Home » History » The Roy Evans era
"Boot room" veteran Roy Evans took over from Souness. Evans had been on the club's pay roll since the late 1950s. He guided Liverpool to an eighth place finish in the 1993-94 Premier League campaign, young striker Robbie Fowler scoring 29 goals in all competitions which led to him being voted PFA Young Player of the Year. In his first full season (1994-95) Liverpool finished fourth in the Premiership and won the League Cup, beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the final.
In the summer of 1995, Liverpool paid Nottingham Forest a British record fee of £8.5 million for striker Stan Collymore. Fowler and Collymore formed an impressive partnership for the 1995-96 season which saw veteran striker Ian Rush relegated to the substitute bench for much of the season before his departure on a free transfer to Leeds United. Liverpool continued to progress that season, being within a shout of the domestic double right up to the final few weeks of the season. But they finished third in the Premiership, eleven points behind champions Manchester United, seven behind runners-up Newcastle, and lost 1-0 to Man United in the FA Cup final. Still, Liverpool were recognised as a top team once again, and were starting to attract top players once more.
Liverpool led the Premiership at several stages during the 1996-97 season, but in the end they finished fourth and had to settle for a UEFA Cup place. They had been hoping to win the Cup Winners Cup for the first time, but lost to Paris St Germain in the semi finals.
1997-98 saw Liverpool finish third in the Premiership. The highlight of the club's season was the emergence of young striker Michael Owen. Owen became the Premiership's equal top scorer in 1998 with eighteen goals and became the youngest full England international at the time. He was also awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year Award.