1995–96 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1995–96 season was Manchester United's fourth season in the Premier League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1] United finished the season by becoming the first English team to win The double (league title and FA Cup) twice. Their triumph was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Alex Ferguson had sold experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis before the start of the season, and not made any major signings. Instead, he had drafted in young players like Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.

Eric Cantona returned from a nine-month suspension at the beginning of October, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions, the last one being the winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. He also picked up a Premier League winner's medal and the FWA Player of the Year award. The title had been sealed on the final day of the season with a 3–0 win at Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough.

Veteran defenders Steve Bruce and Paul Parker moved on at the end of the season, as did goalkeeper Tony Coton, who had only joined the club in January and never played a first team game. As the season drew to a close, speculation mounted that United would sign a world class striker – possibly Alan Shearer – to partner Eric Cantona in the bid to bring the European Cup to Old Trafford.

1 FA Premier League
2 FA Cup
3 League Cup
4 UEFA Cup
5 Squad statistics
6 Transfers
7 See also
8 References

FA Premier League

Manchester United opened the 1995–96 season with a 3–1 defeat away to Aston Villa, after which they were written off by all the media, most famously by Alan Hansen who claimed "you'll never win anything with kids". The kids were partnered with veterans like Steve Bruce, Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel, and began to look a convincing outfit, particularly with a 2–1 away win against defending champions Blackburn Rovers. However, the team's form dipped in December, highlighted by a 4–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The team, however, was galvanised by the return of Eric Cantona from his eight-month suspension and went on a series of 1–0 victories, in which Cantona would usually score the goal. When Newcastle slipped up with a 1–1 draw away to Nottingham Forest, United capitalised by defeating Forest 5–0, meaning that they needed only to better Newcastle's result on the final day of the season to reclaim the league title. United won 3–0 away at Middlesbrough to claim their third title in four years.

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
19 August 1995	Aston Villa	A	1 – 3	Beckham 82'	34,655	19th
23 August 1995	West Ham United	H	2 – 1	Scholes 50', Keane 68'	31,966	5th
26 August 1995	Wimbledon	H	3 – 1	Keane (2) 27', 79', Cole 59'	32,226	4th
28 August 1995	Blackburn Rovers	A	2 – 1	Sharpe 46', Beckham 67'	29,843	2nd
9 September 1995	Everton	A	3 – 2	Sharpe (2) 3', 49', Giggs 73'	39,496	2nd
16 September 1995	Bolton Wanderers	H	3 – 0	Scholes (2) 19', 85', Giggs 34'	32,812	1st
23 September 1995	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0 – 0		34,101	3rd
1 October 1995	Liverpool	H	2 – 2	Butt 2', Cantona 70' (pen.)	34,934	3rd
14 October 1995	Manchester City	H	1 – 0	Scholes 4'	35,707	2nd
21 October 1995	Chelsea	A	4 – 1	Scholes (2) 3', 10', Giggs 79', McClair 85'	31,019	2nd
28 October 1995	Middlesbrough	H	2 – 0	Pallister 43', Cole 87'	36,580	2nd
4 November 1995	Arsenal	A	0 – 1		38,317	2nd
18 November 1995	Southampton	H	4 – 1	Giggs (2) 1', 4', Scholes 8', Cole 69'	39,301	2nd
22 November 1995	Coventry City	A	4 – 0	Irwin 28', McClair (2) 47', 76', Beckham 57'	23,400	2nd
27 November 1995	Nottingham Forest	A	1 – 1	Cantona 60' (pen.)	29,263	2nd
2 December 1995	Chelsea	H	1 – 1	Beckham 60'	42,019	2nd
9 December 1995	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2 – 2	Cantona (2) 17', 84'	41,849	2nd
17 December 1995	Liverpool	A	0 – 2		40,546	2nd
24 December 1995	Leeds United	A	1 – 3	Cole 30'	39,801	2nd
27 December 1995	Newcastle United	H	2 – 0	Cole 5', Keane 53'	42,024	2nd
30 December 1995	Queens Park Rangers	H	2 – 1	Cole 44', Giggs 52'	41,890	2nd
1 January 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 4	Cole 36'	32,852	2nd
13 January 1996	Aston Villa	H	0 – 0		42,667	3rd
22 January 1996	West Ham United	A	1 – 0	Cantona 8'	24,197	2nd
3 February 1996	Wimbledon	A	4 – 2	Cole 42', Perry 45' (o.g.), Cantona (2) 70', 80' (pen.)	25,380	2nd
10 February 1996	Blackburn Rovers	H	1 – 0	Sharpe 14'	42,681	2nd
21 February 1996	Everton	H	2 – 0	Keane 30', Giggs 82'	42,459	2nd
25 February 1996	Bolton Wanderers	A	6 – 0	Beckham 5', Bruce 15', Cole 70', Scholes (2) 76', 79', Butt 90'	21,381	2nd
4 March 1996	Newcastle United	A	1 – 0	Cantona 51'	36,584	2nd
16 March 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	1 – 1	Cantona 90'	18,817	2nd
20 March 1996	Arsenal	H	1 – 0	Cantona 66'	50,028	1st
24 March 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1 – 0	Cantona 50'	50,157	1st
6 April 1996	Manchester City	A	3 – 2	Cantona 7' (pen.), Cole 41', Giggs 77'	29,668	1st
8 April 1996	Coventry City	H	1 – 0	Cantona 47'	50,332	1st
13 April 1996	Southampton	A	1 – 3	Giggs 89'	15,262	1st
17 April 1996	Leeds United	H	1 – 0	Keane 72'	48,382	1st
28 April 1996	Nottingham Forest	H	5 – 0	Scholes 41', Beckham (2) 44', 54', Giggs 69', Cantona 89'	53,926	1st
5 May 1996	Middlesbrough	A	3 – 0	May 15', Cole 54', Giggs 80'	29,921	1st

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	38	25	7	6	73	35	+38	82
2	Newcastle United	38	24	6	8	66	37	+29	78
3	Liverpool	38	20	11	7	70	34	+36	71

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

United won the FA Cup in 1996 by beating Liverpool 1–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, with the only goal coming from Eric Cantona in the 85th minute. On the way to the final, Manchester United defeated Sunderland, Reading, Manchester City, Southampton and Chelsea.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
6 January 1996	Round 3	Sunderland	H	2 – 2	Butt 12', Cantona 79'	41,563
16 January 1996	Round 3 Replay	Sunderland	A	2 – 1	Scholes 70', Cole 89'	21,378
27 January 1996	Round 4	Reading	A	3 – 0	Giggs 36', Parker 56', Cantona 89'	14,780
18 February 1996	Round 5	Manchester City	H	2 – 1	Cantona 39' (pen.), Sharpe 77'	42,692
11 March 1996	Round 6	Southampton	H	2 – 0	Cantona 49', Sharpe 90'	45,446
31 March 1996	Semi-final	Chelsea	N	2 – 1	Cole 55', Beckham 59'	38,421
11 May 1996	Final	Liverpool	N	1 – 0	Cantona 85'	79,007

League Cup

As in the previous seasons, United rested many of their first-team players in the League Cup, instead using the competition to provide first team experience to the club's younger players and reserves. This proved to be a bad move, as the Red Devils fell at the first hurdle, losing in the Second Round to York City, 4–3 on aggregate.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
20 September 1995	Round 2 First leg	York City	H	0 – 3		29,049
3 October 1995	Round 2 Second leg	York City	A	3 – 1	Scholes (2) 6', 80', Cooke 13'	9,386

UEFA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
12 September 1995	Round 2 First leg	Rotor Volgograd	A	0 – 0		33,000
26 September 1995	Round 2 Second leg	Rotor Volgograd	H	2 – 2	Scholes 59', Schmeichel 89'	29,724

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
No.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	36	0	6	0	1	0	2	1	45	1
2	DF	Paul Parker	5(1)	0	1(1)	1	1	0	0(1)	0	7(3)	1
3	DF	Denis Irwin	31	1	6	0	1	0	1	0	39	1
4	DF	Steve Bruce (c)	30	1	5	0	1(1)	0	2	0	38(1)	1
5	MF	Lee Sharpe	21(10)	4	4(2)	2	2	0	2	0	36	6
6	DF	Gary Pallister	21	1	3	0	2	0	2	0	28	1
7	FW	Eric Cantona	30	14	7	5	1	0	0	0	38	19
9	MF	Brian McClair	12(10)	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	13(10)	3
11	MF	Ryan Giggs	30(3)	11	7	1	2	0	2	0	41(3)	12
12	DF	David May	11(5)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	13(5)	1
13	GK	Tony Coton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	FW	Graeme Tomlinson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	Roy Keane	29	6	7	0	0(1)	0	2	0	38(1)	6
17	FW	Andy Cole	32(2)	11	7	2	1	0	1	0	42(2)	13
18	MF	Simon Davies	1(5)	0	0	0	1	0	0(1)	0	2(6)	0
19	MF	Nicky Butt	31(1)	2	7	1	0	0	2	0	40(1)	3
20	DF	Gary Neville	30(1)	0	5(1)	0	1	0	1	0	37(2)	0
21	DF	Pat McGibbon	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
22	MF	Paul Scholes	16(10)	10	0(2)	1	1	2	1(1)	1	18(13)	14
23	DF	Phil Neville	21(3)	0	6(1)	0	1(1)	0	1	0	29(5)	0
24	MF	David Beckham	26(7)	7	3	1	2	0	2	0	33(7)	8
25	GK	Kevin Pilkington	2(1)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4(1)	0
26	DF	Chris Casper	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Terry Cooke	1(3)	0	0	0	1(1)	1	0(1)	0	2(5)	1
29	MF	Ben Thornley	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
30	DF	John O'Kane	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1(1)	0
31	DF	William Prunier	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Transfers

United's first departure of the 1995–96 season was Matthew Barrass, who joined San Diego Nomads on 1 July. A day later, David Gardner was released, Paul Heckingbottom joined Sunderland, Patrick Lee joined Middlesbrough, and Paul Lyons joined Rochdale. Richard Irving signed for Nottingham Forest on 19 July, while a week later, Ashley Westwood departed for Crewe Alexandra. Gary Walsh signed for Middlesbrough on 11 August, Andrei Kanchelskis joined Everton, while in late September, Elliott Dickman joined Sunderland, and Stephen Hall was released. John Hudson was released on 5 November.

United's only summer arrival of the 1995–96 season was Nick Culkin, who signed from York City on 25 September.

United's only winter departure was Matthew Wicks, who joined Arsenal on a free transfer on 23 January. Former captain Steve Bruce left for Birmingham City on 22 May, while on 30 June, Dessie Baker, Daniel Hall, Paul Parker, and Phillip Whittam left the club.

United's only winter arrival was Tony Coton, who signed from United's rivals Manchester City on 31 January. Raimond van der Gouw joined United from Vitesse on 25 June 1996.

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
25 September 1995	GK	Nick Culkin	York City	£250k
31 January 1996	GK	Tony Coton	Manchester City	£500k
25 June 1996	GK	Raimond van der Gouw	Vitesse	Free

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 July 1995	MF	Matthew Barrass	San Diego Nomads	Free
2 July 1995	MF	David Gardner	Unattached	Free
2 July 1995	DF	Paul Heckingbottom	Sunderland	Free
2 July 1995	MF	Patrick Lee	Middlesbrough	Free
2 July 1995	MF	Paul Lyons	Rochdale	Free
19 July 1995	FW	Richard Irving	Nottingham Forest	£75k
26 July 1995	DF	Ashley Westwood	Crewe Alexandra	£40k
11 August 1995	GK	Gary Walsh	Middlesbrough	£250k
25 August 1995	MF	Andrei Kanchelskis	Everton	£5m
27 September 1995	DF	Elliott Dickman	Sunderland	Free
30 September 1995	FW	Stephen Hall	Unattached	Free
5 November 1995	MF	John Hudson	Unattached	Free
23 January 1996	DF	Matthew Wicks	Arsenal	Free
22 May 1996	DF	Steve Bruce	Birmingham City	Free
30 June 1996	FW	Dessie Baker	Unattached	Free
30 June 1996	DF	Daniel Hall	Unattached	Free
30 June 1996	DF	Paul Parker	Derby County	Free
30 June 1996	DF	Phillip Whittam	Unattached	Free

Loan in

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	From
29 December 1995	1 March 1996	DF	William Prunier	Bordeaux

Loan out

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	To
1 July 1995	1 August 1995	MF	Michael Appleton	Wimbledon
15 September 1995	15 October 1995	MF	Michael Appleton	Lincoln City
6 November 1995	15 February 1996	MF	Ben Thornley	Stockport County
11 January 1996	11 April 1996	DF	Chris Casper	Bournemouth
29 January 1996	29 February 1996	MF	Terry Cooke	Sunderland
2 February 1996	20 March 1996	GK	Kevin Pilkington	Rochdale
22 February 1996	18 May 1997	MF	Ben Thornley	Huddersfield Town
22 March 1996	22 May 1996	FW	Graeme Tomlinson	Luton Town

References

^ "Manchester United Season 1995/96". StretfordEnd.co.uk. http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season1996.html. Retrieved 12 November 2007.

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1995–96 in English football

« 1994–95 1996–97 »

FA competitions	FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds · Final) · Charity Shield · FA Trophy (Final)

Premier League and Football League	Premier League · Football League (First Division · Second Division · Third Division) · League Cup (Final) · Football League Trophy (Final) · Play-offs (First Division Final · Second Division Final · Third Division Final)

Football Conference	Football Conference · Conference League Cup

Lower leagues	Northern Premier League · Southern Football League · Isthmian League

European competitions	Champions League · UEFA Cup · Cup Winners' Cup · Intertoto Cup

Related to national team	UEFA Euro 1996 · Terry Venables

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal · Aston Villa · Blackburn Rovers · Bolton Wanderers · Chelsea · Coventry City · Everton · Leeds United · Liverpool · Manchester City · Manchester United · Middlesbrough · Newcastle United · Nottingham Forest · Queens Park Rangers · Sheffield Wednesday · Southampton · Tottenham Hotspur · West Ham United · Wimbledon

First Division	Barnsley · Birmingham City · Charlton Athletic · Crystal Palace · Derby County · Grimsby Town · Huddersfield Town · Ipswich Town · Leicester City · Luton Town · Millwall · Norwich City · Oldham Athletic · Portsmouth · Port Vale · Reading · Sheffield United · Southend United · Stoke City · Sunderland · Tranmere Rovers · Watford · West Bromwich Albion · Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool · Bournemouth · Bradford City · Brentford · Brighton & Hove Albion · Bristol City · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Carlisle United · Chesterfield · Crewe Alexandra · Hull City · Notts County · Oxford United · Peterborough United · Shrewsbury Town · Stockport County · Swansea City · Swindon Town · Walsall · Wrexham · Wycombe Wanderers · York City

Third Division	Barnet · Bury · Cambridge United · Cardiff City · Chester City · Colchester United · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Exeter City · Fulham · Gillingham · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Leyton Orient · Lincoln City · Mansfield Town · Northampton Town · Plymouth Argyle · Preston North End · Rochdale · Scarborough · Scunthorpe United · Torquay United · Wigan Athletic

Southern League	Newport

List of transfers