1989–90 Football League First Division
Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1989–90 season.
Season | 1989–90 |
---|---|
Champions | Liverpool (18th English title)[1] |
Relegated | Charlton Athletic Millwall Sheffield Wednesday |
European Cup | No qualifications[1] |
European Cup Winners' Cup | Manchester United |
UEFA Cup | Aston Villa |
Matches played | 380 |
Goals scored | 986 (2.59 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Gary Lineker (24 goals)[2] |
Biggest home win | Liverpool 9–0 Crystal Palace (12 September 1989) |
Biggest away win | Coventry City 1–6 Liverpool (5 May 1990) |
Highest scoring | Liverpool 9–0 Crystal Palace (12 September 1989) Southampton 6–3 Luton Town (25 November 1989) |
← 1988–89 1990–91 → |
Overview
Season summary
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. They would not win the title again until the 2019-20 Premier League season, 30 years later. Gary Lineker’s arrival at Tottenham Hotspur saw the North Londoners occupy third place after a season of improvement. Defending champions Arsenal finished fourth, while newly promoted Chelsea finished an impressive fifth. Everton briefly topped the league in late autumn but were unable to maintain their title challenge into the second half of the season and finished sixth. Seventh placed Southampton enjoyed their highest finish for five years, while Wimbledon continued to thrive on limited resources and low crowds to finish eighth.
Nottingham Forest won the League Cup for the second successive season, but finished ninth in the league one year, having finished third during the previous two seasons.
Manchester United's season began well with a 4-1 win over defending champions Arsenal, but they were soon struggling in the league and finished a disappointing 13th in a season dominated by the collapse of Michael Knighton's takeover bid and continued calls from the fans for manager Alex Ferguson to be sacked. The season ended on a high note with a win over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final - the club's first major trophy under Ferguson's management.
Newly promoted Manchester City secured survival back in the First Division with a 14th place finish, having replaced Mel Machin as manager with Howard Kendall during the first half of the season.
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, as they won just two more games in the league after their brief lead of the table vanished.
After the generally good behaviour of England fans at the World Cup in Italy, the ban on English clubs in European competitions was lifted for the 1990-91 season. Liverpool, who were present at the Heysel disaster which had prompted the ban in 1985, were denied a place in the European Cup, but runners-up Aston Villa entered the UEFA Cup and FA Cup winners Manchester United entered the European Cup Winners' Cup.
Managerial changes
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manchester City | ![]() |
Sacked | 27 November 1989[3] | 19th | ![]() |
29 November 1989 |
Queens Park Rangers | ![]() |
Sacked | 27 November 1989[3] | 18th | ![]() |
29 November 1989 |
Manchester City | ![]() |
End of caretaker spell | 5 December 1989 | 20th | ![]() |
6 December 1989[4] |
Luton Town | ![]() |
Mutual consent | 3 January 1990[5] | 19th | ![]() |
11 January 1990[6] |
Millwall | ![]() |
Sacked | 13 February 1990[3] | 20th | ![]() |
14 February 1990[7] |
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Demoted to chief scout | 16 April 1990 | 20th | ![]() |
16 April 1990[8] |
Personnel and kits
Background
First Division maps
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League table
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[1] |
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[9][10] |
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 |
Results table
Individual awards
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank | Player | Club | Goals[11] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Tottenham Hotspur | 24 |
2 | ![]() |
Liverpool | 21 |
3 | ![]() |
Chelsea | 20 |
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Southampton | ||
5 | ![]() |
Aston Villa | 19 |
6 | ![]() |
Liverpool | 18 |
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Southampton | ||
8 | ![]() |
Sheffield Wednesday | 14 |
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Chelsea | ||
10 | ![]() |
Everton | 13 |
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Manchester United | ||
Hat-tricks
Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Manchester United | Millwall | 5–1 (H) | 16 September 1989 | |
![]() | Queens Park Rangers | Aston Villa | 3–1 (A) | 23 September 1989 | |
![]() | Tottenham Hotspur | Queens Park Rangers | 3–2 (H) | 30 September 1989 | |
![]() | Tottenham Hotspur | Norwich City | 4–0 (H) | 4 February 1990 | |
![]() | Liverpool | Charlton Athletic | 4–0 (A) | 11 April 1990 | |
![]() | Liverpool | Coventry City | 6–1 (A) | 5 May 1990 | |
![]() | Chelsea | Millwall | 3–1 (A) | 5 May 1990 | [12] |
- Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away
See also
References
- 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.
- "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
- "Millwall top two dismissed". The Times (63629). London. 14 January 1990. p. 48.
- "City succumb to Kendall demand for escape clause". The Times (63571). London. 7 December 1989. p. 48.
- "Harford and Luton agree to differ". The Times (63594). London. 4 January 1990. p. 43.
- "Ryan and Smith finish on top in Luton shake-up". The Times (63601). London. 12 January 1990. p. 36.
- "Pearson appointed by Milllwall to fill managerial vacancy". The Times (63630). London. 15 February 1990. p. 47.
- "Deserving Millwall refuse to go quietly". The Times (63682). London. 17 April 1990. p. 34.
- 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.
- Nottingham Forest won the 1989 League Cup
- "First Division Top Scorers - 1989-1990". free-elements.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
- "Millwall v Chelsea". Retrieved 22 March 2019.