The season that marked the arrival of both Mick Wadsworth and David Reeves to Brunton Park was also the start of a golden era in United's history.

Michael Knighton's ten-year plan to reach the Premiership began to seem realistic as he brought in Wadsworth to become Director of Coaching and also signed Mervyn Day as both goalkeeper and assistant coach. Dave McCreery was moved downwards to become a coach as Knighton sought to overhaul the whole structure of the club.

Alongside the new coaches, came a whole stack of new signings, among them Rod Thomas, Tony Gallimore, Carlton Fairweather, John Pearson, Paul Conway and Shane Reddish.

A slow start to the season prompted the move for a proven goalscorer and so it was that Reeves was signed for a club-record £121,000 in October. It took the new man four games to find the net, but once he did, things began to really take off.

Victory at Burnley in the Autoglass Trophy with Reeves on the score sheet was a sweet moment for the United fans and although deadly rivals Preston won 1-0 at Brunton Park in November, the FA Cup brought a run to the Third Round for the first time in five years and with it a trip to Sunderland.

Carlisle grabbed a late equaliser through Darren Edmondson at Roker Park to force a replay, but in the Brunton mud ten days later an extra-time strike from Lee Howey saw the Wearsiders through.

Only an annoying tendency to trip up at home held United back, but once that problem was sorted out, they produced a run of ten wins in their last fourteen games to snatch the last play-off spot.

Over 8,000 watched their last two home victories, over champions-elect Shrewsbury Town and Colchester United. Reeves' 15 goals proved vital in clinching a playoff spot, but the form of Simon Davey and Ian Arnold on the run-in was also important.

United had two outstanding away wins, 3-2 at promoted Crewe and 3-0 at deadly rivals Preston as they finished the season on a high. The bubble burst though, in the play-offs. Crowd trouble marred the first leg at home to Wycombe, which was lost 2-0, before a 2-1 defeat in the second leg brought a 4-1 exit. The scene had been set however, for a big promotion effort for the following season.

Statistics

ENDSLEIGH INSURANCE LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Date        Opponents             Venue   Res      Att   Pts    Pos   Scorers
14/08/93    WYCOMBE WANDERERS       H     2-2     7752     1     -    Thomas,Curran
21/08/93    Doncaster Rovers        A     0-0     2507     2    13    -
28/08/93    ROCHDALE                H     0-1     5438     2    17    -
31/08/93    Torquay United          A     1-1     3331     3    17    Gallimore
04/09/93    Scarborough             A     3-0     2044     6    12    Fairweather,Davey 2
11/09/93    CHESTERFIELD            H     3-0     5335     9     9    Thomas 2,Walling
18/09/93    Scunthorpe United       A     1-2     3361     9    12    Burgess
25/09/93    Chester City            A     0-0     2911    10    13    -
02/10/93    GILLINGHAM              H     1-2     6446    10    15    Valentine
09/10/93    Shrewsbury Town         A     0-1     3254    10    18    -
16/10/93    MANSFIELD TOWN          H     1-1     4480    11    19    Davey
23/10/93    Northampton Town        A     1-1     2877    12    18    Edmondson
30/10/93    WALSALL                 H     2-1     4216    15    18    Reeves,Davey
02/11/93    LINCOLN CITY            H     3-3     5098    16    17    Walling,Edmondson,
                                                                      Arnold(pen)
06/11/93    Wigan Athletic          A     2-0     2411    19    16    Reeves,Flounders
20/11/93    PRESTON NORTH END       H     0-1    10279    19    17    -
27/11/93    Colchester United       A     1-2     2316    19    17    Thomas
11/12/93    DONCASTER ROVERS        H     4-2     4245    22    16    Davey,Walling,
                                                                      Edmondson,Thomas
18/12/93    Wycombe Wanderers       A     0-2     5044    22    17    -
27/12/93    Darlington              A     3-1     4800    25    16    Reeves 2,Graham
28/12/93    CREWE ALEXANDRA         H     1-2     7073    25    16    Reeves
01/01/94    Hereford United         A     0-0     2204    26    16    -
03/01/94    TORQUAY UNITED          H     1-1     4872    27    15    Davey(pen)
15/01/94    Mansfield Town          A     1-0     2378    30    12    Reeves
25/01/94    BURY                    H     1-2     4430    30    15    Reeves
29/01/94    Walsall                 A     1-0     4833    33    12    Reeves
05/02/94    NORTHAMPTON TOWN        H     0-1     4535    33    14    -
12/02/94    Bury                    A     1-2     2807    33    15    Reddish
19/02/94    Rochdale                A     1-0     2927    36    14    Davey
26/02/94    SCARBOROUGH             H     2-0     4270    39    11    Davey,Walling
05/03/94    Chesterfield            A     0-3     2475    39    13    -
12/03/94    SCUNTHORPE UNITED       H     3-1     4076    42    12    Conway 2,Valentine
19/03/94    CHESTER CITY            H     1-0     4193    45    11    Reeves
26/03/94    Gillingham              A     0-2     2586    45    13    -
02/04/94    DARLINGTON              H     2-0     4088    48    11    Walling,Thomas
04/04/94    Crewe Alexandra         A     3-2     3679    51    10    Thomas 2,Robinson
09/04/94    HEREFORD UNITED         H     1-2     4065    51    11    Conway
16/04/94    Lincoln City            A     0-0     2758    52    12    -
23/04/94    WIGAN ATHLETIC          H     3-0     3796    55    11    Thomas,Arnold,Reeves	
30/04/94    Preston North End       A     3-0    11363    58    10    Reeves,Arnold 2
03/05/94    SHREWSBURY TOWN         H     2-1     8007    61     7    Davey,Arnold
07/05/94    COLCHESTER UNITED       H     2-0     9305    64     7    Arnold,Conway
PLAYOFFS
15/05/94    WYCOMBE WANDERERS       H     0-2    10862                -
18/05/94    Wycombe Wanderers       A     1-2     6265                Davey (pen)

COCA COLA CUP
Date        Opponents             Venue   Res      Att      Scorers
17/08/93    Chesterfield (R1,1L)    A     1-3     2841      Davey
24/08/93    CHESTERFIELD (R1,2L)    H     1-1     4410      Thomas

AUTOGLASS TROPHY
Date        Opponents             Venue   Res      Att      Scorers
28/09/93    PRESTON NORTH END (R1)  H     2-0     3909      Valentine,Edmondson
09/11/93    Burnley (R1)            A     2-1     4683      Reeves,Flounders
30/11/93    BURY (R2)               H     2-1     3250      Thomas(pen),Reeves
11/01/94    MANSFIELD TOWN (R3)     H     2-1(aet)8686      Reeves,Thomas
08/02/94    LINCOLN CITY (NSF)      H     2-1(aet)6246      Walling,Robinson
08/03/94    Huddersfield Town (NF)  A     1-4    10552      Davey
22/03/94    HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (NF)  H     2-0     8333      Mitchell(og),Joyce

FA CHALLENGE CUP
Date        Opponents             Venue   Res      Att      Scorers
13/11/93    Knowsley United (R1)    A     4-1     4800      Arnold 2,Davey,Reeves
04/12/93    STALYBRIDGE CELTIC (R2) H     3-1     5546      Edmondson,Gallimore,Arnold
08/01/94    Sunderland (R3)         A     1-1    23587      Edmondson
18/01/94    SUNDERLAND (R3 Rep)     H     0-1(aet12771      -

HOME LEAGUE ATTENDANCE
Avg    High    Low   Total Games 
5524  10279    3796  115999    21

PLAYER RANKINGS
 (qualification : 10 matches)
                      Av   TP   TG
Tony Caig           7.41  200   27
Joe Joyce           7.32  300   41
David Reeves        7.31  329   45
Simon Davey         7.28  393   54
Dean Walling        7.20  389   54
Rod Thomas          7.13  371   52
Paul Conway         7.13  164   23
Ian Arnold          7.05  155   22
Tony Gallimore      7.04  373   53
Darren Edmondson    7.03  232   33
Jamie Robinson      7.00  133   19
Dave Burgess        6.93  360   52
Andy Flounders      6.90   69   10   
Shane Reddish       6.82  334   49
Peter Valentine     6.82  150   22
Dave McCreery       6.73  101   15
Mervyn Day          6.71  141   21	
George Oghani       6.61  152   23
Carlton Fairweather 6.53  111   17

Steve McMahon       7.66   23    3
Tony Elliott        7.13   57    8
Steve Holden        7.00   14    2
Deiniol Graham      7.00   21    3
Paul Murray         7.00   63    9
Lee Peacock         7.00    7    1
John Pearson        6.63   53    8
Jason Prins         6.50   39    6
Shaun Rouse         6.50   26    4
Rory Delap          6.50   13    2
Chris Curran        6.33   38    6
Andrew Barnes       6.00   12    2

Jeff Thorpe         0.00			

GOALSCORERS
Name                League   CC   AGT   FAC  Total	
David Reeves            11    0     3     1     15
Simon Davey             10    1     1     1     13
Rod Thomas               9    1     2     0     12
Ian Arnold               6    0     0     3      9
Darren Edmondson         3    0     1     2      6
Dean Walling             5    0     1     0      6
Paul Conway              4    0     0     0      4
Peter Valentine          2    0     1     0      3	
Andy Flounders           1    0     1     0      2	
Tony Gallimore           1    0     0     1      2            
Jamie Robinson           1    0     1     0      2
Chris Curran             1    0     0     0      1	
Carlton Fairweather      1    0     0     0      1            
Dave Burgess             1    0     0     0      1            
Deiniol Graham           1    0     0     0      1
Shane Reddish            1    0     0     0      1
Joe Joyce                0    0     1     0      1
Own goals                0    0     1     0      1

TOTALS                  58    2    13     8     81