The 1990–91

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

season was the 92nd season of English top-flight football.

Overview

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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 Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in October saw Arsenal have two points deducted, and a few weeks later captain

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

was given a four-month prison sentence for

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

(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 Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

who finished second, lost 2–1 to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. 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 Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

boss

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

was brought in as his successor but was unable to bring a major trophy to

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. Third place in the league went to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, who occupied their highest-ever finish, but were denied qualification for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

due to Liverpool being readmitted to European competition a year earlier than anticipated. Newly promoted

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

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 Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston ...

returned to Everton for a second spell as manager in November, while his successor at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

got off to a fine start in management by guiding the

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

side to fifth place in the league - their highest final position for more than a decade.

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

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 The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for a record eighth time. Down at the bottom end of the table,

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

finished bottom with just five wins all season despite the 17 league goals of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

striker

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and ...

, who was then sold to Liverpool. Their relegation was confirmed on 20 April 1991, after losing 2–1 at

. The final relegation place went to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on the last day of the season when they lost 3–2 to Manchester City, while

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

stayed up by beating already-relegated Derby County 2–0.

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

started the season disastrously, with four points from their opening sixteen matches, before getting their first win, 3–2 at home to

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 Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, the previous season's runners-up, lost manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln ...

when he accepted the Football Association's offer to take over as manager of the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

team. Villa turned to

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

coach

Jozef Venglos Jozef ( Creole, Dutch, Breton, and Slovak) or Józef ( Polish) are variants of the masculine given name Joseph in several European languages. A selection of people with that name follows. For a comprehensive list, see and . * Józef Beck (1894� ...

, 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 Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

became the youngest manager in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in November when he accepted Coventry City's offer to become player-manager following the sacking of

John Sillett John Charles Sillett (20 July 1936 – 30 November 2021) was an English football player and manager. He played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle. He won the Championship with Chelsea in 1955, playing alongside his brother Peter ...

Managerial changes

League standings

Results

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

:Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

References

RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 Football League First Division Football League First Division seasons

Eng Eng or ENG may refer to: Language and linguistics * Eng (letter), Ŋ ŋ * En with descender, Ң ң * eng, ISO 639-3 and ISO 639-2 code for English language * Velar nasal, a phoneme People * Eng (name), a given name and surname in various cu ...

1990–91 Football League 1990–91 in English football leagues