend |
| 7 November 1992 | Crystal Palace | H | 3–1 | 17,141 | Shaw (own goal), Stuart, Harford |
| 21 November 1992 | Everton | A | 1–0 | 17,418 | Fleck |
| 29 November 1992 | Leeds United | H | 1–0 | 24,345 | Townsend |
| 5 December 1992 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | 31,540 | Newton (2) |
| 11 December 1992 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–0 | 15,599 | |
| 19 December 1992 | Manchester United | H | 1–1 | 34,464 | Lee |
| 26 December 1992 | Southampton | H | 1–1 | 18,344 | Newton |
| 28 December 1992 | Wimbledon | A | 0–0 | 14,687 | |
| 9 January 1993 | Manchester City | H | 2–4 | 15,939 | Stuart, Spencer |
| 16 January 1993 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 23,249 | |
| 27 January 1993 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–1 | 15,806 | Spencer |
| 30 January 1993 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–2 | 16,261 | |
| 6 February 1993 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–3 | 11,772 | Harford |
| 10 February 1993 | Liverpool | H | 0–0 | 20,981 | |
| 13 February 1993 | Aston Villa | H | 0–1 | 20,081 | |
| 21 February 1993 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–2 | 14,780 | |
| 1 March 1993 | Arsenal | H | 1–0 | 17,725 | Stuart |
| 10 March 1993 | Everton | H | 2–1 | 12,739 | Stuart, Spencer |
| 15 March 1993 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–1 | 12,610 | Stuart |
| 20 March 1993 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | 25,157 | Cascarino |
| 24 March 1993 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | 28,135 | Donaghy |
| 3 April 1993 | Middlesbrough | H | 4–0 | 13,043 | Donaghy, Spencer, Stuart, Barnard |
| 6 April 1993 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–1 | 17,444 | Spencer |
| 10 April 1993 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | 15,135 | |
| 12 April 1993 | Wimbledon | H | 4–2 | 13,138 | Wise (pen), Hall, Spencer, Shipperley |
| 17 April 1993 | Manchester United | A | 0–3 | 40,139 | |
| 1 May 1993 | Coventry City | H | 2–1 | 14,186 | Spencer, Cascarino |
| 8 May 1993 | Sheffield United | A | 2–4 | 24,850 | Lee, Townsend |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 2 January 1993 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–2 | 16,776 | Mohan (own goal) |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 First Leg | 23 September 1992 | Walsall | A | 3–0 | 5,510 | Wise 15', Newton 28', Townsend 78' |
| R2 Second Leg | 7 October 1992 | Walsall | H | 1–0 (won 4–0 on agg) | 7,646 | Fleck (pen) 73' |
| R3 | 28 October 1992 | Newcastle United | H | 2–1 | 30,193 | Sinclair 59', Harford 82' |
| R4 | 2 December 1992 | Everton | A | 2–2 | 14,457 | Harford 28', Stuart 79' |
| R4R | 16 December 1992 | Everton | H | 1–0 | 19,496 | Townsend 19' |
| QF | 6 January 1993 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–3 | 28,510 | Townsend 18' |

## First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Dave Beasant |
| — | GK | ENG | Alec Chamberlain (on loan from Luton Town) |
| — | GK | IRL | Nick Colgan |
| — | GK | ENG | Kevin Hitchcock |
| — | GK | RUS | Dmitri Kharine |
| — | GK | IRL | Gerry Peyton (on loan from Everton) |
| — | DF | ENG | Anthony Barness |
| — | DF | ENG | Paul Elliott |
| — | DF | ENG | David Lee |
| — | DF | ENG | Andy Myers |
| — | DF | ENG | Ian Pearce |
| — | DF | ENG | Frank Sinclair |
| — | DF | WAL | Darren Barnard |
| — | DF | WAL | Gareth Hall |
| — | DF | SCO | Steve Clarke |
| — | DF | NIR | Mal Donaghy |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | NOR | Erland Johnsen |
| — | MF | SCO | Craig Burley |
| — | MF | SCO | David Hopkin |
| — | MF | ENG | Damian Matthew |
| — | MF | ENG | Eddie Newton |
| — | MF | ENG | Nigel Spackman |
| — | MF | ENG | Graham Stuart |
| — | MF | IRL | Andy Townsend |
| — | MF | ENG | Dennis Wise (captain) |
| — | FW | ENG | Mick Harford |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Livingstone |
| — | FW | ENG | Neil Shipperley |
| — | FW | SCO | Robert Fleck |
| — | FW | SCO | John Spencer . |
| — | FW | IRL | Tony Cascarino |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Graeme Le Saux (to Blackburn Rovers) |
| — | MF | ENG | Vinnie Jones (to Wimbledon) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | Joe Allon (to Brentford) |