1890–91 Everton F.C. season

In 1890–91, Everton competed in the Football League's third season, and were crowned champions for the first time by two points over two-time defending champions Preston North End. They also competed in the FA Cup but lost in the first round to Sunderland.[1]

Everton

1890–91 season
Manager	Dick Molyneux
Ground	Anfield
The Football League	Champions
FA Cup	1st round
Top goalscorer	Fred Geary (20)
Highest home attendance	16,000 vs Preston (10 January 1891)
Lowest home attendance	8,000 vs Wolverhampton (13 September 1890) and Burnley (27 December 1890)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Regular Football League First team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — {{{pos}}}  SCO Jack Angus 11 appearances in goal — {{{pos}}}  SCO Andrew Hannah 20 appearances at right back — {{{pos}}}  SCO Dan Doyle 20 appearances at left back – club captain — {{{pos}}}  GBR William David Kirkwood 19 appearances at centre back — {{{pos}}}  ENG Johnny Holt 21 appearances at centre back — {{{pos}}}  SCO William Campbell 13 appearances at centre half — {{{pos}}}  SCO Alex Latta 10 appearances at outside right — {{{pos}}}  SCO Alec Brady 21 appearances at inside right — {{{pos}}}  ENG Fred Geary ever present centre forward — {{{pos}}}  ENG Edgar Chadwick ever present inside left — {{{pos}}}  ENG Alf Milward ever present outside left

Other members of the title winning squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — {{{pos}}}  WAL Charlie Parry 13 appearances mostly at centre half — {{{pos}}}  SCO David Jardine 10 appearances in goal — {{{pos}}}  GBR Jack Elliott 7 appearances mostly at outside right — {{{pos}}}  SCO Duncan McLean 5 appearances mostly at right back — {{{pos}}}  SCO Tom Wylie 4 appearances mostly at outside right — {{{pos}}}  SCO Patrick Gordon 3 appearances mostly at outside right — {{{pos}}}  SCO Hope Robertson 3 appearances in mostly at outside right — {{{pos}}}  SCO Alex Lochhead 1 appearance at centre back — {{{pos}}}  ENG Robert Smalley 1 appearance in goal

Having finished the previous season as runners up Everton made just one signing of note during the summer when William Campbell was brought from Bootle to fill the centre half role, which had remained unsettled sinceGeorge Farmer had been dropped the previous November. Robert Smalley's position in goal was also under threat from an emerging twenty-year-old Scot named Jack Angus while David Kirkwood having lost the battle to secure the inside right birth to Alec Brady, now shared the centre back duties with Charlie Parry

This settled look ensured that there were just two new faces in the opening day 4–1 victory at West Bromwich Albion, Campbell, who scored and Angus who kept goal in the side listed above as the most settled team used that season. The team remained unchanged through the first four games of the campaign, which were all won, before Latta missed the fifth game. Everton still won to take their winning start to five games before being held to a 2–2 draw at Aston Villa. Everton remained unbeaten for their first seven games but their first choice eleven did not play again as a run of three straight defeats saw the return of Robert Smalley for one game in place of Jack Angus before David Jardine was signed in November from Bootle.

Everton completed all bar one of their fixtures before the end of January and had to wait while the nearest challengers for the title, Preston played a series of games to close the gap at the top to two points. Everton's final game of the season was at Burnley on Saturday 14 March 1891 when almost half the 10,000 attendance was made up of visiting Everton fans. The team of Jardine, McLean, Doyle, Lochhead, Holt, Parry, Latta, Brady, Geary, Chadwick and Milward required only a draw but failed, losing 3–2. Preston would themselves have claimed a third consecutive title has they won their fixture at Sunderland but Evertonians, returning to Liverpool by train from Burnley were met with a delighted crowd at the station who informed them that Preston had lost 0–3 and that Everton had won the title for the first time.

There was no official honour for individual players for being crowned champions so the Everton directors had a medal minted for every player The Football League took up the idea the following year and medals have been presented to every championship winning side since.

The Football League

West Brom v Everton

6 September 1890 (1890-09-06) 1	West Brom	1–4	Everton	West Bromwich, West Midlands
4:15 p.m.	T. Pearson		Geary W. Campbell Brady	Stadium: Stoney Lane Attendance: 5,600 Referee: W. Jope

Everton v Wolverhampton

13 September 1890 (1890-09-13) 2	Everton	5–0	Wolverhampton	Anfield, Liverpool
	A Milward (2) Geary E Chadwick (2)			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 14,000 Referee: S. Ormerod

Bolton v Everton

20 September 1890 (1890-09-20) 3	Bolton	0–5	Everton	Bolton, Greater Manchester
3:45 p.m.			A Latta A Milward Geary	Stadium: Pike's Lane Attendance: 12,000 Referee: W. Jope

Accrington v Everton

27 September 1890 (1890-09-27) 4	Accrington	1–2	Everton	Accrington, Lancashire
	J. Whitehead		Geary A Milward	Stadium: Thorneyholme Road Attendance: 5,000 Referee: H. Lockett

Everton v Derby

4 October 1890 (1890-10-04) 5	Everton	7–0	Derby	Anfield, Liverpool
	Milward (2) Geary (2) D. Kirkwood Chadwick Brady			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000 Referee: W. Jope

Aston Villa v Everton

11 October 1890 (1890-10-11) 6	Aston Villa	2–2	Everton	Perry Barr, Birmingham
4:00 p.m.	J. Paton J. Cowan		Geary	Stadium: Wellington Road Attendance: 12,000 Referee: S. Widdowson

Everton v Bolton

18 October 1890 (1890-10-18) 7	Everton	2–0	Bolton	Anfield, Liverpool
	Brady			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000

Everton v West Bromwich

25 October 1890 (1890-10-25) 8	Everton	2–3	West Bromwich	Anfield, Liverpool
	Latta Holt		F. Dyer J. Burns S. Nicholls	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 9,200

Notts v Everton

1 November 1890 (1890-11-01) 9	Notts	3–1	Everton	West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire
3:10 p.m.	H. Daft  28' A. McGregor T. McInnes		Geary  33'	Stadium: Trent Bridge Attendance: 13,000 Referee: H. Roberts

Blackburn v Everton

8 November 1890 (1890-11-08) 10	Blackburn	2–1	Everton	Blackburn, Lancashire
3:00 p.m.	G. Dewar Jack Southworth		Chadwick	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 15,000 Referee: H. Lockett

Everton v Sunderland

15 November 1890 (1890-11-15) 11	Everton	1–0	Sunderland	Anfield, Liverpool
	Robertson			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000 Referee: M. Betts

Preston North End v Everton

22 November 1890 (1890-11-22) 12	Preston North End	2–0	Everton	Deepdale, Preston
	H. Gallacher  17' G. Drummond  44'			Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 12,000 Referee: W. Jope

Everton v Blackburn

29 November 1890 (1890-11-29) 13	Everton	3–1	Blackburn	Anfield, Liverpool
	Geary Brady		Jack Southworth	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 11,000 Referee: W. Jope

Wolverhampton v Everton

6 December 1890 (1890-12-06) 14	Wolverhampton	0–1	Everton	Wolverhampton, West Midlands
			Geary  12'	Stadium: Molineux Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee: S. Ormerod

Derby v Everton

13 December 1890 (1890-12-13) 15	Derby	2–6	Everton	Derby
2:15 p.m.	S. Holmes J. Goodall		Wyllie  3', 15', 71', 89' Geary  16' Brady  41'	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: J. Clegg

Sunderland v Everton

20 December 1890 (1890-12-20) 16	Sunderland	1–0	Everton	Monkwearmouth, Sunderland
2:00 p.m.	D. Hannah			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,500

Everton v Accrington

26 December 1890 (1890-12-26) 17	Everton	3–2	Accrington	Anfield, Liverpool
	Chadwick Milward		A. Barbour J. Whitehead	Stadium: Anfield Referee: 14,000

Everton v Burnley

27 December 1890 (1890-12-27) 18	Everton	7–3	Burnley	Anfield, Liverpool
2:30 p.m.	Latta Brady Chadwick Milward		J. Hill A. McLardie	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000

Everton v Aston Villa

1 January 1891 (1891-01-01) 19	Everton	5–0	Aston Villa	Anfield, Liverpool
	Chadwick Milward Brady Geary			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 9,000

Everton v Notts

3 January 1890 (1890-01-03) 20	Everton	4–2	Notts	Anfield, Liverpool
	Geary Chadwick Milward		H. Daft W. Locker	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000 Referee: W. Jope

Everton v Preston

10 January 1890 (1890-01-10) 21	Everton	0–1	Preston	Anfield, Liverpool
			B. Crossan	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 16,000 Referee: M. Betts

Burnley v Everton

14 March 1891 (1891-03-14) 22	Burnley	3–2	Everton	Burnley, Lancashire
	R. Haresnape  50' W. Bowes  85' A. Stewart  87'		Geary  52', 60'	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 10,000 Referee: C. Hughes

Football Association Challenge Cup

Main article: 1890–91 FA Cup

Sunderland v Everton

17 January 1891 (1891-01-17) 1st	Sunderland	1–0	Everton	Monkwearmouth, Sunderland
2:30 p.m.	Campbell  15'			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 21,000 Referee: W. Jope

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	GA	Pts
1	Everton	22	14	1	7	63	29	34	2.172	29
2	Preston North End	22	12	3	7	44	23	21	1.913	27
3	Notts County	22	11	4	7	52	35	17	1.486	26
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	22	12	2	8	39	50	−11	0.780	26
5	Bolton Wanderers	22	12	1	9	47	34	13	1.382	25
6	Blackburn Rovers	22	11	2	9	52	43	9	1.209	24
7	Sunderland	22	10	5	7	51	31	20	1.645	23[2]
8	Burnley	22	9	3	10	52	63	−11	0.825	21
9	Aston Villa[3]	22	7	4	11	45	58	−13	0.776	18
10	Accrington[3]	22	6	4	12	28	50	−22	0.560	16
11	Derby County[3]	22	7	1	14	47	81	−34	0.580	15
12	West Bromwich Albion[3]	22	5	2	15	34	57	−23	0.596	12

Achievements

Despite being crowned champions the 1890/91 team actually picked up fewer points than the side who missed out on the title the previous season. Their title triumph came despite a record losing and winless away run in the middle of the season. The 1891 title side also equalled or set the following club records.

• English Football League Champions for the first time
• Equalled most home points = 18 with 1889–90 team
• Equalled most wins = 14 with 1889–90 team
• Most home wins in a season = 9
• Fewest goals conceded in a season = 29
• Fewest goals conceded at home in a season = 12
• Fewest goals conceded away from home in a season = 17
• Record away League victory = 6–2 at Derby County, 13 December 1890
• Most goals in a single game = 4 by Thomas Wylie at Derby County, 13 December 1890
• Equalled most team hat-tricks in a season = 2 with 1889–90 team
• Hat-tricks = 2 Fred Geary & Thomas Wylie
• Record Everton career League hat-tricks = 2 by Fred Geary 1890 & 1891
• Fewest players used in a season = 20
• Longest home winning sequence = 6 games
• Longest unbeaten sequence = 7 games
• Equalled Longest home unbeaten run = 6 games with 1889–90 team
• Longest sequence of away draws = 1 (with all previous Everton League teams)
• Fewest drawn games in a season = 1
• None of Everton's eleven home games were drawn, matching the 1888–89 team
• Equalled fewest away draws in a season = 1 with the 1889–90 team
• Equalled longest home losing sequence = 1 (with all previous Everton League teams)
• Longest losing sequence away from home = 3
• Equalled longest winless away run = 4 with the 1888–89 team

Sources

1. Everton Results—Everton's Record in 1890-91
2. Sunderland deducted two points for fielding unregistered player
3. Re-elected to the Football League

• http://www.evertonfc.com/stats/?mode=season&era_id=1&season_id=4&seasons=4
• http://www.allfootballers.com