# 1994–95 Crystal Palace F.C. season

During the 1994–95 English football season, Crystal Palace competed in the FA Premier League.

## Season summary

Crystal Palace returned to the Premiership a year after leaving it, and, over the next few months, they would experience one of the most unusual seasons in their history. They were the division's lowest scoring team with just 34 goals, but reached the semi-finals of both cup competitions. They also finished fourth from bottom in the Premiership, which – due to the streamlining of the division to 20 clubs – cost them their top flight status. Manager Alan Smith was sacked just days afterwards, with Steve Coppell returning to the manager's seat two years after handing the reins over to his former assistant Smith.
The aftermath of Palace's relegation saw the sale of numerous players including Richard Shaw, John Salako, Chris Armstrong and Gareth Southgate. A barely recognisable Palace squad would kick off the Endsleigh League Division One campaign with one of the youngest-ever squads to be faced with a challenge for promotion to the Premiership.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 17 | Manchester City | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 53 | 64 | −11 | 49 | |
| 18 | Aston Villa | 42 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 48 | |
| 19 | Crystal Palace (R) | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 45 | Relegation to Football League First Division |
| 20 | Norwich City (R) | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 43 | Relegation to Football League First Division |
| 21 | Leicester City (R) | 42 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 45 | 80 | −35 | 29 | Relegation to Football League First Division |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Statto

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A |
| Result | L | D | D | L | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | D | L | D | D | L | L | W | L | D | W | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | W | L | L | L | W | L | L |
| Position | 22 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |

## Results

Crystal Palace's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 August 1994 | Liverpool | H | 1–6 | 18,084 | Armstrong |
| 24 August 1994 | Norwich City | A | 0–0 | 19,015 | |
| 27 August 1994 | Aston Villa | A | 1–1 | 23,305 | Southgate |
| 30 August 1994 | Leeds United | H | 1–2 | 13,654 | Gordon |
| 10 September 1994 | Manchester City | A | 1–1 | 19,971 | Dyer |
| 17 September 1994 | Wimbledon | H | 0–0 | 12,100 | |
| 24 September 1994 | Chelsea | H | 0–1 | 16,030 | |
| 1 October 1994 | Arsenal | A | 2–1 | 34,136 | Salako (2) |
| 8 October 1994 | West Ham United | A | 0–1 | 16,959 | |
| 15 October 1994 | Newcastle United | H | 0–1 | 17,760 | |
| 22 October 1994 | Everton | H | 1–0 | 14,505 | Preece |
| 29 October 1994 | Leicester City | A | 1–0 | 20,022 | Preece |
| 2 November 1994 | Coventry City | A | 4–1 | 10,732 | Preece (2), Salako, Newman |
| 5 November 1994 | Ipswich Town | H | 3–0 | 13,349 | Newman, Armstrong, Salako |
| 19 November 1994 | Manchester United | A | 0–3 | 43,788 | |
| 26 November 1994 | Southampton | H | 0–0 | 14,007 | |
| 3 December 1994 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 0–1 | 21,930 | |
| 11 December 1994 | Liverpool | A | 0–0 | 30,972 | |
| 17 December 1994 | Norwich City | H | 0–1 | 12,252 | |
| 26 December 1994 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–0 | 16,372 | |
| 27 December 1994 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–0 | 27,730 | |
| 31 December 1994 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–1 | 14,232 | |
| 2 January 1995 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–1 | 21,326 | |
| 14 January 1995 | Leicester City | H | 2–0 | 12,707 | Newman, Ndah |
| 21 January 1995 | Everton | A | 1–3 | 23,733 | Coleman |
| 25 January 1995 | Manchester United | H | 1–1 | 18,224 | Southgate |
| 4 February 1995 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–0 | 15,570 | Dowie, Gordon (pen) |
| 11 February 1995 | Coventry City | H | 0–2 | 11,871 | |
| 25 February 1995 | Arsenal | H | 0–3 | 17,092 | |
| 5 March 1995 | Chelsea | A | 0–0 | 14,130 | |
| 14 March 1995 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–1 | 10,422 | Armstrong, Dowie |
| 18 March 1995 | Wimbledon | A | 0–2 | 8,835 | |
| 1 April 1995 | Manchester City | H | 2–1 | 13,312 | Armstrong, Patterson |
| 4 April 1995 | Aston Villa | H | 0–0 | 12,606 | |
| 14 April 1995 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | 18,149 | Armstrong |
| 17 April 1995 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–0 | 14,227 | Dowie |
| 20 April 1995 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 28,005 | Houghton |
| 29 April 1995 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–2 | 15,886 | Dowie |
| 3 May 1995 | Southampton | A | 1–3 | 15,151 | Southgate |
| 6 May 1995 | West Ham United | H | 1–0 | 14,227 | Armstrong |
| 9 May 1995 | Leeds United | A | 1–3 | 30,942 | Armstrong |
| 14 May 1995 | Newcastle United | A | 2–3 | 35,626 | Armstrong, Houghton |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 8 January 1995 | Lincoln City | H | 5–1 | 6,541 | Coleman, Armstrong, Gordon (pen), Salako (2) |
| R4 | 28 January 1995 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–1 | 16,790 | Armstrong, Dowie |
| R5 | 18 February 1995 | Watford | A | 0–0 | 13,814 | |
| R5R | 1 March 1995 | Watford | H | 1–0 | 10,321 | Ndah |
| QF | 11 March 1995 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 14,604 | Dowie |
| QFR | 22 March 1995 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 4–1 | 27,548 | Armstrong (2), Pitcher, Dowie |
| SF | 9 April 1995 | Manchester United | N | 2–2 | 38,256 | Dowie, Armstrong |
| SFR | 12 April 1995 | Manchester United | N | 0–2 | 17,987 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 20 September 1994 | Lincoln City | A | 0–1 | 4,310 | |
| R2 2nd Leg | 4 October 1994 | Lincoln City | H | 3–0 (won 3–1 on agg) | 6,870 | Gordon, Armstrong, Dyer |
| R3 | 25 October 1994 | Wimbledon | A | 1–0 | 9,394 | Armstrong |
| R4 | 30 November 1994 | Aston Villa | H | 4–1 | 12,653 | Armstrong (2), Southgate (2) |
| R5 | 11 January 1995 | Manchester City | H | 4–0 | 16,668 | Pitcher, Salako, Preece, Armstrong |
| SF 1st Leg | 15 February 1995 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 25,480 | |
| SF 2nd Leg | 8 March 1995 | Liverpool | H | 0–1 (lost 0–2 on agg) | 18,224 | |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Nigel Martyn |
| 2 | DF | ENG | John Humphrey |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Dean Gordon |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Gareth Southgate (captain) |
| 5 | DF | WAL | Eric Young |
| 6 | DF | WAL | Chris Coleman |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Simon Rodger |
| 8 | FW | NIR | Iain Dowie |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Armstrong |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Bruce Dyer |
| 11 | MF | ENG | John Salako |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Damian Matthew |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Richard Shaw |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Bobby Bowry |
| 16 | MF | ENG | Darren Pitcher |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Paul Williams |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Andy Preece |
| 19 | GK | WAL | Rhys Wilmot |
| 20 | MF | IRL | Ray Houghton |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Ian Cox |
| 22 | DF | NIR | Darren Patterson |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Ricky Newman |
| 24 | FW | ENG | George Ndah |
| 25 | GK | ENG | Jimmy Glass |
| 26 | MF | IRL | Brian Launders |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ray Wilkins (to Queens Park Rangers) |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Andy Thorn (to Wimbledon) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Glen Little (on loan to Derry City) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Jamie Vincent |
| — | DF | ENG | Danny Boxall |
| — | MF | SWE | Björn Enqvist |
| — | MF | ENG | Glen Little |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | IRL | Rob Quinn |
| — | MF | IRL | Tony Scully |
| — | FW | SCO | Kevin Hall |
| — | DF | ENG | Paul Sparrow |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
| 26 May 1994 | MF | Ray Wilkins | QPR | Free transfer |
| 23 June 1994 | FW | Andy Preece | Stockport County | £350,000 |
| 5 July 1994 | MF | Darren Pitcher | Charlton Athletic | £700,000 |
| 9 August 1994 | GK | Rhys Wilmot | Grimsby Town | £80,000 |
| 13 January 1995 | FW | Iain Dowie | Southampton | £400,000 |
| 10 February 1995 | MF | Björn Enqvist | Malmö FF | Signed |
| 23 March 1995 | MF | Ray Houghton | Aston Villa | £300,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos | Name | To | Fee |
| 4 July 1994 | GK | Andy Woodman | Exeter City | Free transfer |
| 5 July 1994 | MF | Stuart Massey | Oxford United | Free transfer |
| 5 July 1994 | FW | David Whyte | Charlton Athletic | £450,000 |
| 5 July 1994 | MF | Paul Mortimer | Charlton Athletic | £200,000 |
| 16 August 1994 | MF | Mark Hawthorne | Sheffield United | Free transfer |
| 17 August 1994 | MF | Simon Osborn | Reading | £90,000 |
| 5 October 1994 | DF | Andy Thorn | Wimbledon | Free transfer |
| 17 November 1994 | MF | Ray Wilkins | QPR | Free transfer |
    Transfers in: £1,830,000
    Transfers out: £740,000
    Total spending: £1,090,000