1993–94 Football League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Football League
Season1993–94
ChampionsCrystal Palace
PromotedCrystal Palace
Nottingham Forest
Leicester City
New club in the leagueWycombe Wanderers

The 1993–1994 Football League season was the 95th completed season of The Football League. From 1993 to 1996 the league was sponsored by Endsleigh.

Alan Smith kicked off his management career by guiding Crystal Palace to the Division One title and back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Nottingham Forest, now managed by Frank Clark following Brian Clough's retirement, also made a swift return to the Premier League by finishing runners-up to Palace. They were joined by play-off winners Leicester City, who finally reached the top flight after two successive play-off final defeats.

Oxford United's decline since losing their top-flight status in 1988 continued as they slid into Division Two, along with Peterborough United and Birmingham City.

Mark McGhee won the Division Two title for Reading, with John Rudge's Port Vale taking the other automatic promotion place. Burnley triumphed in the play-offs, thus moving to within one division of the top flight just seven years after they had almost been relegated to the Conference. Fulham, Hartlepool United, Exeter City and Barnet were the teams relegated to Division Three.

Shrewsbury Town, Chester City and Crewe Alexandra claimed the three automatic promotion places in Division Three, while Martin O'Neill's Wycombe Wanderers won the play-offs in their first season of league football. Northampton Town finished bottom of the league, but were saved from demotion as Conference champions Kidderminster Harriers did not meet the league's stadium capacity requirements.

Final league tables and results[]

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,[1] with home and away statistics separated. Play-off results are from the same website.

First Division[]

Following relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 1992-93 season, Crystal Palace earned an immediate return to the top flight by finishing champions of Division One with 90 points in their first season under manager Alan Smith. Their nearest rivals, Nottingham Forest, newly relegated and also with a new manager in Frank Clark, finished runners-up on 83 points.

After losing in the previous two playoff finals and on all of their six previous visits to Wembley, Leicester City finally won a Wembley final at the seventh attempt by beating local rivals Derby County in the Division One playoff final to end their seven-year absence from the top flight. Leicester's semi-final opponents Tranmere lost at this stage of the playoffs for a second successive season, also suffering defeat in the League Cup semi-finals. Third placed Millwall were defeated by Derby in the other semi-finals.

Four months after resigning as England manager, Graham Taylor succeeded long-serving Graham Turner as manager of a Wolves side who just fell short of the playoffs. Middlesbrough, another side who missed out on the playoffs, prepared for a promotion push in 1994-95 by appointing former Manchester United and England captain Bryan Robson as player-manager following the resignation of Lennie Lawrence at the end of the season.

At the other end of the table, Peterborough United's second season in Division One ended in relegation when they finished bottom of the table. Oxford United, who lost manager Brian Horton to Manchester City a few games into the season, were unable to avoid relegation under new manager Denis Smith, while the last relegation place went to Birmingham City, who were edged into the bottom three by local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

Football League, First Division
Season1993–94
ChampionsCrystal Palace (2nd second tier title)
Direct promotion to Premier LeagueCrystal Palace,
Nottingham Forest
Promoted to Premier League through play-offsLeicester City
RelegatedBirmingham City,
Oxford United,
Peterborough United
Matches played552
Goals scored1,450 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorerJohn McGinlay (Bolton Wanderers), 25 [2]
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Crystal Palace 46 16 4 3 39 18 11 5 7 34 28 +27 90 Football League Champions, promoted to FA Premier League
2 Nottingham Forest 46 12 9 2 38 22 11 5 7 36 27 +25 83 Promoted to FA Premier League
3 Millwall 46 14 8 1 36 17 5 9 9 22 32 +9 74 Participated in play-offs
4 Leicester City 46 11 9 3 45 30 8 7 8 27 29 +13 73 Promoted to FA Premier League through play-offs
5 Tranmere Rovers 46 15 3 5 48 23 6 6 11 21 30 +16 72 Participated in play-offs
6 Derby County 46 15 3 5 44 25 5 8 10 29 43 +5 71
7 Notts County 46 16 3 4 43 26 4 5 14 22 43 −4 68
8 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 10 10 3 34 19 7 7 9 26 28 +13 68
9 Middlesbrough 46 12 6 5 40 19 6 7 10 26 35 +12 67
10 Stoke City 46 14 4 5 35 19 4 9 10 22 40 −2 67
11 Charlton Athletic 46 14 3 6 39 22 5 5 13 22 36 +3 65
12 Sunderland 46 14 2 7 35 22 5 6 12 19 35 −3 65
13 Bristol City 46 11 7 5 27 18 5 9 9 20 32 −3 64
14 Bolton Wanderers 46 10 8 5 40 31 5 6 12 23 33 −1 59
15 Southend United 46 10 5 8 34 28 7 3 13 29 39 −4 59
16 Grimsby Town 46 7 14 2 26 16 6 6 11 26 31 +5 59
17 Portsmouth 46 10 6 7 29 22 5 7 11 23 36 −6 58
18 Barnsley 46 9 3 11 25 26 7 4 12 30 41 −12 55
19 Watford 46 10 5 8 39 35 5 4 14 27 45 −14 54
20 Luton Town 46 12 4 7 38 25 2 7 14 18 35 −4 53
21 West Bromwich Albion 46 9 7 7 38 31 4 5 14 22 38 −9 51
22 Birmingham City 46 9 7 7 28 29 4 5 14 24 40 −17 51 Relegated
23 Oxford United 46 10 5 8 33 33 3 5 15 21 42 −21 49
24 Peterborough United 46 6 9 8 31 30 2 4 17 17 46 −28 37
Source: rsssf.com

Play-offs[]

Semi-finals
1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1994
Final at Wembley
30 May 1994
        
3rd Millwall 0 1 1
6th Derby County 2 3 5
4th Leicester City 2
6th Derby County 1
4th Leicester City 0 2 2
5th Tranmere Rovers 0 1 1

Results[]

Home \ Away BAR BIR BOL BRI CHA CRY DER GRI LEI LUT MID MIL NOT NTC OXF PET POR STD STK SUN TRA WAT WBA WOL
Barnsley 2–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–4 0–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–3 3–0 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–0
Birmingham City 0–2 2–1 2–2 1–0 2–4 3–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–3 2–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 3–1 3–1 0–0 0–3 1–0 2–0 2–2
Bolton Wanderers 2–3 1–1 2–2 3–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 4–1 4–0 4–3 4–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 1–3
Bristol City 0–2 3–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–3 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–4 0–2 0–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–1
Charlton Athletic 2–1 1–0 3–0 3–1 0–0 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 2–5 0–0 0–1 5–1 1–0 5–1 0–1 4–3 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–1 0–1
Crystal Palace 1–0 2–1 1–1 4–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–2 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–2 2–1 3–2 5–1 1–0 4–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–1
Derby County 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 3–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–3 4–2 5–0 4–0 1–2 5–3 0–4
Grimsby Town 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–2 1–0 3–2 1–1 4–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–2 2–0
Leicester City 0–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 3–3 1–1 2–1 2–0 4–0 1–0 3–2 2–3 2–1 0–3 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 4–4 4–2 2–2
Luton Town 5–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 6–2 2–1 0–1 2–1 3–2 0–2
Middlesbrough 5–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–3 3–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 4–2 2–2 3–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 4–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–0
Millwall 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–4 2–0 2–1 3–1 4–1 2–1 1–0
Nottingham Forest 2–1 1–0 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 5–3 4–0 2–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–3 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0
Notts County 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–3 3–2 4–1 2–1 4–1 1–2 2–3 1–3 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–2
Oxford United 1–1 2–0 0–2 4–2 0–4 1–3 2–0 2–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–1 1–2 3–2 2–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 2–3 1–1 4–0
Peterborough United 4–1 1–0 2–3 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–3 1–1 3–1 2–2 3–1 1–1 1–3 0–0 3–4 2–0 0–1
Portsmouth 2–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 3–2 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 2–1 3–3 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 3–0
Southend United 0–3 3–1 0–2 0–1 4–2 1–2 4–3 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 6–1 3–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–3 1–1
Stoke City 5–4 2–1 2–0 3–0 1–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 3–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–1
Sunderland 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–3 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–3 2–0 2–3 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 0–2
Tranmere Rovers 0–3 1–2 2–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 4–0 1–2 1–0 4–1 4–0 3–2 1–2 3–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 4–1 2–1 3–0 1–1
Watford 0–2 5–2 4–3 1–1 2–2 1–3 3–4 0–3 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 3–0 1–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–0
West Bromwich Albion 1–1 2–4 2–2 0–1 2–0 1–4 1–2 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–0 3–1 3–0 4–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 1–3 4–1 3–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–3 2–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–2
Source:[citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Locations[]

1993–94 Football League is located in Greater London
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace
Millwall
Watford
Locations of the London-based First Division teams
1993–94 Football League is located in England
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
Barnsley
Birmingham
Bolton
Grimsby Town
Leicester City
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Nottingham Forest
Notts County
Oxford
Peterborough
Portsmouth
Stoke
Sunderland
Tranmere
West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Locations of the First Division teams

Second Division[]

In a tight promotion race contested between the sides who finished in Division Two's top four places, Reading won the title and clinched promotion in their third season under the management of Mark McGhee, with veteran striker Jimmy Quinn being the highest scorer in all four divisions with 35 goals. Port Vale, the previous season's losing semi finalists, went up as runners-up - their third promotion under the management of long-serving John Rudge. Plymouth Argyle and Stockport County missed out on automatic promotion and had to contest the playoffs with York City and Burnley. The semi-final between Burnley and Plymouth Argyle saw the Turf Moor side emerge as victors, while York City squandered their chances of a second successive promotion (and second-tier football for the first time since the mid 1970s) by losing to Stockport County in the other semi-final. Burnley won the Wembley final 2-1, ending their 11-year spell in the lower two divisions of the league and consigning Stockport to a fourth Wembley defeat in three seasons.

At the other end of the table, Barnet's first season in the third tier ended in relegation with a bottom place finish. Hartlepool United went down after three seasons. Exeter City had lost manager Alan Ball to Southampton halfway through the season and appointed Terry Cooper, manager of their 1990 promotion winning side, as Ball's successor, but were unable to avoid relegation. The final relegation place went to Fulham, who dropped into the fourth tier for the first time in their history. Blackpool, another fallen giant, managed to avoid relegation but survival was not enough for chairman Owen Oyston, who dismissed manager Billy Ayre after four seasons in charge and replaced him with Sam Allardyce.

Football League, Second Division
Season1993–94
ChampionsReading (2nd third tier title)
Direct promotionReading,
Port Vale
Promoted through play-offsBurnley
RelegatedBarnet,
Exeter City,
Fulham,
Hartlepool United
Matches played552
Goals scored1,508 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorerJimmy Quinn (Reading), 35 [2]
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Reading 46 15 6 2 40 16 11 5 7 41 28 +37 89 Division Champions, promoted
2 Port Vale 46 16 6 1 46 18 10 4 9 33 28 +33 88 Promoted
3 Plymouth Argyle 46 16 4 3 46 26 9 6 8 42 30 +32 85 Participated in play-offs
4 Stockport County 46 15 3 5 50 22 9 10 4 24 22 +30 85
5 York City 46 12 7 4 33 13 9 5 9 31 27 +24 75
6 Burnley 46 17 4 2 55 18 4 6 13 24 40 +21 73 Promoted through play-offs
7 Bradford City 46 13 5 5 34 20 6 8 9 27 33 +8 70
8 Bristol Rovers 46 10 8 5 33 26 10 2 11 27 33 +1 70
9 Hull City 46 9 9 5 33 20 9 5 9 29 34 +8 68
10 Cambridge United 46 11 5 7 38 29 8 4 11 41 44 +6 66
11 Huddersfield Town 46 9 8 6 27 26 8 6 9 31 35 −3 65
12 Wrexham 46 13 4 6 45 33 4 7 12 21 44 −11 62
13 Swansea City 46 12 7 4 37 20 4 5 14 19 38 −2 60
14 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 10 7 6 38 29 5 7 11 22 38 −7 59
15 Rotherham United 46 11 4 8 42 30 4 9 10 21 30 +3 58
16 Brentford 46 7 10 6 30 28 6 9 8 27 27 +2 58
17 Bournemouth 46 8 7 8 26 27 6 8 9 25 32 −8 57
18 Leyton Orient 46 11 9 3 38 26 3 5 15 19 45 −14 56
19 Cardiff City 46 10 7 6 39 33 3 8 12 27 46 −13 54
20 Blackpool 46 12 2 9 41 37 4 3 16 22 38 −12 53
21 Fulham 46 7 6 10 20 23 7 4 12 30 40 −13 52 Relegated
22 Exeter City 46 8 7 8 38 37 3 5 15 14 46 −31 45
23 Hartlepool United 46 8 3 12 28 40 1 6 16 13 47 −46 36
24 Barnet 46 4 6 13 22 32 1 7 15 19 54 −45 28
Source:[citation needed]

Play-offs[]

Semi-finals
1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1994
Final at Wembley
29 May 1994
        
3rd Plymouth Argyle 0 1 1
6th Burnley 0 3 3
4th Stockport County 1
6th Burnley 2
4th Stockport County 0 1 1
5th York City 0 0 0

[1]

Results[]

Home \ Away BAR BLP BOU BRA BRE B&HA BRR BUR CAM CAR EXE FUL HAR HUD HUL LEY PLY PTV REA ROT STP SWA WRE YOR
Barnet 0–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–3 0–0 2–1 0–2 3–2 0–1 1–2 3–1 0–0 2–3 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–1 1–2 1–3
Blackpool 3–1 2–1 1–3 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 2–3 1–0 1–0 2–3 2–1 2–1 6–2 4–1 2–1 1–3 0–4 1–2 2–0 1–1 4–1 0–5
Bournemouth 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–3 2–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 3–2 1–1 1–3 0–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 3–1
Bradford City 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 6–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–5 2–1 2–4 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0
Brentford 1–0 3–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–4 0–0 3–3 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1–0 3–2 3–3 0–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 4–1 3–5 0–0 2–0 1–1 2–2 3–0 2–0 2–1 1–3 0–1 0–2 1–1 4–1 1–1 2–0
Bristol Rovers 5–2 1–0 0–1 4–3 1–4 1–0 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–2 3–1 0–1
Burnley 5–0 3–1 4–0 0–1 4–1 3–0 3–1 3–0 2–0 3–2 3–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 4–1 4–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1
Cambridge United 1–1 3–2 3–2 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–3 0–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 1–0 4–5 3–4 3–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 0–2
Cardiff City 0–0 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 2–7 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–2 3–4 2–0 2–3 1–3 3–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 5–1 0–0
Exeter City 0–0 1–0 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 4–1 0–5 2–2 6–4 2–1 2–3 0–1 1–0 2–3 1–1 4–6 1–1 1–2 1–0 5–0 1–2
Fulham 3–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 3–2 0–2 1–3 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–1 0–0 0–1
Hartlepool United 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–1 4–1 0–2 3–0 1–2 0–1 1–4 0–1 1–1 1–8 1–4 1–4 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–2
Huddersfield Town 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–3 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–3 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–2
Hull City 4–4 0–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 5–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–2 4–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1
Leyton Orient 4–2 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 3–1 2–1 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–0 3–1 2–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–0
Plymouth Argyle 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 3–3 3–2 0–3 1–2 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 4–2 2–3 2–1 1–1 2–1
Port Vale 6–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–4 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–1
Reading 4–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 4–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 3–2 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 2–1
Rotherham United 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 5–2 3–0 1–2 7–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 0–3 0–2 2–2 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–1
Stockport County 2–1 1–0 0–2 4–1 3–1 3–0 0–2 2–1 3–1 2–2 4–0 2–4 5–0 3–0 0–0 3–0 2–3 2–1 1–1 2–0 4–0 1–0 1–2
Swansea City 2–0 4–4 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 3–1 4–2 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 1–2
Wrexham 4–0 2–3 2–1 0–3 1–2 1–3 3–2 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 3–0 4–2 0–3 2–1 3–2 3–3 0–1 3–2 1–1
York City 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 3–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 5–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 0–2 0–0 3–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–1
Source:[citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Locations[]

1993–94 Football League is located in England
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
Blackpool
Bournemouth
Bradford City
Bristol Rovers
Burnley
Hartlepool
Hull
Plymouth Argyle
Port Vale
Reading
Rotherham
Stockport
Swansea City
Wrexham
York City
Locations of the Second Division teams
Locations of the London-based Second Division teams

Third Division[]

Shrewsbury Town's two-year spell back in the league's bottom tier ended in Division Three title glory and promotion under new manager Fred Davies, while Chester City earned an instant return to Division Two as runners-up of Division Three, only their second promotion in more than 60 years as a Football League side. The final automatic promotion place went to Crewe Alexandra, who had been beaten in the playoffs during the previous two seasons following their relegation in 1991. The final promotion place went to playoff winners Wycombe Wanderers, who triumphed 4-2 over Preston North End in the Wembley final at the end of their first season as a Football League side. Torquay United and Carlisle United were the losing semi-finalists in the playoffs, reflecting major progress as the two sides had battled against relegation to the Conference one season earlier.

There was no relegation from the Football League this season - for the first time since automatic relegation and promotion between the league's basement division and the GM Vauxhall Conference was introduced in 1987. This was due to stadium requirements introduced by the Football League for potential Conference champions, emerging from the stadium crisis and ensuing financial problems which had helped bring about the collapse of Maidstone United just three years after gaining league status by this route. Kidderminster Harriers, the Conference champions, did not meet the league requirements and were denied a place in Division Three for the 1994-95 season, which saved the league's bottom placed club Northampton Town from being relegated into non-league football.

Football League, Third Division
Season1993–94
ChampionsShrewsbury Town (1st fourth tier title)
Direct promotionShrewsbury Town,
Chester,
Crewe Alexandra
Promoted through play-offsWycombe Wanderers
Relegated to ConferenceNone
New club in the leagueWycombe Wanderers
Matches played462
Goals scored1,265 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerTony Ellis (Preston North End), 26 [2]
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Shrewsbury Town 42 10 8 3 28 17 12 5 4 35 22 +24 79 Division Champions, promoted
2 Chester City 42 13 5 3 35 18 8 6 7 34 28 +23 74 Promoted
3 Crewe Alexandra 42 12 4 5 45 30 9 6 6 35 31 +19 73
4 Wycombe Wanderers[a] 42 11 6 4 34 21 8 7 6 33 32 +14 70 Promoted through play-offs
5 Preston North End 42 13 5 3 46 23 5 8 8 33 37 +19 67 Participated in play-offs
6 Torquay United 42 8 10 3 30 24 9 6 6 34 32 +8 67
7 Carlisle United 42 10 4 7 35 23 8 6 7 22 19 +15 64
8 Chesterfield 42 8 8 5 32 22 8 6 7 23 26 +7 62
9 Rochdale 42 10 5 6 38 22 6 7 8 25 29 +12 60
10 Walsall 42 7 5 9 28 26 10 4 7 20 27 −5 60
11 Scunthorpe United 42 9 7 5 40 26 6 7 8 24 30 +8 59
12 Mansfield Town 42 9 3 9 28 30 6 7 8 25 32 −9 55
13 Bury 42 9 6 6 33 22 5 5 11 22 34 −1 53
14 Scarborough 42 8 4 9 29 28 7 4 10 26 33 −6 53
15 Doncaster Rovers 42 8 6 7 24 26 6 4 11 20 31 −13 52
16 Gillingham 42 8 8 5 27 23 4 7 10 17 28 −7 51
17 Colchester United 42 8 4 9 31 33 5 6 10 25 38 −15 49
18 Lincoln City 42 7 4 10 26 29 5 7 9 26 34 −11 47
19 Wigan Athletic 42 6 7 8 33 33 5 5 11 18 37 −19 45
20 Hereford United 42 6 4 11 34 33 6 2 13 26 46 −19 42
21 Darlington 42 7 5 9 24 28 3 6 12 18 36 −22 41
22 Northampton Town 42 6 7 8 25 23 3 4 14 19 43 −22 38
Source:[citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ New club in the league

Play-offs[]

Semi-finals
1st leg – 15 May; 2nd leg – 18 May 1994
Final at Wembley
28 May 1994
        
4th Wycombe Wanderers 2 2 4
7th Carlisle United 0 1 1
4th Wycombe Wanderers 4
5th Preston North End 2
5th Preston North End 0 4 4
6th Torquay United 2 1 3

Results[]

Home \ Away BRY CRL CHR CHF COL CRE DAR DON GIL HER LIN MAN NOR PNE ROC SCA SCU SHR TOR WAL WIG WYC
Bury 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–0 5���1 4–0 0–0 5–3 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–2 3–0 1–2
Carlisle United 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–2 2–0 4–2 1–2 1–2 3–3 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–2
Chester City 3–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–2 3–1 4–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 3–1
Chesterfield 1–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–1 2–2 0–2 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–3
Colchester United 4–1 2–1 0–0 0–2 2–4 1–2 3–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–1 2–5 1–2 2–1 3–3 1–2 0–1 3–1 0–2
Crewe Alexandra 2–4 2–3 2–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 6–0 2–2 2–1 3–1 4–3 2–1 1–1 3–3 0–0 2–3 1–2 4–1 2–1
Darlington 1–0 1–3 1–2 0–0 7–3 1–0 1–3 2–1 1–3 3–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0
Doncaster Rovers 1–3 0–0 3–4 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–4 3–1 0–0 0–2 4–0 3–1 0–3
Gillingham 1–0 2–0 2–2 0–2 3–0 1–3 2–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–2 1–0 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–2 0–1
Hereford United 3–0 0–0 0–5 0–3 5–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–2 2–3 1–1 2–3 5–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 0–1 3–0 3–4
Lincoln City 2–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–2 4–3 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–3
Mansfield Town 2–2 0–1 0–4 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–3 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 4–2 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–3 3–0
Northampton Town 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–0 5–1 2–0 1–2 3–2 4–0 0–3 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–1
Preston North End 3–1 0–3 1–1 4–1 1–0 0–2 3–2 3–1 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 2–2 6–1 3–1 2–0 3–0 2–3
Rochdale 2–1 0–1 2–0 5–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–1 3–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 6–2 2–1 2–1 2–3 1–2 4–1 0–0 1–2 2–2
Scarborough 1–0 0–3 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 3–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 3–4 2–1 0–1 1–3 1–2 1–0 4–1 3–1
Scunthorpe United 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–3 7–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–4 1–3 5–0 1–0 0–0
Shrewsbury Town 1–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 2–2 2–0 1–2 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–2 1–2 0–0 1–0
Torquay United 0–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 3–3 3–3 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 3–2 1–0 2–0 4–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 1–1
Walsall 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–2 3–0 1–2 1–0 3–3 5–2 0–2 1–3 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 4–2
Wigan Athletic 3–1 0–2 6–3 1–0 0–1 2–2 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–4 0–1 4–1 1–1 2–2 0–0 1–2 0–2 2–5 1–3 2–2 1–1
Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–5 3–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 3–2 2–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–1
Source:[citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Locations[]

1993–94 Football League is located in England
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
1993–94 Football League
Bury
Chesterfield
Crewe Alexandra
Darlington
Gillingham
Lincoln City
Mansfield Town
Northampton Town
Preston North End
Rochdale
Scarborough
Scunthorpe United
Shrewsbury
Wigan Athletic
Locations of the Third Division teams

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "England 1993–94". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
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