on a place in the then-new Premier League three years earlier and poor form in the run in sealed their fate after AFC Bournemouth avoided the drop in the final two games of the season after spending most of it in the bottom five. This sparked pitch invasion scenes and has been called the team's Great Escape season. Leading goalscorer: Gary Bennett (Wrexham) – 29 Third Division Ambitious Carlisle United sealed the Division Three title to end eight years of basement division football, joined by runners-up Walsall and playoff winners Chesterfield. Debt-ridden Exeter City finished joint bottom of the league with Scarborough, but retained their league status due to Conference champions Macclesfield Town lacking a stadium adequate for Football League capacity standards. Fulham finished eighth under new manager Ian Branfoot in their first season in the fourth tier of English football. Leading goalscorer: Dougie Freedman (Barnet) – 24 Transfer deals For subsequent transfer deals see 1995–96 in English football. Diary of the season 6 July 1994 – Tottenham Hotspur's 12-point penalty is reduced to 6 points on appeal at a Football Association hearing, while the £600,000 fine is increased to £1.5 million and the FA Cup ban remains in place. 10 July 1994 – Graham Barrow, manager of newly promoted Chester City, stuns the club by handing in his resignation, after being told that he must break up and sell off his promotion-winning side. 11 July 1994 – Graham Taylor prepares for a Division One promotion challenge with Wolverhampton Wanderers, signing defender Steve Froggatt from Aston Villa for £1 million, while Clayton Blackmore (Manchester United's longest-serving player) signs for Middlesbrough on a free transfer to join Bryan Robson's fellow promotion hopefuls. 12 July 1994 – Sheffield Wednesday sign midfielder Ian Taylor from Port Vale for £1 million. 13 July 1994 – Blackburn Rovers pay a national record £5 million for Norwich City's 21-year-old striker Chris Sutton. 16 July 1994 – Chester City announce former England international and Port Vale coach Mike Pejic as their new manager. 18 July 1994 – Blackpool appoint Preston North End assistant manager Sam Allardyce as their new manager. 19 July 1994 – Bryan Robson further bolsters Middlesbrough's squad with a £1 million move for Aston Villa defender Neil Cox. 22 July 1994 – Leicester City, newly promoted to the Premier League and in the top flight for the first time since 1987, pay a club