A whole new ball game arrived on August 15, 1992, when the first Premier League season began.
English football’s top flight was made up of 22 clubs, with Arsenal, Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester United among the big hitters expected to vie for the title.
The new era featured a whole host of record-setters – from the debut Premier League goal and hat-trick to the inaugural Premier League sponsor and sacking.
In this article, let’s answer some of the most common questions that football fans have about the 1992-93 Premier League season.
What was the first Premier League game?
Nine Premier League games kicked off at the same time (3pm) on Saturday, August 15, 1992.
The results were as follows:
- Arsenal 2-4 Norwich City
- Chelsea 1-1 Oldham Athletic
- Coventry City 2-1 Middlesbrough
- Crystal Palace 3-3 Blackburn Rovers
- Everton 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
- Ipswich Town 1-1 Aston Villa
- Leeds United 2-1 Wimbledon
- Sheffield United 2-1 Manchester United
- Southampton 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Norwich were the surprise leaders at the end of the first weekend, while Arsenal propped up the table.
Who scored the first Premier League goal?
The league’s first goal was scored by Brian Deane. The Sheffield United striker was on target with a header past Peter Schmeichel after just five minutes in the 2-1 win over Manchester United. He also scored his team’s other goal that day.
The first goal in a live televised Premier League game was scored on Sunday, August 16, 1992. Teddy Sheringham grabbed the only goal as Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool 1-0.
Who scored the first Premier League hat-trick?
Eric Cantona scored the first hat-trick on Tuesday, August 25, 1992. The Frenchman netted three of Leeds United’s goals in a 5-0 hammering of Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road.
The other goals that day were scored by Rod Wallace and Lee Chapman.
Three months later, Cantona completed a £1.2 million move to Leeds’ rivals Manchester United.
Who scored the first Premier League perfect hat-trick?
While Eric Cantona scored the first regular hat-trick, Mark Robins had the honour of netting the first perfect hat-trick (one header, one left-footed goal, one right-footed goal) in the league’s history.
Robins achieved the impressive feat in Norwich City’s 3-2 away win over Oldham Athletic on Monday, November 9, 1992.
Norwich were one of the Premier League’s surprise packages that season, finishing third.
Who was the first Premier League manager to be sacked?
Nowadays, it is not uncommon for 10+ managerial changes to take place in a single season. However, that was not the case back in 1992-93, a time when football chairmen were willing to give coaches more time to succeed.
Chelsea’s Ian Porterfield was the first manager to be sacked in 1992-93. He was dismissed on February 15, 1993, after a run of 11 winless Premier League games in a row.
A 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa proved to be the final straw for Porterfield, who was replaced by David Webb with the club sat in 12th place.
Which team won the 1992-93 title?
Sir Alex Ferguson led Manchester United to the Premier League title in 1992-93. The Red Devils finished on 84 points with a record of 24 wins, 12 draws and six defeats in 42 games.
Manchester United were the only team to qualify for the Champions League that season. Second-placed Aston Villa (74 points) and third-placed Norwich City (72 points) qualified for the UEFA Cup.
The long-awaited league triumph ended United’s 26-year wait to win a top-flight title.
Who was the top scorer in the 1992-93 season?
The first Golden Boot Award in Premier League history was won by Teddy Sheringham. He represented Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur during the 1992-93 season, scoring 22 goals in 41 league games.
The following 13 players scored 15+ goals that season:
- Teddy Sheringham (Nottingham Forest/Tottenham Hotspur) – 22 goals
- Les Ferdinand (QPR) – 20 goals
- Dean Holdsworth (Wimbledon) – 19 goals
- Micky Quinn (Coventry City) – 17 goals
- Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers) – 16 goals
- David White (Manchester City) – 16 goals
- Brian Deane (Sheffield United) – 15 goals
- Chris Armstrong (Crystal Palace) – 15 goals
- Eric Cantona (Leeds United/Manchester United) – 15 goals
- Ian Wright (Arsenal) – 15 goals
- Mark Hughes (Manchester United) – 15 goals
- Mark Robins (Norwich City) – 15 goals
- Matt Le Tissier (Southampton) – 15 goals
Sheringham only scored once for Nottingham Forest – the aforementioned game against Liverpool – before moving to Tottenham in a £2.1 million move. He went on to score another 21 league goals that season for Spurs.
What was the first Premier League sponsor?
The top flight didn’t have a sponsor in the 1992-93 season. It was simply called the FA Premier League.
In 1993-94, Carling agreed a deal to sponsor English football’s emerging top flight. As part of the contract, the league was renamed the FA Carling Premiership.
The deal remained in place for eight seasons before the league was renamed the FA Barclaycard Premiership in 2001-02.
Who was the first Premier League Manager of the Month?
The 1992-93 season didn’t have any Premier League Manager of the Month prizes. The monthly award only became a permanent fixture at the start of the 1993-94 season.
Unsurprisingly, Sir Alex Ferguson won the inaugural Premier League Manager of the Month Award in August 1993.
The Scot led Manchester United to four wins from the club’s first five league games that season:
- August 15: Norwich City 0-2 Manchester United
- August 18: Manchester United 3-0 Sheffield United
- August 21: Manchester United 1-1 Newcastle United
- August 23: Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester United
- August 28: Southampton 1-3 Manchester United
United ended up winning the title again, picking up 92 points from 42 games.
Who was the first Premier League Player of the Month?
Like the Manager of the Month Award, this prize did not exist in the inaugural Premier League season. In fact, it was not introduced until the start of the 1994-95 season.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Jurgen Klinsmann claimed the Premier League Player of the Month Award in August 1994. The German striker began the campaign with five goals in four games.