20 years of the FA Premier League - Part 1

1992/93

THE new football revolution began in August 1992, when the 22 leading clubs in England broke away from the Football league to create the FA Premier League.  With a massive new live television deal with BSKYB, bigger sponsors and higher transfer fees, the English game changed forever.  The honour of scoring the first ever Premiership goal fell to Sheffield United’s Brian Deane.  Deane scored after five minutes in his side’s 2-1 win over Manchester United.  Title favourites Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead at home to Norwich City on the opening weekend, losing 4-2 and only ending a disappointing 10^th in the final table.  Under Jack Walker’s millions, Blackburn Rovers were a fine 4^th in their first season in the top flight, with new English record signing Alan Shearer scoring 15 goals before a serious knee injury on Boxing Day 1992 ended his season prematurely.  Top scorer was Teddy Sheringham, who netted Sky’s first live televised goal in Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 opening weekend success over Liverpool.  A week later, Sheringham moved to Tottenham and scored another 21 goals and with it, Forest lost all direction and form.  The late, great Brian Clough decided to retire from football management, but his legacy was clouded by relegation, after an emotional final home game at the City Ground; Forest beaten 2-0 by Sheffield United on May 1.  Afterwards, Clough admitted his side hadn’t been good enough to stay up.  Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace also went down, as unfancied Oldham Athletic pulled off a remarkable run of three wins at the end of the season.  Joe Royle’s team beat Southampton 4-3 on a dramatic final day to stay afloat.  Palace lost 3-0 on the final day at Highbury to drop out of the league, relegated by an Ian Wright hat-trick.  Despite their league failings, Arsenal did manage a cup double, beating Sheffield Wednesday in both FA Cup and League Cup finals.  It was QPR who ended up as London’s top finishers, winding up a creditable fifth.  Fellow London side Chelsea sacked Ian Porterfield in February, after failing to win in 12 matches between December and February.  Unfortunately for Porterfield, he became the first manager to lose their job at this level.  Another club who struggled were defending champions Leeds United.  They sold Eric Cantona to Manchester United in November for £1.2million and proceeded to finish a dire 18^th; failing to win an away match all season.  At the top, Manchester United held off stiff challenges from Aston Villa and Norwich City to win their first title in 26 years.  The title was secured by Villa’s shock 1-0 home loss to Oldham on May 2.  One evening later, Old Trafford partied in style with a 3-1 triumph over Blackburn the crowning glory.  Alex Ferguson’s men eventually finished ten points clear at the end of the season.

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Aston Villa, 3^rd: Norwich City, 4^th: Blackburn Rovers, 5^th: QPR, 6^th: Liverpool, 7^th: Sheffield Wednesday, 8^th; Tottenham, 9^th: Manchester City, 10^th: Arsenal

RELEGATED: Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest

BIGGEST WIN: Blackburn Rovers 7-1 Norwich City (3 October 1992)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Oldham Athletic 5-3 Nottingham Forest (22 August 1992), Oldham Athletic 6-2 Wimbledon (3 April 1993), Liverpool 6-2 Tottenham (8 May 1993)

TOP SCORERS: Sheringham (Tottenham) 22, Ferdinand (QPR) 20, Holdsworth (Wimbledon) 19, Quinn (Coventry) 17, Shearer (Blackburn) 16, White (Manchester City) 16, Cantona (Manchester United) 15, Wright (Arsenal) 15, Le Tissier (Southampton) 15, Robins (Norwich City) 15

1993/94

AFTER their success in 1992/93, Manchester United went onto dominate the following season, although a mid-season wobble did almost throw away the title.  Having signed Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest in the close season, United looked awesome in the first half of the season.  Keane’s gritty determination, combined with the pace of Ryan Giggs and Andrei Kanchelskis and the natural finishing from Mark Hughes and Eric Cantona meant they established a 15 point lead at the turn of the year.  Norwich City, Leeds United and Arsenal made sporadic challenges, but the only sustained threat came from Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers.  With Alan Shearer back to full fitness, Blackburn closed United down and capitalised on a dip in form from Ferguson’s side.  A 2-0 win at Ewood Park against the champions in April put Blackburn within striking distance.  However, a draw at home to QPR and defeats at Southampton and Coventry City ultimately meant the late surge didn’t happen.  The defeat at Highfield Road on May 2 ensured back-to-back titles for United, without kicking a ball to do it.  They beat Chelsea 4-0 in a one-sided FA Cup final to complete the double.  Newcastle United joined the Premiership fold and Kevin Keegan’s entertainers finished an excellent third in the table.  Andy Cole was in red hot form all season, finishing top scorer with a stunning 34 league goals.  One of Cole’s former sides, Arsenal had a better finish, with Ian Wright once again showing his predator striking class.  The Gunners ended the campaign 4^th and with the best defence in the league, only shipping 28 goals to opposition teams.  Graeme Souness’s miserable reign at Anfield came to an end in January, when he was sacked after a dismal FA Cup defeat at home to lowly Bristol City.  Liverpool finished a poor 8^th in the table, but did produce the comeback of the season on January 4, recovering from 3-0 down inside 21 minutes at home to Manchester United and rescuing a 3-3 draw.  Souness wasn’t the only manager to lose his job this season, with similar fates befalling Peter Reid (Manchester City), Bobby Gould (Coventry City) and Ian Branfoot (Southampton).  Swindon Town went straight back down after just one season, conceding a record 100 league goals in the process.  Relegation also befell Oldham before the final games, but the final day turned into a relegation dogfight between Everton, Southampton, Ipswich and Sheffield United.  Everton stormed back from 2-0 down to beat Wimbledon 3-2 and survive by the skin of their teeth.  Ultimately, Mark Stein’s last minute winner for Chelsea against Sheffield United sealed a 3-2 win and sent Dave Bassett’s team down, despite having been as high as 15^th, two weeks before the season’s end.  However, 93/94 belonged to one team only; Manchester United. 

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Blackburn Rovers, 3^rd: Newcastle United, 4^th: Arsenal, 5^th: Leeds United, 6^th: Wimbledon, 7^th: Sheffield Wednesday, 8^th; Liverpool, 9^th: QPR, 10^th: Aston Villa

RELEGATED: Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town

BIGGEST WIN: Newcastle United 7-1 Swindon Town (11 March 1994)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Norwich City 4-5 Southampton (9 April 1994), Everton 6-2 Swindon Town (15 January 1994), Oldham Athletic 2-5 Manchester United (29 December 1993)

TOP SCORERS: Cole (Newcastle) 34, Shearer (Blackburn) 31, Le Tissier (Southampton) 25, Sutton (Norwich City) 25, Wright (Arsenal) 23, Beardsley (Newcastle) 21, Bright (Sheffield Wednesday) 19, Cantona (Manchester United) 18, Wallace (Leeds) 17, Holdsworth (Wimbledon) 17, Ferdinand (QPR) 16, Cottee (Everton) 16, Campbell (Arsenal) 14, Rush (Liverpool) 14, Sheringham (Tottenham) 14

1994/95

HAVING come close the previous season, Blackburn stated their intentions in pre-season by breaking the English transfer record to sign Chris Sutton from Norwich City.  Together with Alan Shearer, the pair formed the deadly SAS partnership which would eventually spearhead Blackburn to their first championship in 81 years and in dramatic circumstances too.  Going into the final day, Rovers were two points clear of Manchester United, but were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool at Anfield.  A win at Upton Park against West Ham would have been enough for the Red Devils, but some inspired Ludek Miklosko goalkeeping and wasteful finishing meant a 1-1 draw was not enough.  So, despite conceding to Jamie Redknapp’s injury time free-kick, Blackburn fans celebrated losing a match!  Shearer’s goal tally left him as top scorer and Tim Sherwood lifted the trophy afloat on a glorious May afternoon.  The season was to be dogged by many bad headlines which dragged football’s publicity down the gutter.  Dennis Wise was jailed for assaulting a taxi driver, Chris Armstrong failed a drugs test, Paul Merson had time off the game after admitting to excessive gambling and cocaine addiction and Eric Cantona was suspended for eight months after his famous kung-fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan at Selhurst Park.  The temperament of the fantastic Frenchman had always been questioned and this time, it cost Manchester United.  Despite scoring five goals in one match against Ipswich, Andy Cole’s shock £7million move from Newcastle in January turned into an expensive flop for many Manchester United supporters.  A match-fixing scandal also gripped the game this season, with Bruce Grobbelaar, Hans Segers and John Fashanu all accused of taking money to fix matches.  All three would end up being acquitted.  Arsenal manager George Graham was sacked in disgrace in February and banned from the game for a year, after taking illegal transfer bungs for the signature of hopeless Danish midfielder John Jensen.  With the Premier League being reduced to 20 clubs from the following season onwards, there was increased pressure on managers throughout the season.  Phil Neal (Coventry), Ron Atkinson (Aston Villa) and Mike Walker (Everton) all lost their jobs during the season, due to the intense relegation scrap.  Ultimately, it was a miserable season for East Anglia with both Ipswich and Norwich City being relegated.  Norwich had started 1995 in 7^th position, but only one win in the second half of the season sealed their fate.  Crystal Palace and Leicester made instant returns to the Football League, but the other club that came up, Nottingham Forest, finished a brilliant 3^rd, having gone 12 games unbeaten at the start of the season.  Tottenham fans also had Jurgen Klinsmann to cheer on this season, as he scored on his debut, with a famous celebratory dive against Sheffield Wednesday.  Klinsmann guided Tottenham to 7^th and won the Football Writers award before returning home to Germany at the end of the season.

CHAMPIONS: Blackburn Rovers, 2^nd: Manchester United, 3^rd: Nottingham Forest, 4^th: Liverpool, 5^th: Leeds United, 6^th: Newcastle United, 7^th: Tottenham, 8^th; QPR, 9^th: Wimbledon, 10^th: Southampton

RELEGATED: Crystal Palace, Norwich City, Leicester City, Ipswich Town

BIGGEST WIN: Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4 March 1995)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4 March 1995), Aston Villa 7-1 Wimbledon (11 February 1995), Sheffield Wednesday 1-7 Nottingham Forest (1 April 1995)

TOP SCORERS: Shearer (Blackburn) 34, Fowler (Liverpool) 25, Ferdinand (QPR) 24, Collymore (Nottingham Forest) 22, Cole (Newcastle & Manchester United) 21, Klinsmann (Tottenham) 20, Le Tissier (Southampton) 19, Sheringham (Tottenham) 18, Wright (Arsenal) 18, Sutton (Blackburn) 15

1995/96

THE primary title contenders in 1995/96 were Manchester United and Newcastle United.  Newcastle topped the table from day one and after beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on January 19, established a staggering 12 point lead over the men from Manchester United.  United started the season poorly, having sold Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis and still missing Eric Cantona through suspension.  They lost 3-1 at Aston Villa on the opening day, giving Alan Hansen the chance to say ‘you can’t win anything with kids.’  Defeats at Liverpool, Leeds and 4-1 at Tottenham on New Year’s Day left United with a mountain to climb, but Cantona quickly turned the title battle into a one man crusade.  He inspired his team to an amazing run of results in the spring, which saw Newcastle’s lead disappear.  On March 4, the Frenchman scored the only goal of the game at St. James Park to make Manchester United title favourites.  A month later and Newcastle lost the greatest game in FA Premier League history; 4-3 at Liverpool, thanks to a stoppage time winner from Stan Collymore.  Despite a 3-1 loss at Southampton a week later, which was blamed on hideous grey away shirts, Ferguson’s side turned on the screw.  He started playing mind games, questioning Leeds outstanding performance at Old Trafford in mid-April and the scheduling of a Nottingham Forest v Newcastle fixture near a Stuart Pearce testimonial at the end of the season.  Kevin Keegan responded live on Sky Sports, losing his rag after an away win at Leeds on April 29.  The ‘I will love it if we beat them!’ rant has gone down in folklore, but no more.  Ian Woan scored a brilliant late goal to earn Nottingham Forest a point against Newcastle three days later and Manchester United completed the job with a comfortable 3-0 away win on the last day at Middlesbrough.  Four points was the difference at the end of the season and with the prominence of youngsters coming through at Old Trafford, such as Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, a new generation of dominance began to blossom.  Whilst United were rejoicing, it was misery for their Manchester rivals, Manchester City.  A 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool on the final day of the season was not enough to keep them in the Premiership.  It was heartbreak for Alan Ball in his first season in charge at Maine Road; his side not recovering from a dismal start.  QPR and Bolton Wanderers also lost their fight against the drop.  Defending champions Blackburn never looked a factor all season, but Alan Shearer still ended top scorer again as they finished a poor 7^th, not helped by Kenny Dalglish’s decision to step aside after the title glory of the previous May.  Meanwhile, Liverpool broke the British transfer record to lure Stan Collymore to Anfield from Nottingham Forest.  He and Robbie Fowler began a formidable partnership which shot Liverpool to third place.  Chelsea had another unspectacular season, but an 11^th place finish was enough to convince England to appoint Glenn Hoddle as Terry Venables successor after Euro 96! 

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Newcastle United, 3^rd: Liverpool, 4^th: Aston Villa, 5^th: Arsenal, 6^th: Everton, 7^th: Blackburn Rovers, 8^th; Tottenham, 9^th: Nottingham Forest, 10^th: West Ham United

RELEGATED: Manchester City, QPR, Bolton Wanderers

BIGGEST WIN: Blackburn Rovers 7-0 Nottingham Forest (18 November 1995)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Sheffield Wednesday 6-2 Leeds United (16 December 1995), Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle United (3 April 1996), Southampton 3-4 Nottingham Forest (19 August 1995)

TOP SCORERS: Shearer (Blackburn) 31, Fowler (Liverpool) 28, Ferdinand (Newcastle) 25, Yorke (Aston Villa) 17, Kanchelskis (Everton) 16, Sheringham (Tottenham) 16, Wright (Arsenal) 15, Armstrong (Tottenham) 15, Cantona (Manchester United) 14, Dublin (Coventry City) 14

1996/97

MANCHESTER United achieved their fourth title in five years, but struggled to show any superiority throughout the season.  Luckily, all their nearest challengers had stuttering campaigns, which meant Alex Ferguson’s side got over the line, once again by not playing.  Despite 17-year old sensation Michael Owen coming off the bench to score at Wimbledon, Liverpool’s 2-1 loss at Selhurst Park, combined with Newcastle’s 0-0 stalemate at West Ham was enough for Ferguson’s side to be crowned the best in the land again.  This was despite a horrifying six days in October, which saw his champions lose 5-0 at Newcastle and then, 6-3 to Southampton.  Liverpool established a five point lead at the turn of the year, but threw the advantage away, with costly defeats at Aston Villa (1-0) in March and Coventry (1-2) in April.  Roy Evans side had only themselves to blame, with David James guilty of several high profile blunders in the run-in.  In the end, they finished only fourth, when title glory could have been theirs.  Newcastle suffered a huge shock when Kevin Keegan resigned at the beginning of January; the previous season’s toil had taken his stress levels to new extremes.  Kenny Dalglish took up the reins and despite a leaky defence, qualified for the Champions League with a 5-0 battering of Nottingham Forest on the final day.  Newcastle also managed to persuade Alan Shearer home to Tyneside, in a record £15million move from Blackburn Rovers at the start of the season.  However, his partnership with Les Ferdinand didn’t quite blossom as many expected, due to injuries.  Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal in September and guided his ageing Gunners side to third place, with Ian Wright once again scoring goals for fun.  Chelsea went global, by signing Gianfranco Zola.  Zola’s impact was instant when he moved from Parma in November, walking away with the Football Writers award at the end of the season.  Ruud Gullit’s side finished sixth and won the FA Cup, lifting the gloom over the Bridge, as they had to deal with the tragic death of club director Matthew Harding in a helicopter crash on the way back from a Coca Cola Cup tie at Bolton in late October.  Another side who spent the money were Middlesbrough, with Emerson and Fabrizio Ravanelli arriving at a colourful Riverside Stadium.  The season turned into a nightmare for Boro, as they lost in both domestic cup finals and were docked three points for failing to fulfil a fixture at Blackburn on December 20, claiming they had 21 players out through illness and injury!!  Consequently, they were also relegated, despite Juninho’s heroics at Leeds on the final day of the season.  Incredibly, Coventry City beat Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart Lane to stay up against the odds, with Sunderland going straight back down after a 1-0 defeat at Wimbledon.  Wimbledon themselves finished a creditable 8^th, having strung together a 20-game unbeaten run at one stage in all competitions.

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Newcastle United, 3^rd: Arsenal, 4^th: Liverpool, 5^th: Aston Villa, 6^th: Chelsea, 7^th: Sheffield Wednesday, 8^th; Wimbledon, 9^th: Leicester City, 10^th: Tottenham

RELEGATED: Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest

BIGGEST WIN: Newcastle United 7-1 Tottenham Hotspur (28 December 1996)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Southampton 6-3 Manchester United (26 October 1996), Everton 7-1 Southampton (16 November 1996), Chelsea 6-2 Sunderland (16 March 1997)

TOP SCORERS: Shearer (Newcastle) 25, Wright (Arsenal) 23, Solskjaer (Manchester United) 18, Fowler (Liverpool) 18, Yorke (Aston Villa) 17, Ferdinand (Newcastle) 16, Ravanelli (Middlesbrough) 16, Le Tissier (Southampton) 13, Dublin (Coventry City) 13, Bergkamp (Arsenal) 12, Juninho (Middlesbrough), Collymore (Liverpool) 12, Claridge (Leicester) 12, Cantona (Manchester United) 11 

Classic Premiership Matches 21-40

In the past 18 seasons, football fans across the globe have been treated to some cracking Premiership matches.  On the eve of the 19th season having begun yesterday, here is a look-back at some classics down the years.

21.           Norwich City                          4-5           Southampton                          Saturday 9^th April 1994

This was a nine-goal thriller at Carrow Road, as Norwich squandered a 3-1 lead to lose the game.  The Saint messiah, Matt Le Tissier scored another hat-trick and a powerful header from centre back, Ken Monkou earned a priceless victory for the Saints, enough to end up seeing the South Coast outfit stay up.

22.           Arsenal                                    2-2           Manchester United                  Wednesday 16^th April 2003

Down the years, Arsenal and Manchester United have served up some controversial and spicy matches, none more so than this championship crunch at Highbury.  The Red Devils made the best start, with top scorer Ruud Van Nistlerooy bursting through to give his side the lead.  A quickfire double from Thierry Henry in the opening exchanges changed the outcome of the game, before a free header by Ryan Giggs made things all square again.  Sol Campbell was red-carded in a bitter and sour end to a heavily-fought game.

23.           Liverpool                                                6-2           Tottenham Hotspur                                Saturday 8^th May 1993

With nothing to fight for either side, the shackles were released in this last match of the campaign.  Both had underachieved and looked set for new managers in the forthcoming season.  There were 2 goals apiece for Liverpool legends, John Barnes and Ian Rush.

24.           Nottingham Forest                 1-8           Manchester United                  Saturday 6^th February 1999

For Manchester United, this was a stroll in the park during their treble winning season.  The deadly combination of Andy Cole & Dwight Yorke struck again with two goals apiece, either side of a tidy Alan Rodgers effort for woeful Forest.  Substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench to round things off, hitting an incredible 4 goals in 18 minutes.  The Norwegian had written himself into the Premiership record books.

25.           Arsenal                                    4-2           Liverpool                                                Friday 9^th April 2004

Having just been dumped out of the FA Cup and Champions League within four days, the Untouchables from Highbury were under pressure and it continued after the first half against a distant Liverpool side.  Sami Hyypia and Michael Owen both scored in the first half to give Gerard Houiller’s outfit the advantage.  Trailing 2-1 at the interlude, it was a major test of Wenger’s side, but the character building challenge was passed with flying colours by Thierry Henry, who scored a memorable hat-trick, including another special solo effort.  The championship and the unbeaten record were back in total command.

 

26.           West Ham United                   1-1           Manchester United                  Sunday 14^th May 1995

Manchester United visited their bogey side, West Ham needing a win to stand any chance of making it three consecutive Premier League titles.  Behind to an early Michael Hughes volley, United piled the pressure on in the second half and an unmarked header by Brian McClair brought United level.  Chance after chance came, but wasteful finishing from Andy Cole and an outstanding goalkeeping display by Ludek Mikolosko thwarted Alex Ferguson’s side of another championship.

27.           Southampton                          3-2           Arsenal                                    Saturday 19^th May 2001

It was a final farewell to The Dell, one of the oldest grounds in the English game and what a finale.  It was fitting, that the last word should come from the Southampton legend, Matt Le Tissier.  He hit a thunderous half-volley past David Seaman deep in stoppage time to send the home supporters into raptures.  They had finished up in the grand manner.

28.           Everton                                   2-4           Manchester United                  Saturday 28^th April 2007

As ever, Manchester United had not making life easy for Sir Alex Ferguson, and had been falling into the Jose Mourinho and Chelsea trap.  They made a disastrous start in a must win game at Goodison Park, trailing to an Alan Stubbs free-kick and a thunderbolt from Manuel Fernandes.  Their reply was the stuff of champions.  John O’Shea nodded in from a corner, Phil Neville kicked the ball into his own net against his former employees then a cool finish from former Blue hero Wayne Rooney turned the game around.  A super strike from Chris Eagles in the dying stages made the result look more comfortable.  Furthermore, Chelsea had been held at home by Bolton and their stranglehold as English champions had been severely loosened by the men from Manchester.

29.           Chelsea                                    4-4           Aston Villa                              Wednesday 26^th December 2007

This Boxing Day clash saw heavy punches literally thrown and a game full of talking points.  Villa held a 2-0 lead, due to an early double from the unsettled Shaun Maloney.  Back came Chelsea, with a brace for the underperforming Andrei Shevchenko and a lovely team goal, finished by Alex.  Martin Laursen pegged Martin O’Neill’s side level again, only for a Michael Ballack free-kick to put Chelsea back infront again.  Amidst all of this, Zat Knight and Ricardo Carvalho had been dismissed by the referee and Ashley Cole followed them for an early shower when he handled on the line in stoppage time.  Gareth Barry converted the spot kick to force a share of the spoils.

30.           Tottenham Hotspur                                4-4           Leicester City                          Sunday 22^nd February 2004

In 2004, Tottenham were in complete disarray, highlighted further by this exciting share of the spoils with fellow comical defending side, Leicester City.  David Pleat’s side were in total control at half-time, 3-1 to the good but goals from old Spurs boy Les Ferdinand, a rare goal for Ben Thatcher and Marcus Bent turned the game on its head.  The Foxes were to be denied three points though, by Jermain Defoe’s 2^nd strike of the game in the final exchanges.  This was a game for the neutrals to remember.

31.           Arsenal                                    3-2           Manchester United                  Sunday 9^th November 1997

On this day, Arsenal began to genuinely realise they were prolific championship contenders, with a thumping critical victory over their deadly rivals.  The deputy for Dennis Bergkamp, Nicholas Anelka flashed in his debut goal for the Gunners and their lead was doubled by countryman, Patrick Vieira.  Never write United at your peril, proven through a double before half-time from ex-Spurs villain, Teddy Sheringham.  With nine minutes to go, a great header from David Platt aided Arsene Wenger to a first triumph in the Premiership over Alex Ferguson.

32.           Tottenham Hotspur                                6-4           Reading                                   Saturday 29^th December 2007

Christmas may have just finished, but both sets of defenders looked like they had stuffed turkey, opening the door for the positive strikers.  Four goals from Dimitar Berbatov and two strikes from Reading’s Dave Kitson were the pick of the front men whilst Jermain Defoe scored his final goal of his first spell at White Hart Lane.

33.           Newcastle United                    4-3           Leicester City                          Sunday 2^nd February 1997

The entertainers of the Premier League in the mid nineties were undoubtedly Newcastle United and they provided more of the same in this supposed home banker.  An early goal from Robbie Elliot settled the pre-game nerves, but three goals from the Foxes in ten rip-roaring minutes by Matt Elliot, Steve Claridge and Emile Heskey stunned St. James Park into silence.  However, if one man could rescue the Magpies, it was skipper Alan Shearer.  A bullet free-kick, a low drive and a simple tap-in in added on time gave Newcastle a morale-boosting triumph.

34.           Liverpool                                                2-1           Blackburn Rovers                   Sunday 14^th May 1995

Victory at Anfield against the former kings of the English game would seal Blackburn’s first championship in 81 years.  Alan Shearer got Rovers off to the perfect start, with a goal after 20 minutes.  Though Liverpool really wanted Manchester United to not win the championship, they were determined to play their part in a dramatic final day.  John Barnes equalised on the hour mark and then a curling free-kick from Jamie Redknapp in injury time put Liverpool infront.  Seconds later, Blackburn fans were cheering as they heard the news that Manchester United had failed to beat West Ham at Upton Park and the Premiership trophy was heading to a new destination of Ewood Park.

35.           Everton                                   2-3           Aston Villa                              Sunday 7^th December 2008

The most likely sides to break into the big four domination of the Premiership played out a pre-Christmas corker.  In-form Villa scored first, through Steve Sidwell in the first minute.  Joleon Lescott replied against the club he was turned down as a trainee.  A communication mix-up between Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard allowed the feisty Ashley Young to restore Villa’s lead.  In a dramatic final minute, Lescott volleyed home a priceless equaliser, before Young cashed in on naïve defending to slot the ball past Howard and claim an unbelievable victory for Martin O’Neill’s side.  No-one will forget this end-to-end showpiece.

36.           Crystal Palace                        2-2           Southampton                          Saturday 7^th May 2005

At Selhurst Park, a dramatic penultimate weekend of the season left the tightest relegation battle in Premiership history totally undecided.  On a see-saw afternoon, the game was deadlocked at 1-1 when a clash involving Peter Crouch and Gonzalo Sorondo saw both men dismissed.  Then, when injury-prone Nicola Ventola converted his first strike for the Eagles, Southampton, were on the brink.  Then in injury time, Danny Higginbotham scored a dramatic leveller and for the first time ever, all three relegation places would only be settled on the last day.

37.           Blackburn Rovers                   3-4           Leeds United                           Sunday 14^th September 1997

For two defensively minded teams, the first 33 minutes were absolutely fabulous as both seem to find attacking football quite attractive on this spring afternoon.  George Graham’s outfit took a 2-0 lead against the early Premier League pacesetters through a bundled effort from Rod Wallace & a charging header by Robert Molenaar.  Ten minutes later, Blackburn levelled the contest up through a super shot by Kevin Gallacher and Chris Sutton’s penalty.  Back came the Yorkshire club, with Wallace scoring again before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink squared David Hopkin up for what turned out to be the decisive goal.  Martin Dahlin battled hard for his goal moments afterwards and after half-time, the managers had calmed the players down and the second half petered out.  However, this match will be remembered for a stone classical first half.

 38.          Wigan Athletic                        3-2           Arsenal                                    Sunday 19^th April 2010

Arsenal was romping away with the match at the DW stadium and with ten minutes left, led 2-0, courtesy of goals from Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre.  Cue an astonishing turnaround from Wigan, which well and truly finished off Arsenal’s title chances.  Ben Watson scrambled in from close range, and then Titus Bramble pounced on a horrible blunder from the inconsistent Gunners goalie, Lukas Fabianski.  With Arsenal on the ropes, Charles N’Zogbia floored them in the dying stages, to complete one of the most amazing comebacks the Premiership has ever seen.  Bedlam at the DW, as Wigan confirmed another season in the top flight.

39.           Middlesbrough                        3-3           Liverpool                                                Saturday 17^th August 1996

The opening day headlines in 1996 were taken deservedly so by David Beckham’s wonder halfway line strike at Selhurst Park, but it overshadowed a Premiership classic in the Teesside sunshine.  Fabrizio Ravanelli made himself loved in the North East with a fabulous hat-trick on his Middlesbrough debut as Bryan Robson’s men battled back three times to earn a draw.  Though entertaining throughout the campaign, it turned out to be a nightmare season for Boro, both on and off the pitch, so this was a major highlight.

40.           Arsenal                                    4-4           Tottenham Hotspur                                Wednesday 29^th October 2008

Tottenham were in the doldrums and only five days earlier, had dismissed Juande Ramos after two points from just eight games.  In came Harry Redknapp and a super point in another North London derby classic was just the tonic that the white half of London needed.  A long-range special from David Bentley had Spurs infront, before shoddy defending left Redknapp’s side 4-2 down to the beautiful Arsenal outfit with one minute to go.  Jermaine Jenas reduced the deficit with a solo effort into the top corner and then seconds later; Manuel Almunia parried a Roman Pavlyuchenko effort into the grasp of Aaron Lennon, who benefited on this misjudgement to hand Tottenham a priceless draw.  The result also showed Arsenal’s frailties again of closing out matches under Arsene Wenger.