1989–90 Football League

The 1989–90 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	1989–90
Champions	Liverpool
Relegated	Colchester United
New club in League	Maidstone United
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. Gary Lineker’s arrival at Tottenham Hotspur saw the North Londoners occupy third place after a season of improvement.

In this season, London had eight entrants in the top-flight, the highest number of participants ever.

Luton Town stayed up on goal difference at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday, while Charlton’s four-year spell in the First Division came to an end at the beginning of May. Millwall were rooted to the bottom of the division despite briefly topping the league in September.

Leeds United finally returned to the top flight after an eight-year exile, as Howard Wilkinson’s side lifted the Second Division championship trophy thanks to a superior goal difference over runners-up Sheffield United, who won their second successive promotion under Dave Bassett.

Swindon Town won the Second Division playoff final but Sunderland were promoted instead after the Swindon board admitted a series of financial irregularities. Swindon were initially demoted to the Third Division and replaced by Tranmere, the division’s losing Play-Off finalists, but this decision was later reversed on appeal.

A.F.C. Bournemouth, Stoke City and Bradford City occupied the relegation places. Bournemouth did not return to second tier of English football until the 2014-15 season.

The city of Bristol was celebrating after Rovers were crowned champions and City finished runners-up in the Third Division to gain promotion. The third promotion spot was secured by playoff winners Notts County, who beat Leyland DAF Trophy (i.e. EFL Trophy) winners Tranmere Rovers at Wembley.

Walsall suffered a second successive relegation and would be joined in the Fourth Division the following season by Blackpool, Cardiff City and Northampton Town.

Exeter City were crowned Fourth Division champions and went up to the Third Division along with runners-up Grimsby Town, third-placed Southend United and playoff winners Cambridge United. Newly promoted Maidstone United almost ended their first league season with success, but their promotion hopes were ended by playoff failure.

Colchester United were relegated from the league and replaced by Football Conference champions Darlington, who regained their league status just one season after losing it.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,[1] with home and away statistics separated.

First Division

Main article: 1989–90 Football League First Division

Football League, First Division

Season	1989–90
Champions	Liverpool (18th English title) [2]
Relegated	Charlton Athletic Millwall Sheffield Wednesday
European Cup	No qualifications [2]
European Cup Winners' Cup	Manchester United
UEFA Cup	Aston Villa
Matches played	380
Goals scored	987 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Lineker (Tottenham Hotspur), 24 [3]
Biggest home win	Liverpool – Crystal Palace 9–0 (12 Sep 1989)
Biggest away win	Coventry City – Liverpool 1–6 (5 May 1990)
Highest scoring	Liverpool – Crystal Palace 9–0 (12 Sep 1989) Southampton – Luton Town 6–3 (25 Nov 1989)
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool	38	13	5	1	38	15	10	5	4	40	22	+41	79	League Champions, excluded from the 1990–91 European Cup[2]
2	Aston Villa	38	13	3	3	36	20	8	4	7	21	18	+19	70	UEFA Cup 1990–91 First round
3	Tottenham Hotspur	38	12	1	6	35	24	7	5	7	24	23	+12	63
4	Arsenal	38	14	3	2	38	11	4	5	10	16	27	+16	62
5	Chelsea	38	8	7	4	31	24	8	5	6	27	26	+8	60
6	Everton	38	14	3	2	40	16	3	5	11	17	30	+11	59
7	Southampton	38	10	5	4	40	27	5	5	9	31	36	+8	55
8	Wimbledon	38	5	8	6	22	23	8	8	3	25	17	+7	55
9	Nottingham Forest	38	9	4	6	31	21	6	5	8	24	26	+8	54	League Cup winners, excluded from UEFA Cup[4][5]
10	Norwich City	38	7	10	2	24	14	6	4	9	20	28	+2	53
11	Queens Park Rangers	38	9	4	6	27	22	4	7	8	18	22	+1	50
12	Coventry City	38	11	2	6	24	25	3	5	11	15	34	−20	49
13	Manchester United	38	8	6	5	26	14	5	3	11	20	33	−1	48	FA Cup winners, qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1990–91 First round
14	Manchester City	38	9	4	6	26	21	3	8	8	17	31	−9	48
15	Crystal Palace	38	8	7	4	27	23	5	2	12	15	43	−24	48
16	Derby County	38	9	1	9	29	21	4	6	9	14	19	+3	46
17	Luton Town	38	8	8	3	24	18	2	5	12	19	39	−14	43
18	Sheffield Wednesday	38	8	6	5	21	17	3	4	12	14	34	−16	43	Relegated
19	Charlton Athletic	38	4	6	9	18	25	3	3	13	13	32	−26	30
20	Millwall	38	4	6	9	23	25	1	5	13	16	40	−26	26

Source:

First Division results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	CHA	CHE	COV	CRY	DER	EVE	LIV	LUT	MCI	MUN	MIL	NWC	NOT	QPR	SHW	SOU	TOT	WDN
Arsenal		0–1	1–0	0–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–2	4–0	1–0	2–0	4–3	3–0	3–0	5–0	2–1	1–0	0–0
Aston Villa	2–1		1–1	1–0	4–1	2–1	1–0	6–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	3–3	2–1	1–3	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–3
Charlton Athletic	0–0	0–2		3–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	0–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	2–4	1–3	1–2
Chelsea	0–0	0–3	3–1		1–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–5	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–2	2–5
Coventry City	0–1	2–0	1–2	3–2		1–0	1–0	2–0	1–6	1–0	2–1	1–4	3–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–4	1–0	0–0	2–1
Crystal Palace	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–1		1–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	4–3	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–1	3–1	2–3	2–0
Derby County	1–3	0–1	2–0	0–1	4–1	3–1		0–1	0–3	2–3	6–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–1
Everton	3–0	3–3	2–1	0–1	2–0	4–0	2–1		1–3	2–1	0–0	3–2	2–1	3–1	4–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	2–1	1–1
Liverpool	2–1	1–1	1–0	4–1	0–1	9–0	1–0	2–1		2–2	3–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–2	1–0	2–1
Luton Town	2–0	0–1	1–0	0–3	3–2	1–0	1–0	2–2	0–0		1–1	1–3	2–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–1
Manchester City	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–0	1–4	3–1		5–1	2–0	1–0	0–3	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–1
Manchester United	4–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–2	4–1	1–1		5–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–0
Millwall	1–2	2–0	2–2	1–3	4–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2		0–1	1–0	1–2	2–0	2–2	0–1	0–0
Norwich City	2–2	2–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–1		1–1	0–0	2–1	4–4	2–2	0–1
Nottingham Forest	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0	4–0	3–1	0–1		2–2	0–1	2–0	1–3	0–1
Queens Park Rangers	2–0	1–1	0–1	4–2	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–0	3–2	0–0	1–3	1–2	0–0	2–1	2–0		1–0	1–4	3–1	2–3
Sheffield Wednesday	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	0–3	2–0		0–1	2–4	0–1
Southampton	1–0	2–1	3–2	2–3	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	4–1	6–3	2–1	0–2	1–2	4–1	2–0	0–2	2–2		1–1	2–2
Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	0–2	3–0	1–4	3–2	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	4–0	2–3	3–2	3–0	2–1		0–1
Wimbledon	1–0	0–2	3–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–0	1–1	3–3	1–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

First Division maps

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Charlton

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Coventry

Derby County

Everton

Liverpool

Luton Town

Manchester City

Manchester United

Millwall

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

QPR

Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton

Tottenham

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League First Division 1989–1990 teams

Arsenal

Charlton Athletic

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Millwall

Tottenham

Queens Park Rangers

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1989–1990

Second Division

Football League, Second Division

Season	1989–90
Champions	Leeds United (3rd title)
Promoted	Sheffield United, Sunderland
Relegated	Bournemouth, Bradford City, Stoke City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,526 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Micky Quinn (Newcastle United), 32 [3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Leeds United	46	16	6	1	46	18	8	7	8	33	34	+27	85	Division Champions, promoted
2	Sheffield United	46	14	5	4	43	27	10	8	5	35	31	+20	85	Promoted
3	Newcastle United	46	17	4	2	51	26	5	10	8	29	29	+25	80	Participated in play-offs
4	Swindon Town	46	12	6	5	49	29	8	8	7	30	30	+20	74
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	10	9	4	43	30	9	8	6	31	29	+15	74
6	Sunderland	46	10	8	5	41	32	10	6	7	29	32	+6	74	Promoted through play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
7	West Ham United	46	14	5	4	50	22	6	7	10	30	35	+23	72
8	Oldham Athletic	46	15	7	1	50	23	4	7	12	20	34	+13	71
9	Ipswich Town	46	13	7	3	38	22	6	5	12	29	44	+1	69
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	12	5	6	37	20	6	8	9	30	40	+7	67
11	Port Vale	46	11	9	3	37	20	4	7	12	25	37	+5	61
12	Portsmouth	46	9	8	6	40	34	6	8	9	22	31	−3	61
13	Leicester City	46	10	8	5	34	29	5	6	12	33	50	−12	59
14	Hull City	46	7	8	8	27	31	7	8	8	31	34	−7	58
15	Watford	46	11	6	6	41	28	3	9	11	17	32	−2	57
16	Plymouth Argyle	46	9	8	6	30	23	5	5	13	28	40	−5	55
17	Oxford United	46	8	7	8	35	31	7	2	14	22	35	−9	54
18	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	10	6	7	28	27	5	3	15	28	45	−16	54
19	Barnsley	46	7	9	7	22	23	6	6	11	27	48	−22	54
20	West Bromwich Albion	46	6	8	9	35	37	6	7	10	32	34	−4	51
21	Middlesbrough	46	10	3	10	33	29	3	8	12	19	34	−11	50
22	Bournemouth	46	8	6	9	30	31	4	6	13	27	45	−19	48	Relegated
23	Bradford City	46	9	6	8	26	24	0	8	15	18	44	−24	41
24	Stoke City	46	4	11	8	20	24	2	8	13	15	39	−28	37

Source: statto.com[6]
Notes:

1. Sunderland were eventually promoted after prosecutions against Swindon Town.

Second Division results

Home \ Away	BAR	BLB	BOU	BRA	B&HA	HUL	IPS	LEE	LEI	MID	NEW	OLD	OXF	PLY	PTV	POR	SHU	STK	SUN	SWI	WAT	WBA	WHU	WOL
Barnsley		0–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	0–1	1–2	3–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	2–2
Blackburn Rovers	5–0		1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–2	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	2–1	5–4	2–3
Bournemouth	2–1	2–4		1–0	0–2	5–4	3–1	0–1	2–3	2–2	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1
Bradford City	0–0	0–1	1–0		2–0	2–3	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–1	3–2	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–1		2–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–4	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–3	3–0	1–1
Hull City	1–2	2–0	1–4	2–1	0–2		4–3	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	0–0	1–0	3–3	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–2	2–3	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–0
Ipswich Town	3–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–1		2–2	2–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–3
Leeds United	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–0	4–3	1–1		2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–1	2–2	3–2	1–0
Leicester City	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	4–3		2–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–5	2–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	1–3	1–0	0–0
Middlesbrough	0–1	0–3	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	0–2	4–1		4–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	2–3	2–0	3–3	0–1	3–0	0–2	1–2	0–0	0–1	4–2
Newcastle United	4–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	5–2	5–4	2–2		2–1	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–4
Oldham Athletic	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–1		4–1	3–2	2–1	3–3	0–2	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–1
Oxford United	2–3	1–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–2	2–4	4–2	3–1	2–1	0–1		3–2	0–0	2–1	3–0	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	0–2	2–2
Plymouth Argyle	2–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–0		1–2	0–2	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–3	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–1
Port Vale	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–2	2–1	1–1	5–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–2	3–0		1–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	3–1
Portsmouth	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	2–2	2–3	3–3	2–3	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–3	2–0		3–2	0–0	3–3	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–3
Sheffield United	1–2	1–2	4–2	1–1	5–4	0–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–1		2–1	1–3	2–0	4–1	3–1	0–2	3–0
Stoke City	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1		0–2	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	2–0
Sunderland	4–2	0–1	3–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–4	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–0	2–3	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–1		2–2	4–0	1–1	4–3	1–1
Swindon Town	0–0	4–3	2–3	3–1	1–2	1–3	3–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–2	0–2	6–0	0–2		2–0	2–1	2–2	3–1
Watford	2–2	3–1	2–2	7–2	4–2	3–1	3–3	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2		0–2	0–1	3–1
West Bromwich Albion	7–0	2–2	2–2	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–3	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–5	2–2	3–2	0–3	2–3	0–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–0		1–3	1–2
West Ham United	4–2	1–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–2	2–1	5–0	0–0	5–0	1–1	1–0	2–3		4–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–4	1–2	2–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division play-offs

The semifinals were decided over two legs. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Two play-offs 1990.

	Semifinals 1st leg – 13 May; 2nd leg – 16 May 1990							Final at Wembley 28 May 1990
	3rd	Newcastle United	0	0	0
	6th	Sunderland	0	2	2
								6th	Sunderland [notes2 1]	0
								4th	Swindon Town	1
	4th	Swindon Town	2	2	4
	5th	Blackburn Rovers	1	1	2

1. Following successful prosecutions against Swindon Town and the club chairman, Brian Hillier, after they admitted 36 breaches of League rules —
   35 of which are related to illegal payments, Swindon remained in the Second Division and Sunderland took their promotion place (see History of Swindon Town F.C.).

Second Division maps

Barnsley

Bournemouth

Bradford City

Brighton & Hove

Blackburn Rovers

Hull

Ipswich Town

Leeds U.

Leicester City

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Oldham

Oxford

Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth

Port Vale

Sheffield United

Stoke

Sunderland

Swindon

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1989–1990 teams

Watford

West Ham

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1989–1990

Third Division

Football League, Third Division

Season	1989–90
Champions	Bristol Rovers (1st title)
Promoted	Bristol City, Notts County
Relegated	Blackpool, Cardiff City, Northampton, Walsall
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,414 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bob Taylor (Bristol City), 27 [3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Bristol Rovers	46	15	8	0	43	14	11	7	5	28	21	+36	93	Division Champions, promoted
2	Bristol City	46	15	5	3	40	16	12	5	6	36	24	+36	91	Promoted
3	Notts County	46	17	4	2	40	18	8	8	7	33	35	+20	87	Promoted through play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
4	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	5	3	54	22	8	6	9	32	27	+37	80	Participated in play-offs
5	Bury	46	11	7	5	35	19	10	4	9	35	30	+21	74
6	Bolton Wanderers	46	12	7	4	32	19	6	8	9	27	29	+11	69
7	Birmingham City	46	10	7	6	33	19	8	5	10	27	40	+1	66
8	Huddersfield Town	46	11	5	7	30	23	6	9	8	31	39	−1	65
9	Rotherham United	46	12	6	5	48	28	5	7	11	23	34	+9	64
10	Reading	46	10	9	4	33	21	5	10	8	24	32	+4	64
11	Shrewsbury Town	46	10	9	4	38	24	6	6	11	21	30	+5	63
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	8	5	32	24	5	9	9	24	29	+3	62
13	Brentford	46	11	4	8	41	31	7	3	13	25	35	0	61
14	Leyton Orient	46	9	6	8	28	24	7	4	12	24	32	−4	58
15	Mansfield Town	46	13	2	8	34	25	3	5	15	16	40	−15	55
16	Chester City	46	11	7	5	30	23	2	8	13	13	32	−12	54
17	Swansea City	46	10	6	7	25	27	4	6	13	20	36	−18	54
18	Wigan Athletic	46	10	6	7	29	22	3	8	12	19	42	−16	53
19	Preston North End	46	10	7	6	42	30	4	3	16	23	49	−14	52
20	Fulham	46	8	8	7	33	27	4	7	12	22	39	−11	51
21	Cardiff City	46	6	9	8	30	35	6	5	12	21	35	−19	50	Relegated
22	Northampton Town	46	7	7	9	27	31	4	7	12	24	37	−17	47
23	Blackpool	46	8	6	9	29	33	2	10	11	20	40	−24	46
24	Walsall	46	6	8	9	23	30	3	6	14	17	42	−32	41

Source:
Notes:

1. Notts County were promoted through the play-offs.

Third Division results

Home \ Away	BIR	BLP	BOL	BRE	BRI	BRR	BRY	CAR	CHR	CRE	FUL	HUD	LEY	MAN	NOR	NTC	PNE	REA	ROT	SHR	SWA	TRA	WAL	WIG
Birmingham City		3–1	1–0	0–1	0–4	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	4–1	4–0	1–2	3–1	0–1	4–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–0
Blackpool	3–2		2–1	4–0	1–3	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–3	1–3	0–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	2–2	0–3	4–3	0–0
Bolton Wanderers	3–1	2–0		0–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–3	3–0	2–1	3–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–2
Brentford	0–1	5–0	1–2		0–2	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–1	4–3	2–1	3–2	0–1	2–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	2–1	2–4	4–0	3–1
Bristol City	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0		0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–0
Bristol Rovers	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–0		2–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–0	1–1	4–2	3–2	3–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–1
Bury	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–0		2–0	1–0	0–3	0–0	6–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–2	1–2	4–0	1–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	0–2	2–2
Cardiff City	0–1	2–2	0–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	3–1		1–1	0–0	3–3	1–5	1–1	1–0	2–3	1–3	3–0	3–2	2–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	3–1	1–1
Chester	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–3	0–0	1–4	1–0		2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	3–3	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0
Crewe Alexandra	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0		2–3	3–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	3–2
Fulham	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	2–5	1–0	1–1		0–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	5–2	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	4–0
Huddersfield Town	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	4–1	0–1	0–1		2–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0
Leyton Orient	1–2	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	3–1	0–3	2–1	1–1	1–0		3–1	1–1	0–1	3–1	4–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–0
Mansfield Town	5–2	0–3	0–1	2–3	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	1–0		1–2	1–3	2–2	1–1	3–1	2–1	4–0	1–0	0–2	1–0
Northampton Town	2–2	4–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–2		0–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1
Notts County	3–2	0–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	0–4	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	4–2	3–2		2–1	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1
Preston North End	2–2	2–1	1–4	4–2	2–2	0–1	2–3	4–0	5–0	0–0	1–0	3–3	0–3	4–0	0–0	2–4		1–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1
Reading	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	6–0		3–2	3–3	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0
Rotherham United	5–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	1–3	4–0	5–0	1–3	2–1	0–0	5–2	0–0	2–0	1–2	3–1	1–1		4–2	3–2	0–0	2–2	1–2
Shrewsbury Town	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–0	0–1	2–3	3–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	3–3	4–2	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1		1–1	3–1	2–0	1–3
Swansea City	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–5	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	3–2	4–2	1–3	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–6	1–0	0–1		1–0	2–0	3–0
Tranmere Rovers	5–1	4–2	1–3	2–2	6–0	1–2	2–4	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	3–0		2–1	2–0
Walsall	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–3	1–3	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–1	2–1		1–2
Wigan Athletic	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–3	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	4–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	0–3	0–0	2–0	1–3	3–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division play-offs

The semifinals were decided over two legs. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1990.

	Semifinals 1st leg – 13 May; 2nd leg – 16 May 1990							Final at Wembley 27 May 1990
	3rd	Notts County	1	2	3
	6th	Bolton Wanderers	1	0	1
								3rd	Notts County	2
								4th	Tranmere Rovers	0
	4th	Tranmere Rovers	0	2	2
	5th	Bury	0	0	0

Third Division maps

Birmingham

Blackpool

Bolton

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Bury

Cardiff City

Chester

Crewe Alexandra

Fulham

Huddersfield

Leyton Orient

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Notts County

Preston North End

Reading

Rotherham

Shrewsbury

Swansea City

Tranmere

Walsall

Wigan Athletic

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1989–1990

Brentford

Fulham

Orient

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1989–1990

Fourth Division

Football League, Fourth Division

Season	1989–90
Champions	Exeter City (1st title)
Promoted	Cambridge United, Grimsby Town, Southend United
Relegated to Conference	Colchester United
New club in the league	Maidstone United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,426 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Brett Angell (Stockport County), 23 [3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Exeter City	46	20	3	0	50	14	8	2	13	33	34	+35	89	Division Champions, promoted
2	Grimsby Town	46	14	4	5	41	20	8	9	6	29	27	+23	79	Promoted
3	Southend United	46	15	3	5	35	14	7	6	10	26	34	+13	75
4	Stockport County	46	13	6	4	45	27	8	5	10	23	35	+6	74	Participated in play-offs
5	Maidstone United[lower-alpha 1]	46	14	4	5	49	21	8	3	12	28	40	+16	73
6	Cambridge United	46	14	3	6	45	30	7	7	9	31	36	+10	73	Promoted through play-offs[lower-alpha 2]
7	Chesterfield	46	12	9	2	41	19	7	5	11	22	31	+13	71	Participated in play-offs
8	Carlisle United	46	15	4	4	38	20	6	4	13	23	40	+1	71
9	Peterborough United	46	10	8	5	35	23	7	9	7	24	23	+13	68
10	Lincoln City	46	11	6	6	30	27	7	8	8	18	21	0	68
11	Scunthorpe United	46	9	9	5	42	25	8	6	9	27	29	+15	66
12	Rochdale	46	11	4	8	28	23	9	2	12	24	32	−3	66
13	York City	46	10	5	8	29	24	6	11	6	26	29	+2	64
14	Gillingham	46	9	8	6	28	21	8	3	12	18	27	−2	62
15	Torquay United	46	12	2	9	33	29	3	10	10	20	37	−13	57
16	Burnley	46	6	10	7	19	18	8	4	11	26	37	−10	56
17	Hereford United	46	7	4	12	31	32	8	6	9	25	30	−6	55
18	Scarborough	46	10	5	8	35	28	5	5	13	25	45	−13	55
19	Hartlepool United	46	12	4	7	45	33	3	6	14	21	55	−22	55
20	Doncaster Rovers	46	7	7	9	29	29	7	2	14	24	31	−7	51
21	Wrexham	46	8	8	7	28	28	5	4	14	23	39	−16	51	Welsh Cup runners-up, qualified for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1990–91 First round[lower-alpha 3]
22	Aldershot	46	8	7	8	28	26	4	7	12	21	43	−20	50
23	Halifax Town	46	5	9	9	31	29	7	4	12	26	36	−8	49
24	Colchester United	46	9	3	11	26	25	2	7	14	22	50	−27	43	Relegated to Conference

Source:
Notes:

1. New club in the league
2. Cambridge United were promoted through play-offs.
3. Wrexham were runners-up in the Welsh Cup final, and since winners Hereford United are an English club, Wrexham were awarded the right to participate in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Fourth Division results

Home \ Away	ALD	BUR	CAM	CRL	CHF	COL	DON	EXE	GIL	GRI	HAL	HAR	HER	LIN	MDS	PET	ROC	SCA	SCU	STD	STP	TOR	WRE	YOR
Aldershot		1–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	4–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	6–1	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–5	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2
Burnley	0–0		1–3	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–3	1–1
Cambridge United	2–2	0–1		1–2	0–1	4–0	1–0	3–2	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	3–2	0–3	5–2	5–3	2–1	0–2	5–2	1–1	2–2
Carlisle United	1–3	1–1	3–1		4–3	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	0–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	3–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	2–1
Chesterfield	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–0		1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	4–3	3–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	3–0	0–0
Colchester United	1–0	1–2	1–2	4–0	1–0		2–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–1	4–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–3	1–3	0–2
Doncaster Rovers	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0		2–1	0–0	0–0	3–4	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–3	4–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–2
Exeter City	2–0	2–1	3–2	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0		3–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	5–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–1
Gillingham	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	3–3	3–1	1–1		1–2	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–3	5–0	0–3	0–2	1–0	0–0
Grimsby Town	2–1	4–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	4–1	2–1	1–0	2–0		1–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–3	1–2	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	4–2	0–0	5–1	3–0
Halifax Town	4–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–1	2–2		4–0	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	3–1	4–2	2–2
Hartlepool United	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	0–2	0–6	0–3	1–2	4–2	2–0		1–2	1–1	4–2	2–2	2–1	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–1	3–0	1–2
Hereford United	4–1	0–1	0–2	2–2	3–2	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	4–1		2–2	3–0	1–2	1–3	3–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–2
Lincoln City	0–1	1–0	4–3	1–3	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–5	1–3	1–1	2–1	4–1	1–0		1–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–0
Maidstone United	5–1	1–2	2–2	5–2	0–1	4–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–2	4–2	2–0	2–0		1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–0	0–1	5–1	2–0	1–0
Peterborough United	1–1	4–1	1–2	3–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–3	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–0		0–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1
Rochdale	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–3	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	5–2	1–0	3–2	1–2		1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–1
Scarborough	1–0	4–2	1–1	2–1	2–3	2–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	3–1	2–3	4–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–1		0–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–3
Scunthorpe United	3–2	3–0	1–1	2–3	0–1	4–0	4–1	5–4	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–1	3–3	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–1		1–1	5–0	2–0	3–1	1–1
Southend United	5–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	0–0	3–2	1–0	0–0		2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0
Stockport County	1–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	2–4	0–1	6–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–1	3–2	4–2	1–0		1–1	0–2	2–2
Torquay United	1–2	0–1	3–0	1–2	1–0	4–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–3	1–0	4–3	1–1	0–3	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–2	0–3	3–0	3–0		0–1	1–1
Wrexham	2–2	1–0	2–3	1–0	0–2	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	4–2	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	3–3	0–1	1–1		2–0
York City	2–2	1–3	4–2	0–1	4–0	3–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–3	1–1	1–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fourth Division play-offs

The semifinals were decided over two. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1990.

	Semifinals 1st leg –13 May; 2nd leg –16 May 1990							Final at Wembley 26 May 1990
	4th	Stockport County	0	0	0
	7th	Chesterfield	4	2	6
								7th	Chesterfield	0
								6th	Cambridge United	1
	5th	Maidstone United (1897)	1	0	1
	6th	Cambridge United	1	2	3

Fourth Division maps

Maidstone

Aldershot

Burnley

Cambridge Utd

Carlisle United

Chesterfield

Colchester

Doncaster

Exeter City

Gillingham

Grimsby Town

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Lincoln City

Peterborough

Rochdale

Scarborough

Scunthorpe United

Southend

Stockport

Torquay

Wrexham

York City

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1989–1990

See also

• 1989-90 in English football

References

1. "England 1989–90". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
2. Liverpool were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on for 10 years, because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans. The ban was eventually lifted for the 1991–92 season.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
4. 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 25th for the 1990/91-season in Europe which gave England only 1 spot in UEFA Cup.
5. Nottingham Forest won the 1989 League Cup
6. "English Division Two (old) 1989-1990 : Table". Statto Organisation Limited. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.