First Division. Hardly a very memorable season – Liverpool dominated and its domination was severely getting on the nerves of everybody else. Competing for second place, at most, was hardly what the English championship was all about. Drama was lost and that in time when English teams were banned from European competitions – another thing to blame Liverpool for. English football was losing its edge, its teeth, its very qualities making the English proud. And how good Liverpool was when there was no way to see them against the top European clubs? A valid question.
Millwall – the outsider this season, winning only 5 matches. Bright young Teddy Sheringham and aging Tony Cascarino was all they had… Last and relegated with 26 points.
Charlton Atheltic – 19th with 30 points. Better than Millwall, but also a weak outsider – the squad tells it all… Relegated.
Sheffield Wedenesday – 18th with 43 points and relegated. Unlucky to be relegated only on 2-goals worse goal-difference, but… something wrong happened to them, which had nothing to do with luck – only ‘yesterday’ Wednesday was bright, promising team going up and expected to go even higher. What clipped their wings? Ron Atkinson?
Luton Town – 17th with 43 points. Lucky survivors on 2-goals better goal-difference than Sheffield Wednesday. Well, nothing more than that was expected from modest Luton.
Derby County – 16th with 46 points. Escaped relegation and that was the most expected from them Peter Shilton, still the number one goalkeeper of England, was the big name – the only big name. What a difference time makes… once upon a time Roy McFarland and Shilton played together for England, but in that time Derby County, with McFarland in defense, Derby was winning titles. Now, with Shilton (who was playing for solid and competitive, yet not winning teams back in the 1970s) avoiding Second Division was the best hope for the team.
Crystal Palace – 15th with 48 points. The usual… however, with squad like that, they managed quite well this season.
Manchester City – 14th with 48 points. Perhaps the only bright thing about them was that they finished with the same points Manchester United earned. Looked like Manchester City settled in mediocrity for ever.
Manchester United – 13th with 48 points. Ahead of bitter rivals Manchester City only on goal-difference, but even that was negative: United finished with -1. Seemingly, there was no way out even with ambitious and able manager like Ferguson… once again United had strong squad which did nothing. Less than nothing… One can easily go back almost year after year seeing the same – strong on paper squad, which underperformed terribly. However… this time may have been slightly different.
Coventry City – 12th with 49 points. Hardly ever noticed, but what amazing story Coventry was: never strong, yet, always sturdy enough to stay away from trouble. Other clubs, great clubs, went down and were relegated, some unable to recover for years; Coventry remained. Year after year, no matter the fate of others, they stayed – in the lower half of the table, but rarely in real danger of relegation.
Queens Park Rangers – 11th with 50 points. The never ending ups and downs of QPR… Now, it was up – at least on paper. With Trevor Frances as playing manager and Don Howe as his assistant and Kenny Sansom, Peter Reid, Mark Falco, David Seaman, Leslie Ferdinand… this team should have been in better position in the league. Instead, it was so-so season.
Norwich City – 10th with 53 points. Given the squad, Norwich should have been desperately fighting for survival – but sometimes one can do more with less: the boys played better than ‘promising’ QPR, not to mention studded with stars Manchester United.
Nottingham Forest – 9th with 54 points. Maintained respectful, if not strong performance.
Wimbledon – 8th with 55 points. The spirit of the team cannot be denied – and perhaps thanks to it, Wimbledon was overachieving.
Southampton – 7th with 55 points. As usual, they had veterans – Osman and Case – but also younger talent this time: Shearer, Le Tissier, and Flowers.
Everton – 6th with 59 points. Running strong still, but looked like the club fell in its own trap of lamenting imagined possibilities – this squad should have played bigger role. Even with unfortunate Norman Whiteside.
Chelsea – 5th with 60 points. Apparently, the terrible years were over and the club was stable again – and ambitious, as result. Did not have really strong team, though, and at least for the moment was close to Wimbledon: overachievers.
Arsenal – 4th with 62 points. George Graham was the right man and he built strong squad – hence, the good results. But there was still need for reinforcements.
Tottenham Hotspur – 3rd with 63 points. An illusionary season: the Spurs clinched bronze medals, although they were not up to compete for more. Yet, it was a squad capable of more – on paper. Just look at the wealth of this team: Lineker and Gascoigne together is enough of an example. And that was the illusion.
Aston Villa – 2nd with 70 points. Challenging Liverpool was not up to them, but they were much stronger than the rest of the league and finished 7 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. A come back? Nigel Spink was the only link to the team which won the European Champions Cup, providing inspiration for current talent like Paul McGrath and David Platt. Well, not enough for true comeback.
Familiar and irritating: Liverpool dominated the championship again, collecting easily one more title – after 23 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses, and 78-37 scoring record, they finished with 79 points – 7 points ahead of Aston Villa and 14 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. Can’t deny the talent of the squad, can’t deny the talent of Dalglish, can’t deny the wise policies and ambition of the club. The only problem was boredom – year after years it was just Liverpool. And another problem was lurking bellow the surface: was this vintage truly strong compared to the top European clubs? Without playing in the European competitions there was no way to know and may be without noticing the club already took wrong direction in selecting new players. But who can blame dominant champions? This was their 18th title!
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