The 1993-94 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United, who improved upon their title win of the previous year, losing just four times in 42 matches.
United finished on 92 points, eight clear of their nearest challengers Blackburn Rovers, and a full 15 ahead of third-placed Newcastle United, though both those sides showed enough to suggest that they could represent a more sustained challenge to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in the future.
CHANGES
After such a strong performance the season prior Sir Alex Ferguson sought to strengthen his midfield further and looked no further than Republic of Ireland international Roy Keane, who was signed for a fee of £3.75m, the biggest spent by any English club to that date.
Elsewhere Blackburn Rovers made Tim Flowers the most expensive English keeper ever, by giving Southampton £2.5m for his services, as Kenny Dalglish continued to build a team that could challenge for honours.
But it was a low-key summer for both Arsenal and Liverpool, with both sides failing to suitably strengthen their squads, leading to a real fear from their fans that they could be left behind the challengers.
Newcastle United were promoted to the Premiership as champions, closely followed by West Ham United. Through the playoffs came a Swindon Town side orchestrated by player-manager Glenn Hoddle. In a dramatic final Swindon went 3-0 up against Leicester City before being pulled back to 3-3, only to clinch their route to the top flight thanks to a late penalty.
SEASON SUMMARY
Blackburn Rovers emerged as a real force this season but, in truth, Manchester United were the best in the division by some distance. Ferguson’s side went top after just four matches and remained there for the entire season.
An early aberration, losing to Chelsea, aside, United wouldn’t lose until March – ironically, again to the Blues and Gavin Peacock. Eric Cantona’s first full season saw him integrate with his team-mates to devastating effect, and goals could be…
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Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-20 10:00:00
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