The 1995–96 season was Manchester United's fourth season in the Premier League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of English football. United finished the season by becoming the first English team to win the Double (league title and FA Cup) twice. Their triumph was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Alex Ferguson had sold experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis before the start of the season, and not made any major signings. Instead, he had drafted in young players like Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.

Eric Cantona returned from his eight-month suspension at the beginning of October, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions, the last one being the winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. He also picked up a Premier League winner's medal and the FWA Player of the Year award. The title had been sealed on the final day of the season with a 3–0 win at Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough.

Having started the season without a major summer signing, the critics were ready to pounce on United, and made no apologies for writing United's chances of success off as they lost their first game of the season 3–1 at Aston Villa, a side who by contrast had spent heavily on players in recent months after a difficult period of transition. United hit back by winning their next five league games and were soon second to Newcastle United, spearheaded by multimillion-pound new signings Les Ferdinand and David Ginola. They actually went top of the league after a goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday towards the end of September, only for the Tynesiders to return to the top of the table soon after. Then came Cantona's comeback on 1 October, when he scored a penalty to equalise and hold Liverpool to a 2-2 draw Old Trafford.

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