1992–93 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season
# 1992–93 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season

The 1992–93 season was Blackburn Rovers' 105th season as a professional football club. This was their first year in the Premier League, but it was their first season in the top division since 1966.

## Season summary

With the riches of owner Jack Walker allowing manager Kenny Dalglish to sign Southampton striker Alan Shearer for a new British record fee (variously reported as £3.3 million, £3.4 million, or £3.6 million), Blackburn enjoyed an excellent season in their return to the top flight. In spite of Shearer being restricted to only 21 league appearances and 16 league goals after he snapped his right anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Leeds in December, Blackburn finished fourth - just one point off UEFA Cup qualification. Blackburn's cup form nearly saw them qualify for Europe anyway, but they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarter-finals and the League Cup in the semi-finals.

## 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 57 | 40 | +17 | 74 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Norwich City | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 61 | 65 | −4 | 72 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 68 | 46 | +22 | 71 | |
| 5 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 63 | |
| 6 | Liverpool | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 62 | 55 | +7 | 59 | |

* ↑ Since League Cup winners Arsenal had qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners Cup by also winning the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup berth for the League Cup reverted to the league and was awarded to Norwich City. England was considered for an extra slot for the UEFA Cup after the 1993 Polish football scandal, but another one was given to Scotland, and it was thought excessive to give both two slots to Great Britain, and the extra place was awarded to Hungary.

## Results

Blackburn Rovers' score comes first

### Legend

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

### FA Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 August 1992 | Crystal Palace | A | 3–3 | 17,086 | Ripley, Shearer (2) |
| 18 August 1992 | Arsenal | H | 1–0 | 16,454 | Shearer |
| 22 August 1992 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 19,433 | Newell |
| 26 August 1992 | Chelsea | A | 0–0 | 19,575 | |
| 29 August 1992 | Coventry City | A | 2–0 | 14,541 | Shearer (pen), Atkins |
| 5 September 1992 | Nottingham Forest | H | 4–1 | 16,180 | Shearer (2, 1 pen), Atkins, Crossley (own goal) |
| 12 September 1992 | Arsenal | A | 1–0 | 28,643 | Newell |
| 15 September 1992 | Everton | H | 2–3 | 19,563 | Shearer (2, 1 pen) |
| 19 September 1992 | Wimbledon | A | 1–1 | 6,117 | Shearer |
| 26 September 1992 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–0 | 18,393 | Shearer, Ripley |
| 3 October 1992 | Norwich City | H | 7–1 | 16,312 | Wegerle (2), Sherwood, Shearer (2), Cowans, Ripley |
| 19 October 1992 | Aston Villa | A | 0–0 | 30,398 | |
| 24 October 1992 | Manchester United | H | 0–0 | 20,305 | |
| 31 October 1992 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 0–0 | 31,044 | |
| 7 November 1992 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0–2 | 17,305 | |
| 22 November 1992 | Southampton | A | 1–1 | 16,626 | Moran |
| 28 November 1992 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–0 | 15,850 | Shearer |
| 5 December 1992 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–3 | 20,096 | Wilcox, Phillips (own goal) |
| 13 December 1992 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 43,668 | Shearer |
| 19 December 1992 | Sheffield United | H | 1–0 | 16,057 | Moran |
| 26 December 1992 | Leeds United | H | 3–1 | 19,910 | Wilcox, Shearer (2) |
| 28 December 1992 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 21,431 | Wegerle |
| 9 January 1993 | Wimbledon | H | 0–0 | 14,504 | |
| 16 January 1993 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–0 | 13,742 | Ripley |
| 26 January 1993 | Coventry City | H | 2–5 | 15,215 | Newell, Hendry |
| 30 January 1993 | Manchester City | A | 2–3 | 29,122 | Newell, Phelan (own goal) |
| 2 February 1993 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–2 | 14,163 | Wegerle |
| 21 February 1993 | Chelsea | H | 2–0 | 14,780 | Newell (2) |
| 28 February 1993 | Norwich City | A | 0–0 | 15,821 | |
| 3 March 1993 | Everton | A | 1–2 | 18,086 | May |
| 9 March 1993 | Southampton | H | 0–0 | 13,556 | |
| 20 March 1993 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–1 | 14,041 | Atkins |
| 24 March 1993 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 3–0 | 10,677 | Ripley, Moran, Atkins |
| 3 April 1993 | Liverpool | H | 4–1 | 15,032 | Newell, Moran, Gallacher, Wilcox |
| 7 April 1993 | Nottingham Forest | A | 3–1 | 20,467 | Wilcox, Ripley, Newell |
| 10 April 1993 | Leeds United | A | 2–5 | 31,791 | Gallacher, Newell |
| 12 April 1993 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–1 | 14,071 | Ripley, Whelan (own goal) |
| 17 April 1993 | Sheffield United | A | 3–1 | 18,186 | Gallacher, Newell, Sherwood |
| 21 April 1993 | Aston Villa | H | 3–0 | 15,127 | Newell (2), Gallacher |
| 3 May 1993 | Manchester United | A | 1–3 | 40,447 | Gallacher |
| 5 May 1993 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | 23,097 | Newell (2) |
| 8 May 1993 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–0 | 14,956 | Sherwood |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 2 January 1993 | Bournemouth | H | 3–1 | 13,733 | Ripley (2), Newell |
| R4 | 23 January 1993 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 3–0 | ? | Wegerle, Newell, Moran |
| R5 | 13 February 1993 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 19,972 | Wegerle |
| QF | 6 March 1993 | Sheffield United | H | 0–0 | 6,721 (2,543) | |
| QFR | 16 March 1993 | Sheffield United | A | 2–2 (lost 3–5 on pens) | 23,920 (400) | Newell, Livingstone |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R2 First Leg | 23 September 1992 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–1 | 11,071 | Shearer |
| R2 Second Leg | 6 October 1992 | Huddersfield Town | H | 4–3 (won 5–4 on agg) | 15,038 | Shearer (2), Wegerle, Newell |
| R3 | 28 October 1992 | Norwich City | H | 2–0 | 14,216 | Shearer, May |
| R4 | 9 December 1992 | Watford | H | 6–1 | 13,187 | Shearer (2), Atkins, Newell (2), Wegerle |
| QF | 6 January 1993 | Cambridge United | H | 3–2 | 14,165 | Newell (2), Wegerle |
| SF First Leg | 10 February 1993 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–4 | 17,283 | Wegerle 10', Palmer (own goal) 32' |
| SF Second Leg | 14 March 1993 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–2 (lost 3–6 on agg) | 30,048 | Andersson 34' |

## First-team 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 |
| - | - | - | - |
| — | GK | ENG | Darren Collier |
| — | GK | ENG | Matt Dickins |
| — | GK | ENG | Bobby Mimms |
| — | GK | AUS | Frank Talia |
| — | DF | SWE | Patrik Andersson |
| — | DF | NOR | Henning Berg |
| — | DF | ENG | Richard Brown |
| — | DF | ENG | Rob Dewhurst |
| — | DF | ENG | Tony Dobson |
| — | DF | SCO | Colin Hendry |
| — | DF | ENG | Graeme Le Saux |
| — | DF | ENG | Nicky Marker |
| — | DF | ENG | David May |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Price |
| — | DF | ENG | Alan Wright |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Agnew |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Atkins |
| — | MF | ENG | Wayne Burnett |
| — | MF | ENG | Gordon Cowans |
| — | MF | ENG | Simon Ireland |
| — | MF | ENG | Lee Makel |
| — | MF | IRL | Kevin Moran (captain) |
| — | MF | ENG | Stuart Ripley |
| — | MF | ENG | Tim Sherwood |
| — | MF | ENG | Jason Wilcox |
| — | FW | ENG | Mike Newell |
| — | FW | ENG | Alan Shearer |
| — | FW | SCO | Kevin Gallacher |
| — | FW | ENG | Peter Thorne |

### 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 |
| - | - | - | - |
| — | DF | ENG | Keith Hill (to Plymouth Argyle) |
| — | MF | ENG | Craig Skinner (to Plymouth Argyle) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | Steve Livingstone (to Chelsea) |
| — | FW | USA | Roy Wegerle (to Coventry) |

## Transfers

### In

* Kevin Gallacher - Coventry City, March, £1,500,000
* Frank Talia - Sunshine George Cross, August
* Patrik Andersson - Malmö, December, £800,000
* Stuart Ripley - Middlesbrough, £1,300,000
* Graeme Le Saux - Chelsea, March, £700,000
* Nicky Marker - Plymouth Argyle, £200,000 plus Keith Hill and Craig Skinner
* Henning Berg - Lillestrøm, £400,000
* Lee Makel - Newcastle United, £160,000

### Out

* Lee Richardson - Aberdeen
* Steve Livingstone - Chelsea, March, £350,000
* Roy Wegerle - Coventry, March, £1,000,000
* Keith Hill - Plymouth Argyle, part-exchange
* Craig Skinner - Plymouth Argyle, part-exchange
