Nottingham Forest F.C. and also signed Stan Collymore, Lars Bohinen and Colin Cooper. Clark brought immediate return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season. Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. Collymore then transferred in the 1995-96 close season to Liverpool for a national record fee of £8.5million. Forest reached the 1995-96 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competition that season. They finished ninth in the league. The 1996–97 season quickly became
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