1990–91 Football League First Division

The 1990–91 Football League First Division season was the 92nd season of English top-flight football.

Football League First Division
Season1990–91
ChampionsArsenal
10th English title
RelegatedSunderland
Derby County
European CupArsenal
European Cup Winners' CupManchester United
Tottenham Hotspur
UEFA CupLiverpool[1]
Matches played380
Goals scored1,049 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorerAlan Smith
(22 goals)[2]
Biggest home winNottingham Forest 7–0 Chelsea
(20 April 1991)
Biggest away winDerby County 1–7 Liverpool
(23 March 1991)
Highest scoringDerby County 4–6 Chelsea
(15 December 1990)
Longest winning run8 matches
Liverpool
Longest unbeaten run23 matches
Arsenal
Longest losing run8 matches
Queens Park Rangers

Overview
Locations of the First Division 1990–91 teams
Greater London First Division football clubs

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 England Bobby Gould Resigned 18 June 1990 Pre-season England Ray Harford 18 June 1990
Aston Villa England Graham Taylor Signed by England 10 July 1990 Czechoslovakia Jozef Vengloš 19 July 1990
Everton England Colin Harvey Sacked 30 October 1990 17th England Howard Kendall 10 November 1990
Manchester City England Howard Kendall Signed by Everton 10 November 1990 3rd England Peter Reid 10 November 1990
Coventry City England John Sillett Sacked 12 November 1990 18th England Terry Butcher 15 November 1990
Liverpool Scotland Kenny Dalglish Resigned 21 February 1991 1st England Ronnie Moran 21 February 1991
Liverpool England Ronnie Moran End of caretaker spell 15 April 1991 2nd Scotland Graeme Souness 15 April 1991
Southampton Northern Ireland Chris Nicholl Sacked 1 May 1991 14th England Ian Branfoot 3 June 1991
Chelsea England Bobby Campbell Mutual consent 5 May 1991 11th Scotland Ian Porterfield 6 June 1991

League standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Arsenal (C) 38 24 13 1 74 18 +56 83[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Liverpool 38 23 7 8 77 40 +37 76 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Crystal Palace 38 20 9 9 50 41 +9 69
4 Leeds United 38 19 7 12 65 47 +18 64
5 Manchester City 38 17 11 10 64 53 +11 62
6 Manchester United 38 16 12 10 58 45 +13 59[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
7 Wimbledon 38 14 14 10 53 46 +7 56
8 Nottingham Forest 38 14 12 12 65 50 +15 54
9 Everton 38 13 12 13 50 46 +4 51
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 11 16 11 51 50 +1 49 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
11 Chelsea 38 13 10 15 58 69 −11 49
12 Queens Park Rangers 38 12 10 16 44 53 −9 46
13 Sheffield United 38 13 7 18 36 55 −19 46
14 Southampton 38 12 9 17 58 69 −11 45
15 Norwich City 38 13 6 19 41 64 −23 45
16 Coventry City 38 11 11 16 42 49 −7 44
17 Aston Villa 38 9 14 15 46 58 −12 41
18 Luton Town 38 10 7 21 42 61 −19 37
19 Sunderland (R) 38 8 10 20 38 60 −22 34 Relegation to the Second Division
20 Derby County (R) 38 5 9 24 37 75 −38 24
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Arsenal deducted two points; Manchester United deducted one point due to a brawl in a game between both teams.

Results
Home \ Away 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
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1England Alan Smith Arsenal 22
2England Lee ChapmanLeeds United21
3Republic of Ireland Niall QuinnManchester City20
=England John FashanuWimbledon20
5England Matt Le TissierSouthampton19
=England David PlattAston Villa19
7United States Roy WegerleQueens Park Rangers18
8Wales Dean SaundersDerby County17
9Wales Ian RushLiverpool20
=England John BarnesLiverpool16

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
England Paul GascoigneTottenham HotspurDerby County3–0 (H)8 September 1990
England Peter BeardsleyLiverpoolManchester United4–0 (H)16 September 1990
England Paul WalshTottenham HotspurSheffield United4–0 (H)20 October 1990
Wales Dean SaundersDerby CountySunderland3–3 (H)2 March 1991
England David PlattAston VillaTottenham Hotspur3–2 (H)16 March 1991
Republic of Ireland Niall QuinnManchester CityCrystal Palace3–1 (H)1 April 1991
England Lee ChapmanLeeds UnitedLiverpool4–5 (H)13 April 1991
England David White (4)Manchester CityAston Villa5–1 (A)23 April 1991
England Paul WilliamsDerby CountySouthampton6–2 (H)4 May 1991
England Ian WrightCrystal PalaceWimbledon3–0 (A)4 May 1991
England Alan SmithArsenalManchester United3–1 (H)6 May 1991
Sweden Anders LimparArsenalCoventry City6–1 (H)11 May 1991
Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

References
  1. Because 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 for the 1991/92-season in Europe which gave England only 1 spot in UEFA Cup.
  2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
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