| Fa Premier League 1995-96 |
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| 1996 in football soccer | |
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EUROPE RUNS RINGS AROUND THE PREMIERSHIP The 1995 - 96 Premiership was a less turbulent season than the Season Which Preceded It . Blackburn Rovers finished bottom of their group in the Champions League , while Manchester United , Liverpool and Leeds United all suffered early exits from the UEFA Cup , as did Everton from the Cup Winners' Cup . The only English team still in Europe an competition after Christmas were Nottingham Forest , who reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. This lack of progress in Europe was not helped by the 'three foreigner' rule, which was scrapped in December 1995 as a result of Bosman Ruling - but by then only Nottingham Forest remained in European competition. WEALTHIER? GREEDIER? CRAZIER? Before the season began, the English transfer record was broken for the third time in 12 months when Liverpool paid £8.4million for the Nottingham Forest Striker Stan Collymore . The record fee for a defender was broken when Newcastle United paid £4million for Wimbledon 's Warren Barton . Arsenal paid a club record £7.5million for Inter Milan 's 26-year-old Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp . Newcastle splashed out £6million for QPR's prolific 28-year-old striker Les Ferdinand . ALEX FERGUSON'S YOUTH POLICY Manchester United, who had finished runners-up in the Premiership and FA Cup in 1994 - 95 , took a radically different route in reshaping their team for the 1995-96 season. Midfield er Paul Ince was sold to Inter Milan for £7.5million, long serving striker Mark Hughes joined Chelsea for £1.5million and unsettled Russia n winger Andrei Kanchelskis (leading scorer the previous season) was sold to Everton for £5million. Alex Ferguson was heavily criticised for making these sales, even more so when the season began without a major signing and United lost their first game 3-1 at Aston Villa . But the new-look side quickly pulled themselves together and put on some impressive performances. The Neville brothers (full-backs Gary, 20, and Phil, 18), 20-year-old midfielders David Beckham and Nicky Butt , and 21-year-old striker Paul Scholes , proved themselves as talented top level players. Eric Cantona returned from his suspension at the beginning of October and scored a penalty equaliser in his side's 2-2 home draw with Liverpool. MANAGEMENT CHANGES For the 1995-96 season, several Premiership teams had new managers. Manchester City had appointed Alan Ball , who had left Southampton to be replaced by David Merrington . Arsenal had appointed Bruce Rioch , previously manager of newly-promoted Bolton Wanderers , now jointly managed by Roy McFarland and Colin Todd . Sheffield Wednesday had replaced Trevor Francis with Luton Town's David Pleat . During 1995-96, there was only one significant managerial change. Bolton Wanderers, who were bottom of the Premiership virtually from start to finish, dismissed Roy McFarland and put Colin Todd in sole charge from Christmas Day. David Merrington was sacked by Southampton just after the season ended and replaced by Graeme Souness . THE MANCHESTER UNITED 'DOUBLE DOUBLE' GLORY The 1995-96 Premiership title challenge was fiercely contested between Manchester United and Newcastle United. The two sides met two days after Christmas day, with Newcastle 10 points ahead. A 2-0 home win for United cut the gap to seven points, and two days later United beat struggling QPR 2-1 to reduce the gap to just four points. But United then lost 4-1 at Tottenham on New Year's Day and drew 0-0 with Aston Villa, so Newcastle restored a 10-point lead. The giants of Manchester and Newcastle met again in early March, and a goal by Eric Cantona gave United a 1-0 away win and cut the gap to a single point. After that, United went from strength to strength while Newcastle's form faltered. With one game left of the season, Manchester United led the Premiership by three points. For Newcastle to win their first title since 1927, they had to record a substantial win over Tottenham and hope that Middlesbrough beat their Mancunian rivals. But the Premiership title went to Old Trafford as United won 3-0 and Newcastle could only manage a 1-1 draw with Tottenham. A week later, United became the first team to complete a second league championship/FA Cup double when an Eric Cantona goal gave them a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup final. ASTON VILLA'S PROGRESS Aston Villa, in their first full season under Brian Little , made huge progress during 1995-96. Their new-look side, made up of players like Gary Charles , Ian Taylor , Mark Draper , Savo Milosevic and Tommy Johnson , beat Leeds United 3-0 in the League Cup final, reached the F.A Cup semi final and finished fourth in the Premiership. EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS England's representatives for Europe an competition in 1996- 97 would be Manchester United in the European Champions Cup, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Arsenal in the UEFA Cup, and Liverpool in the Cup Winners' Cup. GOING DOWN..... The Premiership relegation places went to Bolton , QPR and Manchester City . After fifteen seasons outside the top division, Bolton failed to adjust to the pace of Premiership football and finished in bottom place where they had spent virtually the entire season. Following the sale of Les Ferdinand , QPR's Premiership form dipped and they lost their top division place after 13 years. A terrible start to the 1995-96 season had condemned Manchester City to a season long relegation battle which was lost on the final day of the season after they drew 2-2 at home with Liverpool. PLAYER AWARDS PFA Player of the year was Les Ferdinand, whose prolific goalscoring had almost gained Newcastle's first league title since 1927 . Football Writers Player of the Year was Eric Cantona, who returned in style from his eight-month suspension to score 19 competitive goals and lead Manchester United to a unique double double. Young Player of the Year was Robbie Fowler for the second year running. The 21-year-old Liverpool striker had helped his side reach the FA Cup final and finish third in the Premiership, although he missed out on a place in England's Euro 96 squad. FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
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