1994–95 Wimbledon F.C. season

Wimbledon
1994–95 season
ChairmanSam Hammam
ManagerJoe Kinnear
StadiumSelhurst Park
Premiership9th
FA CupFifth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerEkoku (9)
Highest home attendance18,224 vs Manchester United
(7 Mar 1995, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance2,451 vs Torquay United
(20 Sep 1994, League Cup)
Average home league attendance10,230

During the 1994–95 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League, their ninth successive season in the top flight, and extended their stay at this level with a ninth-place finish.

Season summary

Wimbledon failed to build upon their club-best finish of sixth place which had been achieved the previous season, but a ninth-place finish was still an excellent showing for the only Premiership club without their own home, and also with the smallest resources and fan base at this level. Joe Kinnear's men maintained their reputation as one of the hardest Premiership sides to beat, and finished above many big-spending, well-supported clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday and Everton.

Wimbledon's need to sell their biggest assets was highlighted in the close season when they sold full-back Warren Barton to Newcastle United for £4 million - the most expensive defender signed by any British club. However, many of their other key assets - Dean Holdsworth, Robbie Earle and Hans Segers included - were retained for the new season to give Dons fans hope of another season giving the big boys a run for their money.

Early in the season, long-serving striker John Fashanu departed to Aston Villa for £1.35 million, only to retire at the end of the campaign. In Fashanu's place, Wimbledon bought Efan Ekoku from Norwich City; he was the club's leading goalscorer with nine league goals.

Kit

Wimbledon did not sign a kit manufacturing deal for the season's kit, instead producing them under their own brand. Birmingham-based electronics company Elonex became the kit sponsors.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
7 Tottenham Hotspur 42 16 14 12 66 58 +8 62
8 Queens Park Rangers 42 17 9 16 61 59 +2 60
9 Wimbledon 42 15 11 16 48 65 −17 56
10 Southampton 42 12 18 12 61 63 −2 54
11 Chelsea 42 13 15 14 50 55 −5 54
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Results summary
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
42 15 11 16 48 65  −17 56 9 5 7 26 26  0 6 6 9 22 39  −17

Source: Statto

Results by round
Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAHAAHHAAHAHHAHHAAHAHAAHAAAHHAHHAHAHAHAH
ResultDDLLWDWLLLLWLWWLLWDWWDWWLDLLWLLWWWWDLLDDDD
Position9101616141310131517191718161415161513131212979991110101298888999889
Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Wimbledon's score comes first[2]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
20 August 1994 Coventry City A 1–1 11,005 Castledine
23 August 1994 Ipswich Town H 1–1 6,341 Holdsworth
27 August 1994 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–1 7,453
31 August 1994 Manchester United A 0–3 43,440
10 September 1994 Leicester City H 2–1 7,683 Harford, Willis(og)
17 September 1994 Crystal Palace A 0–0 12,366
24 September 1994 Queens Park Rangers A 1–0 11,061 Reeves
1 October 1994 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–2 16,802 Talboys
8 October 1994 Arsenal H 1–3 10,842 Jones
17 October 1994 Nottingham Forest A 1–3 20,287 Gayle
22 October 1994 Liverpool A 0–3 31,139
30 October 1994 Norwich City H 1–0 8,242 Ekoku
5 November 1994 Leeds United A 1–3 27,246 Ekoku
9 November 1994 Aston Villa H 4–3 6,221 Barton (pen), Ardley, Jones, Leonhardsen
19 November 1994 Newcastle United H 3–2 14,203 Clarke, Ekoku, Harford
26 November 1994 Manchester City A 0–2 21,131
3 December 1994 Blackburn Rovers H 0–3 12,341
10 December 1994 Coventry City H 2–0 7,349 Leonhardsen, Harford
16 December 1994 Ipswich Town A 2–2 11,282 Holdsworth, Goodman
26 December 1994 Southampton A 3–2 14,603 Holdsworth (2 1(pen)), Harford
28 December 1994 West Ham United H 1–0 11,212 Fear
31 December 1994 Chelsea A 1–1 16,009 Ekoku
2 January 1995 Everton H 2–1 9,506 Harford (2)
14 January 1995 Norwich City A 2–1 18,261 Reeves, Ekoku
25 January 1995 Newcastle United A 1–2 34,374 Ekoku
4 February 1995 Leeds United H 0–0 10,211
11 February 1995 Aston Villa A 1–7 23,582 Barton
22 February 1995 Blackburn Rovers A 1–2 20,586 Ekoku
25 February 1995 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 27,258 Ekoku (2)
4 March 1995 Queens Park Rangers H 1–3 9,176 Holdsworth
7 March 1995 Manchester United H 0–1 18,224
11 March 1995 Sheffield Wednesday A 1–0 20,395 Reeves
18 March 1995 Crystal Palace H 2–0 8,835 Jones, Gayle
21 March 1995 Manchester City H 2–0 5,268 Thorn, Elkins
1 April 1995 Leicester City A 4–3 15,489 Goodman (2), Leonhardsen (2)
10 April 1995 Chelsea H 1–1 7,022 Goodman
13 April 1995 West Ham United A 0–3 21,804
17 April 1995 Southampton H 0–2 10,521
29 April 1995 Everton A 0–0 31,567
2 May 1995 Liverpool H 0–0 12,041
4 May 1995 Arsenal A 0–0 32,822
13 May 1995 Nottingham Forest H 2–2 15,341 Holdsworth (2 1(pen))

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 7 January 1995 Colchester United H 1–0 6,903 Harford
R4 29 January 1995 Tranmere Rovers A 2–0 11,637 Leonhardsen, Earle
R5 19 February 1995 Liverpool A 1–1 25,124 Clarke
R5R 28 February 1995 Liverpool H 0–2 12,553

League Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg 20 September 1994 Torquay United H 2–0 2,451 Gayle,
R2 2nd Leg 5 October 1994 Torquay United A 1–0 (won 3–0 on agg) 4,244 Holdsworth
R3 25 October 1994 Crystal Palace H 0–1 9,394

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 Netherlands NED Hans Segers
2 DF England ENG Warren Barton
3 DF Scotland SCO Brian McAllister
4 MF Wales WAL Vinnie Jones[notes 1]
5 DF England ENG Dean Blackwell
6 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Scott Fitzgerald[notes 2]
7 FW England ENG Andy Clarke
8 MF England ENG Robbie Earle[notes 3]
9 FW Nigeria NGA Efan Ekoku[notes 4]
10 FW England ENG Dean Holdsworth
11 FW England ENG Gary Blissett
12 DF England ENG Gary Elkins
14 DF England ENG Gerald Dobbs
15 DF England ENG Alan Reeves
16 DF England ENG Alan Kimble
17 DF England ENG Roger Joseph
18 MF England ENG Steve Talboys
19 MF England ENG Stewart Castledine
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW England ENG Marcus Gayle[notes 5]
21 DF England ENG Chris Perry
22 MF England ENG Aidan Newhouse
23 GK England ENG Neil Sullivan[notes 6]
24 MF England ENG Peter Fear
25 FW England ENG Mick Harford
26 MF England ENG Neal Ardley
27 DF England ENG Justin Skinner
28 DF England ENG Andy Thorn
29 FW England ENG Grant Payne
30 MF England ENG Mark Thomas
31 MF England ENG Lenny Piper
32 MF England ENG Gavin Fell
33 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Brendan Murphy
34 FW England ENG Jason Euell[notes 7]
35 MF Norway NOR Øyvind Leonhardsen
36 FW England ENG Jon Goodman[notes 8]
37 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Kenny Cunningham

Left 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
13 GK England ENG Peter Shilton (to Bolton Wanderers)
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF England ENG John Scales (to Liverpool)

Transfers

In

Date Pos Name From Fee
18 August 1994 FW Mick Harford Coventry City £50,000
6 September 1994 DF Alan Reeves Rochdale £200,000
26 September 1994 MF Brendan Murphy Bradford City Free transfer
5 October 1994 DF Andy Thorn Crystal Palace Free transfer
14 October 1994 FW Efan Ekoku Norwich City £900,000
8 November 1994 MF Øyvind Leonhardsen Rosenborg £650,000
9 November 1994 FW Jon Goodman Millwall £650,000
9 November 1994 DF Kenny Cunningham Millwall £650,000
10 February 1995 GK Peter Shilton Plymouth Argyle Free transfer

Out

Date Pos Name To Fee
16 August 1994 MF Paul Miller Bristol Rovers Signed
2 September 1994 DF John Scales Liverpool £3,500,000
11 March 1995 GK Peter Shilton Bolton Wanderers Free transfer
Transfers in: Decrease £3,100,000
Transfers out: Increase £3,500,000
Total spending: Increase £400,000

References

  1. ^ "Wimbledon - Historical Football Kits". Historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Wimbledon 1994-1995 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Wimbledon - 1994/95". FootballSquads. Retrieved 7 November 2012.

Notes

  1. ^ Jones was born in Watford, England, but also qualified to represent Wales through his maternal grandfather and made 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. ^ Ekoku was born in Cheetham, England, but also qualified to represent Nigeria internationally and made his international debut for Nigeria in 1994.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Sullivan was born in Sutton, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would make his international debut for Scotland in 1997.
  7. ^ Euell was born in Lambeth, England, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his father and would make his international debut for Jamaica in November 2004.
  8. ^ Goodman was born in Waltham Forest, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would make his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1997.