During the 1995âÂÂ96 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was their tenth successive season in the top flight of English football and although they finished 14th, lower than on any of the previous nine occasions, they finished high enough to maintain their top flight membership.
With the FA Premier League's lowest crowds and transfer budget, Wimbledon had begun most of their top division seasons since promotion in 1986 as pre-season relegation favourites, but the "Crazy Gang" spirit kept Wimbledon going once again, although their 14th-place finish was their lowest since joining the top flight 10 seasons earlier.
Dean Holdsworth and Efan Ekoku were once again a formidable strikerforce, while Vinnie Jones was as combative as ever and Oyvind Leonhardsen's performances attracted attention from several bigger clubs. Manager Joe Kinnear managed to hold on to all his key assets, as well as adding a few more, over the close season as he grew ever more determined to defy the odds once again.
It was the last season at Wimbledon for long-serving goalkeeper Hans Segers, who lost his place early in the season to Paul Heald and was transferred to Wolves soon afterwards. Within a few months however, Kinnear had decided on Neil Sullivan as his regular goalkeeper.
The season saw Wimbledon play in European competition for the first (and the only) time in their history, in the Intertoto Cup. However, as Selhurst Park was unavailable the club were forced to play the matches at Brighton & Hove Albion's Goldstone Ground. The lack of home support affected Wimbledon's performances, and they finished fourth in their group of five after a 4âÂÂ0 home defeat to Turkish club Bursaspor, a 1âÂÂ1 draw at Slovak side Koà ¡ice, a 0âÂÂ0 draw with Israelis Beitar Jerusalem at home and a 3âÂÂ0 away defeat at Belgian team Charleroi.
Core became Wimbledon's kit manufacturers for the season. Birmingham-based electronics company Elonex remained the kit sponsors.
Wimbledon's score comes first
<small>Note: Home games in the Intertoto Cup were played at the Goldstone Ground due to unavailability of White Hart Lane</small>
Squad at end of season
Iain Laidlaw (born 10 December 1976) is a defender who had represented the club in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, signed for the club that summer, but was released in 1997 without making a league appearance.