1995–96 FA Premier League FA Cup which was won by Manchester United. Before the season began, the English transfer record was broken for the third time in 12 months when Liverpool paid £8.4 million for the Nottingham Forest striker Stan Collymore. The record fee for a defender was broken when Newcastle United paid £4 million for Wimbledon's Warren Barton. Arsenal paid a club record £7.5 million for Internazionale's 26-year-old Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp. Newcastle spent £6 million for 28-year-old Queens Park Rangers striker Les Ferdinand. Blackburn Rovers, the 1994–95 Premier League champions, finished bottom of their group in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester United
1996–97 Nottingham Forest F.C. season 1996–97 Nottingham Forest F.C. season During the 1996–97 English football season, Nottingham Forest F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). After a Kevin Campbell hat-trick earnt Nottingham Forest an impressive 3-0 away win at Coventry City on the season's opening game, an appalling 4-1 home defeat to Premiership newcomers Sunderland prompted a dismal start to the season which saw them fail to win any of their next 16 league games until a shock 2-1 home win over title contenders Arsenal on 21 December 1996. Ultimately, Forest were bottom of the Premiership