History of Blackburn Rovers F.C. at Wembley where they beat Leicester City 1–0 thanks to a Mike Newell penalty. Rovers made headlines in the summer of 1992 by paying an English record fee of £3.5million for the 22-year-old Southampton and England centre forward Alan Shearer. They remained in the title challenge for most of the season before finishing fourth in the final table. In 1993–94, they were Premiership runners-up to Manchester United. Rovers broke the English transfer fee record again a few weeks later when paying Norwich City £5million for 21-year-old striker Chris Sutton. Blackburn won the Premier League in 1994–95. Kenny Dalglish moved upstairs
1996–97 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season 1996–97 Blackburn Rovers F.C. season During the 1996–97 English football season, Blackburn Rovers F.C. competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons). An early exit from the League Cup at the hands of Division Two side Stockport County was the final straw for manager Ray Harford, who stepped down on 25 October with Rovers also bottom of the Premiership with no wins from their opening 11 games. 18 months earlier, they had been league champions. Long-serving coach Tony Parkes was appointed caretaker, remaining in the post until the end of the season, when