1994–95 Football League

Football League, Second Division
Season	1994–95
Champions	Birmingham City (1st third tier title)
Direct promotion	Birmingham City
Promoted through play-offs	Huddersfield Town
Relegated	Cambridge United,; Cardiff City,; Chester,; Leyton Orient,; Plymouth Argyle
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,441 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Bennett (Wrexham), 29
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

First Division
Season	1994–95
Champions	Middlesbrough
Promoted	Middlesbrough; Bolton Wanderers
Relegated	Swindon Town; Burnley; Bristol City; Notts County
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,389 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Aldridge; (24 goals)
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The Football League
Season	1994–95
Champions	Middlesbrough
Promoted	Middlesbrough; Bolton Wanderers
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The 1994–95 Football League season was the 96th completed season of The Football League. It was the third season of The Football League since the formation of the Premier League. For sponsorship reasons, the league was known as the Endsleigh League.

Overview

The reduction of the Premier League from 22 teams to 20, to take effect from the 1995–96 season, meant that just two teams would be promoted from the First Division in 1995: the champions and the play-off winners. Middlesbrough were the champions, in their first season under Bryan Robson. Reading finished second but had to settle for the play-offs, losing in the final to Bolton Wanderers – who achieved their second promotion in three years under Bruce Rioch, as well as finishing runners-up to Liverpool in the League Cup.

1995 also saw four teams relegated from the First Division, with Burnley, Bristol City and Notts County being joined by Swindon Town, who suffered a second straight relegation. Sunderland narrowly avoided the drop following the arrival of enthusiastic new manager Peter Reid, who over the next few years would bring dramatic improvements to the fortunes of the Wearsiders.

The Second Division would also see only the champions and the play-off winners promoted, while five teams would be relegated. Birmingham City were the champions, returning to the First Division at the first time of asking; they also won the Football League Trophy to complete a "lower-league Double". Huddersfield Town were the play-off winners, defeating second-placed Brentford on penalties before beating Bristol Rovers in the final. The five teams relegated were Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Chester City and Leyton Orient.

In the Third Division, three teams would be promoted instead of the usual four: the champions, the runners-up and the play-off winners. Carlisle United were the champions and Walsall the runners-up, while Chesterfield won the play-offs, defeating Bury in the final. Exeter City, in severe financial trouble, finished bottom, but held on to their league status as Conference champions Macclesfield Town were unable to meet the league's stadium capacity requirements.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website.^[1] Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division

With the reduction of the Premier League from 22 to 20 clubs for the 1995–96 season, there would be just two promotion places from Division One in the 1994–95 season, as well as a fourth relegation place instead of the usual three.

Middlesbrough clinched the division's only automatic promotion place by finishing champions in their first season under player-manager Bryan Robson, with promotion being clinched in the final game at Ayresome Park at the end of April. After 92 years at their historic home, the club would be relocated to the new 30,000-seater Riverside Stadium over the summer of 1995.

Runners-up Reading, another club planning to build a new stadium in the near future, would normally have won automatic promotion, but the latest restructuring of the league meant that they had to navigate a play-off semi-final with fifth-placed Tranmere Rovers. They easily overcame the Wirral side, whose veteran striker John Aldridge topped the Division One goal charts with 24 league strikes, but then had to take on Bolton Wanderers in a Wembley clash. The Royals were still 2–0 ahead and looking set to reach the top flight for the first time ever with more than hour left on the clock, but then Bolton pulled a goal back in the 75th minute and followed this with an equaliser to force extra time, and the Burnden Park side ended up winning a dramatic match 4–3 and ending their 15-year absence from the top flight. However, they were faced with having to fight for Premier League survival in 1995–96 without their manager Bruce Rioch, who left to manage Arsenal over the summer and was succeeded by joint managers Roy McFarland and Colin Todd.

A number of Division One sides enjoyed memorable runs in the FA Cup and League Cup. Weeks before their dramatic playoff triumph, Bolton Wanderers had travelled to Wembley for their first major cup final in 37 years, to take on Liverpool in the final of the League Cup, but lost 2–1 to the Merseysiders. Wolves, who went on to lose to Bolton in the playoff semi-finals, had held Crystal Palace to a 1–1 draw in their FA Cup quarter-final at Selhurst Park and had high hopes of a semi-final tie with Manchester United, only to lose the replay 4–1 at home to the South London side.

At the other end of the table, Swindon Town quickly found themselves battling against a second successive relegation, having been relegated from the Premier League in 1993–94. Their manager John Gorman was sacked in November and replaced by 33-year-old Manchester City midfielder Steve McMahon as player-manager. The Wiltshire club's new manager was able to guide Swindon to the semi-finals of the League Cup, but he was unable to guide them to Division One survival, as they went down in the fourth and final relegation place along with Burnley, Bristol City, and Notts County.

During this season, a number of Division One clubs had a new stadium in the pipeline. Middlesbrough were preparing for their move from Ayresome Park to the new Riverside Stadium, while their local rivals Sunderland had identified a former colliery site on the banks of the River Wear as their preferred site for a new all-seater stadium after nearly 100 years at Roker Park. Bolton Wanderers, who went up alongside Middlesbrough, were aiming for a new 25,000-seater stadium at Lostock to replace Burnden Park. Beaten playoff finalists Reading had lined up a site on the southern side of the town as the site of a replacement for antiquated Elm Park, while Luton Town's new owner Simon Kohler unveiled ambitious plans to build a new 20,000-seater indoor stadium, the latest in a string of proposals which had emerged over the last 40 years as possible replacements for the cramped stadium at Kenilworth Road.

Derby County, who missed out on the playoffs, were planning to rebuild the Baseball Ground as a 26,000-seater stadium, after considering relocating to a new site at Pride Park.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Middlesbrough (C, P)	46	23	13	10	67	40	+27	82	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Reading	46	23	10	13	58	44	+14	79	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
3	Bolton Wanderers (O, P)	46	21	14	11	67	45	+22	77
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	21	13	12	77	61	+16	76
5	Tranmere Rovers	46	22	10	14	67	58	+9	76
6	Barnsley	46	20	12	14	63	52	+11	72
7	Watford	46	19	13	14	52	46	+6	70
8	Sheffield United	46	17	17	12	74	55	+19	68
9	Derby County	46	18	12	16	66	51	+15	66
10	Grimsby Town	46	17	14	15	62	56	+6	65
11	Stoke City	46	16	15	15	50	53	−3	63
12	Millwall	46	16	14	16	60	60	0	62
13	Southend United	46	18	8	20	54	73	−19	62
14	Oldham Athletic	46	16	13	17	60	60	0	61
15	Charlton Athletic	46	16	11	19	58	66	−8	59
16	Luton Town	46	15	13	18	61	64	−3	58
17	Port Vale	46	15	13	18	58	64	−6	58
18	Portsmouth	46	15	13	18	53	63	−10	58
19	West Bromwich Albion	46	16	10	20	51	57	−6	58
20	Sunderland	46	12	18	16	41	45	−4	54
21	Swindon Town (R)	46	12	12	22	54	73	−19	48	Relegation to the Second Division
22	Burnley (R)	46	11	13	22	49	74	−25	46
23	Bristol City (R)	46	11	12	23	42	63	−21	45
24	Notts County (R)	46	9	13	24	45	66	−21	40

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Semi-finals 1st leg – 14 May; 2nd leg – 17 May 1995					Final at Wembley 29 May 1995

2nd	Reading	3	0	3

5th	Tranmere Rovers	1	0	1
					2nd	Reading	3

					3rd	Bolton Wanderers (a.e.t.)	4
3rd	Bolton Wanderers	1	2	3

4th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2	0	2

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BOL	BRI	BUR	CHA	DER	GRI	LUT	MID	MIL	NTC	OLD	POR	PTV	REA	SHU	STD	STK	SUN	SWI	TRA	WAT	WBA	WOL
Barnsley		3–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	4–1	3–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	2–0	1–3
Bolton Wanderers	2–1		0–2	1–1	5–1	1–0	3–3	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	4–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	5–1
Bristol City	3–2	0–1		1–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–2	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–5
Burnley	0–1	2–2	1–1		2–0	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	4–3	1–2	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1
Charlton Athletic	2–2	1–2	3–2	1–2		3–4	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–0	1–1	3–2
Derby County	1–0	2–1	3–1	4–0	2–2		2–1	0–0	0–1	3–2	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–2	2–3	1–2	3–0	0–1	3–1	5–0	1–1	1–1	3–3
Grimsby Town	1–0	3–3	1–0	2–2	0–1	0–1		5–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–3	2–0	4–1	1–0	0–0	4–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	0–2	0–0
Luton Town	0–1	0–3	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–2		5–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	3–6	2–2	2–3	3–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–3
Middlesbrough	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	2–4	1–1	2–1		3–0	2–1	2–1	4–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	3–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
Millwall	0–1	0–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	4–1	2–0	0–0	0–0		0–0	1–1	2–2	1–3	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–0
Notts County	1–3	1–1	1–1	3–0	3–3	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1		1–3	0–1	2–2	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–2	3–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–1
Oldham Athletic	1–0	3–1	2–0	3–0	5–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1		3–2	3–2	1–3	3–3	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	4–1
Portsmouth	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	3–2	0–0	3–2	2–1	1–1		0–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–4	4–3	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–2
Port Vale	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–0		0–2	0–2	5–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–0	2–4
Reading	0–3	2–1	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–3		1–0	2–0	4–0	0–2	3–0	1–3	4–1	0–2	4–2
Sheffield United	0–0	3–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–1		2–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–3
Southend United	3–1	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	4–1	1–3		4–2	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–4	2–1	0–1
Stoke City	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	3–2	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–1	4–3	2–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	4–1		0–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	1–1
Sunderland	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0		1–0	0–1	1–3	2–2	1–1
Swindon Town	0–0	0–1	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–1	3–2	1–2	2–1	1–2	3–0	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–0	1–3	2–2	0–1	1–0		2–2	1–0	0–0	3–2
Tranmere Rovers	6–1	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	3–1	3–2	3–1	4–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	0–1	1–0	3–2		2–1	3–1	1–1
Watford	3–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–4	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	3–2	2–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	2–0		1–0	2–1
West Bromwich Albion	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–3	3–0	3–2	3–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–3	1–3	2–5	5–1	0–1		2–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–1	2–3	0–2	3–3	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	5–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jan Aage Fjortoft	Swindon Town	24
	John Aldridge	Tranmere Rovers	24
2	Gerry Creaney	Portsmouth	18
=	Sean McCarthy	Oldham Athletic	18
=	David Whyte	Charlton Athletic	18
3	Nathan Blake	Sheffield United	17
4	Martin Foyle	Port Vale	16
=	Chris Malkin	Tranmere Rovers	16
=	John McGinlay	Bolton Wanderers	16
=	Steve Bull	Wolverhampton Wanderers	16
5	John Hendrie	Middlesbrough	15
=	David Kelly	Wolverhampton Wanderers	15

Locations

Locations of the London-based First Division teams

Second Division

Following relegation from Division One at the end of the 1993–94 season, Birmingham City earned an instant return as Second Division champions, also lifting the Auto Windscreens Shield. The latest restructuring of the league meant that runners-up Brentford missed out on automatic promotion and had to contest the play-offs, where they were beaten on penalties by Huddersfield Town after drawing both legs of their semi-final 1-1. The other semi-final saw Bristol Rovers overcome Crewe Alexandra, ending the Cheshire club's chances of a second successive promotion. The Wembley showdown saw Huddersfield Town beat the West Country side 2–1 to clinch a return to the second tier after seven seasons of trying, rounding off a fine first season at Huddersfield's impressive new all-seater McAlpine Stadium.

Wycombe Wanderers finished sixth in Division Two and missed out on the play-offs – and the chance of a third successive promotion – but this didn't deter Norwich City (just relegated from the Premier League) from recruiting Martin O'Neill as their new manager.

At the bottom of the table, Leyton Orient were relegated after six seasons in the third tier, having not won an away game in the league since before Christmas 1993. Just before the end of the season, the Brisbane Road club was taken over by Barry Hearn, who was swift to sack joint managers John Sitton and Chris Turner, appointing Pat Holland in their place. Chester City suffered an instant return to Division Three as they finished second from bottom. Cardiff City went down to Division Three just two seasons after winning promotion. Plymouth Argyle, promotion contenders a season earlier, went down in 21st place. The fifth and final relegation place went to a Cambridge United side who had been on the brink of a place in the new Premier League just three years earlier.

As Huddersfield were settling into their new home after more than 80 years at Leeds Road, a number of other Division Two clubs were planning to follow the growing trend of moving to a completely new stadium. Just before Christmas, Bristol Rovers announced plans to build a new 20,000-seater stadium at Avonmouth as part of their ambitious plan to end their long search for a permanent new home which had started when they moved out of their home at Eastville in 1986. Blackpool were also looking at possible sites to build a new all-seater stadium to replace Bloomfield Road. Shortly after the end of the season, Oxford United announced plans to build a new 16,000-seater stadium near Blackbird Leys to replace the dilapidated Manor Ground.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Birmingham City	46	15	6	2	53	18	10	8	5	31	19	+47	89	Division Champions, promoted
2	Brentford	46	14	4	5	44	15	11	6	6	37	24	+42	85	Participated in play-offs
3	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	3	6	46	33	11	5	7	34	35	+12	83
4	Bristol Rovers	46	15	7	1	48	20	7	9	7	22	20	+30	82
5	Huddersfield Town	46	14	5	4	45	21	8	10	5	34	28	+30	81	Promoted through play-offs
6	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	7	3	36	19	8	8	7	24	27	+14	78
7	Oxford United	46	13	6	4	30	18	8	6	9	36	34	+14	75
8	Hull City	46	13	6	4	40	18	8	5	10	30	39	+13	74
9	York City	46	13	4	6	37	21	8	5	10	30	30	+16	72
10	Swansea City	46	10	8	5	23	13	9	6	8	34	32	+12	71
11	Stockport County	46	12	3	8	40	29	7	5	11	23	31	+3	65
12	Blackpool	46	11	4	8	40	36	7	6	10	24	34	−6	64
13	Wrexham	46	10	7	6	38	27	6	8	9	27	37	+1	63	Welsh Cup winners, qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
14	Bradford City	46	8	6	9	29	32	8	6	9	28	32	−7	60
15	Peterborough United	46	7	11	5	26	29	7	7	9	28	40	−15	60
16	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	9	10	4	25	15	5	7	11	29	38	+1	59
17	Rotherham United	46	12	6	5	36	26	2	8	13	21	35	−4	56
18	Shrewsbury Town	46	9	9	5	34	27	4	5	14	20	35	−8	53
19	AFC Bournemouth	46	9	4	10	30	34	4	7	12	19	35	−20	50
20	Cambridge United	46	8	9	6	33	28	3	6	14	19	41	−17	48	Relegated
21	Plymouth Argyle	46	7	6	10	22	36	5	4	14	23	47	−38	46
22	Cardiff City	46	5	6	12	25	31	4	5	14	21	43	−28	38
23	Chester City	46	5	6	12	23	42	1	5	17	14	42	−47	29
24	Leyton Orient	46	6	6	11	21	29	0	2	21	9	46	−45	26

Source: ^[3]