| Season | 1993–94 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14 August 1993 – 8 May 1994 |
| Champions | Manchester United 2nd Premier League title 9thEnglish title |
| Relegated | Sheffield United Oldham Athletic Swindon Town |
| Champions League | Manchester United |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Arsenal Chelsea |
| UEFA Cup | Blackburn Rovers Newcastle United Aston Villa |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,195 (2.59 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Andy Cole (34 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | David Seaman (19 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Newcastle United 7–1 Swindon Town (12 March 1994) |
| Biggest away win | Swindon Town 0–5Liverpool (22 August 1993) Swindon Town 0–5Leeds United (7 May 1994) |
| Highest scoring | Norwich City 4–5Southampton (9 April 1994) |
| Longest winning run | 8 games[1] Manchester United |
| Longest unbeaten run | 22 games[1] Manchester United |
| Longest winless run | 15 games[1] Swindon Town |
| Longest losing run | 7 games[1] Tottenham Hotspur |
| Highest attendance | 45,347[2] Aston Villa 2–1 Liverpool (7 May 1994) |
| Lowest attendance | 4,739[2] Wimbledon 1–2Coventry City (26 December 1993) |
| Total attendance | 10,642,228[3] |
| Average attendance | 23,035[3] |
1994–95 → | |
The1993–94 FA Premier League (known as theFACarling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of theFA Premier League, the top division of professionalfootball in England.Manchester United won the league by eight points over nearest challengersBlackburn Rovers, their second consecutive league title.Swindon Town finished bottom of the league in their first season of top-flight football and were relegated along withSheffield United andOldham Athletic. Manchester United also broke their own record of the most points in a season, set by themselves theprevious season. This would be surpassed byChelsea in the2004–05 season.
From the start of the 1993–94 season, theFA Premier League was sponsored byCarling Breweries.
Just before the start of the season,Roy Keane became the most expensive footballer signed by an English football team. The 22-year-old Irishmidfielder left relegatedNottingham Forest for Manchester United for a fee of £3.75 million.
During the 1993–94 season, many players were transferred between Premier League clubs for fees exceeding £1 million. They includedDavid White (Manchester City toLeeds United),David Rocastle (Leeds United to Manchester City),Roy Wegerle (Blackburn Rovers toCoventry City) andTim Flowers (Southampton to Blackburn Rovers). At £2.5 million, Flowers became the most expensivegoalkeeper in English football.
Manchester United led the 1993–94 Premier League for almost all of the season, eventually finishing as champions eight points ahead of runners-up Blackburn Rovers. They also won theFA Cup after beating Chelsea 4–0 in thefinal, thereby becoming only the fourth team to achieve this feat in the 20th century (after Tottenham in 1961, Arsenal in 1971 and Liverpool in 1986). Their lead of the Premier League stood at 11 points by the end of October and peaked at 16 points at one stage, but a run of bad results in March was followed by defeat at Blackburn at the beginning of April, which meant that they now led the league merely on goal difference. A return to form towards the end of April then saw United seal the league title with two games still to play.
Norwich City,Leeds United,Newcastle United,Everton andAston Villa were among the sides who showed promise early in the season before Manchester United established a runaway lead. Norwich reached the third round of theUEFA Cup after famously beatingBayern Munich in the second round, but their league form slumped after managerMike Walker departed to Everton in January, and theNorfolk side finished 12th. Everton's brief lead of the league in the opening stages of the season was followed by a slump in form, and managerHoward Kendall stepped down at the beginning of December with the Toffees now in the bottom half of the table. They only narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season. Aston Villa finished a disappointing 10th in the league, but won theFootball League Cup for the fourth time.
Finishing runners-up in the Premier League were Blackburn Rovers, whose top scorerAlan Shearer found the net 31 times in the league. In third place came Newcastle United, whose 22-year-old strikerAndy Cole was the Premier League's leading scorer with 34 goals in 40 games, with a total of 41 goals in all competitions. In fourth place came Arsenal, who achieved success in European competition with a 1–0 win overParma in theCup Winners' Cupfinal.
Swindon Town managed just five league wins all season and were relegated in bottom place having conceded 100 league goals in 42 games; their record for the most goals conceded in a Premier League season would last for three decades before it was surpassed bySheffield United in2024. Oldham Athletic, who had avoided relegation on goal difference theprevious season, were relegated on the final day of the season after failing to win atNorwich City. The final relegation place went to Sheffield United, who were relegated from the top flight after a 3–2 defeat at Chelsea, with the winning goal coming in injury time (a draw would have been enough to survive, and a loss would have still been enough had Everton not won their final match, 3–2 at home toWimbledon after coming from 0–2 down).Ipswich Town, who failed to win any of their final 11 games, avoided relegation by holding Blackburn to a goalless draw atEwood Park, and were less than a minute from being relegated, only to be saved by Chelsea’s late win over Sheffield United.
Twenty-two teams competed in the league—the top nineteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from theFirst Division. The promoted teams wereNewcastle United,West Ham United andSwindon Town. Newcastle United and West Ham United returned to the top flight after absences of four and one year, respectively, while Swindon Town played in the top flight for the first time. They replacedCrystal Palace,Middlesbrough andNottingham Forest, who were relegated to theFirst Division after their top flight spells of four, one and sixteen years, respectively.
(as of 8 May 1994)
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | End of caretaker spell | 11 May 1993 | Pre-season | 4 June 1993 | ||
| Ipswich Town | Promoted to Director of Football | 30 May 1993 | 1 June 1993 | |||
| Swindon Town | Signed by Chelsea | 4 June 1993 | 4 June 1993 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Sacked | 19 June 1993 | 19 June 1993 | |||
| Manchester City | Sacked | 26 August 1993 | 20th | 27 August 1993 | ||
| End of caretaker spell | 28 August 1993 | 17th | 28 August 1993 | |||
| Coventry City | Resigned | 23 October 1993 | 14th | 23 October 1993 | ||
| Everton | 4 December 1993 | 13th | 4 December 1993 | |||
| End of caretaker spell | 6 January 1994 | 19th | 6 January 1994 | |||
| Norwich City | Signed by Everton | 8th | ||||
| Southampton | Sacked | 10 January 1994 | 21st | 10 January 1994 | ||
| End of caretaker spell | 20 January 1994 | 20th | 20 January 1994 | |||
| Liverpool | Sacked | 28 January 1994 | 5th | 30 January 1994 | ||
| Ipswich Town | Became assistant manager | 15 February 1994 | 14th | 16 February 1994 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United(C) | 42 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 80 | 38 | +42 | 92 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 63 | 36 | +27 | 84 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 82 | 41 | +41 | 77 | |
| 4 | Arsenal | 42 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 53 | 28 | +25 | 71 | Qualification for theCup Winners' Cup first round[a] |
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 65 | 39 | +26 | 70 | |
| 6 | Wimbledon | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 56 | 53 | +3 | 65 | |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 76 | 54 | +22 | 64 | |
| 8 | Liverpool | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 60 | |
| 9 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 62 | 61 | +1 | 60 | |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 57 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round[b] |
| 11 | Coventry City | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 56 | |
| 12 | Norwich City | 42 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 65 | 61 | +4 | 53 | |
| 13 | West Ham United | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 52 | |
| 14 | Chelsea | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 51 | Qualification for theCup Winners' Cup first round[c] |
| 15 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 54 | 59 | −5 | 45 | |
| 16 | Manchester City | 42 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 38 | 49 | −11 | 45 | |
| 17 | Everton | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 42 | 63 | −21 | 44 | |
| 18 | Southampton | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 49 | 66 | −17 | 43 | |
| 19 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 35 | 58 | −23 | 43 | |
| 20 | Sheffield United(R) | 42 | 8 | 18 | 16 | 42 | 60 | −18 | 42 | Relegation toFootball League First Division |
| 21 | Oldham Athletic(R) | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 42 | 68 | −26 | 40 | |
| 22 | Swindon Town(R) | 42 | 5 | 15 | 22 | 47 | 100 | −53 | 30 |
| Home \ Away | ARS | AVL | BLB | CHE | COV | EVE | IPS | LEE | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NOR | OLD | QPR | SHU | SHW | SOU | SWI | TOT | WHU | WIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Aston Villa | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 |
| Chelsea | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Coventry City | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Everton | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 4–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 |
| Ipswich Town | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Leeds United | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Liverpool | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Manchester City | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Manchester United | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Newcastle United | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 7–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Norwich City | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–5 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Oldham Athletic | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Sheffield United | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 |
| Southampton | 0–4 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | — | 5–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Swindon Town | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–4 | 1–1 |
| West Ham United | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | 0–2 |
| Wimbledon | 0–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — |

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle United | 34 | |
| 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 31 | |
| 3 | Southampton | 25 | |
| Norwich City | |||
| 5 | Arsenal | 23 | |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 21 | |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 19 | |
| 8 | Manchester United | 18 | |
| 9 | Wimbledon | 17 | |
| Leeds United | |||
| 10 | Everton | 16 | |
| Queens Park Rangers |

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coventry City | Arsenal | 3–0 (A)[5] | 14 August 1993 | |
| Everton | Sheffield United | 4–2 (H)[6] | 21 August 1993 | |
| Arsenal | Ipswich Town | 4–0 (H)[7] | 11 September 1993 | |
| Norwich City | Everton | 5–1 (A)[8] | 25 September 1993 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | Leeds United | 3–3 (A)[9] | 23 October 1993 | |
| Newcastle United | Wimbledon | 4–0 (H)[10] | 30 October 1993 | |
| Liverpool | Southampton | 4–2 (H)[11] | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | Everton | 3–0 (A)[12] | 20 November 1993 | |
| Newcastle United | Liverpool | 3–0 (H)[13] | 21 November 1993 | |
| Arsenal | Swindon Town | 4–0 (A)[14] | 27 December 1993 | |
| Everton | 6–2 (H)[15] | 15 January 1994 | ||
| Swindon Town | Coventry City | 3–1 (H)[16] | 5 February 1994 | |
| Aston Villa | Swindon Town | 5–0 (H)[17] | 12 February 1994 | |
| Southampton | Liverpool | 4–2 (H)[18] | 14 February 1994 | |
| Newcastle United | Coventry City | 4–0 (H)[19] | 23 February 1994 | |
| Arsenal | Ipswich Town | 5–1 (A)[20] | 5 March 1994 | |
| Southampton | 4–0 (A)[21] | 19 March 1994 | ||
| Southampton | Norwich City | 5–4 (A)[22] | 9 April 1994 | |
| Wimbledon | Oldham Athletic | 3–0 (H)[23] | 26 April 1994 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[24] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 19 | |
| 2 | Manchester United | 15 | |
| 3 | West Ham United | 14 | |
| 4 | Southampton | 13 | |
| 5 | Chelsea | 11 | |
| Coventry City | |||
| Wimbledon | |||
| Everton | |||
| 9 | Manchester City | 10 | |
| Ipswich Town | |||
| Norwich City |

| Month | Manager of the Month | References | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | ||
| August | Manchester United | [29] | |
| September | Wimbledon | [29] | |
| October | Norwich City | [29] | |
| November | Newcastle United | [29] | |
| December | Sheffield Wednesday | [29] | |
| January | Blackburn Rovers | [29] | |
| February | Oldham Athletic | [29] | |
| March | Wimbledon | [29] | |
| April | [29] | ||
| PFA Team of the Year |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League Manager of the Season | Manchester United | |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | ||
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Newcastle United | |
| FWA Footballer of the Year | Blackburn Rovers |
| PFA Team of the Year[34] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||||
| Defenders | (Leeds United) | (Manchester United) | (Arsenal) | (Manchester United) | ||||||||
| Midfielders | (Manchester United) | (Leeds United) | (Blackburn Rovers) | |||||||||
| Forwards | (Blackburn Rovers) | (Manchester United) | (Newcastle United) | |||||||||
Manchester United drew the highest average home attendance in the second edition of the Premier League.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance[35] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 21 | 44,244 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 21 | 38,503 |
| 3 | Leeds United | 21 | 34,495 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 21 | 33,689 |
| 5 | Arsenal FC | 21 | 30,564 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 21 | 29,015 |
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 21 | 27,191 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 27,160 |
| 9 | Manchester City | 21 | 26,709 |
| 10 | Everton FC | 21 | 22,868 |
| 11 | West Ham United | 21 | 20,593 |
| 12 | Sheffield United | 21 | 19,564 |
| 13 | Chelsea FC | 21 | 19,416 |
| 14 | Norwich City | 21 | 18,164 |
| 15 | Blackburn Rovers | 21 | 17,690 |
| 16 | Ipswich Town | 21 | 16,379 |
| 17 | Swindon Town | 21 | 15,248 |
| 18 | Southampton FC | 21 | 14,751 |
| 19 | Queens Park Rangers | 21 | 14,228 |
| 20 | Coventry City | 21 | 13,353 |
| 21 | Oldham Athletic | 21 | 12,477 |
| 22 | Wimbledon FC | 21 | 10,474 |