The 1994–95 season was Manchester United‘s third season in the Premier League, and their 20th consecutive season in the top division of English football. It was their first season since 1988–89 to end without a major trophy.

United acquired David May from Blackburn Rovers early on in the season. They then bought Andy Cole from Newcastle United in January for a British record fee of £7 million (£6 million cash with £1 million-rated Keith Gillespie in part-exchange). That month, Eric Cantona was involved in an incident away to Crystal Palace. As a result of racial abuse received from a fan, Cantona broke free of kitman Norman Davies’ grasp as he was escorting him from the pitch after being sent off, and launched a kung-fu style kick at the fan. Cantona was banned from football for eight months and fined £20,000 by his club and a further £10,000 by the Football Association.

United lost the Premier League title on the last day when, despite Blackburn Rovers losing to Liverpool, United could only manage a draw away to West Ham United. The misery continued when Manchester United went on to lose to Everton in the 1995 FA Cup Final.

After the season was over, United controversially sold Paul Ince toInternazionale and Mark Hughes to Chelsea, while Andrei Kanchelskis was placed on the transfer list, eventually agreeing a deal with Everton (which was delayed by contract wrangling). Meanwhile, Eric Cantona was strongly linked with a £4 million move to join Paul Ince at Internazionale.

 

Match-worn shirts

Pre-season and friendlies

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
30 July 1994	Dundalk	A	4 – 2	Hughes (2), Giggs, Ince	4,500
1 August 1994	Shelbourne	A	3 – 0	Cantona, Ince, McClair	12,500
3 August 1994	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2 – 1	Ince, Blades (o.g.)	28,500
5 August 1994	Newcastle United	N	1 – 1(5 – 6p)	Cantona	27,282
6 August 1994	Rangers	A	0 – 1		30,186
9 August 1994	Cambridge United	A	1 – 1	Sharpe	9,194
16 August 1994	Middlesbrough	A	3 – 0	Hughes (2), Sharpe	19,658

FA Charity Shield

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
14 August 1994	Blackburn Rovers	N	2 – 0	Cantona 22′ (pen.), Ince 81′	60,402

FA Premier League

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance	Leagueposition
20 August 1994	Queens Park Rangers	H	2 – 0	Hughes 48′, McClair 69′	43,214	3rd
22 August 1994	Nottingham Forest	A	1 – 1	Kanchelskis 23′	22,072	1st
27 August 1994	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1 – 0	Bruce 49′	24,502	3rd
31 August 1994	Wimbledon	H	3 – 0	Cantona 40′, McClair 81′, Giggs 84′	43,440	2nd
11 September 1994	Leeds United	A	1 – 2	Cantona 72′ (pen.)	39,396	5th
17 September 1994	Liverpool	H	2 – 0	Kanchelskis 73′, McClair 74′	43,740	3rd
24 September 1994	Ipswich Town	A	2 – 3	Cantona 71′, Scholes 74′	22,559	4th
1 October 1994	Everton	H	2 – 0	Kanchelskis 41′, Sharpe 88′	43,803	4th
8 October 1994	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0 – 1		33,441	5th
15 October 1994	West Ham United	H	1 – 0	Cantona 44′	43,795	4th
24 October 1994	Blackburn Rovers	A	4 – 2	Cantona 45′ (pen.), Kanchelskis (2) 52′, 62′, Hughes 67′	30,260	3rd
29 October 1994	Newcastle United	H	2 – 0	Pallister 11′, Gillespie 77′	43,795	3rd
6 November 1994	Aston Villa	A	2 – 1	Ince 41′, Kanchelskis 51′	32,136	3rd
10 November 1994	Manchester City	H	5 – 0	Cantona 24′, Kanchelskis (3) 43′, 47′, 89′, Hughes 70′	43,738	2nd
19 November 1994	Crystal Palace	H	3 – 0	Irwin 8′, Cantona 34′, Kanchelskis 51′	43,788	1st
26 November 1994	Arsenal	A	0 – 0		38,301	2nd
3 December 1994	Norwich City	H	1 – 0	Cantona 36′	43,789	1st
10 December 1994	Queens Park Rangers	A	3 – 2	Scholes (2) 34′, 48′, Keane 45′	18,948	2nd
17 December 1994	Nottingham Forest	H	1 – 2	Cantona 68′	43,744	2nd
26 December 1994	Chelsea	A	3 – 2	Hughes 22′, Cantona 46′ (pen.), McClair 79′	31,161	2nd
28 December 1994	Leicester City	H	1 – 1	Kanchelskis 61′	43,789	2nd
31 December 1994	Southampton	A	2 – 2	Butt 51′, Pallister 79′	16,708	2nd
3 January 1995	Coventry City	H	2 – 0	Scholes 30′, Cantona 50′ (pen.)	43,130	2nd
15 January 1995	Newcastle United	A	1 – 1	Hughes 13′	34,471	2nd
22 January 1995	Blackburn Rovers	H	1 – 0	Cantona 80′	43,742	2nd
25 January 1995	Crystal Palace	A	1 – 1	May 57′	18,224	2nd
4 February 1995	Aston Villa	H	1 – 0	Cole 18′	43,795	2nd
11 February 1995	Manchester City	A	3 – 0	Ince 58′, Kanchelskis 74′, Cole 78′	26,368	2nd
22 February 1995	Norwich City	A	2 – 0	Ince 3′, Kanchelskis 17′	21,824	1st
25 February 1995	Everton	A	0 – 1		40,011	2nd
4 March 1995	Ipswich Town	H	9 – 0	Keane 16′, Cole (5) 24′, 37′, 53′, 65′, 89′, Hughes (2) 54′, 59′, Ince73′	43,804	2nd
7 March 1995	Wimbledon	A	1 – 0	Bruce 84′	18,224	1st
15 March 1995	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0 – 0		43,802	2nd
19 March 1995	Liverpool	A	0 – 2		38,906	2nd
22 March 1995	Arsenal	H	3 – 0	Hughes 27′, Sharpe 32′, Kanchelskis 80′,	43,623	2nd
2 April 1995	Leeds United	H	0 – 0		43,712	2nd
15 April 1995	Leicester City	A	4 – 0	Sharpe 34′, Cole (2) 45′, 53′, Ince 90′	21,281	2nd
17 April 1995	Chelsea	H	0 – 0		43,728	2nd
1 May 1995	Coventry City	A	3 – 2	Scholes 33′, Cole (2) 56′, 79′	21,885	2nd
7 May 1995	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1 – 0	May 6′	43,868	2nd
10 May 1995	Southampton	H	2 – 1	Cole 22′, Irwin 81′ (pen.)	43,479	2nd
14 May 1995	West Ham United	A	1 – 1	McClair 53′	24,783	2nd

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Blackburn Rovers	42	27	8	7	80	39	+41	89
2	Manchester United	42	26	10	6	77	28	+49	88
3	Nottingham Forest	42	22	11	9	72	43	+29	77

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

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
9 January 1995	Round 3	Sheffield United	A	2 – 0	Hughes 80′, Cantona 82′	22,322
28 January 1995	Round 4	Wrexham	H	5 – 2	Irwin (2) 17′, 74′ (pen.), Giggs 27′, McClair 67′, Humes 81′ (o.g.)	43,222
19 February 1995	Round 5	Leeds United	H	3 – 1	Bruce 2′, McClair 5′, Hughes 72′	42,744
12 March 1995	Round 6	Queens Park Rangers	H	2 – 0	Sharpe 23′, Irwin 53′	42,830
9 April 1995	Semi-final	Crystal Palace	N	2 – 2 (<href=”#Association_football” title=”Overtime (sports)” >a.e.t.)	Irwin 70′, Pallister 97′	38,256
12 April 1995	Semi-finalReplay	Crystal Palace	N	2 – 0	Bruce 30′, Pallister 41′	17,987
20 May 1995	Final	Everton	N	0 – 1		79,592

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
21 September 1994	Round 2First leg	Port Vale	A	2 – 1	Scholes (2) 36′, 53′	18,605
5 October 1994	Round 2Second leg	Port Vale	H	2 – 0	McClair 35′, May 61′	31,615
26 October 1994	Round 3	Newcastle United	A	0 – 2		34,178

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Date	Opponents	H / A	ResultF – A	Scorers	Attendance
14 September 1994	IFK Göteborg	H	4 – 2	Giggs (2) 33′, 66′, Kanchelskis 48′, Sharpe 71′	33,625
28 September 1994	Galatasaray	A	0 – 0		28,605
19 October 1994	Barcelona	H	2 – 2	Hughes 20′, Sharpe 80′	40,064
2 November 1994	Barcelona	A	0 – 4		114,273
23 November 1994	IFK Göteborg	A	1 – 3	Hughes 64′	36,350
7 December 1994	Galatasaray	H	4 – 0	Davies 3′, Beckham 38′, Keane 49′, Bülent (o.g.) 88′	39,220

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
IFK Göteborg	6	4	1	1	10	7	+3	9
Barcelona	6	2	2	2	11	8	+3	6
Manchester United	6	2	2	2	11	11	0	6
Galatasaray	6	1	1	4	3	9	−6	3

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Peter Schmeichel	32	0	7	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	43	0
2	DF	Paul Parker	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0	0	0	3(2)	0
3	DF	Denis Irwin	40	2	7	4	2	0	5	0	0	0	54	6
4	DF	Steve Bruce	35	2	5	2	1	0	5(1)	0	1	0	47(1)	4
5	MF	Lee Sharpe	26(2)	3	6(1)	1	0(2)	0	3	2	1	0	36(5)	6
6	DF	Gary Pallister	42	2	7	2	2	0	6	0	1	0	58	4
7	FW	Eric Cantona	21	12	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	25	14
8	MF	Paul Ince	36	5	6	0	0	0	5	0	1	1	48	6
9	FW	Brian McClair	35(5)	5	6(1)	2	3	1	2	0	1	0	47(6)	8
10	FW	Mark Hughes	33(1)	8	6	2	0	0	5	2	1	0	45(1)	12
11	MF	Ryan Giggs	29	1	6(1)	1	0	0	3	2	1	0	39(1)	4
12	DF	David May	15(4)	2	1	0	2	1	4	0	1	0	23(4)	3
13	GK	Gary Walsh	10	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	16	0
14	MF	Andrei Kanchelskis	25(5)	14	2(1)	0	0	0	5	1	1	0	33(6)	15
15	FW	Graeme Tomlinson	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0
16	MF	Roy Keane	23(2)	2	6(1)	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	34(3)	3
17	FW	Andy Cole	17(1)	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17(1)	12
18	MF	Simon Davies	3(2)	0	0	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	8(2)	1
19	MF	Nicky Butt	11(11)	1	3(1)	0	3	0	5(1)	0	0	0	22(13)	1
20	MF	Terry Cooke	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	DF	Pat McGibbon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	Phil Neville	1(1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0
24	MF	Paul Scholes	6(11)	5	1(2)	0	3	2	0(2)	0	0	0	10(15)	7
25	GK	Kevin Pilkington	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
26	DF	Chris Casper	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
27	DF	Gary Neville	16(2)	0	4	0	2(1)	0	1(1)	0	0	0	23(4)	0
28	MF	David Beckham	2(2)	0	1(1)	0	3	0	1	1	0	0	7(3)	1
29	MF	Ben Thornley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	DF	John O’Kane	0	0	1	0	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0
31	MF	Keith Gillespie	3(6)	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	6(6)	1