1993–94 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa

1993–94 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Ron Atkinson
Premier League	10th
FA Cup	Fifth round
Coca-Cola Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Dean Saunders (9) All: Dean Saunders/Dalian Atkinson (15)
Average home league attendance	29,015
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

The 1993–94 season was Aston Villa's 119th professional season; their 83rd season in the top-flight and their 6th consecutive Premier League season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League.

Season summary

Aston Villa were never anywhere near the title race that they had looked likely to win for much of the previous season, as they finished 10th in the table a year after coming second. But their compensation for this shortcoming was victory in the League Cup final against Manchester United - a 3-1 scoreline ending the opposition's hope of becoming the first English team to win all three major domestic trophies in the same season. The likes of Dean Saunders and Paul McGrath were as consistent and reliable as ever, though a few older players such as Garry Parker, Kevin Richardson and Shaun Teale were starting to look past their best.

The pre-season signing of 30-year-old midfielder Andy Townsend from Chelsea was one of the best pieces of business done so far by manager Ron Atkinson, whereas the capture of Guy Whittingham from Portsmouth proved to be a disappointment - the striker never came anywhere near matching the tally of 47 goals he had scored done for the south coast club a season earlier, and he was loaned out to Wolverhampton to gain more first-team chances. Gordon Cowans rejoined the club for his third spell but left the club again mid season.

Villa fans were given something to look forward to with the emergence of promising young players like Ugo Ehiogu, Graham Fenton and Mark Bosnich.

Final league table

Main article: 1993–94 FA Premier League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Manchester United (C)	42	27	11	4	80	38	+42	92	UEFA Champions League 1994–95 Group stage
2	Blackburn Rovers	42	25	9	8	63	36	+27	84	UEFA Cup 1994–95 First round
3	Newcastle United	42	23	8	11	82	41	+41	77
4	Arsenal	42	18	17	7	53	28	+25	71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1994–95 First round1
5	Leeds United	42	18	16	8	65	39	+26	70
6	Wimbledon	42	18	11	13	56	53	+3	65
7	Sheffield Wednesday	42	16	16	10	76	54	+22	64
8	Liverpool	42	17	9	16	59	55	+4	60
9	Queens Park Rangers	42	16	12	14	62	61	+1	60
10	Aston Villa	42	15	12	15	46	50	−4	57	UEFA Cup 1994–95 First round2
11	Coventry City	42	14	14	14	43	45	−2	56
12	Norwich City	42	12	17	13	65	61	+4	53
13	West Ham United	42	13	13	16	47	58	−11	52
14	Chelsea	42	13	12	17	49	53	−4	51	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1994–95 First round3
15	Tottenham Hotspur	42	11	12	19	54	59	−5	45
16	Manchester City	42	9	18	15	38	49	−11	45
17	Everton	42	12	8	22	42	63	−21	44
18	Southampton	42	12	7	23	49	66	−17	43
19	Ipswich Town	42	9	16	17	35	58	−23	43
20	Sheffield United (R)	42	8	18	16	42	60	−18	42	Relegated to Football League First Division 1994–95
21	Oldham Athletic (R)	42	9	13	20	42	68	−26	40
22	Swindon Town (R)	42	5	15	22	47	100	−53	30

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

¹ Arsenal qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as defending champions

² Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners

³ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Results

Aston Villa's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

FA Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 August 1993	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–1	32,994	Atkinson 38', 89', Saunders 62', Staunton 90'
18 August 1993	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0	28,450
21 August 1993	Wimbledon	A	2–2	7,533	Richardson 18', Staunton 82'
23 August 1993	Manchester United	H	1–2	39,624	Atkinson 45'
28 August 1993	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–0	32,498	Staunton 71' (pen)
31 August 1993	Everton	A	1–0	24,022	Whittingham 32'
11 September 1993	Coventry City	H	0–0	31,181
18 September 1993	Ipswich Town	A	2–1	16,617	Saunders 19', Townsend 55'
25 September 1993	Oldham Athletic	A	1–1	12,836	Saunders 51'
2 October 1993	Newcastle United	H	0–2	37,336
16 October 1993	West Ham United	A	0–0	20,425
23 October 1993	Chelsea	H	1–0	29,706	Atkinson 6'
30 October 1993	Swindon Town	A	2–1	16,530	Teale 43', Atkinson 68'
6 November 1993	Arsenal	A	2–1	31,773	Whittingham 74', Townsend 90'
20 November 1993	Sheffield United	H	1–0	24,686	Whittingham 76'
24 November 1993	Southampton	H	0–2	16,180
28 November 1993	Liverpool	A	1–2	38,484	Atkinson 53'
4 December 1993	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–2	14,915	Richardson 26', Parker 47'
8 December 1993	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–2	20,304	Cox 29', Saunders 53' (pen)
11 December 1993	Wimbledon	H	0–1	17,940
19 December 1993	Manchester United	A	1–3	44,499	Cox 90'
29 December 1993	Norwich City	A	2–1	20,650	Houghton 55', Saunders 58'
1 January 1994	Blackburn Rovers	H	0–1	40,903
15 January 1994	West Ham United	H	3–1	28,869	Richardson 15', Atkinson 43', 68'
22 January 1994	Chelsea	A	1–1	18,341	Saunders 39'
6 February 1994	Leeds United	H	1–0	26,919	Townsend 70'
12 February 1994	Swindon Town	H	5–0	26,637	Saunders 31', pens 66', 84', Froggatt 55', Richardson 73'
22 February 1994	Manchester City	H	0–0	19,254
2 March 1994	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	17,452	Parker 8'
6 March 1994	Coventry City	A	1–0	14,325	Daley 20'
12 March 1994	Ipswich Town	H	0–1	23,732
16 March 1994	Leeds United	A	0–2	20,003
19 March 1994	Oldham Athletic	H	1–2	21,214	Redmond 61' (own goal)
30 March 1994	Everton	H	0–0	36,044
2 April 1994	Manchester City	A	0–3	26,075
4 April 1994	Norwich City	H	0–0	25,416
11 April 1994	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1	19,287
16 April 1994	Sheffield United	A	2–1	18,402	Richardson 23', Fenton 25'
23 April 1994	Arsenal	H	1–2	31,580	Houghton 57'
27 April 1994	Newcastle United	A	1–5	32,216	Beinlich 10'
30 April 1994	Southampton	A	1–4	19,003	Charlton 58' (own goal)
7 May 1994	Liverpool	H	2–1	45,347	Yorke 65', 81'

FA Cup

Main article: 1993–94 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	8 January 1994	Exeter City	A	1–0	10,570	Saunders 60' (pen)
R4	29 January 1994	Grimsby Town	A	2–1	15,771	Houghton 13', Yorke 78'
R5	20 February 1994	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–1	18,817

League Cup

Main article: 1993–94 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st leg	21 September 1993	Birmingham City	A	1–0	27,815	Richardson 82'
R2 2nd leg	6 October 1993	Birmingham City	H	1–0 (won 2-0 on agg)	35,856	Saunders 82'
R3	26 October 1993	Sunderland	A	4–1	23,692	Atkinson 27', 90', Richardson, Houghton 75'
R4	30 November 1993	Arsenal	A	1–0	26,453	Atkinson 4'
R5	12 January 1994	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–1	31,408	Houghton 57', Barrett 68'
SF 1st leg	16 February 1994	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–3	17,140	Atkinson 90'
SF 2nd leg	27 February 1994	Tranmere Rovers	H	3–1 (won 5-4 on pens)	40,593	Saunders 19', Teale 24', Atkinson 88'
F	27 March 1994	Manchester United	N	3–1	77,231	Atkinson 25', Saunders 75', pen 90'

UEFA Cup

Main article: 1993–94 UEFA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st leg	15 September 1993	ŠK Slovan Bratislava	A	0–0	10,886
R1 2nd leg	29 September 1993	ŠK Slovan Bratislava	H	2–1 (won 2-1 on agg)	24,461	Atkinson 15', Townsend 22'
R2 1st leg	19 October 1993	Deportivo de La Coruña	A	1–1	26,800	Saunders 78'
R2 2nd leg	3 November 1993	Deportivo de La Coruña	H	0–1 (lost 1-2 on agg)	26,737

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Nigel Spink 2 DF Earl Barrett 3 DF Steve Staunton 4 DF Shaun Teale 5 DF Paul McGrath 6 MF Kevin Richardson 7 MF Ray Houghton 8 MF Garry Parker 9 FW Dean Saunders 10 FW Dalian Atkinson 11 FW Tony Daley 12 MF Steve Froggatt 13 GK Mark Bosnich

No. Position Player 14 MF Andy Townsend 16 DF Ugo Ehiogu 17 DF Neil Cox 18 FW Dwight Yorke 19 MF Stefan Beinlich 20 MF Matthias Breitkreutz 21 MF David Farrell 22 MF Guy Whittingham 23 DF Bryan Small 24 DF Dariusz Kubicki 25 MF Graham Fenton 30 GK Michael Oakes

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 15 MF Gordon Cowans (to Derby County)