1989–90 Football League First Division

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

Football League First Division
Season1989–90
ChampionsLiverpool
18th English title
RelegatedSheffield Wednesday
Charlton Athletic
Millwall
European Cup Winners' CupManchester United
UEFA CupAston Villa
Matches played380
Goals scored987 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorerGary Lineker
(24 goals)[1]
Biggest home winLiverpool 9–0 Crystal Palace
(12 September 1989)
Biggest away winCoventry City 1–6 Liverpool
(5 May 1990)
Highest scoringLiverpool 9–0 Crystal Palace
(12 September 1989)
Southampton 6–3 Luton Town
(25 November 1989)

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. Having won their 18th title overall, and their 11th in 17 season, this title turned out to mark the end of their domestic dominance of English football in the 1970s and 1980s - they would not win the title again until the 2019–20 Premier League season, 30 years later.[lower-alpha 1] 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 England Mel Machin Sacked 27 November 1989[2] 19th England Tony Book (caretaker) 29 November 1989
Queens Park Rangers England Trevor Francis Sacked 27 November 1989[2] 18th England Don Howe 29 November 1989
Manchester City England Tony Book End of caretaker spell 5 December 1989 20th England Howard Kendall 6 December 1989[3]
Luton Town England Ray Harford Mutual consent 3 January 1990[4] 19th Scotland Jim Ryan 11 January 1990[5]
Millwall Scotland John Docherty Sacked 13 February 1990[2] 20th England Bob Pearson 14 February 1990[6]
England Bob Pearson Demoted to chief scout 16 April 1990 20th Scotland Bruce Rioch 16 April 1990[7]

First Division maps
Locations of the Football League First Division 1989–90 teams
Locations of the 8 Football League First Division London teams 1989–90, the largest contingent ever from London

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool (C) 38 23 10 5 78 37 +41 79 Disqualified from the European Cup[lower-alpha 2]
2 Aston Villa 38 21 7 10 57 38 +19 70 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Tottenham Hotspur 38 19 6 13 59 47 +12 63
4 Arsenal 38 18 8 12 54 38 +16 62
5 Chelsea 38 16 12 10 58 50 +8 60
6 Everton 38 17 8 13 57 46 +11 59
7 Southampton 38 15 10 13 71 63 +8 55
8 Wimbledon 38 13 16 9 47 40 +7 55
9 Nottingham Forest 38 15 9 14 55 47 +8 54
10 Norwich City 38 13 14 11 44 42 +2 53
11 Queens Park Rangers 38 13 11 14 45 44 +1 50
12 Coventry City 38 14 7 17 39 59 −20 49
13 Manchester United 38 13 9 16 46 47 −1 48 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 3]
14 Manchester City 38 12 12 14 43 52 −9 48
15 Crystal Palace 38 13 9 16 42 66 −24 48
16 Derby County 38 13 7 18 43 40 +3 46
17 Luton Town 38 10 13 15 43 57 −14 43
18 Sheffield Wednesday (R) 38 11 10 17 35 51 −16 43 Relegation to the Second Division
19 Charlton Athletic (R) 38 7 9 22 31 57 −26 30
20 Millwall (R) 38 5 11 22 39 65 −26 26
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results table
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.

Individual awards

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[8]
1 England Gary Lineker Tottenham Hotspur 24
2 England John Barnes Liverpool 21
3 England Kerry Dixon Chelsea 20
England Matt Le Tissier Southampton
5 England David Platt Aston Villa 19
6 Wales Ian Rush Liverpool 20
England Rod Wallace Southampton
8 England David Hirst Sheffield Wednesday 14
Northern Ireland Kevin Wilson Chelsea
10 England Tony Cottee Everton 13
Wales Mark Hughes Manchester United

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Wales Mark HughesManchester UnitedMillwall5–1 (H)16 September 1989
England Trevor FrancisQueens Park RangersAston Villa3–1 (A)23 September 1989
England Gary LinekerTottenham HotspurQueens Park Rangers3–2 (H)30 September 1989
England Gary LinekerTottenham HotspurNorwich City4–0 (H)4 February 1990
Israel Ronny RosenthalLiverpoolCharlton Athletic4–0 (A)11 April 1990
England John BarnesLiverpoolCoventry City6–1 (A)5 May 1990
England Kerry DixonChelseaMillwall3–1 (A)5 May 1990[9]
Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

See also

Notes
  1. Liverpool would not win the league again for thirty years after this season, as rivals Manchester United came to dominate domestic football, winning thirteen titles between 1993 and 2013, and surpassing Liverpool's record for domestic league titles. Liverpool would, however, win two UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Europa League and one FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to a number of domestic cup competitions in the interim.
  2. Liverpool were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on for 10 years, because of the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans. The ban was eventually lifted for the 1991–92 season.
  3. Manchester United qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as the 1989–90 FA Cup winners.

References
  1. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  2. "Millwall top two dismissed". The Times. No. 63629. London. 14 January 1990. p. 48.
  3. "City succumb to Kendall demand for escape clause". The Times. No. 63571. London. 7 December 1989. p. 48.
  4. "Harford and Luton agree to differ". The Times. No. 63594. London. 4 January 1990. p. 43.
  5. "Ryan and Smith finish on top in Luton shake-up". The Times. No. 63601. London. 12 January 1990. p. 36.
  6. "Pearson appointed by Milllwall to fill managerial vacancy". The Times. No. 63630. London. 15 February 1990. p. 47.
  7. "Deserving Millwall refuse to go quietly". The Times. No. 63682. London. 17 April 1990. p. 34.
  8. "First Division Top Scorers - 1989-1990". free-elements.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  9. "Millwall v Chelsea". Retrieved 22 March 2019.
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