# 1995–96 Wimbledon F.C. season

During the 1995–96 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). It was their tenth successive season in the top flight of English football and although they finished 14th, lower than on any of the previous nine occasions, they finished high enough to maintain their top flight membership.

## Season summary

With the Premiership's lowest crowds and transfer budget, Wimbledon had begun most of their top division seasons since promotion in 1986 as pre-season relegation favourites, but the "Crazy Gang" spirit kept Wimbledon going once again, although their 14th-place finish was their lowest since joining the top flight 10 seasons earlier.
Dean Holdsworth and Efan Ekoku were once again a formidable strikerforce, while Vinnie Jones was as combative as ever and Oyvind Leonhardsen's performances attracted attention from several bigger clubs. Manager Joe Kinnear managed to hold on to all his key assets, as well as adding a few more, over the close season as he grew ever more determined to defy the odds once again.
It was the last season at Wimbledon for long-serving goalkeeper Hans Segers, who lost his place early in the season to Paul Heald and was transferred to Wolves soon afterwards. Within a few months however, Kinnear had decided on Neil Sullivan as his regular goalkeeper.
The season saw Wimbledon play in European competition for the first (and the only) time in their history, in the Intertoto Cup. However, as Selhurst Park was unavailable the club were forced to play the matches at Brighton & Hove Albion's Goldstone Ground. The lack of home support affected Wimbledon's performances, and they finished fourth in their group of five after a 4–0 home defeat to Turkish club Bursaspor, a 1–1 draw at Slovakian side Košice, a 0–0 draw with Israelis Beitar Jerusalem at home and a 3–0 away defeat at Belgian team Charleroi.

## Kit

Core became Wimbledon's kit manufacturers for the season. Birmingham-based electronics company Elonex remained the kit sponsors.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 43 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 43 |
| 14 | Wimbledon | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 70 | −15 | 41 |
| 15 | Sheffield Wednesday | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 40 |
| 16 | Coventry City | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 42 | 60 | −18 | 38 |

### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | D | D | L | D | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | D | L | W | W | D | W | W | L | L | D |
| Position | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |

## Results

Wimbledon's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 August 1995 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 3–2 | 9,317 | Ekoku, Earle, Holdsworth |
| 23 August 1995 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 3–0 | 11,837 | Leonhardsen, Holdsworth, Goodman |
| 26 August 1995 | Manchester United | A | 1–3 | 32,226 | Earle |
| 30 August 1995 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–2 | 6,352 | Goodman, Holdsworth (pen) |
| 9 September 1995 | Liverpool | H | 1–0 | 19,530 | Harford |
| 16 September 1995 | Aston Villa | A | 0–2 | 26,928 | |
| 23 September 1995 | Leeds United | H | 2–4 | 13,307 | Holdsworth, Reeves |
| 30 September 1995 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–3 | 25,321 | Earle |
| 16 October 1995 | West Ham United | H | 0–1 | 9,411 | |
| 21 October 1995 | Newcastle United | A | 1–6 | 36,434 | Gayle |
| 28 October 1995 | Southampton | H | 1–2 | 7,982 | Euell |
| 6 November 1995 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–4 | 20,810 | Jones |
| 18 November 1995 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–0 | 13,780 | |
| 22 November 1995 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 23,617 | |
| 25 November 1995 | Coventry City | A | 3–3 | 12,523 | Jones (pen), Goodman, Leonhardsen |
| 3 December 1995 | Newcastle United | H | 3–3 | 18,002 | Holdsworth (2), Ekoku |
| 9 December 1995 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | 27,984 | Leonhardsen |
| 16 December 1995 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0–1 | 16,193 | |
| 23 December 1995 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–1 | 7,105 | Earle |
| 26 December 1995 | Chelsea | A | 2–1 | 21,906 | Earle, Ekoku |
| 30 December 1995 | Arsenal | A | 3–1 | 37,640 | Earle (2), Holdsworth |
| 1 January 1996 | Everton | H | 2–3 | 11,121 | Holdsworth, Ekoku |
| 13 January 1996 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | 16,216 | |
| 20 January 1996 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 2–1 | 9,123 | Leonhardsen, Clarke |
| 3 February 1996 | Manchester United | H | 2–4 | 25,380 | Gayle, Euell |
| 10 February 1996 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–2 | 19,085 | Gayle |
| 24 February 1996 | Aston Villa | H | 3–3 | 12,193 | Goodman (2), Harford |
| 2 March 1996 | Chelsea | H | 1–1 | 17,048 | S. Clarke (own goal) |
| 13 March 1996 | Liverpool | A | 2–2 | 34,063 | Ekoku, Holdsworth |
| 16 March 1996 | Arsenal | H | 0–3 | 18,335 | |
| 23 March 1996 | Everton | A | 4–2 | 31,382 | Gayle, Castledine, Clarke, Goodman |
| 30 March 1996 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–0 | 9,807 | Holdsworth |
| 6 April 1996 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 20,402 | Jones |
| 8 April 1996 | Manchester City | H | 3–0 | 11,844 | Earle (2), Ekoku |
| 13 April 1996 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–1 | 29,192 | Earle, Ekoku |
| 17 April 1996 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 2–3 | 24,174 | Earle, Gayle |
| 27 April 1996 | Coventry City | H | 0–2 | 15,540 | |
| 5 May 1996 | Southampton | A | 0–0 | 15,172 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 1996 | Watford | A | 1–1 | 11,187 | Leonhardsen |
| R3R | 17 January 1996 | Watford | H | 1–0 | 5,142 | Clarke |
| R4 | 7 February 1996 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–0 | 28,915 | |
| R4R | 13 February 1996 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | 5,520 | Holdsworth |
| R5 | 17 February 1996 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–2 | 17,307 | Ekoku (2) |
| R5R | 28 February 1996 | Huddersfield Town | H | 3–1 | 7,015 | Ekoku, Goodman (2) |
| QF | 9 March 1996 | Chelsea | A | 2–2 | 30,805 | Holdsworth, Earle |
| QFR | 20 March 1996 | Chelsea | H | 1–3 | 21,380 | Goodman |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 19 September 1995 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4–5 | 3,717 | Holdsworth (2), Earle, Clarke |
| R2 2nd Leg | 3 October 1995 | Charlton Athletic | A | 3–3 (lost 7–8 on agg) | 9,823 | Earle, Holdsworth (2, 1 pen) |

### UEFA Intertoto Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| Group 10 | 24 June 1995 | Bursaspor | H | 0–4 | 1,879 | |
| Group 10 | 2 July 1995 | Košice | A | 1–1 | 4,023 | Piper |
| Group 10 | 15 July 1995 | Beitar Jerusalem | H | 0–0 | 702 | |
| Group 10 | 22 July 1995 | Charleroi | A | 0–3 | 2,014 | |
Note: Home games in the Intertoto Cup were played at the Goldstone Ground due to unavailability of White Hart Lane

## 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 | NED | Hans Segers |
| 2 | DF | IRL | Kenny Cunningham |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Alan Kimble |
| 4 | MF | WAL | Vinnie Jones |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Dean Blackwell |
| 6 | DF | IRL | Scott Fitzgerald |
| 7 | MF | NOR | Øyvind Leonhardsen |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Robbie Earle |
| 9 | FW | NGA | Efan Ekoku |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Dean Holdsworth |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Marcus Gayle |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Gary Elkins |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Paul Heald |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Jon Goodman |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Alan Reeves |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Andy Thorn |
| 17 | DF | SCO | Brian McAllister |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Neal Ardley |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Stewart Castledine |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Mick Harford |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Chris Perry |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Andy Clarke |
| 23 | GK | ENG | Neil Sullivan |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Peter Fear |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Gary Blissett |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Aidan Newhouse |
| 27 | FW | ENG | Grant Payne |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Steve Talboys |
| 29 | DF | ENG | Gerald Dobbs |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Roger Joseph |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Mark Thomas |
| 32 | DF | ENG | Justin Skinner |
| 33 | GK | IRL | Brendan Murphy |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Jason Euell |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Andy Pearce |

### Left club during the 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 |
| 35 | GK | ENG | Simon Tracey (on loan from Sheffield United) |

### Others

Iain Laidlaw (born 10 December 1976) is a defender who had represented the club in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, signed for the club that summer, but was released in 1997 without making a league appearance.

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
| 25 July 1995 | GK | Paul Heald | Leyton Orient | £125,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos | Name | From | Fee |
| 5 June 1995 | DF | Warren Barton | Newcastle United | £4,000,000 |
| 8 August 1995 | FW | Steve Anthrobus | Shrewsbury Town | £25,000 |
    Transfers in: £125,000
    Transfers out: £4,025,000
    Total spending: £3,900,000