1992-93 in English football

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The **1992–93 season** was the 113th season of **football in England**. The season saw the Premier League in its first season, replacing Division One of the Football League as the top league in England. Every team in the Premier League played each other twice within the season, one game away and one at home, and were awarded three points for a win and one for a draw.

## Overview

This season saw the birth of the FA Premier League. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions.

In 1992 all of the First Division Clubs resigned from the Football League and, on 27 May, the FA Premier League was formed as a limited company, which worked out of an office at the then Football Association's headquarters, Lancaster Gate.

The three divisions which remained in the Football League were renamed. The old Division Two was now called Division One. The old Division Three was now called Division Two, and the old Division Four was now Division Three.

## Individual achievements

### Players

Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs, 19, was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for the second year running after helping his employers win their first league title for 26 years.

Teddy Sheringham was the new Premier League's top scorer with 22 goals. He scored once for Nottingham Forest and was then transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, opening his goalscoring account with the club by scoring 21 league goals.

Chris Waddle was voted FWA Footballer of the Year after helping Sheffield Wednesday reach both domestic cup finals.

Guy Whittingham scores a club record 42 league goals during the season for Portsmouth. He was on target 46 times in all competitions.

The PFA Players' Player of the Year award went to experienced Aston Villa centre-back Paul McGrath.

Gary Pallister played every minute of Manchester United's title-winning Premier League campaign. No other player matched that feat until the 2014–15 season, more than two decades later.

Coventry signed Newcastle striker Micky Quinn for a nominal fee in November, and he responded by scoring 17 Premier League goals (the first 10 in 6 games) to keep the Sky Blues clear of relegation.

Striker Les Ferdinand established himself as one of the country's top marksmen with more than 20 goals in all competitions for Queens Park Rangers.

Alan Shearer scored 16 goals in his first 21 Premier League games for Blackburn Rovers before a serious knee injury ended his season.

David Kelly scored 25 Division One goals to help Newcastle win promotion to the Premier League, but surprisingly he spurned the chance of Premier League football to sign for Wolves as strike-partner for the ever-prolific Steve Bull.

Andy Cole scored 12 goals in his first 12 games for Division One champions Newcastle.

### Managers

Alex Ferguson took Manchester United to title success in the new Premier League, ending their 26-year wait for the league title.

George Graham guided Arsenal to a unique double of winning both domestic cups in the same season.

Mike Walker pulled off one of the surprises of the season by taking Norwich City to a club best finish of third in the Premier League and helping them achieve European qualification for the first time in their history.

Gerry Francis helped Queens Park Rangers finish highest out of all the London-based clubs in the new Premier League as they finished fifth.

Kevin Keegan restored success to Newcastle United by guiding them to the Division One title.

Glenn Hoddle guided Swindon Town to success in the Division One playoffs to achieve promotion to the Premier League – and top-flight football for a club who had never played at that level before.

Lou Macari won the Division Two title with Stoke City.

Bruce Rioch continued the revival at Bolton Wanderers by gaining automatic promotion to Division One.

Alan Little had a dream start in management by winning the Division Three playoff with York City, just two months after he had taken over from John Ward.

Martin O'Neill took Wycombe Wanderers into the Football League as Conference champions.

## Events

### Top division's first season as Premier League

The FA launched its new Premier League of 22 elite clubs, which broke away from the Football League. The new league was backed up by a £305million exclusive TV rights deal with BSkyB. This paved the way for the Premier League's members to spend heavily on new players and also to convert their stadia into an all-seater format, which was necessary as a result of the Taylor Report's requirement that top division stadia should be all seater from the start of the 1994–95 season.

### Man United win title after 26 years

Manchester United won the first Premier League championship to end their 26-year wait for the league title. They fought off stiff competition from runners-up Aston Villa, third-placed Norwich City and fourth-placed Blackburn Rovers to finish top of the league. Brilliant young winger Ryan Giggs was PFA Young Player of the Year for the second year running, while Alex Ferguson received the Manager of the Year award. Other significant players in the title winning side were top goalscorer Mark Hughes, temperamental but brilliant French striker Eric Cantona (bought from Leeds United in mid-season), reliable centre back Gary Pallister and confident midfielder Paul Ince. Manchester United would go on further to dominate the Premier League for the next 30 years, with challenges coming from Arsenal, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea for the title. The top three of Manchester United, Aston Villa and Norwich City mirrors that of the final Second Division table of 1974-75, the last season Manchester United played outside the top flight. Blackburn Rovers won the Third Division the same season.

### Arsenal win cup double

Arsenal became the first team to win the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 in both finals. Steve Morrow scored the winning goal in the League Cup final, but was accidentally dropped by captain Tony Adams during the post-match celebrations, broke his arm and missed the FA Cup triumph. Arsenal's double gave them two places in UEFA competitions, meaning that Norwich City were awarded a UEFA Cup place for finishing third in the League. Norwich had never qualified for Europe before, due to the ban on English clubs following the Heysel stadium disaster.

### Nottingham Forest relegated

Brian Clough retired after 18 years as manager of Nottingham Forest. In his final season as manager they were relegated from the Premier League, but earlier in his reign he had brought league championship and European Cup glory to the previously unfashionable club. There had even been some success in the final few years of his reign, as Forest were League Cup winners in 1989 and 1990. They were losing finalists in the 1991 FA Cup and 1992 League Cup, but finally bowed out of the top flight after the sale of key players like Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham who proved impossible to replace.

### Swindon reach top division

Swindon Town finally reached the top flight of English football by beating Leicester City 4–3 in the Division One playoff final. They had been denied promotion three years earlier because of financial irregularities.

Manager of the jubilant Swindon side was 36-year-old Glenn Hoddle, the former Tottenham and England midfielder, who had built a formidable squad containing players like Shaun Taylor, Micky Hazard and Craig Maskell. Shortly after achieving promotion glory with Swindon, Hoddle agreed to become manager of Chelsea and was replaced at the County Ground by his assistant John Gorman.

### Wycombe get in the League

Martin O'Neill, who played in the great Nottingham Forest team of the late 1970s and early 1980s, achieved his first success in management by getting Wycombe Wanderers promoted to the Football League as well as completing the double by winning the FA Trophy. They replaced Halifax Town, who finished bottom of Division Three. Wycombe's fortunes had been looking good since they moved into their new Adams Park ground in 1990, and the Conference and FA Trophy double all but erased memories of the previous year when they went through the agony of missing out on promotion on goal difference to their bitter rivals Colchester United.

### Maidstone lose place in the League

Maidstone United, struggling in the league's basement division with huge debts, no registered stadium and just two registered players, had their first game of the 1992–93 season cancelled and were given two days to guarantee that they would be able to fulfill their fixtures. Unable to comply with these requirements, the club resigned from the league on 17 August 1992. The club was soon reformed and applied to join the Kent County League for the following season. The League decided that Maidstone would not be replaced by another club, so the top four tiers of the English league pyramid would revert to the 92-club format which it had adopted until 1991.

### Barnet win promotion

Controversial chairman Stan Flashman quit Barnet after a season of turmoil in which he regularly sacked and reinstated manager Barry Fry, but the club still managed to win promotion from Division Three despite spending months on the verge of oblivion due to a mounting financial crisis. They had been banned from the transfer market for most of the season because they were unable to afford their player's wages.

### League changes sponsor

Barclays bank ended their six-year sponsorship of the Football League. They were replaced by Endsleigh Insurance, who put pen to paper in a three-year sponsorship deal.

## Notable debuts

5 September 1992: Andy Turner, midfielder aged 17 years and 166 days, becomes the youngest Premier League scorer when he scores on his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur against Everton.

16 September 1992: Gary Neville, 17-year-old defender, makes his debut for Manchester United against Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup first round first leg tie at Old Trafford, which ends in a goalless draw.

23 September 1992: David Beckham, 17-year-old midfielder, comes on as a substitute for Manchester United as they draw 1–1 at Brighton in the Football League Cup second round first leg.

27 September 1992: Nick Barmby, 18-year-old attacking midfielder, makes his debut for Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–0 Premier League defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

21 November 1992: Nicky Butt, 17-year-old midfielder, comes on a substitute for Manchester United in their 3–0 home win over Oldham Athletic in the Premier League.

5 December 1992: Sol Campbell, 18-year-old defender, scores on his debut for Tottenham Hotspur as they lose 2–1 at home to Chelsea in the Premier League.

## Notable retirements

* Tommy Caton, Charlton Athletic defender formerly with Manchester City and Arsenal, retired in March after two years out of action with injury, and died the following month from a heart attack at the age of 30.
* Brian Clough, Legendary Manager of Hartlepools United, Derby County, Brighton, Leeds United, and Nottingham Forest manager retired after 28 years in club management. His last meaningful game on 6 May 1993 against Sheffield United confirmed Nottingham Forest relegation following a 2-0 defeat at The City Ground.
* Chris Hughton, former Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland defender, retired at end of season when playing for Brentford.
* Darren Salton, retired after being badly injured in a car crash in November. Had played 18 times in the league for Luton Town and was capped six times by the Scotland under-21 side. His teammate Paul Telfer was also in the car but suffered only minor injuries.
* Gary A. Stevens, Portsmouth defender, retired after failing to recover from a knee injury suffered in the 1988–89 season when tackled by Vinnie Jones.

## Top goalscorers

### Premier League

* Teddy Sheringham (Nottingham Forest/Tottenham Hotspur) – 22 goals

### Division One

* Guy Whittingham (Portsmouth) – 42 goals

### Division Two

* Bob Taylor (West Bromwich Albion) – 30 goals

### Division Three

* Darren Foreman (Scarborough)/Carl Griffiths (Shrewsbury Town) – 27 goals

English League Leading Goalscorers

## Honours

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour (First Division & Premier League). Number after slash is Premier League only. \* indicates new record for competition

## Final league standings

### Division One

Main article: Football League First Division (1992-2004) 1992-93
### Division Two

Main article: Football League Second Division (1992-2004) 1992-93
### Division Three

Main article: Football League Third Division (1992-2004) 1992-93
### Conference National

Main article: Conference National 1992-93

## Cup finals

### Football League Cup

Main article: Football League Cup 1992-93

### Football League Trophy

Main article: Football League Trophy 1992-93

## Deaths

* 11 July 1992 – Ted Fenton, 77, who died from injuries sustained in a Leicestershire car crash, was manager of West Ham United from 1950 to 1961 and had served them as a player from 1932 to 1946.
* 11 December 1992 – Billy Cook, 83, was the last surviving player from Everton's FA Cup winning side of 1933. He was also capped 15 times for Northern Ireland at centre-half.
* 25 December 1992 – Ted Croker, 68, was Secretary of The Football Association from 1973 to 1989. He was the younger brother of footballer Peter Croker, who won the FA Cup with Charlton Athletic in 1947.
* 11 January 1993 – Tommy Walker, 77, played 97 league games at inside-forward for Chelsea in the immediate post World War II years after his transfer from Hearts, where he had been prolific with 192 goals in 170 Scottish league games. He was less prolific south of the border, but after retiring as a player enjoyed huge success back at Hearts as manager, winning no less than seven major trophies between 1951 and 1966.
* 17 February 1993 – Jack Froggatt, 70, forward who won the league with Portsmouth in 1949 and 1950, and was capped 13 times by England.
* 24 February 1993 – Bobby Moore, 51, who captained England to World Cup glory in 1966 as well as winning an FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup with West Ham, died after a two-year battle against bowel cancer. Just over a week before his death, Moore had given radio commentary on an England game. More than 1,800 people attended a memorial service to Moore at Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1993.
* 3 March 1993 – Tony Bland, 22, who had been in a coma for nearly four years due to injuries suffered in the Hillsborough disaster, became the tragedy's 96th victim when he died following a landmark High Court ruling which allowed treatment to be withdrawn.
* April 1993 – Roy Bailey, 60, former Crystal Palace and Ipswich goalkeeper. Kept goal for Ipswich when they won the league in 1962. Father of Manchester United and England goalkeeper Gary Bailey.
* 30 April 1993 – Tommy Caton, 30, who played for Manchester City, Arsenal, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic. Was on the losing side for Manchester City in the 1981 F.A Cup final. Died following a heart attack in April 1993.
* 30 May 1993 – Mel Rees, 26, Sheffield United goalkeeper, died of cancer. Had previously played for Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion.
* 8 June 1993 – John Atyeo, 61, who played for Bristol City during the postwar years, scored a club record total of 350 goals in nearly 600 games between 1951 and 1966. He was capped six times at senior level by England during the 1950s, scoring five goals.