1993–94 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season
# 1993–94 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

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

## 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

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Arsenal | 42 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 53 | 28 | +25 | 71 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 65 | 39 | +26 | 70 | |

* ↑ Arsenal qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as the defending champions.

## Results

Blackburn Rovers' score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 14 August 1993 | Chelsea | A | 2–1 | 29,189 | Newell, Ripley |
| 18 August 1993 | Norwich City | H | 2–3 | 14,236 | Atkins, Wilcox |
| 21 August 1993 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | 13,731 | Moran |
| 24 August 1993 | Manchester City | A | 2–0 | 25,185 | Newell, Gallacher |
| 29 August 1993 | Newcastle United | A | 1–1 | 34,272 | Shearer |
| 2 September 1993 | Arsenal | H | 1–1 | 14,051 | Gallacher |
| 12 September 1993 | Liverpool | A | 1–0 | 37,355 | Newell |
| 18 September 1993 | West Ham United | H | 0–2 | 13,943 | |
| 25 September 1993 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–1 | 13,917 | Shearer |
| 2 October 1993 | Swindon Town | A | 3–1 | 15,224 | Shearer (2), Ripley |
| 18 October 1993 | Sheffield United | H | 0–0 | 13,505 | |
| 23 October 1993 | Leeds United | A | 3–3 | 37,827 | Shearer (3) |
| 30 October 1993 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | 16,849 | Shearer |
| 6 November 1993 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–1 | 17,636 | |
| 20 November 1993 | Southampton | H | 2–0 | 16,666 | Shearer (2) |
| 23 November 1993 | Coventry City | H | 2–1 | 15,136 | Shearer (2) |
| 27 November 1993 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–1 | 14,582 | |
| 5 December 1993 | Chelsea | H | 2–0 | 15,736 | Le Saux, Shearer |
| 11 December 1993 | Oldham Athletic | A | 2–1 | 13,887 | Shearer (2) |
| 18 December 1993 | Manchester City | H | 2–0 | 11,800 | Gallacher, Shearer |
| 26 December 1993 | Manchester United | A | 1–1 | 44,511 | Gallacher |
| 29 December 1993 | Everton | H | 2–0 | 26,015 | Shearer (2) |
| 1 January 1994 | Aston Villa | A | 1–0 | 40,903 | Shearer |
| 15 January 1994 | Sheffield United | A | 2–1 | 19,124 | Shearer (2) |
| 23 January 1994 | Leeds United | H | 2–1 | 16,938 | Shearer (2) |
| 5 February 1994 | Wimbledon | H | 3–0 | 16,215 | Shearer, Wilcox, Ripley |
| 12 February 1994 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–0 | 30,236 | Shearer, Gallacher |
| 19 February 1994 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 21,269 | May |
| 22 February 1994 | Norwich City | A | 2–2 | 15,193 | Gallacher (2) |
| 26 February 1994 | Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 35,030 | |
| 5 March 1994 | Liverpool | H | 2–0 | 20,831 | Wilcox, Sherwood |
| 20 March 1994 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–1 | 24,699 | Wilcox, Newell |
| 26 March 1994 | Swindon Town | H | 3–1 | 20,046 | Shearer (2, 1 pen), Sherwood |
| 29 March 1994 | Wimbledon | A | 1–4 | 10,537 | Wilcox |
| 2 April 1994 | Manchester United | H | 2–0 | 20,866 | Shearer (2) |
| 4 April 1994 | Everton | A | 3–0 | 27,427 | Newell (2), Wilcox |
| 11 April 1994 | Aston Villa | H | 1–0 | 19,287 | Shearer |
| 16 April 1994 | Southampton | A | 1–3 | 19,105 | Ripley |
| 24 April 1994 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 19,913 | Shearer |
| 27 April 1994 | West Ham United | A | 2–1 | 22,186 | Berg, Pearce |
| 2 May 1994 | Coventry City | A | 1–2 | 16,653 | Le Saux |
| 7 May 1994 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–0 | 20,633 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 8 January 1994 | Portsmouth | H | 3–3 | 17,219 | Gallacher, Shearer, Sherwood |
| R3R | 19 January 1994 | Portsmouth | A | 3–1 | 23,035 | Shearer, Wilcox, May |
| R4 | 29 January 1994 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–0 | 8,532 | |
| R4R | 8 February 1994 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–1 | 15,348 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R2 1st leg | 21 September 1993 | Bournemouth | H | 1–0 | 10,733 | Shearer |
| R2 2nd leg | 5 October 1993 | Bournemouth | A | 0–0 (won 1-0 on agg) | 10,321 | |
| R3 | 26 October 1993 | Shrewsbury Town | H | 0–0 | 10,603 | |
| R3R | 9 November 1993 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 4–3 | 7,330 | Newell (2), May, Pearce |
| R4 | 1 December 1993 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 22,295 | |

## 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) |
