1995–96 Wimbledon F.C. season

Wimbledon
1995–96 season
Chairman Lebanon Sam Hammam
Manager Republic of Ireland Joe Kinnear
Stadium Selhurst Park
Premiership 14th
FA Cup Sixth round
League Cup Second round
UEFA Intertoto Cup Group stage
Top goalscorer League: Earle (11)
All: Ekoku and Holdsworth (16)
Average home league attendance 13,246

During the 1995–96 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). It was their tenth successive season in the top flight of English football and although they finished 14th, lower than on any of the previous nine occasions, they finished high enough to maintain their top flight membership.

Season summary

With the Premiership's lowest crowds and transfer budget, Wimbledon had begun most of their top division seasons since promotion in 1986 as pre-season relegation favourites, but the "Crazy Gang" spirit kept Wimbledon going once again, although their 14th place finish was their lowest since joining the top flight 10 seasons earlier.

Dean Holdsworth and Efan Ekoku were once again a formidable strikerforce, while Vinnie Jones was as combative as ever and Oyvind Leonhardsen's performances attracted attention from several bigger clubs. Manager Joe Kinnear managed to hold on to all his key assets, as well as adding a few more, over the close season as he grew ever more determined to defy the odds once again.

It was the last season at Wimbledon for long-serving goalkeeper Hans Segers, who lost his place early in the season to Paul Heald and was transferred to Wolves soon afterwards. Within a few months however, Kinnear had decided on Neil Sullivan as his regular goalkeeper.

The season saw Wimbledon play in European competition for the first (and the only) time in their history, in the Intertoto Cup. However, as Selhurst Park was unavailable the club were forced to play the matches at Brighton & Hove Albion's Goldstone Ground. The lack of home support affected Wimbledon's performances, and they finished fourth in their group of five after a 4-0 "home" defeat to Turkish club Bursaspor, a 1-1 draw at Slovakian side Košice, a 0-0 draw with Israelis Beitar Jerusalem at "home" and a 3-0 away defeat at Belgian team Charleroi.

Kit

Core became Wimbledon's kit manufacturers for the season. Birmingham-based electronics company Elonex remained the kit sponsors.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team Pl W D L F A Pts
1. Manchester United 38 25 7 6 73 35 82
2. Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 78
3. Liverpool 38 20 11 7 70 34 71
4. Aston Villa 38 18 9 11 52 35 63
5. Arsenal 38 17 12 9 49 32 63
6. Everton 38 17 10 11 64 44 61
7. Blackburn Rovers 38 18 7 13 61 47 61
8. Tottenham Hotspur 38 16 13 9 50 38 61
9. Nottingham Forest 38 15 13 10 50 54 58
10. West Ham United 38 14 9 15 43 52 51
11. Chelsea 38 12 14 12 46 44 50
12. Middlesbrough 38 11 10 17 35 50 43
13. Leeds United 38 12 7 19 40 57 43
14. Wimbledon 38 10 11 17 55 70 41
15. Sheffield Wednesday 38 10 10 18 48 61 40
16. Coventry City 38 8 14 16 42 60 38
17. Southampton 38 9 11 18 34 52 38
18. Manchester City 38 9 11 18 33 58 38
19. Queens Park Rangers 38 9 6 23 38 57 33
20. Bolton Wanderers 38 8 5 25 39 71 29
Key
Qualified for the Champions League
Qualified for the UEFA Cup
Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
Relegated to Division One

Results

Wimbledon's score comes first[2]

Legend

Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
19 August 1995 Bolton WanderersH3-29,317Ekoku, Earle, Holdsworth
23 August 1995 Queens Park RangersA3-011,837Leonhardsen, Holdsworth, Goodman
26 August 1995 Manchester UnitedA1-332,226Earle
30 August 1995 Sheffield WednesdayH2-26,352Goodman, Holdsworth (pen)
9 September 1995 LiverpoolH1-019,530Harford
16 September 1995 Aston VillaA0-226,928
23 September 1995 Leeds UnitedH2-413,307Holdsworth, Reeves
30 September 1995 Tottenham HotspurA1-325,321Earle
16 October 1995 West Ham UnitedH0-19,411
21 October 1995 Newcastle UnitedA1-636,434Gayle
28 October 1995 SouthamptonH1-27,982Euell
6 November 1995 Nottingham ForestA1-420,810Jones
18 November 1995 MiddlesbroughH0-013,780
22 November 1995 Manchester CityA0-123,617
25 November 1995 Coventry CityA3-312,523Jones (pen), Goodman, Leonhardsen
3 December 1995 Newcastle UnitedH3-318,002Holdsworth (2), Ekoku
9 December 1995 Leeds UnitedA1-127,984Leonhardsen
16 December 1995 Tottenham HotspurH0-116,193
23 December 1995 Blackburn RoversH1-17,105Earle
26 December 1995 ChelseaA2-121,906Earle, Ekoku
30 December 1995 ArsenalA3-137,640Earle (2), Holdsworth
1 January 1996 EvertonH2-311,121Holdsworth, Ekoku
13 January 1996 Bolton WanderersA0-116,216
20 January 1996 Queens Park RangersH2-19,123Leonhardsen, Clarke
3 February 1996 Manchester UnitedH2-425,380Gayle, Euell
10 February 1996 Sheffield WednesdayA1-219,085Gayle
24 February 1996 Aston VillaH3-312,193Goodman (2), Harford
2 March 1996 ChelseaH1-117,048S. Clarke (own goal)
13 March 1996 LiverpoolA2-234,063Ekoku, Holdsworth
16 March 1996 ArsenalH0-318,335
23 March 1996 EvertonA4-231,382Gayle, Castledine, Clarke, Goodman
30 March 1996 Nottingham ForestH1-09,807Holdsworth
6 April 1996 West Ham UnitedA1-120,402Jones
8 April 1996 Manchester CityH3-011,844Earle (2), Ekoku
13 April 1996 MiddlesbroughA2-129,192Earle, Ekoku
17 April 1996 Blackburn RoversA2-324,174Earle, Gayle
27 April 1996 Coventry CityH0-215,540
5 May 1996 SouthamptonA0-015,172

FA Cup

Main article: 1995–96 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R36 January 1996 WatfordA1-111,187Leonhardsen
R3R17 January 1996 WatfordH1-05,142Clarke
R47 February 1996 MiddlesbroughA0-028,915
R4R13 February 1996 MiddlesbroughH1-05,520Holdsworth
R517 February 1996 Huddersfield TownA2-217,307Ekoku (2)
R5R28 February 1996 Huddersfield TownH3-17,015Ekoku, Goodman (2)
QF9 March 1996 ChelseaA2-230,805Holdsworth, Earle
QFR20 March 1996 ChelseaH1-321,380Goodman

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 First Leg 19 September 1995 Charlton AthleticH4-53,717Holdsworth (2), Earle, Clarke
R2 Second Leg3 October 1995 Charlton AthleticA3-3 (lost 7-8 on agg)9,823Earle, Holdsworth (2, 1 pen)

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Netherlands GK Hans Segers
2 Republic of Ireland DF Kenny Cunningham
3 England DF Alan Kimble
4 Wales MF Vinnie Jones[3]
5 England DF Dean Blackwell
6 Republic of Ireland DF Scott Fitzgerald[4]
7 Norway MF Øyvind Leonhardsen
8 England MF Robbie Earle[5]
9 Nigeria FW Efan Ekoku[6]
10 England FW Dean Holdsworth
11 England FW Marcus Gayle[7]
12 England DF Gary Elkins
13 England GK Paul Heald
14 England FW Jon Goodman[8]
15 England DF Alan Reeves
16 England DF Andy Thorn
17 Scotland DF Brian McAllister
18 England DF Neal Ardley
No. Position Player
19 England MF Stewart Castledine
20 England FW Mick Harford
21 England DF Chris Perry
22 England FW Andy Clarke
23 England GK Neil Sullivan[9]
24 England MF Peter Fear
25 England FW Gary Blissett
26 England MF Aidan Newhouse
27 England FW Grant Payne
28 England MF Steve Talboys
29 England DF Gerald Dobbs
30 England DF Roger Joseph
31 England MF Mark Thomas
32 England DF Justin Skinner
33 England GK Brendan Murphy
34 England MF Jason Euell[10]
35 England DF Andy Pearce

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. Position Player
35 England GK Simon Tracey (on loan from Sheffield United)

References

  1. ↑ http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Wimbledon/Wimbledon.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.statto.com/football/teams/wimbledon/1995-1996
  3. ↑ Jones was born in Watford, England, but qualified to represent Wales through his maternal grandfather; he made his international debut for Wales in 1994.
  4. ↑ Fitzgerald was born in Westminster, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally; he made his debut for the "B" side during 1992.
  5. ↑ Earle was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally. He made his international debut for Jamaica in 1997, having previously being called up for England once without playing.
  6. ↑ Ekoku was born in Manchester, England, but qualified to represent Nigeria internationally and made his international debut for Nigeria in 1994.
  7. ↑ Gayle was born in Hammersmith, London, but qualified to represent Jamaica internationally; he made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
  8. ↑ Goodman was born in Walthamstow, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would make his debut for Ireland in 1997.
  9. ↑ Sullivan was born in Sutton, England, but qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would make his debut for Scotland in 1997.
  10. ↑ Euell was born in Lambeth, England, debuted for the England U21 side during the season, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2004.