1890–91 in English football

The 1890–91 season was the 20th season of competitive football in England.

Football in England
Season1890–91
Men's football
Football LeagueEverton
FA CupBlackburn Rovers
England

Events

Everton started the 1890–91 season in superb form with five straight victories, with Fred Geary scoring in each of the first six matches.[1] By mid-January, Everton had completed all but one of their fixtures and were on 29 points, while Preston North End were eleven points adrift with seven games still to play. Everton then had to sit out the next two months as Preston completed their fixture list until they were only two points adrift with one match each left to play. Both teams played their final games of the season on 14 March, with Everton losing 3–2 at Burnley (Geary scored both Everton goals) and Preston going down 3–0 at Sunderland.[2] Everton were thus able to win the Football League Championship for the first time, by a margin of two points with fourteen victories from their 22 league games.

National team

In the 1891 British Home Championship, for the second time England played matches against Wales and Ireland on the same day, 7 March 1891, winning both comfortably.

Wales

England awarded six new caps for the Welsh game, including the Everton left wing pairing of Edgar Chadwick and Alf Milward. For three of the débutantes, Leonard Wilkinson (goalkeeper) of Oxford University, Thomas Porteous of Sunderland and Elphinstone Jackson of Oxford University, this was their single England appearance. The final débutante was Albert Smith of Nottingham Forest, who made the first of 3 appearances at right-half.

Ireland

For the Irish match, for which England selected a predominantly Midlands based team, another five players made their debut, of which Joseph Marsden of Darwen and Jem Bayliss of West Bromwich Albion (both defenders) were not selected again. The other débutantes were Alf Underwood of Stoke at left-back, George Cotterill of Cambridge University, who made the first of 4 appearances at centre-forward (scoring on his debut) and fellow forward Arthur Henfrey (Corinthian) (who also scored on his debut). This was also Tinsley Lindley's final England appearance, which he marked by scoring 2 goals, as England were comfortable 6–1 victors.

Scotland

Scotland also beat Wales and Ireland, so, once again, the England v. Scotland match, played at Ewood Park, Blackburn on 6 April 1891, was the championship decider. England selected an experienced team including four players from the Everton side who had recently won the Football League championship, although, rather surprisingly considering the venue, no players were selected from the Blackburn Rovers side who had won the FA Cup in the final on 21 March. England took an early lead and were 2–0 up at half time and, although Scotland pulled a goal back through Frank Watt late in the game, England managed to hang on in a close game to clinch victory and the championship.

Date Venue Opponents Score* Comp England scorers
7 March 1891 Newcastle Road, Sunderland (H)  Wales 4–1 BHC John Goodall (Derby County) (7 mins), Jack Southworth (Blackburn Rovers) (30 mins), Edgar Chadwick (Everton) (35 mins) & Alf Milward (Everton) (37 mins)
7 March 1891 Molineux, Wolverhampton (H)  Ireland 6–1 BHC Tinsley Lindley (Nottingham Forest) (2), Billy Bassett (West Bromwich Albion), George Cotterill (Cambridge University), Arthur Henfrey (Corinthian) & Harry Daft (Notts County)
6 April 1891 Ewood Park, Blackburn (H)  Scotland 2–1 BHC John Goodall (Derby County) (20 mins) & Edgar Chadwick (Everton) (30 mins)

* England score given first

Key

League tables

The Football League
Main article: 1890–91 Football League

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification
1 Everton 22 14 1 7 63 29 2.172 29 League Champions
2 Preston North End 22 12 3 7 44 23 1.913 27
3 Notts County 22 11 4 7 52 35 1.486 26
4 Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 12 2 8 39 50 0.780 26
5 Bolton Wanderers 22 12 1 9 47 34 1.382 25
6 Blackburn Rovers 22 11 2 9 52 43 1.209 24 FA Cup Winners
7 Sunderland[lower-alpha 1] 22 10 5 7 51 31 1.645 23[lower-alpha 2]
8 Burnley 22 9 3 10 52 63 0.825 21
9 Aston Villa 22 7 4 11 45 58 0.776 18 Re-elected
10 Accrington 22 6 4 12 28 50 0.560 16
11 Derby County 22 7 1 14 47 81 0.580 15
12 West Bromwich Albion 22 5 2 15 34 57 0.596 12
Source:
Notes:
  1. New club in the league
  2. Sunderland deducted two points for fielding unregistered player.[3]

The Football Alliance
Main article: 1890–91 Football Alliance
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Stoke[lower-alpha 1] (E) 22 13 7 2 57 39 1.462 33 Football Alliance Champions, elected to Football League
2 Sunderland Albion[lower-alpha 2] 22 12 6 4 69 28 2.464 30
3 Grimsby Town 22 11 5 6 43 27 1.593 27
4 Birmingham St George's 22 12 2 8 64 62 1.032 26
5 Nottingham Forest 22 9 7 6 66 39 1.692 23[lower-alpha 3]
6 Darwen (E) 22 10 3 9 64 59 1.085 23 Elected to Football League
7 Walsall Town Swifts 22 9 3 10 34 61 0.557 21
8 Crewe Alexandra 22 8 4 10 59 67 0.881 20
9 Newton Heath 22 7 3 12 37 55 0.673 17
10 Small Heath 22 7 2 13 58 66 0.879 16
11 Bootle 22 3 7 12 40 61 0.656 13
12 The Wednesday 22 4 5 13 39 66 0.591 13
Source: [4]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average.
(E) Elected to the Football League
Notes:
  1. New club in the Alliance
  2. Left to join the Northern League
  3. Two points deducted for fielding an unregistered player

References
  1. "Everton match results – 1890–91 season". www.evertonfc.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  2. Philip Gibbons (2001). Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing. pp. 161–163. ISBN 1-84426-035-6.
  3. Rothmans Football Yearbook 1970–71, p. 233. The Queen Anne Press Limited, London, 1970.
  4. Blakeman, Mick; Brown, Tony; Warsop, Keith, eds. (2009). The Football Alliance Match by Match: 1889/90 to 1891/92. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 28–40. ISBN 978-1-905891-19-1.
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