| Season | 1989–90 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Liverpool 18thEnglish title |
| Relegated | Sheffield Wednesday Charlton Athletic Millwall |
| European Cup Winners' Cup | Manchester United |
| UEFA Cup | Aston Villa |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 986 (2.59 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Gary Lineker (24 goals)[1] |
| Biggest home win | Liverpool 9–0Crystal Palace (12 September 1989) |
| Biggest away win | Coventry City 1–6Liverpool (5 May 1990) |
| Highest scoring | Liverpool 9–0Crystal Palace (12 September 1989) Southampton 6–3Luton Town (25 November 1989) |
1990–91 → | |
The 1989–90 season was the 91st completed season ofThe Football League.
Liverpool overhauled a greatly improvedAston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons underKenny 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 the2019–20 Premier League season, 30 years later.[a]Gary Lineker’s arrival atTottenham Hotspur saw the North Londoners occupy third place after a season of improvement. Defending championsArsenal finished fourth, while newly promotedChelsea 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 placedSouthampton enjoyed their highest finish for five years, whileWimbledon continued to thrive on limited resources and low crowds to finish eighth.
Nottingham Forest won theLeague 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 championsArsenal, but they were soon struggling in the league and finished a disappointing 13th in a season dominated by the collapse ofMichael Knighton's takeover bid and continued calls from the fans for managerAlex Ferguson to be sacked. The season ended on a high note with a win overCrystal Palace in theFA Cup final - the club's first major trophy under Ferguson's management.
Newly promotedManchester City secured survival back in the First Division with a 14th-place finish, having replacedMel Machin as manager withHoward Kendall during the first half of the season.
Luton Town stayed up on goal difference at the expense ofSheffield Wednesday, whileCharlton’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 ofEngland fans at theWorld Cup inItaly, the ban on English clubs in European competitions was lifted for the 1990–91 season.Liverpool, who were present at theHeysel disaster which had prompted the ban in 1985, were denied a place in theEuropean Cup, but runners-upAston Villa entered theUEFA Cup andFA Cup winnersManchester United entered theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | Sacked | 27 November 1989[2] | 19th | 29 November 1989 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | Sacked | 27 November 1989[2] | 18th | 29 November 1989 | ||
| Manchester City | End of caretaker spell | 5 December 1989 | 20th | 6 December 1989[3] | ||
| Luton Town | Mutual consent | 3 January 1990[4] | 19th | 11 January 1990[5] | ||
| Millwall | Sacked | 13 February 1990[2] | 20th | 14 February 1990[6] | ||
| Demoted to chief scout | 16 April 1990 | 20th | 16 April 1990[7] |
| 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 theEuropean Cup[b] |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 57 | 38 | +19 | 70 | Qualification for theUEFA 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 theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup first round[c] |
| 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 theSecond Division |
| 19 | Charlton Athletic(R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 57 | −26 | 30 | |
| 20 | Millwall(R) | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 39 | 65 | −26 | 26 |
| 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 |
This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(February 2013) |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 22 | |
| 3 | Chelsea | 20 | |
| Southampton | |||
| 5 | Aston Villa | 19 | |
| 6 | Liverpool | 18 | |
| Southampton | |||
| 8 | Sheffield Wednesday | 14 | |
| Chelsea | |||
| 10 | Everton | 13 | |
| Manchester United |
| 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 | [9] |