The title race wasn’t over until the very last day of the season, with Blackburn actually losing to Liverpool in a famous game at Anfield but United failing to take advantage as they were unable to get the better of a stubborn West Ham at Upton Park.
Here’s a look back at how the PFA Team of the Year looked that season…
GK - Tim Flowers (Blackburn)
The 1994/95 campaign was the second successive season that Tim Flowers found his way into the PFA Team of the Year. Yet despite his rise as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League over a two-year period, Flowers couldn’t make England’s number one jersey his own.
A string of four friendlies in March and June of 1995 was his best run as a starter for the Three Lions, with David Seaman the stopper who got the long-term nod thereafter.
RB - Rob Jones (Liverpool)
Only persistent injury prevented Rob Jones from being the Premier League’s right-back of the 1990s, which would likely have also limited Gary Neville’s England appearances.
By 1994/95, Jones had already been named in the PFA Team of the Year once before, in 1991/92. He had been forced to miss Euro ’92 because of injury, while back and knee trouble later plagued him from 1996 onwards and he retired in 1999 aged just 27.
CB - Gary Pallister (Man Utd)
For Gary Pallister, 1994/95 further underlined his quality as arguably the best centre-back in the Premier League at that time. The Manchester United man had already been named in PFA Team of the Year three times in the decade – in 1991/92, 1992/93 and 1993/94.
By the time he left Old Trafford in 1998, Pallister had managed a fourth PFA TOTY inclusion, to go with his four Premier League titles and three FA Cups.
CB - Colin Hendry (Blackburn)
It is harsh that in 2020, former Premier League title winner Colin Hendry is most widely remembered as the defender Paul Gascoigne humiliated with that goal for England against Scotland at Euro ’96.
That Hendry was one of the best centre-backs around only underlines the sublime quality of Gazza’s moment of genius. The Scot had been signed by Blackburn for a second time in 1991 for a sizeable £700,000 fee and helped an ambitious Rovers earn promotion.
LB - Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn)
The most prominent English left-back of the 1990s, Graeme Le Saux was another member of Blackburn’s title winning side, spending a total of four years at Ewood Park sandwiched between two spells at first club Chelsea.
Le Saux was later forced to miss Euro ’96 through injury, but had he been fit for the tournament it might denied Stuart Pearce his iconic moment of penalty redemption.
MF - Matt Le Tissier (Southampton)
Even though he had scored an impressive number of goals in poor Southampton sides that had flirted with relegation in both 1992/93 and 1993/94, the 1994/95 campaign was the first – and only – time Matt Le Tissier made it into PFA Team of the Year.
His 20 goals – 30 in all competitions – helped the Saints put previous struggles behind to break into the top half and finish 10th. It would be their best until the early 2000s.
MF - Tim Sherwood (Blackburn)
Long before he was the loudmouth former Tottenham and Aston Villa manager, Tim Sherwood was the Blackburn captain who lifted the 1994/95 Premier League trophy.
Legend has it that when manager Kenny Dalglish wanted to sign an emerging French talent by the name of Zinedine Zidane, Blackburn owner Jack Walker couldn’t see the upside because of one key reason: “Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?”
MF - Paul Ince (Man Utd)
Paul Ince is very much the opposite of a Manchester United legend these days, but once upon a time the Londoner was the all-action hero at the heart of Sir Alex Ferguson’s first great team.
For Ince, 1994/95 was his third consecutive inclusion in PFA Team of the Year. This was actually his last season at Old Trafford, with Ferguson opting to move on several established stars to make room for home-grown talent.
FW - Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham)
English fans loved to hate Jurgen Klinsmann in the early 1990s thanks to a reputation as a diver as well as his almost pantomime villain-esque role in the West Germany team that knocked England out of the 1990 World Cup on penalties.
But all of that changed in one season at Tottenham as he became a Premier League cult hero. He scored 29 goals in all competitions and he even returned for a second spell in 1997/98.
FW - Alan Shearer (Blackburn)
Everything came together for Alan Shearer in 1994/95. The Blackburn striker improved on his Premier League goal tally from the previous season, netting 34 times in 42 league appearances and claiming his first of three consecutive Golden Boots.
Shearer also obviously laid his hands on the Premier League trophy with Rovers that season, which was the only silverware he won during his 18-year career.
FW - Chris Sutton (Blackburn)
Chris Sutton was arguably the final piece of the jigsaw for Blackburn’s Premier League title hopes, signed from Norwich in the summer of 1994 and immediately going on to form the legend SAS partnership with Alan Shearer.
With Shearer the chief source of Blackburn goals, Sutton wasn’t quite as prolific as he had been in his final year at Norwich, yet he still got 21 of his own in all competitions.
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Source : 90min