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The 1992–93 FA Premier League was the inaugural season of the Premier League, the top division of English football. The season began on 15 August 1992 and ended on 11 May 1993. The league was made up of the 22 clubs that broke away from the Football League at the end of the 1991–92 season. The new league was backed up by a five-year, £304 million deal with Sky to televise Premier League matches. In concept, the Premier League was identical to the old First Division of the Football League, which was now reduced to three divisions.

Overview

Background

In May 1992, the breakaway league signed a broadcasting rights contract with Sky and the BBC valued at £304 million, the largest such agreement in the history of British sport. The league's executive committee was unable, however, to secure title sponsorship for the new competition after eight clubs blocked a proposed £13 million deal with brewers Bass. Nonetheless, clubs began to utilise their dramatically increased wealth to fund a series of high-profile transfers.

Although the idea of a super league had been mentioned by football's governing bodies and evaluated by the media since the mid-1980s, plans for a new Premier League of 22 clubs were first unveiled by the Football Association in October 1990, and included in the Football Association's Blueprint for the Future of Football, published in June 1991. The majority of First Division clubs, particularly long-established top clubs including Arsenal and Manchester United, were in favour of a breakaway from the Football League, although Football League president Bill Fox criticised the planned Premier League as an attempt by the Football Association to "hijack" the First Division.

Shortly before the season began, newly promoted Blackburn Rovers signed Southampton's 21-year-old England international striker Alan Shearer for a new British record fee variously reported as £3.3 million, £3.4 million, or £3.6 million. Several other players moved for fees of £2 million or more, including Arsenal's David Rocastle, who joined Leeds United, Dean Saunders, who moved from Liverpool to Aston Villa, and Teddy Sheringham, who left Nottingham Forest for Tottenham Hotspur.

The structure of the new league was identical to that of the previous season's Football League First Division, comprising 22 teams, with each playing the other 21 twice for a total of 42 matches. Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough had been promoted from the old Second Division as champions and runners-up respectively, and Blackburn Rovers took the third promotion place after winning the 1991–92 Second Division play-off.

Season summary

The first Premier League title went to Manchester United, the club's first title in 26 years. Their title was achieved with a 10-point lead over runners-up Aston Villa, after overcoming a slow start to the season which had seen them slip to mid table, with the signing of French striker Eric Cantona in late November proving to be the catalyst for their improved form which saw them lose just two league games after his arrival.

Norwich City led the table for most of the first half of the season, but their challenge faded in the final weeks of the campaign, and were out of contention with three games remaining, after they lost 3–1 to Ipswich Town. Norwich did however finish in third place, achieving European qualification in Mike Walker's debut season as manager; with a goal difference of −4, this is the highest Premier League finish by a team with a negative goal difference. Blackburn, in the top division for the first time in almost 30 years, finished in fourth place. They briefly led the league early in the season, but suffered a shortage of goals after Alan Shearer, who had scored 16 times before the turn of the year, suffered a torn cruciate ligament and missed the second half of the season. The title race was largely between the clubs who finished in the top four after early challenges from the likes of Arsenal, Coventry City, and Queens Park Rangers were not sustained.

Nottingham Forest's league form had suffered through the sale of key players including Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham, and they were bottom of the Premier League for the majority of the season. Their relegation was confirmed in early May when they lost to Sheffield United, and manager Brian Clough announced his retirement after 18 years as manager, which had yielded one league title, two European Cups and four League Cups. Next to go were newly promoted Middlesbrough, who fell from mid-table at Christmas to go down in second from bottom place. Last to go down were Crystal Palace, who failed to win their final game of the season which would have instead consigned Oldham Athletic to the final relegation place - Oldham's survival was secured with a thrilling 4–3 win over Southampton.

Title holders Leeds United finished 17th, which was the lowest finish from a defending league champion since Ipswich Town finished 17th in 1962–63 after having won the title in 1961–62, and the lowest any top tier champions have so far finished in the Premier League. Leeds failed to win an away game in the league. The lowest a defending champion has finished since then has been 12th (Leicester City in 2016–17, having won the title in 2015–16). Liverpool, who had been the English league’s dominant force of the previous two decades with an honours list including 11 league titles between 1973 and 1990, finished a disappointing sixth, and had been in the bottom half of the table as late as March.

In total 1,222 goals were scored, which until the 2023-24 Premier League, stood as a Premier League record, mainly due to significantly larger number of games from 1995–96 season onward. The top scorer in the new Premier League was Teddy Sheringham, who found the net for Nottingham Forest in their opening game of the season before being sold to Tottenham Hotspur, scoring a further 21 goals for the North London side in the league. PFA Player of the Year was Paul McGrath of Aston Villa. FWA Player of the Year was Chris Waddle, who helped Sheffield Wednesday achieve runners-up spot in both of the cups after ending his three-year spell in France. PFA Young Player of the Year was Ryan Giggs, who won the award for the second year running, and also picked up a league title medal with Manchester United.

On 26 January, Wimbledon hosted Everton at Selhurst Park in front of a crowd of just over 3,000. More than 30 years on, this remains the lowest attendance recorded at a Premier League match. Despite their frequently low attendances, Wimbledon managed to climb clear of the relegation battle during the second half of the season to finish 12th.

Teams

Twenty-two teams competed in the league – the top nineteen teams from the First Division and the three teams promoted from the Second Division. The promoted teams were Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers, returning to the top flight after an absence of six, three and twenty-six years respectively. They replaced Luton Town, Notts County and West Ham United, who were relegated to the First Division, ending Luton Town's ten-year spell in the top flight, whilst both Notts County and West Ham United were relegated after only one year in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

1. ^ Due to Wimbledon lacking a home stadium, they played their home games at Selhurst Park, which is the home stadium of Crystal Palace.

Personnel and kits

(as of 9 May 1993)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arsenal	George Graham	Tony Adams	Adidas	JVC
Aston Villa	Ron Atkinson	Kevin Richardson	Umbro	Mita Copiers
Blackburn Rovers	Kenny Dalglish	Tim Sherwood	Asics	McEwan's Lager
Chelsea	David Webb (caretaker)	Andy Townsend	Umbro	Commodore International
Coventry City	Bobby Gould	Brian Borrows	Ribero	Peugeot
Crystal Palace	Steve Coppell	Geoff Thomas	Bukta (until December) Ribero (from December)	Tulip Computers
Everton	Howard Kendall	Dave Watson	Umbro	NEC
Ipswich Town	John Lyall	John Wark	Umbro	Fisons
Leeds United	Howard Wilkinson	Gordon Strachan	Admiral	Admiral
Liverpool	Graeme Souness	Mark Wright	Adidas	Carlsberg
Manchester City	Peter Reid	Terry Phelan	Umbro	Brother Industries
Manchester United	Alex Ferguson	Bryan Robson	Umbro	Sharp
Middlesbrough	Lennie Lawrence	Alan Kernaghan	Admiral	Imperial Chemical Industries
Norwich City	Mike Walker	Ian Butterworth	Ribero	Norwich and Peterborough
Nottingham Forest	Brian Clough	Stuart Pearce	Umbro	Shipstones (home), Labatt's (away)
Oldham Athletic	Joe Royle	Mike Milligan	Umbro	JD Sports
Queens Park Rangers	Gerry Francis	Alan McDonald	Clubhouse	Classic FM
Sheffield United	Dave Bassett	Brian Gayle	Umbro	Laver
Sheffield Wednesday	Trevor Francis	Nigel Pearson	Umbro	Sanderson
Southampton	Ian Branfoot	Glenn Cockerill	Admiral	Draper Tools
Tottenham Hotspur	Doug Livermore Ray Clemence	Gary Mabbutt	Umbro	Holsten
Wimbledon	Joe Kinnear	John Scales	Admiral

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Norwich City	David Williams	End of caretaker spell	1 May 1992	Pre-season	Mike Walker	1 June 1992
Coventry City	Don Howe		14 May 1992		Bobby Gould	6 June 1992
Tottenham Hotspur	Peter Shreeves	Sacked	19 May 1992		Doug Livermore Ray Clemence	19 May 1992
Chelsea	Ian Porterfield		15 February 1993	12th	David Webb	15 February 1993

League table

1. Since League Cup winners Arsenal had qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners Cup by also winning the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup berth for the League Cup reverted to the league and was awarded to Norwich City. England was considered for an extra slot for the UEFA Cup after the 1993 Polish football scandal, but another one was given to Scotland, and it was thought excessive to give both two slots to Great Britain, and the extra place was awarded to Hungary.
2. Arsenal qualified by winning the FA Cup and therefore did not take up their UEFA Cup spot for winning the League Cup, which reverted to the league.

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

The top goalscorer in the Premier League's inaugural season was Teddy Sheringham, who scored one goal for Nottingham Forest before his early-season transfer followed by 21 for Tottenham Hotspur for a total of 22. Alan Shearer had scored 16 goals by Christmas before suffering a season-ending injury.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Teddy Sheringham	Nottingham Forest Tottenham Hotspur	22
2	Les Ferdinand	Queens Park Rangers	20
3	Dean Holdsworth	Wimbledon	19
4	Micky Quinn	Coventry City	17
5	Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	16
	David White	Manchester City
7	Chris Armstrong	Crystal Palace	15
	Eric Cantona	Leeds United Manchester United
	Brian Deane	Sheffield United
	Mark Hughes	Manchester United
	Matt Le Tissier	Southampton
	Mark Robins	Norwich City
	Ian Wright	Arsenal

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Eric Cantona	Leeds United	Tottenham Hotspur	5–0 (H)	25 August 1992
Mark Robins	Norwich City	Oldham Athletic	3–2 (A)	8 November 1992
John Hendrie	Middlesbrough	Blackburn Rovers	3–2 (H)	5 December 1992
Andy Sinton	Queens Park Rangers	Everton	4–2 (H)	28 December 1992
Brian Deane	Sheffield United	Ipswich Town	3–0 (H)	17 January 1993
Teddy Sheringham	Tottenham Hotspur	Leeds United	4–0 (H)	22 February 1993
Gordon Strachan	Leeds United	Blackburn Rovers	5–2 (H)	10 April 1993
Les Ferdinand	Queens Park Rangers	Nottingham Forest	4–3 (H)
Chris Bart-Williams	Sheffield Wednesday	Southampton	5–2 (H)	12 April 1993
Les Ferdinand	Queens Park Rangers	Everton	5–3 (A)
Chris Sutton	Norwich City	Leeds United	4–2 (H)	14 April 1993
Mark Walters	Liverpool	Coventry City	4–0 (H)	17 April 1993
Rod Wallace	Leeds United		3–3 (A)	8 May 1993
Matt Le Tissier	Southampton	Oldham Athletic	3–4 (A)

Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Historic goals

First ever Premier League goal was scored by Sheffield United's Brian Deane against Manchester United on 15 August 1992. Goal number 100 was scored by Leeds United's Eric Cantona against Tottenham Hotspur on 25 August 1992. Later in the season, a 1000th goal milestone was reached, when Mike Newell scored away at Nottingham Forest for Blackburn Rovers on 7 April 1993.

Top assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Eric Cantona	Leeds United Manchester United	16
2	Darren Anderton	Tottenham Hotspur	11
	Niall Quinn	Manchester City
4	Brian Deane	Sheffield United	10
	Matt Le Tissier	Southampton
	Jason Wilcox	Blackburn Rovers
7	Jason Dozzell	Ipswich Town	9
	Rick Holden	Manchester City
	Lee Sharpe	Manchester United
	Teddy Sheringham	Tottenham Hotspur
	Andy Sinton	Queens Park Rangers
	Ian Woan	Nottingham Forest

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Bobby Mimms	Blackburn Rovers	19
2	Peter Schmeichel	Manchester United	18
3	David Seaman	Arsenal	15
4	Hans Segers	Wimbledon	13
5	Tony Coton	Manchester City	11
	Bryan Gunn	Norwich City
	John Lukic	Leeds United
	Nigel Martyn	Crystal Palace
	Neville Southall	Everton
10	Tim Flowers	Southampton	10

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 8
  • Iain Dowie (Southampton)
  • Terry Hurlock (Southampton)
  • Vinnie Jones (Wimbledon)
  • Jamie Pollock (Middlesbrough)
  • Neil Ruddock (Tottenham Hotspur)
  • Lawrie Sanchez (Wimbledon)
  • Dennis Wise (Chelsea)

• Most red cards: 2
  • Brian McAllister (Wimbledon)
  • Neville Southall (Everton)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 58
  • Sheffield United

• Fewest yellow cards: 23
  • Aston Villa
  • Norwich City

• Most red cards: 5
  • Wimbledon

• Fewest red cards: 0
  • Aston Villa
  • Leeds United
  • Manchester United
  • Norwich City
  • Oldham Athletic
  • Queens Park Rangers

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
PFA Players' Player of the Year	Paul McGrath	Aston Villa
PFA Young Player of the Year	Ryan Giggs	Manchester United
FWA Footballer of the Year	Chris Waddle	Sheffield Wednesday

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) presented its annual Players' Player of the Year award to Paul McGrath, a veteran central defender who contributed to Aston Villa's second-place finish in the Premier League. Manchester United's Paul Ince came second and Blackburn's Alan Shearer third. The Young Player of the Year award was given to Ryan Giggs, the 19-year-old Manchester United left winger who had also won the award in the previous season. Giggs, who finished ahead of Tottenham's Nick Barmby and Nottingham Forest's Roy Keane, became the first player to win the award more than once.

The Football Writers' Association (the FWA) chose Chris Waddle as its Footballer of the Year. Waddle, who made his return to English football with Sheffield Wednesday after three years in France with Olympique Marseille, became the first Wednesday player to win the award in its 45-year history. McGrath and Giggs finished in second and joint third place respectively in the writers' poll.

The PFA also selected eleven players to form its Team of the Year. The team included four Manchester United players (Giggs, Ince, Peter Schmeichel and Gary Pallister) and two from Leeds United (Tony Dorigo and Gary Speed). The other members of the team were McGrath, Keane, Shearer, David Bardsley (Queens Park Rangers) and Ian Wright (Arsenal). The Manager of the Year award, chosen by a panel representing football's governing body, the media, and fans, was given to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. The newly formed League Managers Association also presented its own Manager of the Year award for the first time, specifically designed to recognise "the manager who made best use of the resources available to him". This award went to Dave Bassett of Sheffield United.

PFA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United)
Defenders	David Bardsley (Queens Park Rangers)	Gary Pallister (Manchester United)	Paul McGrath (Aston Villa)	Tony Dorigo (Leeds United)
Midfielders	Roy Keane (Nottingham Forest)	Paul Ince (Manchester United)	Gary Speed (Leeds United)	Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Forwards	Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)		Ian Wright (Arsenal)

Attendances

Liverpool FC drew the highest average home attendance in the first edition of the Premier League.

See also

• 1992–93 in English football

References

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44. https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-premier-league-1992-1993/1/

External links

• League and cup results for all the 1992/93 Premier Division clubs at footballsite
• 1992–93 Premier League season at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

• 1992–93 FA Premier League
• Premier League seasons
• 1992–93 in European association football leagues
• 1992–93 in English football leagues