1993–94 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

During the 1993–94 English football season, Blackburn Rovers F.C. competed in the FA Premier League.

Blackburn Rovers
1993–94 season
OwnerJack Walker
Chairman Robert Coar
Manager Kenny Dalglish
StadiumEwood Park
FA Premier League2nd
FA CupThird round
Coca-Cola CupFourth round
Top goalscorerLeague: Shearer (31)
All: Shearer (34)
Average home league attendance17,721

Season summary

It was another strong season for a resurgent Blackburn, who were in the higher reaches of the Premier League all season long and, at one stage in early April, were level on points with leaders Manchester United, who had led the league almost from start to finish and entered 1994 with a 16-point lead. The return of Alan Shearer from a long-term injury saw him make a swift return to his superb form of old, with the 23-year-old hitman scoring 31 goals in the league, including both of Blackburn's goals in an early April win over Manchester United at Ewood Park. Before the start of the season, Blackburn had been pipped by Manchester United to the signature of Nottingham Forest midfielder Roy Keane for a national record fee of £3.75million.

In the end, though, it wasn't quite enough to snatch the title crown off Manchester United, who had returned to their winning ways before the end of April, after Blackburn took their turn to drop points, and Kenny Dalglish's men had to settle for runners-up spot and a UEFA Cup place. This meant that Blackburn would be competing in Europe for the very first time in their history, although in the UEFA Cup rather than the European Cup as would have happened if they had won the league. Blackburn's fourth-place finish a year earlier had not been enough for a UEFA Cup place due to English clubs still not having all their UEFA Cup places back despite their ban from European competitions arising from the Heysel disaster having been lifted for the 1990-91 season.

Blackburn fans were thrilled after the end of the season when 21-year-old Norwich City striker Chris Sutton joined the club for an English record fee of £5 million, following competition from the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United for his signature. With the most expensive striker-partnership in the country, the club's fans were given all the more reason to expect their team to succeed in at least one of the four major competitions that they would be contesting next season.

Kit

Japanese company Asics manufactured Blackburn's kit this season. British brewery McEwan's Lager were the kit sponsors.

Final league table
Main article: 1993–94 FA Premier League
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 the Champions League group stage
2 Blackburn Rovers 42 25 9 8 63 36 +27 84 Qualification for the UEFA 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 the Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
5 Leeds United 42 18 16 8 65 39 +26 70
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Arsenal qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the defending champions.

Results

Blackburn Rovers' score comes first[1]

Legend
Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
14 August 1993ChelseaA2–129,189Newell, Ripley
18 August 1993Norwich CityH2–314,236Atkins, Wilcox
21 August 1993Oldham AthleticH1–013,731Moran
24 August 1993Manchester CityA2–025,185Newell, Gallacher
29 August 1993Newcastle UnitedA1–134,272Shearer
2 September 1993ArsenalH1–114,051Gallacher
12 September 1993LiverpoolA1–037,355Newell
18 September 1993West Ham UnitedH0–213,943
25 September 1993Sheffield WednesdayH1–113,917Shearer
2 October 1993Swindon TownA3–115,224Shearer (2), Ripley
18 October 1993Sheffield UnitedH0–013,505
23 October 1993Leeds UnitedA3–337,827Shearer (3)
30 October 1993Tottenham HotspurH1–016,849Shearer
6 November 1993Queens Park RangersA0–117,636
20 November 1993SouthamptonH2–016,666Shearer (2)
23 November 1993Coventry CityH2–115,136Shearer (2)
27 November 1993Ipswich TownA0–114,582
5 December 1993ChelseaH2–015,736Le Saux, Shearer
11 December 1993Oldham AthleticA2–113,887Shearer (2)
18 December 1993Manchester CityH2–011,800Gallacher, Shearer
26 December 1993Manchester UnitedA1–144,511Gallacher
29 December 1993EvertonH2–026,015Shearer (2)
1 January 1994Aston VillaA1–040,903Shearer
15 January 1994Sheffield UnitedA2–119,124Shearer (2)
23 January 1994Leeds UnitedH2–116,938Shearer (2)
5 February 1994WimbledonH3–016,215Shearer, Wilcox, Ripley
12 February 1994Tottenham HotspurA2–030,236Shearer, Gallacher
19 February 1994Newcastle UnitedH1–021,269May
22 February 1994Norwich CityA2–215,193Gallacher (2)
26 February 1994ArsenalA0–135,030
5 March 1994LiverpoolH2–020,831Wilcox, Sherwood
20 March 1994Sheffield WednesdayA2–124,699Wilcox, Newell
26 March 1994Swindon TownH3–120,046Shearer (2, 1 pen), Sherwood
29 March 1994WimbledonA1–410,537Wilcox
2 April 1994Manchester UnitedH2–020,866Shearer (2)
4 April 1994EvertonA3–027,427Newell (2), Wilcox
11 April 1994Aston VillaH1–019,287Shearer
16 April 1994SouthamptonA1–319,105Ripley
24 April 1994Queens Park RangersH1–119,913Shearer
27 April 1994West Ham UnitedA2–122,186Berg, Pearce
2 May 1994Coventry CityA1–216,653Le Saux
7 May 1994Ipswich TownH0–020,633

FA Cup
Main article: 1993–94 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R38 January 1994PortsmouthH3–317,219Gallacher, Shearer, Sherwood
R3R19 January 1994PortsmouthA3–123,035Shearer, Wilcox, May
R429 January 1994Charlton AthleticA0–08,532
R4R8 February 1994Charlton AthleticH0–115,348

League Cup
Main article: 1993–94 Football League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st leg21 September 1993BournemouthH1–010,733Shearer
R2 2nd leg5 October 1993BournemouthA0–0 (won 1-0 on agg)10,321
R326 October 1993Shrewsbury TownH0–010,603
R3R9 November 1993Shrewsbury TownA4–37,330Newell (2), Pearce, May
R41 December 1993Tottenham HotspurA0–122,295

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ENG Bobby Mimms
2 DF  ENG David May
3 DF  ENG Alan Wright
4 MF  ENG Tim Sherwood (captain)
5 DF  SCO Colin Hendry
6 DF  ENG Graeme Le Saux
7 MF  ENG Stuart Ripley
8 FW  SCO Kevin Gallacher
9 FW  ENG Alan Shearer
10 FW  ENG Mike Newell
11 MF  ENG Jason Wilcox
12 DF  ENG Nicky Marker
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 GK  AUS Frank Talia
14 MF  ENG Lee Makel
15 DF  ENG Richard Brown
18 DF  SCO Andy Morrison
19 MF  ENG Simon Ireland
20 DF  NOR Henning Berg
21 MF  IRL Kevin Moran
22 MF  ENG Mark Atkins
23 MF  ENG David Batty
24 DF  ENG Paul Warhurst
25 DF  ENG Ian Pearce
26 GK  ENG Tim Flowers

Left the club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF  ENG Tony Dobson (to Portsmouth)
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF  SWE Patrik Andersson (to Borussia Mönchengladbach)

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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