1992–93 Football League First Division (1992-2004)

Football League First Division 1992-93
Season information
Winners	Newcastle United
Promoted	West Ham United Swindon Town
Relegated	Brentford Cambridge United Bristol Rovers
Season statistics
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1449
← 1991-92	1993-94 →

Newcastle United, who won their first 10 league games, clinched the Division One title with an impressive 96 points to end a four-year exile from the top flight of English football. West Ham United sealed an instant return to the top flight a year after relegation, edging ahead of Portsmouth on goal difference to finished second. Portsmouth's promotion bid, dominated by the form of 42-goal striker Guy Whittingham, ended in the playoff semi-finals when they were beaten by Leicester City, who went on to lose the final 4-3 to Swindon Town after clawing back from 3-0 down before a late penalty from Paul Bodin saw Swindon clinch victory and a place in the top flight for the first time ever. The other losing semi-finalists in the playoffs were Tranmere Rovers, playing only their second season at this level in the postwar era.

Millwall finished one place outside the playoff zone in the first season in management for Mick McCarthy, while pre-season promotion favourites Derby County could only manage an eighth-place finish despite having spent millions on new players over the previous two years. Unfancied Grimsby Town and Peterborough United finished in the top half of the table, comfortably above bigger clubs like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City.

Luton Town and Notts County, newly relegated from the top flight, spent the season battling at the wrong end of the division but managed to avoid a second successive relegation, as did a Sunderland side who had been FA Cup finalists one season earlier and members of the top flight two seasons earlier.

Bristol Rovers went down in bottom place after a dismal season. Cambridge United, playoff semi-finalists the previous season, struggled after the sale of Dion Dublin and went down on the last day of the season, as did a Brentford side who had been on the fringe of the playoff places at Christmas before a slump in form during the second half of the season cost the Bees their Division One status and manager Phil Holder his job.

Promotion and relegation

Start of season

Teams promoted to Premier League 1992-93

• Ipswich Town (Champions)
• Middlesbrough (Runners-up)
• Blackburn Rovers (Playoff winners)

Teams promoted from Third Division 1991-92

• Brentford
• Birmingham City
• Peterborough United

End of season

Teams relegated from Premier League 1992-93

• Crystal Palace
• Middlesbrough
• Nottingham Forest

Teams relegated to Second Division 1993-94

• Brentford
• Cambridge United
• Bristol Rovers

Final league table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Comments
1	Newcastle United (C) (P)	46	29	9	8	92	38	+54	96	Promotion to Premier League
2	West Ham United (P)	46	26	10	10	81	41	+40	88
3	Portsmouth	46	26	10	10	80	46	+34	88	Qualified to First Division playoffs
4	Tranmere Rovers	46	23	10	13	72	56	+16	79
5	Swindon Town (P)	46	21	13	12	74	59	+15	76
6	Leicester City	46	22	10	14	71	64	+7	76
7	Millwall	46	18	16	12	65	53	+12	70
8	Derby County	46	19	9	18	68	57	+11	66
9	Grimsby Town	46	19	7	20	58	57	+1	64
10	Peterborough United	46	16	14	16	55	63	-8	62
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	16	13	17	57	56	+1	61
12	Charlton Athletic	46	16	13	17	49	46	+3	61
13	Barnsley	46	17	9	20	56	60	-4	60
14	Oxford United	46	14	14	18	53	56	-3	56
15	Bristol City	46	14	14	18	49	+67	-18	56
16	Watford	46	14	13	19	57	71	-14	55
17	Notts County	46	12	16	18	55	70	-15	52
18	Southend United	46	13	13	20	54	64	-10	52
19	Birmingham City	46	13	12	21	50	72	-22	51
20	Luton Town	46	10	21	15	48	62	-14	51
21	Sunderland	46	13	11	22	50	64	-14	50
22	Brentford (R)	46	13	10	23	52	71	-19	49	Relegated to the Second Division
23	Cambridge United (R)	46	11	16	19	48	69	-21	49
24	Bristol Rovers (R)	46	10	11	25	55	87	-32	41

Source: Unknown
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Football League First Division 1992-93 Winners
Newcastle United 1st First Division title 2nd second tier English title

Play-offs

		Semifinals				Finals
	6	Leicester City	1 2 (3)
	3	Portsmouth	0 2 (2)
						6	Leicester City	3
						5	Swindon Town	4
	5	Swindon Town	3 2 (5)
	4	Tranmere Rovers	1 3 (2)