1994–95 Football League

Football League, Second Division
Season	1994–95
Champions	Birmingham City (1st third tier title)
Direct promotion	Birmingham City
Promoted through play-offs	Huddersfield Town
Relegated	Cambridge United,; Cardiff City,; Chester,; Leyton Orient,; Plymouth Argyle
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,441 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Bennett (Wrexham), 29
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

Football League, First Division
Season	1994–95
Champions	Middlesbrough (4th second tier title)
Direct promotion to Premier League	Middlesbrough
Promoted to Premier League through play-offs	Bolton Wanderers
Relegated	Bristol City,; Burnley,; Notts County,; Swindon Town
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,389 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Aldridge (Tranmere Rovers), 24
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The Football League
Season	1994–95
Champions	Middlesbrough
Promoted	Middlesbrough; Bolton Wanderers
	← 1993–94 1995–96 →

The 1994–1995 Football League season was the 96th completed season of The Football League. It was the third season of The Football League since the formation of the Premier League. For sponsorship reasons, the league was known as the Endsleigh League.

Overview

The reduction of the Premier League from 22 teams to 20, to take effect from the 1995–96 season, meant that just two teams would be promoted from the First Division in 1995: the champions and the play-off winners. Middlesbrough were the champions, in their first season under Bryan Robson. Reading finished second but had to settle for the play-offs, losing in the final to Bolton Wanderers – who achieved their second promotion in three years under Bruce Rioch, as well as finishing runners-up to Liverpool in the League Cup.

1995 also saw four teams relegated from the First Division, with Burnley, Bristol City and Notts County being joined by Swindon Town, who suffered a second straight relegation. Sunderland narrowly avoided the drop following the arrival of enthusiastic new manager Peter Reid, who over the next few years would bring dramatic improvements to the fortunes of the Wearsiders.

The Second Division would also see only the champions and the play-off winners promoted, while five teams would be relegated. Birmingham City were the champions, returning to the First Division at the first time of asking; they also won the Football League Trophy to complete a "lower-league Double". Huddersfield Town were the play-off winners, defeating second-placed Brentford on penalties before beating Bristol Rovers in the final. The five teams relegated were Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Chester City and Leyton Orient.

In the Third Division, three teams would be promoted instead of the usual four: the champions, the runners-up and the play-off winners. Carlisle United were the champions and Walsall the runners-up, while Chesterfield won the play-offs, defeating Bury in the final. Exeter City, in severe financial trouble, finished bottom, but held on to their league status as Conference champions Macclesfield Town were unable to 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Middlesbrough	46	15	4	4	41	19	8	9	6	26	21	67	40	+27	82
2	Reading	46	12	7	4	34	21	11	3	9	24	23	58	44	+14	79
3	Bolton Wanderers	46	16	6	1	43	13	5	8	10	24	32	67	45	+22	77
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	15	5	3	39	18	6	8	9	38	43	77	61	+16	76
5	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	4	2	51	23	5	6	12	16	35	67	58	+9	76
6	Barnsley	46	15	6	2	42	19	5	6	12	21	33	63	52	+11	72
7	Watford	46	14	6	3	33	17	5	7	11	19	29	52	46	+6	70
8	Sheffield United	46	12	9	2	41	21	5	8	10	33	34	74	55	+19	68
9	Derby County	46	12	6	5	44	23	6	6	11	22	28	66	51	+15	66
10	Grimsby Town	46	12	7	4	36	19	5	7	11	26	37	62	56	+6	65
11	Stoke City	46	10	7	6	31	21	6	8	9	19	32	49	56	–7	63
12	Millwall	46	11	8	4	36	22	5	6	12	24	38	60	60	0	62
13	Southend United	46	13	2	8	33	25	5	6	12	21	48	54	73	–19	62
14	Oldham Athletic	46	12	7	4	34	21	4	6	13	26	39	60	60	0	61
15	Charlton Athletic	46	11	6	6	33	25	5	5	13	25	41	58	66	–8	59
16	Luton Town	46	8	6	9	35	30	7	7	9	26	34	61	64	–3	58
17	Port Vale	46	11	5	7	30	24	4	8	11	28	40	58	64	–6	58
18	Portsmouth	46	9	8	6	31	28	6	5	12	22	35	53	63	–10	58
19	West Bromwich Albion	46	13	3	7	33	24	3	7	13	18	33	51	57	–6	58
20	Sunderland	46	5	12	6	22	22	7	6	10	19	23	41	48	–7	54
21	Swindon Town	46	9	6	8	28	27	3	6	14	26	46	60	72	–12	48
22	Burnley	46	8	7	8	36	33	3	6	14	13	41	49	74	–25	46
23	Bristol City	46	8	8	7	26	28	3	4	16	16	35	42	63	–21	45
24	Notts County	46	7	8	8	26	28	2	5	16	19	38	45	66	–21	40

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

Key
	Football League Champions, promoted to Premier League
	Promoted to Premier League
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted to Premier League through play-offs
	Relegated

Play-offs

Semi-finals 1st leg – 14 May; 2nd leg – 17 May 1995			Final at Wembley 29 May 1995

2nd	Reading	3

5th	Tranmere Rovers	1
			2nd	Reading	3

			3rd	Bolton Wanderers (a.e.t.)	4
3rd	Bolton Wanderers	1

4th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2

Results

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Birmingham City	46	15	6	2	53	18	10	8	5	31	19	84	37	+47	89
2	Brentford	46	14	4	5	44	15	11	6	6	37	24	81	39	+42	85
3	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	3	6	46	33	11	5	7	34	35	80	68	+12	83
4	Bristol Rovers	46	15	7	1	48	20	7	9	7	22	20	70	40	+30	82
5	Huddersfield Town	46	14	5	4	45	21	8	10	5	34	28	79	49	+30	81
6	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	7	3	36	19	8	8	7	24	27	60	46	+14	78
7	Oxford United	46	13	6	4	30	18	8	6	9	36	34	66	52	+14	75
8	Hull City	46	13	6	4	40	18	8	5	10	30	39	70	57	+13	74
9	York City	46	13	4	6	37	21	8	5	10	30	30	67	51	+16	72
10	Swansea City	46	10	8	5	23	13	9	6	8	34	32	57	45	+12	71
11	Stockport County	46	12	3	8	40	29	7	5	11	23	31	63	60	+3	65
12	Blackpool	46	11	4	8	40	36	7	6	10	24	34	64	70	–6	64
13	Wrexham	46	10	7	6	38	27	6	8	9	27	37	65	64	+1	63	1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round
14	Bradford City	46	8	6	9	29	32	8	6	9	28	32	57	64	–7	60
15	Peterborough United	46	7	11	5	26	29	7	7	9	28	40	54	69	–15	60
16	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	9	10	4	25	15	5	7	11	29	38	54	53	+1	59
17	Rotherham United	46	12	6	5	36	26	2	8	13	21	35	57	61	–4	56
18	Shrewsbury Town	46	9	9	5	34	27	4	5	14	20	35	54	62	–8	53
19	Bournemouth	46	9	4	10	30	34	4	7	12	19	35	49	69	–20	50
20	Cambridge United	46	8	9	6	33	28	3	6	14	19	41	52	69	–17	48
21	Plymouth Argyle	46	7	6	10	22	36	5	4	14	23	47	45	83	–38	46
22	Cardiff City	46	5	6	12	25	31	4	5	14	21	43	46	74	–28	38
23	Chester	46	5	6	12	23	42	1	5	17	14	42	37	84	–47	29
24	Leyton Orient	46	6	6	11	21	29	0	2	21	9	46	30	75	–45	26

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Carlisle United	42	14	5	2	34	14	13	5	3	33	17	67	31	+36	91
2	Walsall	42	15	3	3	42	18	9	8	4	33	22	75	40	+35	83
3	Chesterfield	42	11	7	3	26	10	12	5	4	36	27	62	37	+25	81
4	Bury	42	13	7	1	39	13	10	4	7	34	23	73	36	+37	80
5	Preston North End	42	13	3	5	37	17	6	7	8	21	24	58	41	+17	67
6	Mansfield Town	42	10	5	6	45	27	8	6	7	39	32	84	59	+25	65
7	Scunthorpe United	42	12	2	7	40	30	6	6	9	28	33	68	63	+5	62
8	Fulham	42	11	5	5	39	22	5	9	7	21	32	60	54	+6	62
9	Doncaster Rovers	42	9	5	7	28	20	8	5	8	30	23	58	43	+15	61
10	Colchester United	42	8	5	8	29	30	8	5	8	27	34	56	64	–8	58
11	Barnet	42	8	7	6	37	27	7	4	10	19	36	56	63	–7	56
12	Lincoln City	42	10	7	4	34	22	5	4	12	20	33	54	55	–1	56
13	Torquay United	42	10	8	3	35	25	4	5	12	19	32	54	57	–3	55
14	Wigan Athletic	42	7	6	8	28	30	7	4	10	25	30	53	60	–7	52
15	Rochdale	42	8	6	7	25	23	4	8	9	19	44	44	67	–23	50
16	Hereford United	42	9	6	6	22	19	3	7	11	23	43	45	62	–17	49
17	Northampton	42	8	5	8	25	29	2	9	10	20	38	45	67	–22	44
18	Hartlepool United	42	9	5	7	33	32	2	5	14	10	37	43	69	–26	43
19	Gillingham	42	8	7	6	31	25	2	4	15	15	39	46	64	–18	41
20	Darlington	42	7	5	9	25	24	4	3	14	18	33	43	57	–14	41
21	Scarborough	42	4	7	10	26	31	4	3	14	23	39	49	70	–21	34
22	Exeter City	42	5	5	11	25	36	3	5	13	11	34	36	70	–34	34	^{[notes 1]}

Overview

Final league tables and results

First Division

Play-offs

Results

Top scorers

Locations

Second Division

Play-offs

Results

Top scorers

Locations

Third Division

Play-offs

Results

Top scorers

Locations

See also

References