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The 1989-90 season was the 110th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

First Division

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. To date, this remains their last league title. Gary Lineker's arrival at Tottenham Hotspur saw the North Londoners occupy third place after a season of improvement.

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.

Second Division

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.

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.

Bournemouth, Stoke City and Bradford City occupied the relegation places.

Third Division

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.

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

Fourth Division

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 Conference champions Darlington, who regained their league status just one season after losing it.

FA Cup

Alex Ferguson silenced the critics who slated him for a lack of progress in the league by guiding Manchester United to a 1-0 replay victory over Crystal Palace in the F.A Cup final, which was achieved after a 3-3 draw.

League Cup

Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest retained their League Cup by beating Oldham Athletic 1-0 at Wembley.

Back in Europe

English clubs were re-admitted to Europe for the 1990-91 season. League runners-up Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup and F.A Cup winners Manchester United were entered for the Cup Winners' Cup, but Liverpool had to serve an extra year and were not allowed to compete in the European Cup.

Biggest rise

Sheffield United finished Second Division runners-up to win their second successive promotion and end a 14-year absence from the First Division.

Biggest fall

Millwall finished bottom of the First Division and went down to the Second Division having led the league for the first two weeks of September.

Successful players

  • David Platt's frequent goalscoring from the Aston Villa midfield was not quite enough to earn his side the championship trophy, but it was enough for him to win the PFA Player of the Year award.
  • Liverpool's John Barnes scored over 20 goals and helped his team win another league title and himself win the FWA Player of the Year award.
  • Southampton's highly rated young Guernsey-born striker Matthew Le Tissier was credited with the PFA Young Player of the Year award for his exciting performances.
  • Manchester United's Mark Hughes had another good season as he helped his side overcome disappointing league form and reach the F.A Cup final where he scored twice in the first game before they won the replay.

Successful managers

  • Kenny Dalglish brought another championship trophy to Liverpool after fighting off a late challenge from Aston Villa.
  • Alex Ferguson finally guided Manchester United to a major trophy after four seasons of trying when they beat Crystal Palace in the F.A Cup final replay.
  • Graham Taylor took Aston Villa to the brink of championship glory just one season after they had been on the brink of relegation.
  • Dave Bassett took Sheffield United to a second successive promotion to bring top flight football to Bramall Lane for the first time since the 1970s.

Deaths

Significant Events

Dalglish leads Liverpool to title number 18

Liverpool won the league championship for the 18th time after they fought off a late challenge from Aston Villa. At the end of a brilliant season, 24-goal winger John Barnes was voted Player of the Year by the PFA. The season also Kenny Dalglish finally give up playing at the age of 39 at the end of an illustrious career which had spanned some 20 years and yielded numerous trophies with both Celtic and Liverpool.

Millwall's dramatic slump

Millwall led the First Division for the first two weeks of September. But a dramatic slump set in, with Millwall winning just two more league games all season and going down in bottom place. Just before relegation was confirmed, John Docherty was sacked as manager and replaced by Middlesbrough's Bruce Rioch.

Joy at last for Fergie and United

Manchester United won their first major trophy under Alex Ferguson by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 in the F.A Cup final replay, having drawn the first match 3-3. The cup triumph compensated for a disappointing league season in which United had finished 13th in the First Division and fans had continually called for Ferguson to be sacked. The club's board later revealed that they had never even considered sacking Ferguson, because - although naturally disappointed with the lack of success in the league - they were pleased with the work he had done at United and understood that injuries to key players had sabotaged the club's chances of success.

Wilkinson takes Leeds back into the big time

Under the management of Howard Wilkinson, Leeds United returned to the First Division as Second Division champions after an eight-year exile. Their promotion was sealed with an away win over Bournemouth on the final day of the season, after which followed scenes of hooliganism which saw Leeds hit with a hefty fine and threatened with the possibility of having to close if the problem persisted.

Darlington and Colchester swap places

Brian Little's Darlington regained their league status at the first attempt after winning the Conference. They replaced Colchester United, who were relegated from the Fourth Division to the Conference.

England's World Cup dream is ended by the Germans

Bobby Robson announced that he would be quitting as England manager after the World Cup to become head coach of PSV in Holland. Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor was chosen as his successor.

England lost to eventual winners West Germany in the semi finals of the World Cup. They went out on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

English clubs back in Europe

English clubs were readmitted to European competition after a five-year ban, although league champions Liverpool were forbidden to enter the European Cup because they had to serve an extra year of the ban. England's representatives in Europe during 1990-91 would be Aston Villa in the UEFA Cup and Manchester United in the Cup Winners Cup. It was expected that the number of UEFA Cup qualifiers would be gradually increased over the coming seasons.

Betting scandal hits Swindon hard

When Swindon Town won the Second Division playoff final, everyone at the club was jubilant after winning promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. But the club was being investigated over claims of financial irregularities to which chairman Brian Hillier, chief accountant Vince Farrar, former manager Lou Macari and team captain Colin Calderwood were linked. When chairman Brian Hillier admitted to breaching 36 charges of breaching league rules, the club's punishment was harsh.

The Football League promoted Sunderland to the First Division in Swindon's place, and handed their place in the Second Division to Tranmere Rovers. They won some respite when an appeal saw them reinstated to the Second Division, a decision which infuriated Tranmere.

No charges were brought against Calderwood, but Macari, Hillier and Farrar were all sent for trial at Winchester Crown Court. Macari was cleared of any involvement in the scandal, but Hillier and Farrar were both convicted of fraud offences. Hillier was given a one-year prison sentence (with half of it suspended) and Farrar was put on probation.

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "1989-90 in English football".

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