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The 1992-1993 season was the 113th season of competitive football in England.

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 27th May 1992 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 called Division Three.

Successful 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 Player of the Year by the FWA after helping Sheffield Wednesday reach both domestic cup finals.

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

Successful 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 Premiership 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 Premiership - 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 perpetuated 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

The Premier League is born

The FA launched its new Premier League of 22 elite clubs, who broke away from the Football League. The new league was backed up by a £305million exclusive T.V 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 stadiums into an all-seater format, which was necessary as a result of the Taylor Report's requirement that top division stadiums should be all seater from the start of the 1994-95 season.

United's 26-year title wait ends

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, tempermental but brilliant French striker Eric Cantona, reliable centre back Gary Pallister and confident midfielder Paul Ince.

The Fall of Forest

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 F.A 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.

Bobby Moore dies

Bobby Moore died of cancer aged 51. He is best remembered for captaining England to World Cup glory in 1966. He also won the FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup with West Ham United. Just over a week before his death, Moore had given radio commentation on an England game.

Morrow crocked as Arsenal crack the 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.

Swindon in the big time at last

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 reach 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. 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 previous year they had only missed out on promotion because they had a lesser goal difference than Colchester United.

Barclay's pull out

Barclay's 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.

Barnet come out on top against all the odds

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 banned from the transfer market for most of the season because they were unable to afford their player's wages.

Maidstone go under

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 17th 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.

Honours

Competition Winner
FA CupArsenal
League CupArsenal
FA Premier LeagueManchester United
Football League First DivisionNewcastle United
Football League Second DivisionStoke City
Football League Third DivisionCardiff City

English national team

Date Opposition Venue Competition Result Score
9th Sep 1992 Spain El Sardinero, Santander Friendly Lost 0-1
14th Oct 1992 Norway Wembley World Cup Qualifier Drew 1-1
18th Nov 1992 Turkey Wembley World Cup Qualifier Won 4-0
17th Feb 1993 San Marino Wembley World Cup Qualifier Won 6-0
31st Mar 1993 Turkey Atatürk Stadyumu, Izmir, Turkey World Cup Qualifier Won 2-0
28th Apr 1993 Netherlands Wembley World Cup Qualifier Drew 2-2
29th May 1993 Poland Stadion S'la;ski, Chorzów, Poland World Cup Qualifier Drew 1-1
2nd Jun 1993 Norway Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway World Cup Qualifier Lost 0-2
9th Jun 1993 U.S.A. Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA US Cup Lost 0-2
13th Jun 1993 Brazil R. F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington DC, USA US Cup Drew 1-1
19th Jun 1993 Germany Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan, USA US Cup Lost 1-2

League tables

FA Premier League

{| class="wikitable"

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points 1. Man Utd 42 24 12 6 67 31 84 2. Aston Villa 42 21 11 10 57 40 74 3. Norwich 42 21 9 12 61 65 72 4. Blackburn 42 20 11 11 68 46 71 5. Q.P.R. 42 17 12 13 63 55 63 6. Liverpool 42 16 11 15 62 55 59 7. Sheffield Wed 42 15 14 13 55 51 59 8. Tottenham 42 16 11 15 60 66 59 9. Man City 42 15 12 15 56 51 57 10. Arsenal 42 15 11 16 40 38 56 11. Chelsea 42 14 14 14 51 54 56 12. Wimbledon 42 14 12 16 56 55 54 13. Everton 42 15 8 19 53 55 53 14. Sheffield Utd 42 14 10 18 54 53 52 15. Coventry 42 13 13 16 52 57 52 16. Ipswich 42 12 16 14 50 55 52 17. Leeds Utd 42 12 15 15 57 62 51 18. Southampton 42 13 11 18 54 61 50 19. Oldham Ath 42 13 10 19 63 74 49 20. Crystal Palace 42 11 16 15 48 61 49 21. Middlesbrough 42 11 11 20 54 75 44 22. Nottingham F 42 10 10 22 41 62 40

Football League Division One

Newcastle United's first full season under the management of Kevin Keegan ended in Division One championship glory and promotion to the Premiership. They have not looked back since. Following the Tynesiders into football's big-money league were West Ham United and Swindon Town.

Going down were Cambridge United (who had just missed out on promotion a year earlier), Brentford and Bristol Rovers.

Third-placed Portsmouth had opened up a 10-point gap over fourth-placed Tranmere Rovers, but lost to Leicester City in the playoff semi-finals and this ended any promotion hopes for a club who had begun the season as favourites for promotion.

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
1. Newcastle 46 29 9 8 92 38 96
2. West Ham 46 26 10 10 81 41 88
3. Portsmouth 46 26 10 10 80 46 88
4. Tranmere 46 23 10 13 72 56 79
5. Swindon 46 21 13 12 74 59 76
6. Leicester 46 22 10 14 71 64 76
7. Millwall 46 18 16 12 65 53 70
8. Derby 46 19 9 18 68 57 66
9. Grimsby 46 19 7 20 58 57 64
10. Peterborough 46 16 14 16 55 63 62
11. Wolves 46 16 13 17 57 56 61
12. Charlton 46 16 13 17 49 46 61
13. Barnsley 46 17 9 20 56 60 60
14. Oxford 46 14 14 18 53 56 56
15. Bristol City 46 14 14 18 49 67 56
16. Watford 46 14 13 19 57 71 55
17. Notts C 46 12 16 18 55 70 52
18. Southend 46 13 13 20 54 64 52
19. Birmingham 46 13 12 21 50 72 51
20. Luton 46 10 21 15 48 62 51
21. Sunderland 46 13 11 22 50 64 50
22. Brentford 46 13 10 23 52 71 49
23. Cambridge 46 11 16 19 48 69 49
24. Bristol Rovers 46 10 11 25 55 87 41

Football League Division Two

Lou Macari guided Stoke City to their first successful season in years as they were crowned Division Two champions. Bruce Rioch brought some long-awaited success to Bolton Wanderers as they occupied the division's second promotion place. Osvaldo Ardiles guided West Bromwich Albion to promotion via the playoffs.

Preston North End, Wigan Athletic, Mansfield Town and Chester City occupied Division Two's four relegation places.

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
1. Stoke 46 27 12 7 73 34 93
2. Bolton 46 27 9 10 80 41 90
3. Port Vale 46 26 11 9 79 44 89
4. West Brom 46 25 10 11 88 54 85
5. Swansea 46 20 13 13 65 47 73
6. Stockport 46 19 15 12 81 57 72
7. Leyton Orient 46 21 9 16 69 53 72
8. Reading 46 18 15 13 66 51 69
9. Brighton 46 20 9 17 63 59 69
10. Bradford City 46 18 14 14 69 67 68
11. Rotherham 46 17 14 15 60 60 65
12. Fulham 46 16 17 13 57 55 65
13. Burnley 46 15 16 15 57 59 61
14. Plymouth 46 16 12 18 59 64 60
15. Huddersfield 46 17 9 20 54 61 60
16. Hartlepool 46 14 12 20 42 60 54
17. Bournemouth 46 12 17 17 45 52 53
18. Blackpool 46 12 15 19 63 75 51
19. Exeter 46 11 17 18 54 69 50
20. Hull 46 13 11 22 46 69 50
21. Preston 46 13 8 25 65 94 47
22. Mansfield 46 11 11 24 52 80 44
23. Wigan 46 10 11 25 43 72 41
24. Chester 46 8 5 33 49 102 29

Football League Division Three

Cardiff City and Wrexham continued their good progress by occupying Division Three's top two places. They were joined in third place by Barnet, who had spent most of the season on the brink of expulsion from the league due to financial problems. The final promotion place went to York City.

Halifax Town finished bottom of the league and were replaced by Conference champions Wycombe Wanderers.

Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
1. Cardiff 42 25 8 9 77 47 83
2. Wrexham 42 23 11 8 75 52 80
3. Barnet 42 23 10 9 66 48 79
4. York City 42 21 12 9 72 45 75
5. Walsall 42 22 7 13 76 61 73
6. Crewe 42 21 7 14 75 56 70
7. Bury 42 18 9 15 63 55 63
8. Lincoln 42 18 9 15 57 53 63
9. Shrewsbury 42 17 11 14 57 52 62
10. Colchester 42 18 5 19 67 76 59
11. Rochdale 42 16 10 16 70 70 58
12. Chesterfield 42 15 11 16 59 63 56
13. Scarborough 42 15 9 18 66 71 54
14. Scunthorpe 42 14 12 16 57 54 54
15. Darlington 42 12 14 16 48 53 50
16. Doncaster 42 11 14 17 42 57 47
17. Hereford 42 10 15 17 47 60 45
18. Carlisle 42 11 11 20 51 65 44
19. Torquay 42 12 7 23 45 67 43
20. Northampton 42 11 8 23 48 74 41
21. Gillingham 42 9 13 20 48 64 40
22. Halifax 42 9 9 24 45 68 36

Transfer deals

For subsequent transfer deals see 1993-94 in English football.

Deaths

  • 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.
  • Bobby Moore, 51, who captained England to World Cup glory in 1966 as well as winning an F.A Cup and Cup Winners Cup with West Ham, died after a two-year battle against bowel cancer.
  • Melvin Rees, Sheffield United goalkeeper, died of cancer aged 25. Had previously played for Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion.
  • Daniel Yorath, 15-year-old son of Wales manager Terry, collapsed and died as a result of a rare heart condition, just after joining the Leeds United youth team.
  • John Atyeo, who played for Bristol City during the postwar years, scored a total of 350 goals in nearly 600 games for his club - a club record which remains to this day.

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "1992-93 in English football".

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