1995–96 Liverpool F.C. season 1995–96 Liverpool F.C. season During the 1995–96 English football season, Liverpool F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). Having paid a national record £8.5million for Nottingham Forest striker Stan Collymore in the close season, Liverpool were many people's favourites for the league title in 1995–96 – especially as defending champions Blackburn Rovers had failed to significantly add to their squad and runners-up Manchester United had sold three key players but begun the season without a single major signing. 1994–95 had arguably been Liverpool's best season of the post-Dalglish era, as they
1995–96 FA Premier League were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the first round, with Liverpool and Leeds United both being knocked out at the second round. Everton were beaten in the second round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The only English team still in European competition after Christmas were Nottingham Forest, who reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. Manchester United and Newcastle United emerged as the primary title contenders for the 1995–96 season. The two sides played on 27 December 1995, with Newcastle 10 points ahead in the league. A 2–0 home win for Manchester United cut the gap to