1993–94 Wimbledon F.C. season

Wimbledon

1993–94 season
Chairman	Sam Hammam
Manager	Joe Kinnear
Stadium	Selhurst Park
FA Premier League	6th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Fifth round
Top goalscorer	Holdsworth (24)
Average home league attendance	10,474
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

During the 1993–94 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League and finished the season in sixth place, equalling their best ever league finish which had previously been set in 1987.

Season summary

Those who thought that Joe Kinnear was too inexperienced to keep Wimbledon, the Premiership's smallest side in terms of financial resources and fan base (and without even their own home), in the top flight, were quickly proved wrong. The consistent goalscoring of striker Dean Holdsworth returned Wimbledon to their winning ways after two mediocre seasons and they quickly re-established themselves as one of the hardest-to-beat sides in England. They finished sixth in the table - equalling their highest-ever finish - and, of all the London clubs, only Arsenal finished above them. They finished higher than much more fancied sides, including Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. The only frustration endured by Dons supporters was what could have been achieved with a higher transfer budget and perhaps even their own home.

Kit

Ribero became Wimbledon's new kit manufacturers, while London radio station LBC became the kit sponsors. The kit saw Wimbledon wear navy shirts for the first time since 1893; they were matched with navy shorts and socks for the first time in Wimbledon's history.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Manchester United (C)	42	27	11	4	80	38	+42	92	UEFA Champions League 1994–95 Group stage
2	Blackburn Rovers	42	25	9	8	63	36	+27	84	UEFA Cup 1994–95 First round
3	Newcastle United	42	23	8	11	82	41	+41	77
4	Arsenal	42	18	17	7	53	28	+25	71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1994–95 First round^1
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	UEFA Cup 1994–95 First round^2
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	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1994–95 First round^3
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	Relegated to Football League First Division 1994–95
21	Oldham Athletic (R)	42	9	13	20	42	68	−26	40
22	Swindon Town (R)	42	5	15	22	47	100	−53	30

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

¹ Arsenal qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions

² Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners

³ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Results

Wimbledon's score comes first^[2]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 August 1993	West Ham United	A	2–0	20,363	Fashanu, Sanchez
17 August 1993	Chelsea	H	1–1	11,083	Fashanu
21 August 1993	Aston Villa	H	2–2	7,533	Fashanu, Holdsworth
24 August 1993	Sheffield United	A	1–2	15,555	Clarke
28 August 1993	Oldham Athletic	A	1–1	9,633	Jones
31 August 1993	Southampton	H	1–0	6,036	Barton
11 September 1993	Norwich City	A	1–0	14,851	Sanchez
20 September 1993	Manchester City	H	1–0	8,481	Earle
27 September 1993	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	9,478	Ferdinand (own goal)
2 October 1993	Leeds United	A	0–4	30,020
16 October 1993	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–2	21,752	Jones, Blissett
25 October 1993	Ipswich Town	H	0–2	7,756
30 October 1993	Newcastle United	A	0–4	33,392
6 November 1993	Swindon Town	H	3–0	7,758	Fashanu, Blissett, Holdsworth
20 November 1993	Manchester United	A	1–3	44,748	Fashanu
24 November 1993	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	17,744	Holdsworth
27 November 1993	Everton	H	1–1	6,934	Berry
4 December 1993	West Ham United	H	1–2	10,903	Holdsworth
11 December 1993	Aston Villa	A	1–0	17,940	Holdsworth
18 December 1993	Sheffield United	H	2–0	21,566	Barton, Holdsworth
26 December 1993	Coventry City	H	1–2	4,739	Holdsworth
28 December 1993	Liverpool	A	1–1	32,232	Fashanu
1 January 1994	Arsenal	H	0–3	16,584
15 January 1994	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–1	5,536	Ardley, Fashanu
22 January 1994	Ipswich Town	A	0–0	12,372
5 February 1994	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–3	16,215
12 February 1994	Newcastle United	H	4–2	13,358	Blissett, Earle, Fashanu, Holdsworth
26 February 1994	Southampton	A	0–1	14,790
5 March 1994	Norwich City	H	3–1	7,206	Earle (2), Holdsworth
12 March 1994	Manchester City	A	1–0	23,981	Earle
16 March 1994	Chelsea	A	0–2	11,903
19 March 1994	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–1	11,368
26 March 1994	Leeds United	H	1–0	9,035	Fear
29 March 1994	Blackburn Rovers	H	4–1	10,537	Fashanu, Berg (own goal), Holdsworth, Earle
2 April 1994	Coventry City	A	2–1	11,290	Castledine, Holdsworth
4 April 1994	Liverpool	H	1–1	13,819	Elkins
16 April 1994	Manchester United	H	1–0	28,553	Fashanu
19 April 1994	Arsenal	A	1–1	21,292	Earle
23 April 1994	Swindon Town	A	4–2	12,237	Fashanu, Holdsworth, Earle (2)
26 April 1994	Oldham Athletic	H	3–0	6,766	Holdsworth (3)
30 April 1994	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	20,875	Holdsworth, Clarke
7 May 1994	Everton	A	2–3	31,297	Holdsworth, Ablett (own goal)

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	8 January 1994	Scunthorpe United	H	3–0	4,944	Holdsworth (3)
R4	29 January 1994	Sunderland	H	2–1	10,477	Scales, Fashanu
R5	20 February 1994	Manchester United	H	0–3	27,511

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st leg	22 September 1993	Hereford United	A	1–0	4,872	Clarke
R2 2nd leg	5 October 1993	Hereford United	H	4–1 (won 5-1 on agg)	2,151	Jones, Ardley, Holdsworth, Earle
R3	27 October 1993	Newcastle United	H	2–1	11,531	Barton, Holdsworth
R4	1 December 1993	Liverpool	A	1–1	19,290	Earle
R4R	14 December 1993	Liverpool	H	2–2 (won 4-3 on pens)	11,343	Holdsworth, Earle
R5	11 January 1994	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–2	8,784	Holdsworth

Squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Hans Segers 2 DF Warren Barton 3 DF Brian McAllister 4 MF Vinnie Jones[3] 5 DF Dean Blackwell 6 DF Scott Fitzgerald[4] 7 FW Andy Clarke 8 MF Robbie Earle[5] 9 FW John Fashanu 10 FW Dean Holdsworth 11 MF Paul Miller 12 FW Steve Anthrobus 14 DF Gerald Dobbs 15 DF John Scales 16 FW Paul McGee 17 DF Roger Joseph 18 MF Steve Talboys

No. Position Player 19 MF Stewart Castledine 20 FW Marcus Gayle[6] 21 DF Chris Perry 22 MF Aidan Newhouse 23 GK Neil Sullivan[7] 24 MF Peter Fear 25 FW Leighton Allen 26 MF Neal Ardley 27 DF Justin Skinner 29 FW Grant Payne 30 MF Mark Thomas 31 DF Marc Cable 32 GK Neil Fairbairn 33 DF Gary Elkins 35 DF Alan Kimble 36 FW Gary Blissett

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. Position Player 37 GK Perry Digweed (to Watford) 20 MF Lawrie Sanchez (to Swindon Town)

No. Position Player 34 MF Greg Berry (to Millwall)

References

1. http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Wimbledon/Wimbledon.htm
2. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/wimbledon/1993-1994
3. Jones was born in Watford, England, but qualified to represent Wales through his maternal grandfather; he would make his international debut for Wales in 1994.
4. Fitzgerald was born in Westminster, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally; he made his debut for the "B" side during 1992.
5. Earle was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally. He made his international debut for Jamaica in 1997, having previously being called up for England once without playing.
6. Gayle was born in Hammersmith, London, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally; he made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
7. Sullivan was born in Sutton, England, but qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would make his debut for Scotland in 1997.