Billy Bonds in his first full season as manager guides West Ham back to the top flight of The Football League as the team finishes 2nd in the Second Division behind Oldham Athletic. Oldham were the season's top scorers in the division with 83 goals.
West Ham finished the season with the meanest defence, conceding 34 goals. The second meanest defence belonged to a 7th place Middlesbrough F.C. team, containing Colin Cooper and Tony Mowbray, which conceded 47 goals. West Ham's two games against Middlesbrough ended in 0-0 draws.
They finished one point behind champions Oldham Athletic, and also enjoyed their best FA Cup run since the triumph of 1980, reaching the semi-finals where they were soundly beaten by Nottingham Forest, denying them a Wembley final with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur who went on to win the trophy.
Trevor Morley was West Ham's leading scorer for 1990-91, with 12 goals in the league and 17 in all competitions, while Frank McAvennie showed full fitness after a long term injury by scoring 10 goals in the league (11 in all competitions) to finish the campaign as the club's second top scorer.
| Number | Player | Position | Lge Apps | Lge Gls | FAC Apps | FAC Gls | LC Apps | LC Gls | Date Signed | Previous Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United 1990-91 First XI | |||||||||||
| 1 | Ludek Miklosko (Hammer of the Year) |
GK | 46 | 7 | 3 | February 1990 | Banik Ostrava | ||||
| 2 | Steve Potts | RB | 36(1) | 1 | 7 | 2 | May 1984 | Academy | |||
| 3 | George Parris | LM | 37(7) | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 (1) | 1985 | Academy | ||
| 4 | Tony Gale | CB | 23(1) | 1 | 7 | 0 (1) | August 1983 | Fulham | |||
| 5 | Colin Foster | CB | 36 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1989 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 6 | Chris Hughton | LB | 32 | 7 | 1990 | Tottenham | |||||
| 7 | Ian Bishop (Captain) | CM | 40 | 4 | 5 (1) | 2 | 3 | December 1989 | Manchester City | ||
| 8 | Frank McAvennie | CF | 24(10) | 10 | 3 (1) | 1 | 0 (1) | March 1989 | Celtic | ||
| 9 | Stuart Slater | RM | 37(3) | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1987 | Academy | ||
| 10 | Kevin Keen | CM | 36(4) | 6 (1) | 3 | 1 | 1986 | Academy | |||
| 11 | Trevor Morley | CF | 38 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | December 1989 | Manchester City | |
| Important Players | |||||||||||
| 10 | Martin Allen | M | 28(12) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | August 1989 | Queens Park Rangers | ||
| 8 | Jimmy Quinn | CF | 16(10) | 6 | 3 (2) | 2 | 3 | 1 | December 1989 | Bradford City | |
| 2 | Tim Breacker | RB | 23(1) | 1 | 6 | October 1990 | Luton Town | ||||
| 5 | Alvin Martin | CB | 20 | 1 | 3 | July 1976 | Academy | ||||
| 3 | Julian Dicks | LB | 13 | 4 | 2 | 1 | March 1988 | Birmingham City | |||
| 9 | Iain Dowie | CF | 12 | 4 | March 1991 | Luton Town | |||||
| Other Players | |||||||||||
| 5 | Ray Stewart | RB | 5 | 0 (1) | September 1979 | Dundee United | |||||
| 9 | Matthew Rush | W | 2 (3) | 1 | 1990 | Academy | |||||
| 9 | Franz Carr | F | 1 (2) | March 1991 | Nottingham Forest | ||||||
| 9 | Simon Livett | M | 1 | 0 (1) | 1990 | Academy | |||||
| 14 | Leroy Rosenior | CF | 0 (2) | March 1988 | Fulham | ||||||
| 12 | Simon Clarke | F | 0 (1) | 1990 | Academy | ||||||
| 5 | Stewart Robson | M | 0 (1) | 1 | January 1987 | Arsenal | |||||
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