Despite enduring a disappointing league season, finishing 10th in the first ever Premier League, behind unfancied sides like Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal managed to complete a double of the FA Cup and League Cup, defeating Sheffield Wednesday in both finals. New to the Arsenal squad for 1992–93 season was Denmark'sEuro 92 midfield hero John Jensen, who took over in central midfield from Leeds United bound David Rocastle. The end of the season saw the departure of long-serving Irish defender David O'Leary, who, to date, holds the record for the most appearances for Arsenal.
Premier League
Arsenal hosted Norwich City at Highbury on the opening weekend of the season. Arsenal recorded their first league win of the campaign against Liverpool at Anfield; midfielder Ray Parlour created both of the team's goals. This was followed by a 2–0 win at home to Oldham Athletic, where the attendance of 20,796 was Highbury's lowest in over four years, as Highbury's capacity was restricted while the North Bank was being rebuilt. September was a disappointing month for the Gunners, who won just one out of five league games. But their 1–0 home win over Manchester City on 28 September signaled the start of a six-match winning run which propelled them to the top of the table on 7 November. However, they gained just three points from their next eight games, which included a four-match run of defeats and didn't include a single win, which left Arsenal's title hopes looking dead by the turn of 1993. However, they were still in the Football League Cup, and now had the FA Cup to play for. George Graham strengthened his tight defence in February 1993 by paying Everton £2 million for Martin Keown, the player he had sold to Aston Villa as a 19-year-old in one of his first actions on becoming Arsenal manager in 1986. Arsenal finished the season 10th in the Premier League, but had won some silverware on 18 April when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 in the Football League Cup final. Steve Morrow, who scored Arsenal's winning goal, broke his arm after being dropped by Tony Adams during the post-match celebrations, ruling him out of the remaining games of the season, including the FA Cup final on 15 May—where Arsenal once again faced Sheffield Wednesday. They were held to a 1–1 draw by their South Yorkshire opponents, but won the replay 2–1 four days later with the winning goal coming from defender Andy Linighan. This secured Arsenal's place in the 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup. Remarkably, Arsenal were the lowest-scoring side in the division over the season with 40 goals, slightly less than one per match; this despite having been the leading scorers in the first division in the previous season.
Matches
Classification
Results summary
Results by round
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup is a cup competition open to clubs in the Premier League and Football League. Like the FA Cup it is played on a knockout basis, with the exception of the second round and semi-finals, which are contested over a two-legged tie. Arsenal entered the competition in the second round, as one of the 22 teams from the Premier League. They were drawn against Millwall; the first leg took place at Highbury on 22 September 1992. In the match Campbell scored in the 78th minute to cancel out Millwall's lead early in the second half. The second leg at The Den was much the same, with both teams playing out for a 1–1 draw. As there were no further goals the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which Arsenal won 3–1.
FA Cup
Squad statistics
Arsenal used a total of 29 players during the 1992–93 season and there were nine different goalscorers. There were also two squad members who did not make a first-team appearance in the campaign. Adams featured in 52 games and started the most games in the squad. The team scored a total of 72 goals in all competitions. The top goalscorer was Wright, with 30 goals – half of which were scored in the league. ;Key No. = Squad number Pos = Playing position Nat. = Nationality Apps = Appearances GK = Goalkeeper DF = Defender MF = Midfielder FW = Forward Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season. Source:
