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	Dean Holdsworth (24)
Average home league attendance	10,474
Home colours
←  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

Main article: 1993–94 FA Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
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
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

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

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

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

Main article: 1993–94 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

Main article: 1993–94 Football 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

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season ^[3]

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   NED Hans Segers 2 DF   ENG Warren Barton 3 DF   SCO Brian McAllister 4 MF   ENG Vinnie Jones [notes 1] 5 DF   ENG Dean Blackwell 6 DF   IRL Scott Fitzgerald [notes 2] 7 FW   ENG Andy Clarke 8 MF   ENG Robbie Earle [notes 3] 9 FW   ENG John Fashanu 10 FW   ENG Dean Holdsworth 11 MF   ENG Paul Miller 12 FW   ENG Steve Anthrobus 14 DF   ENG Gerald Dobbs 15 DF   ENG John Scales 16 FW   IRL Paul McGee 17 DF   ENG Roger Joseph 18 MF   ENG Steve Talboys

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF   ENG Stewart Castledine 20 FW   ENG Marcus Gayle [notes 4] 21 DF   ENG Chris Perry 22 MF   ENG Aidan Newhouse 23 GK   ENG Neil Sullivan [notes 5] 24 MF   ENG Peter Fear 25 FW   ENG Leighton Allen 26 MF   ENG Neal Ardley 27 DF   ENG Justin Skinner 29 FW   ENG Grant Payne 30 MF   ENG Mark Thomas 31 DF   ENG Marc Cable 32 GK   ENG Neil Fairbairn 33 DF   ENG Gary Elkins 35 DF   ENG Alan Kimble 36 FW   ENG 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. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF   NIR Lawrie Sanchez [notes 6] (to Swindon Town) 34 MF   ENG Greg Berry (to Millwall)

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 GK   ENG Perry Digweed (to Watford)

References

1. "Wimbledon - Historical Football Kits".
2. "Wimbledon 1993-1994 Home - statto.com". Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
3. "FootballSquads - Wimbledon - 1993/94".

Notes

1. Jones was born in Watford, England, but also qualified to represent Wales through his maternal grandfather and would make his international debut for Wales in December 1994.
2. Fitzgerald was born in Westminster, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U-21 and B level.
3. Earle was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, and was called up for England without playing, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 1997.
4. Gayle was born in Hammersmith, London, and represented them at U-18 level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
5. Sullivan was born in Sutton, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would make his international debut for Scotland in 1997.
6. Sanchez was born in Lambeth, England, and represented them at schoolboy level, but also qualified to represent Ecuador internationally through his father and Northern Ireland internationally through his mother and made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1986.