a turbulent start to the season which saw manager Bruce Rioch sacked just before their first match and not be formally replaced by Arsène Wenger until the start of October, recovered well to finish in third place. Liverpool finished fourth, having actually lead the table for much of the first half of the season, until their form collapsed after the turn of the year. Aston Villa completed the top five. Other success stories of the Premier League season included Chelsea, who won the FA Cup to end their 26-year wait for a major trophy and in Ruud Gullit had the first foreign manager to win a major trophy in English football. Newly promoted Leicester City defied the critics who expected them to go straight back down and not only secured survival with a ninth-place finish, but also lifted the League Cup. Middlesbrough experienced a unique season, they were runners-up in both domestic cups, but a three-point deduction for postponing a league match at short notice just before Christmas ultimately saw them relegated at the end of the season. Coventry City were the lucky team who stayed up at Middlesbrough's expense, while the other two relegation places went to Nottingham Forest after three years and newly promoted Sunderland. Wimbledon defied the odds to extend their top flight tenure into its twelfth season, with an impressive eighth place league finish (having occupied the top five places for much of the season) and also by reaching the semi-finals of both cups. Leeds United were the lowest scoring team in the Premier League after the early season dismissal of long-serving manager Howard Wilkinson, who was succeeded by George Graham, but they managed to climb clear of the relegation battle to finish 11th. A terrible start to the season cost Ray Harford his job as Blackburn Rovers manager in late October, with interim manager Tony Parkes not securing the club's first win in the league until the following month, leaving them bottom of the division just 18 months after being champions, but Blackburn improved as the season went on and finished a secure 13th. Leading goalscorer: Alan Shearer (Newcastle United) - 25 First Division Bolton Wanderers easily won promotion straight back to the Premier League, topping the division for the entire season and being promoted with a club record 98 points. Barnsley took the second automatic promotion spot and earned promotion to the top-flight for