1994–95 Nottingham Forest F.C. season to succeed in life after Brian Clough as new manager Frank Clark guided them to an impressive third-place finish and UEFA Cup qualification, giving Forest their first European campaign of the post-Heysel era. Striker Stan Collymore was on target 22 times in the league and speculation that he would be on his way to another club proved correct at the end of the season when he sold to Liverpool for a national record fee of £8.4 million. The failure of Clark to buy a proven replacement cast significant doubt over whether Forest could mount a serious challenge for honours in
1995–96 Manchester United F.C. season players and reserves. This proved to be a bad move, as the Red Devils fell at the first hurdle, losing in the Second Round to Second Division side York City, 4–3 on aggregate. United's first departure of the 1995–96 season was Matthew Barrass, who joined San Diego Nomads on 1 July. A day later, David Gardner was released, Paul Heckingbottom joined Sunderland, Patrick Lee joined Middlesbrough, and Paul Lyons joined Rochdale. Richard Irving signed for Nottingham Forest on 19 July, while a week later, Ashley Westwood departed for Crewe Alexandra. Gary Walsh signed for Middlesbrough on 11 August, Andrei Kanchelskis