1995–96 in English football Bolton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City were relegated, while Coventry City and Southampton stayed up on goal difference. Leading goalscorer: Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers) - 31 Sunderland gave their best performance in years by clinching the Division One title, and were joined among the elite by runners-up Derby County and play-off winners Leicester City. Crystal Palace conceded a last-minute Leicester winner at Wembley, and would have gone up automatically had it not been for their dismal first half of the season. Luton Town, Watford and Millwall, who had all played in the top flight at some stage in
1994 FA Charity Shield the Blackburn side were the previous season's top scorer Alan Shearer (who had a virus from eating seafood) and his new strike partner Chris Sutton, who had just joined them for a national record fee of £5 million. Also absent due to injury were Mike Newell, Kevin Gallacher, Paul Warhurst and David Batty. Stuart Ripley and Ian Pearce made a make-shift front two, with young striker Peter Thorne making his solitary appearance for Blackburn as a substitute. Other debutants for Rovers were experienced defender Tony Gale and Australian winger Robbie Slater. Meanwhile, Manchester United defender David May made his club