1990–91 Football League First Division

Association football season in England Football League First Division 1990–91 Arsenal10th English title SunderlandDerby County European Cup Arsenal European Cup Winners' Cup Manchester United UEFA Cup LiverpoolBecause of the 1985 UEFA ban, no English clubs played european matches between the 1985–86 and 1989–90 season, and England was therefore ranked as 33rd https://web.archive.org/web/20151208004255/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method1/crank1990.html 2015-12-08 for the 1991/92-season in Europe which gave England only 1 spot in UEFA Cup. Alan Smith(22 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2010-10-31 Nottingham Forest 7–0 Chelsea(20 April 1991) Derby County 1–7 Liverpool(23 March 1991) Derby County 4–6 Chelsea(15 December 1990) 380 1049 8 matchesLiverpool 23 matchesArsenal 8 matchesQueens Park Rangers 1989–90 1991–92 The 1990–91 Football League First Division season was the 92nd season of English top-flight football. Overview England right 400 Locations of the First Division 1990–91 teams England 52.509103 -1.884786 Aston Villa left England 52.448111 -1.495611 Coventry bottom England 52.915 -1.447222 Derby County left England 53.438836 -2.966308 Everton bottom England 53.704069 -1.341731 Leeds right England 53.430819 -2.960828 Liverpool left England 51.531908 0.039406 London bottom UK England 51.9000 -0.4333 Luton Town left England 53.483139 -2.2003 Man City right England 53.463053 -2.291325 Man Utd bottom England 52.622128 1.308653 Norwich left England 52.939936 -1.132886 Nottingham Forest bottom England 53.370342 -1.470853 Sheffield U right England 50.905831 -1.391056 Southampton left England 54.914400 -1.388200 Sunderland England TransparentPlaceholder.png 1 51 -0.5 London teams Arsenal Chelsea Crystal Palace QPR Tottenham Hotspur Wimbledon right Greater London Greater London First Division football clubse Greater London Premier League football clubs right 350 Greater London 51.557311 -0.116789 Arsenal 75 right Greater London 51.481667 -0.191111 Chelsea 75 right Greater London 51.398333 -0.085556 Crystal Palace 75 bottom Greater London 51.509264 -0.232125 QPR 75 right Greater London 51.5974 -0.0716 Tottenham Hotspur 75 right Greater London 51.43 -0.19 Wimbledon 75 left Arsenal took their second league title in three seasons despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points. A player brawl in a league fixture against Manchester United in October saw Arsenal have two points deducted, and a few weeks later captain Tony Adams was given a four-month prison sentence for drink-driving (he ended up serving 8 weeks). But Arsenal managed to keep up a great run of form throughout the season and were crowned league champions having lost just one league game all season long. On 6 May 1991, Arsenal were crowned champions after beating Manchester United 3–1 while title challengers Liverpool who finished second, lost 2–1 to Nottingham Forest. Liverpool had led the table for much of the first half of the season but were shell-shocked in February by the sudden resignation of manager Kenny Dalglish. Rangers boss Graeme Souness was brought in as his successor but was unable to bring a major trophy to Anfield. Third place in the league went to Crystal Palace, who occupied their highest-ever finish, but were denied qualification for the UEFA Cup due to Liverpool being readmitted to European competition a year earlier than anticipated. Newly promoted Leeds United had a good season back in the First Division as they finished fourth but never really looked like challenging for the title. They did, however, reach the semi-finals of the League Cup, where they lost to Manchester United. Howard Kendall returned to Everton for a second spell as manager in November, while his successor at Manchester City, Peter Reid got off to a fine start in management by guiding the Maine Road side to fifth place in the league - their highest final position for more than a decade. Wimbledon continued to defy the odds and finish above sides with greater resources with a seventh-place position in the final table. Manchester United's league performances were too erratic for them to mount a title challenge, but they improved seven places on the previous season's final position to finish sixth, and marked a winning return to European competitions for English teams by lifting the European Cup Winners' Cup. Tottenham Hotspur started the season well, not losing in the league until November, but a dismal second half of the season saw them finish 10th, although they did win the FA Cup for a record eighth time. Down at the bottom end of the table, Derby County finished bottom with just five wins all season despite the 17 league goals of Welsh striker Dean Saunders, who was then sold to Liverpool. Their relegation was confirmed on 20 April 1991, after losing 2–1 at Manchester City. The final relegation place went to Sunderland on the last day of the season when they lost 3–2 to Manchester City, while Luton Town stayed up by beating already-relegated Derby County 2–0. Sheffield United started the season disastrously, with four points from their opening sixteen matches, before getting their first win, 3–2 at home to Nottingham Forest just before Christmas. An impressive run of 13 wins from their final 22 games, including seven in a row, saw them finish well clear of the relegation zone in 13th. Aston Villa, the previous season's runners-up, lost manager Graham Taylor when he accepted the Football Association's offer to take over as manager of the England team. Villa turned to Czechoslovak coach Jozef Venglos, the first foreign manager in the First Division, but their league form slumped and they finished 17th. Still only 31, former England defender Terry Butcher became the youngest manager in the Football League in November when he accepted Coventry City's offer to become player-manager following the sacking of John Sillett. Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Wimbledon ENG Bobby Gould Resigned 18 June 1990 Pre-season ENG Ray Harford 18 June 1990 Aston Villa ENG Graham Taylor Signed by England 10 July 1990 TCH Jozef Vengloš 19 July 1990 Everton ENG Colin Harvey Sacked 30 October 1990 17th ENG Howard Kendall 10 November 1990 Manchester City ENG Howard Kendall Signed by Everton 10 November 1990 3rd ENG Peter Reid 10 November 1990 Coventry City ENG John Sillett Sacked 12 November 1990 18th ENG Terry Butcher 15 November 1990 Liverpool SCO Kenny Dalglish Resigned 21 February 1991 1st ENG Ronnie Moran 21 February 1991 Liverpool ENG Ronnie Moran End of caretaker spell 15 April 1991 2nd SCO Graeme Souness 15 April 1991 Southampton NIR Chris Nicholl Sacked 1 May 1991 14th ENG Ian Branfoot 3 June 1991 Chelsea ENG Bobby Campbell Mutual consent 5 May 1991 11th SCO Ian Porterfield 6 June 1991 League standings main WDL First Division World Football ARS, LIV, CRY, LEE, MCI, MUN, WIM, NFO, EVE, TOT, CHE, QPR, SHU, SOU, NOR, COV, AVL, LUT, SUN, DER EC1R UC1R CWC1 CWCQ REL REL complete 24 13 1 74 18 9 14 15 46 58 13 10 15 58 69 11 11 16 42 49 20 9 9 50 41 5 9 24 37 75 13 12 13 50 46 19 7 12 65 47 23 7 8 77 40 10 7 21 42 61 17 11 10 64 53 16 12 10 58 45 13 6 19 41 64 14 12 12 65 50 12 10 16 44 53 13 7 18 36 55 12 9 17 58 69 8 10 20 38 60 11 16 11 51 50 14 14 10 53 46 C R R Arsenal Aston Villa Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Leeds United Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Wimbledon 5 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored -2 -1 Arsenal deducted two points; Manchester United deducted one point due to a brawl in a game between both teams. ARS QR green1 Qualification for the European Cup first round blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round yellow1 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round yellow2 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round red1 Relegation to the Second Division Results main FBR grey ARS AST CHE COV CRY DER EVE LEE LIV LUT MCI MUN NWC NOT QPR SHU SOU SUN TOT WDN Arsenal 5–0 4–1 6–1 4–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 4–1 4–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 Aston Villa 0–0 2–2 2–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–5 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–2 1–2 Chelsea 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–2 4–2 3–3 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 0–2 3–2 3–2 0–0 Coventry City 0–2 2–1 1–0 3–1 3–0 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 3–1 2–2 2–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 0–0 Crystal Palace 0–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–3 3–0 1–3 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 4–3 Derby County 0–2 0–2 4–6 1–1 0–2 2–3 0–1 1–7 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 6–2 3–3 0–1 1–1 Everton 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–3 2–3 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–2 Leeds United 2–2 5–2 4–1 2–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 4–5 2–1 1–2 0–0 3–0 3–1 2–3 2–1 2–1 5–0 0–2 3–0 Liverpool 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 3–1 3–0 4–0 2–2 4–0 3–0 2–0 1–3 2–0 3–2 2–1 2–0 1–1 Luton Town 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 3–4 1–2 0–0 0–1 Manchester City 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–3 0–3 3–0 3–3 2–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 3–3 3–2 2–1 1–1 Manchester United 0–1 1–1 2–3 2–0 2–0 3–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 4–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 3–1 2–0 3–2 3–0 1–1 2–1 Norwich City 0–0 2–0 1–3 2–2 0–3 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–3 1–2 0–3 2–6 1–0 3–0 3–1 3–2 2–1 0–4 Nottingham Forest 0–2 2–2 7–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 4–3 2–1 2–2 1–3 1–1 5–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 Queens Park Rangers 1–3 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 6–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–2 1–2 2–1 3–2 0–0 0–1 Sheffield United 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–3 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 3–2 1–0 4–1 0–2 2–2 1–2 Southampton 1–1 1–1 3–3 2–1 2–3 0–1 3–4 2–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 3–0 1–1 Sunderland 0–0 1–3 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 Tottenham Hotspur 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–0 3–3 0–0 1–3 2–1 3–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 4–0 2–0 3–3 4–2 Wimbledon 0–3 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–3 3–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–3 0–0 3–1 3–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 5–1 complete Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1ENG Alan Smith Arsenal 22 2ENG Lee Chapman Leeds United 21 3IRE Niall Quinn Manchester City 20 =ENG John Fashanu Wimbledon 20 5ENG Matt Le Tissier Southampton 19 =ENG David Platt Aston Villa 19 7USA Roy Wegerle Queens Park Rangers 18 8WAL Dean Saunders Derby County 17 9ENG John Barnes Liverpool 16 =WAL Ian Rush Liverpool 16 =ENG David White Manchester City 16 Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref ENG Paul Gascoigne Tottenham Hotspur Derby County 3–0 (H) dmy 1990 9 8 ENG Peter Beardsley Liverpool Manchester United 4–0 (H) dmy 1990 9 16 ENG Lars Elstrup Luton Town Norwich City 3–1 (A) dmy 1990 9 29 ENG Paul Walsh Tottenham Hotspur Sheffield United 4–0 (H) dmy 1990 10 20 WAL Dean Saunders Derby County Sunderland 3–3 (H) dmy 1991 3 2 ENG David Platt Aston Villa Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 (H) dmy 1991 3 16 IRL Niall Quinn Manchester City Crystal Palace 3–1 (H) dmy 1991 4 1 ENG Lee Chapman Leeds United Liverpool 4–5 (H) dmy 1991 4 13 ENG David White David White (English footballer) (4) Manchester City Aston Villa 5–1 (A) dmy 1991 4 23 ENG Paul Williams Paul Williams (footballer, born 1971) Derby County Southampton 6–2 (H) dmy 1991 5 4 ENG Ian Wright Crystal Palace Wimbledon 3–0 (A) dmy 1991 5 4 ENG Alan Smith Alan Smith (footballer, born 1962) Arsenal Manchester United 3–1 (H) dmy 1991 5 6 SWE Anders Limpar Arsenal Coventry City 6–1 (H) dmy 1991 5 11 Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away Awards Individual awards Award Player Club PFA Players' Player of the Year Wales Mark Hughes Manchester United PFA Young Player of the Year England Lee Sharpe Manchester United FWA Footballer of the Year Scotland Gordon Strachan Leeds United Football League First Division top scorer England Alan Smith Arsenal PFA Team of the YearLynch Tony The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes Random House London 1995 148 978-0-09-179135-3 Goalkeeper England David Seaman (Arsenal) Defenders England Lee Dixon (Arsenal) England Des Walker (Nottingham Forest) England Mark Wright (Derby County) England Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest) Midfielders Scotland Gordon Strachan (Leeds United) England Paul Gascoigne (Tottenham Hotspur) Ireland Andy Townsend (Chelsea) England John Barnes (Liverpool) Forwards Wales Mark Hughes (Manchester United) Wales Ian Rush (Liverpool) References RSSSF Category:Football League First Division seasons Eng Category:1990–91 Football League Category:1990–91 in English men's football leagues