1993–94 Aston Villa F.C. season

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.

Aston Villa
1993–94 season
Chairman Doug Ellis
Manager Ron Atkinson
Premier League10th
FA CupFifth round
Coca-Cola CupWinners
UEFA CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Dean Saunders (9)
All:
Dalian Atkinson
Dean Saunders
(15 each)
Average home league attendance29,015

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, largely due to a shortage of goals. 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 after just a few months.

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 Qualification or relegation
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 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
11 Coventry City 42 14 14 14 43 45 −2 56
12 Norwich City 42 12 17 13 65 61 +4 53
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

Results

Aston Villa's score comes first[1]

Legend
Win Draw Loss

FA Premier League
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
14 August 1993Queens Park RangersH4–132,994Atkinson 38', 89', Saunders 62', Staunton 90'
18 August 1993Sheffield WednesdayA0–028,450
21 August 1993WimbledonA2–27,533Richardson 18', Staunton 82'
23 August 1993Manchester UnitedH1–239,624Atkinson 45'
28 August 1993Tottenham HotspurH1–032,498Staunton 71' (pen)
31 August 1993EvertonA1–024,022Whittingham 32'
11 September 1993Coventry CityH0–031,181
18 September 1993Ipswich TownA2–116,617Saunders 19', Townsend 55'
25 September 1993Oldham AthleticA1–112,836Saunders 51'
2 October 1993Newcastle UnitedH0–237,336
16 October 1993West Ham UnitedA0–020,425
23 October 1993ChelseaH1–029,706Atkinson 6'
30 October 1993Swindon TownA2–116,530Teale 43', Atkinson 68'
6 November 1993ArsenalA2–131,773Whittingham 74', Townsend 90'
20 November 1993Sheffield UnitedH1–024,686Whittingham 76'
24 November 1993SouthamptonH0–216,180
28 November 1993LiverpoolA1–238,484Atkinson 53'
4 December 1993Queens Park RangersA2–214,915Richardson 26', Parker 47'
8 December 1993Sheffield WednesdayH2–220,304Cox 29', Saunders 53' (pen)
11 December 1993WimbledonH0–117,940
19 December 1993Manchester UnitedA1–344,499Cox 90'
29 December 1993Norwich CityA2–120,650Houghton 55', Saunders 58'
1 January 1994Blackburn RoversH0–140,903
15 January 1994West Ham UnitedH3–128,869Richardson 15', Atkinson 43', 68'
22 January 1994ChelseaA1–118,341Saunders 39'
6 February 1994Leeds UnitedH1–026,919Townsend 70'
12 February 1994Swindon TownH5–026,637Saunders 31', pens 66', 84', Froggatt 55', Richardson 73'
22 February 1994Manchester CityH0–019,254
2 March 1994Tottenham HotspurA1–117,452Parker 8'
6 March 1994Coventry CityA1–014,325Daley 20'
12 March 1994Ipswich TownH0–123,732
16 March 1994Leeds UnitedA0–220,003
19 March 1994Oldham AthleticH1–221,214Redmond 61' (own goal)
30 March 1994EvertonH0–036,044
2 April 1994Manchester CityA0–326,075
4 April 1994Norwich CityH0–025,416
11 April 1994Blackburn RoversA0–119,287
16 April 1994Sheffield UnitedA2–118,402Richardson 23', Fenton 25'
23 April 1994ArsenalH1–231,580Houghton 57'
27 April 1994Newcastle UnitedA1–532,216Beinlich 10'
30 April 1994SouthamptonA1–419,003Charlton 58' (own goal)
7 May 1994LiverpoolH2–145,347Yorke 65', 81'

FA Cup
Main article: 1993–94 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R38 January 1994Exeter CityA1–010,570Saunders 60' (pen)
R429 January 1994Grimsby TownA2–115,771Houghton 13', Yorke 78'
R520 February 1994Bolton WanderersA0–118,817

League Cup
Main article: 1993–94 Football League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R2 1st leg21 September 1993Birmingham CityA1–027,815Richardson 82'
R2 2nd leg6 October 1993Birmingham CityH1–0 (won 2-0 on agg)35,856Saunders 82'
R326 October 1993SunderlandA4–123,692Atkinson 27', 90', Richardson 33', Houghton 75'
R430 November 1993ArsenalA1–026,453Atkinson 4'
R512 January 1994Tottenham HotspurA2–131,408Houghton 57', Barrett 68'
SF 1st leg16 February 1994Tranmere RoversA1–317,140Atkinson 90'
SF 2nd leg27 February 1994Tranmere RoversH3–1 (won 5-4 on pens)40,593Saunders 19', Teale 24', Atkinson 88'
F27 March 1994Manchester UnitedN3–177,231Atkinson 25', Saunders 75', pen 90'

UEFA Cup
Main article: 1993–94 UEFA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R1 1st leg15 September 1993ŠK Slovan BratislavaA0–010,886
R1 2nd leg29 September 1993ŠK Slovan BratislavaH2–1 (won 2-1 on agg)24,461Atkinson 15', Townsend 22'
R2 1st leg19 October 1993Deportivo de La CoruñaA1–126,800Saunders 78'
R2 2nd leg3 November 1993Deportivo de La CoruñaH0–1 (lost 1-2 on agg)26,737

Players

First-team squad
Squad at end of season[2][3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ENG Nigel Spink
2 DF  ENG Earl Barrett
3 DF  IRL Steve Staunton
4 DF  ENG Shaun Teale
5 DF  IRL Paul McGrath[notes 1]
6 MF  ENG Kevin Richardson
7 MF  IRL Ray Houghton[notes 2]
8 MF  ENG Garry Parker
9 FW  WAL Dean Saunders
10 FW  ENG Dalian Atkinson
11 FW  ENG Tony Daley
12 MF  ENG Steve Froggatt
13 GK  AUS Mark Bosnich
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 MF  IRL Andy Townsend[notes 3]
16 DF  ENG Ugo Ehiogu
17 DF  ENG Neil Cox
18 FW  TRI Dwight Yorke
19 MF  GER Stefan Beinlich
20 MF  GER Matthias Breitkreutz
21 MF  ENG David Farrell
22 FW  ENG Guy Whittingham
23 DF  ENG Bryan Small
24 DF  POL Dariusz Kubicki
25 MF  ENG Graham Fenton
30 GK  ENG 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. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF  ENG Gordon Cowans (to Derby County)

Reserve squad
The following players made most of their appearances this season for the reserves, and did not appear for the first-team, or only appeared for the first-team in friendlies.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  ENG Michael Oakes
— DF  ENG Chris Boden
— DF  ENG Dennis Pearce
— DF  ENG Darren Evans
— DF  ENG Riccardo Scimeca
— DF  ENG Daniel West
— DF  SCO Paul Browne
— MF  ENG Trevor Berry
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ENG Steve Cowe
— MF  ENG Richard Crisp
— MF  ENG Lee Williams
— MF  SCO Scott Murray
— MF  IRL Gareth Farrelly
— FW  ENG Neil Davis
— FW  ENG Jim Crawford

Youth squad
The following players spent most of the season playing for the youth team, and did not appear for the first team, but may have appeared for the reserve team.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  ENG Stuart Brock
— GK  ENG Adam Rachel
— DF  ENG Ian Brown
— DF  ENG Lee Collins
— DF  ENG James Impey
— DF  ENG Tommy Jaszczun
— DF  ENG Jonathan Miley
— DF  ENG Andy Mitchell
— DF  ENG Ben Petty
— DF  SCO John Murphy
— DF  WAL David Hughes
— DF  IRL John Murphy
— DF  GER Leslie Hines
— MF  ENG Lee Burchell
— MF  ENG Lee Hendrie
— MF  ENG David Moore
— MF  ENG Mark Peters
— FW  ENG Richard Burgess
— FW  ENG Darren Byfield[notes 4]
— FW  ENG Richard Walker
—  ENG Lee Aston
—  ENG Marc Senior
No. Pos. Nation Player
—   David Peet
—   Michael Boxall
—   Neil Barrett
—   Robert King
—   David Lonsdale
—   Hugh McAuley (on trial)
—   Nicholas Miles
—   Darrell Mooney

Schoolboys
The following players were signed to Aston Villa as associated schoolboys, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  ENG John Hickman
— MF  ENG Ian King
—   Robert Deacon
No. Pos. Nation Player
—   Jonathan Jones
—   Lewis Read

Trainees
The following players were signed to Aston Villa as trainees, and did not appear for the youth or reserve teams this season.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  ENG Paul Blenkenship
— MF  ENG Christopher Pearce
— MF  SCO Brian Henderson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW  ENG Garry Harrison
—  ENG Steven Pitcher

Notes
  1. McGrath was born in Ealing, England, but was raised in the Republic of Ireland and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1985.
  2. Houghton was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his father and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in March 1986.
  3. Townsend was born in Maidstone, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 1989.
  4. Byfield was born in Sutton Coldfield, England, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally and would make his international debut for Jamaica in 2003.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1993-1994/faprem/avilla.htm
  3. http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/1993-94.html
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