1989–90 Football League

The Football League
Season	1989–90
Champions	Liverpool
Relegated	Colchester United
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

The 1989–1990 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.

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.

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, won their second successive promotion under Dave Bassett.

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.

A.F.C. Bournemouth, Stoke City and Bradford City occupied the relegation places. Bournemouth did not return to second tier of English football until the 2013-14 season.

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, who beat Leyland DAF Trophy (i.e. FA Trophy) winners Tranmere Rovers at Wembley.

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

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 (1897) 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 Football Conference champions Darlington, who regained their league status just one season after losing it.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,^[1] with home and away statistics separated.

First Division

Football League, First Division
Season	1989–90
Champions	Liverpool (18th English title) ^[2]
Relegated	Charlton Athletic Millwall Sheffield Wednesday
European Cup 1990–91	No qualifications ^[2]
FA Cup winners 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup	Manchester United (7th FA Cup title)
UEFA Cup 1990–91	Aston Villa
Matches played	380
Goals scored	987 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Lineker (Tottenham Hotspur), 24 ^[3]
Biggest home win	Liverpool – Crystal Palace 9–0 (12 Sep 1989)
Biggest away win	Coventry City – Liverpool 1–6 (5 May 1990)
Highest scoring	Liverpool – Crystal Palace 9–0 (12 Sep 1989) Southampton – Luton Town 6–3 (25 Nov 1989)
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	W	D	L	GF	GA	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Liverpool	38	13	5	1	38	15	10	5	4	40	22	78	37	+41	79	Excluded from the 1990–91 European Cup ^{[notes1 1]}
2	Aston Villa	38	13	3	3	36	20	8	4	7	21	18	57	38	+19	70	UEFA Cup 1990–91 First round
3	Tottenham Hotspur	38	12	1	6	35	24	7	5	7	24	23	59	47	+12	63
4	Arsenal	38	14	3	2	38	11	4	5	10	16	27	54	38	+16	62
5	Chelsea	38	8	7	4	31	24	8	5	6	27	26	58	50	+8	60
6	Everton	38	14	3	2	40	16	3	5	11	17	30	57	46	+11	59
7	Southampton	38	10	5	4	40	27	5	5	9	31	36	71	63	+8	55
8	Wimbledon	38	5	8	6	22	23	8	8	3	25	17	47	40	+7	55
9	Nottingham Forest	38	9	4	6	31	21	6	5	8	24	26	55	47	+8	54	^[4]^[5]
10	Norwich City	38	7	10	2	24	14	6	4	9	20	28	44	42	+2	53
11	Queens Park Rangers	38	9	4	6	27	22	4	7	8	18	22	45	44	+1	50
12	Coventry City	38	11	2	6	24	25	3	5	11	15	34	39	59	-20	49
13	Manchester United	38	8	6	5	26	14	5	3	11	20	33	46	47	–1	48	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1990–91 First round
14	Manchester City	38	9	4	6	26	21	3	8	8	17	31	43	52	–9	48
15	Crystal Palace	38	8	7	4	27	23	5	2	12	15	43	42	66	–24	48
16	Derby County	38	9	1	9	29	21	4	6	9	14	19	43	40	+3	46
17	Luton Town	38	8	8	3	24	18	2	5	12	19	39	43	57	–14	43
18	Sheffield Wednesday	38	8	6	5	21	17	3	4	12	14	34	35	51	–16	43
19	Charlton Athletic	38	4	6	9	18	25	3	3	13	13	32	31	57	–26	30
20	Millwall	38	4	6	9	23	25	1	5	13	16	40	39	65	–26	26

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

↑ Liverpool were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on for 10 years, because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans. The ban was eventually lifted for the season 1991–92.

Key
	League Champions, excluded from the European Cup
	FA Cup winners, qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
	League Cup winners
	Relegated

First Division results

Home ╲ Away^[1]	ARS	AST	CHA	CHE	COV	CRY	DER	EVE	LIV	LUT	MCI	MUN	MIL	NOR	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:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

First Division maps

Locations of the Football League First Division 1989–1990 teams

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1989–1990

Second Division

Football League, Second Division
Season	1989–90
Champions	Leeds United (3rd title)
Promoted	Sheffield United, Sunderland
Relegated	Bournemouth, Bradford City, Stoke City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1523 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Micky Quinn (Newcastle United), 32 ^[3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	W	D	L	GF	GA	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Leeds United	46	16	6	1	46	18	8	7	8	33	34	79	52	+27	85
2	Sheffield United	46	14	5	4	43	27	10	8	5	35	31	78	58	+20	85
3	Newcastle United	46	17	4	2	51	26	5	10	8	29	29	80	55	+25	80
4	Swindon Town	46	12	6	5	49	29	8	8	7	30	30	79	59	+20	74
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	10	9	4	43	30	9	8	6	31	29	74	60	+14	74
6	Sunderland	46	10	8	5	41	32	10	6	7	29	32	70	64	+8	74	^{[notes3 1]}
7	West Ham United	46	14	5	4	50	22	6	7	10	30	35	80	57	+23	72
8	Oldham Athletic	46	15	7	1	50	23	4	7	12	20	34	70	57	+13	71
9	Ipswich Town	46	13	7	3	38	22	6	5	12	29	44	67	51	+16	69
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	12	5	6	37	20	6	8	9	30	40	67	50	+17	67
11	Port Vale	46	11	9	3	37	20	4	7	12	25	37	62	57	+5	61
12	Portsmouth	46	9	8	6	40	34	6	8	9	22	31	62	65	–3	61
13	Leicester City	46	10	8	5	34	29	5	6	12	33	50	67	79	–12	59
14	Hull City	46	7	8	8	27	31	7	8	8	31	34	58	65	–7	58
15	Watford	46	11	6	6	41	28	3	9	11	17	32	58	60	–2	57
16	Plymouth Argyle	46	9	8	6	30	23	5	5	13	28	40	58	63	–5	55
17	Oxford United	46	8	7	8	35	31	7	2	14	22	35	57	66	–9	54
18	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	10	6	7	28	27	5	3	15	28	45	56	72	–16	54
19	Barnsley	46	7	9	7	22	23	6	6	11	27	48	49	71	–22	54
20	West Bromwich Albion	46	6	8	9	35	37	6	7	10	32	34	67	71	–4	51
21	Middlesbrough	46	10	3	10	33	29	3	8	12	19	34	52	63	–11	50
22	Bournemouth	46	8	6	9	30	31	4	6	13	27	45	57	76	–19	48
23	Bradford City	46	9	6	8	26	24	0	8	15	18	44	44	68	–24	41
24	Stoke City	46	4	11	8	20	24	2	8	13	15	39	35	63	–28	37

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

↑ Sunderland were eventually promoted after prosecutions against Swindon Town.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Second Division results

Home ╲ Away^[1]	BAR	BLB	BOU	BRA	BHA	HUL	IPS	LEE	LEI	MID	NEW	OLD	OXF	PLY	PTV	POR	SHU	STK	SUN	SWI	WAT	WBA	WHU	WOL
Barnsley		0–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	0–1	1–2	3–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	2–2
Blackburn Rovers	5–0		1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–2	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	2–1	5–4	2–3
Bournemouth	2–1	2–4		1–0	0–2	5–4	3–1	0–1	2–3	2–2	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1
Bradford City	0–0	0–1	1–0		2–0	2–3	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–1	3–2	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–1		2–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–4	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–3	3–0	1–1
Hull City	1–2	2–0	1–4	2–1	0–2		4–3	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	0–0	1–0	3–3	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–2	2–3	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–0
Ipswich Town	3–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–1		2–2	2–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–3
Leeds United	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–0	4–3	1–1		2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–1	2–2	3–2	1–0
Leicester City	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	4–3		2–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–5	2–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	1–3	1–0	0–0
Middlesbrough	0–1	0–3	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	0–2	4–1		4–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	2–3	2–0	3–3	0–1	3–0	0–2	1–2	0–0	0–1	4–2
Newcastle United	4–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	5–2	5–4	2–2		2–1	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–4
Oldham Athletic	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–1		4–1	3–2	2–1	3–3	0–2	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–1
Oxford United	2–3	1–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–2	2–4	4–2	3–1	2–1	0–1		3–2	0–0	2–1	3–0	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	0–2	2–2
Plymouth Argyle	2–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–0		1–2	0–2	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–3	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–1
Port Vale	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–2	2–1	1–1	5–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–2	3–0		1–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	3–1
Portsmouth	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	2–2	2–3	3–3	2–3	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–3	2–0		3–2	0–0	3–3	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–3
Sheffield United	1–2	1–2	4–2	1–1	5–4	0–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–1		2–1	1–3	2–0	4–1	3–1	0–2	3–0
Stoke City	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1		0–2	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	2–0
Sunderland	4–2	0–1	3–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–4	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–0	2–3	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–1		2–2	4–0	1–1	4–3	1–1
Swindon Town	0–0	4–3	2–3	3–1	1–2	1–3	3–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–2	0–2	6–0	0–2		2–0	2–1	2–2	3–1
Watford	2–2	3–1	2–2	7–2	4–2	3–1	3–3	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2		0–2	0–1	3–1
West Bromwich Albion	7–0	2–2	2–2	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–3	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–5	2–2	3–2	0–3	2–3	0–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–0		1–3	1–2
West Ham United	4–2	1–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–2	2–1	5–0	0–0	5–0	1–1	1–0	2–3		4–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–4	1–2	2–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division play-offs

Main article: Football League Championship play-offs § 1990

The semifinals were decided over two legs. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Two play-offs 1990.

Semifinals 1st leg – 13 May; 2nd leg – 16 May 1990					Final at Wembley 28 May 1990

3rd	Newcastle United	0	0	0
6th	Sunderland	0	2	2
					6th	Sunderland ^{[notes2 1]}	0
					3rd	Swindon Town	1
4th	Swindon Town	2	2	4
5th	Blackburn Rovers	1	1	2

↑ Following successful prosecutions against Swindon Town and the club chairman, Brian Hillier, after they admitted 36 breaches of League rules —
35 of which are related to illegal payments, Swindon remained in the Second Division and Sunderland took their promotion place (see History of Swindon Town F.C.).

Second Division maps

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1989–1990 teams

Watford

West Ham

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1989–1990

Third Division

Football League, Third Division
Season	1989–90
Champions	Bristol Rovers (1st title)
Promoted	Bristol City, Notts County
Relegated	Blackpool, Cardiff City, Northampton, Walsall
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1414 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bob Taylor (Bristol City), 27 ^[3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	W	D	L	GF	GA	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Bristol Rovers	46	15	8	0	43	14	11	7	5	28	21	71	35	+36	93
2	Bristol City	46	15	5	3	40	16	12	5	6	36	24	76	40	+36	91
3	Notts County	46	17	4	2	40	18	8	8	7	33	35	73	53	+20	87	^{[notes4 1]}
4	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	5	3	54	22	8	6	9	32	27	86	49	+37	80
5	Bury	46	11	7	5	35	19	10	4	9	35	30	70	49	+21	74
6	Bolton Wanderers	46	12	7	4	32	19	6	8	9	27	29	59	48	+11	69
7	Birmingham City	46	10	7	6	33	19	8	5	10	27	40	60	59	+1	66
8	Huddersfield Town	46	11	5	7	30	23	6	9	8	31	39	61	62	–1	65
9	Rotherham United	46	12	6	5	48	28	5	7	11	23	34	71	62	+9	64
10	Reading	46	10	9	4	33	21	5	10	8	24	32	57	53	+4	64
11	Shrewsbury Town	46	10	9	4	38	24	6	6	11	21	30	59	54	+5	63
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	8	5	32	24	5	9	9	24	29	56	54	+2	62
13	Brentford	46	11	4	8	41	31	7	3	13	25	35	66	66	±0	61
14	Leyton Orient	46	9	6	8	28	24	7	4	12	24	32	52	56	–4	58
15	Mansfield Town	46	13	2	8	34	25	3	5	15	16	40	50	65	–15	55
16	Chester City	46	11	7	5	30	23	2	8	13	13	32	43	55	–12	54
17	Swansea City	46	10	6	7	25	27	4	6	13	20	36	45	63	–18	54
18	Wigan Athletic	46	10	6	7	29	22	3	8	12	19	42	48	64	–16	53
19	Preston North End	46	10	7	6	42	30	4	3	16	23	49	65	79	–14	52
20	Fulham	46	8	8	7	33	27	4	7	12	22	39	55	66	–11	51
21	Cardiff City	46	6	9	8	30	35	6	5	12	21	35	51	70	–19	50
22	Northampton	46	7	7	9	27	31	4	7	12	24	37	51	68	–17	47
23	Blackpool	46	8	6	9	29	33	2	10	11	20	40	49	73	–24	46
24	Walsall	46	6	8	9	23	30	3	6	14	17	42	40	72	–30	41

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

↑ Notts County were promoted through the play-offs.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Third Division results

Home ╲ Away^[1]	BIR	BLP	BOL	BRE	BRI	BRO	BRY	CAR	CHR	CRE	FUL	HUD	LEY	MAN	NOR	NTC	PNE	REA	ROT	SHR	SWA	TRA	WAL	WIG
Birmingham City		3–1	1–0	0–1	0–4	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	4–1	4–0	1–2	3–1	0–1	4–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–0
Blackpool	3–2		2–1	4–0	1–3	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–3	1–3	0–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	2–2	0–3	4–3	0–0
Bolton Wanderers	3–1	2–0		0–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–3	3–0	2–1	3–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–2
Brentford	0–1	5–0	1–2		0–2	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–1	4–3	2–1	3–2	0–1	2–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	2–1	2–4	4–0	3–1
Bristol City	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0		0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–0
Bristol Rovers	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–0		2–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–0	1–1	4–2	3–2	3–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–1
Bury	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–0		2–0	1–0	0–3	0–0	6–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–2	1–2	4–0	1–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	0–2	2–2
Cardiff City	0–1	2–2	0–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	3–1		1–1	0–0	3–3	1–5	1–1	1–0	2–3	1–3	3–0	3–2	2–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	3–1	1–1
Chester	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–3	0–0	1–4	1–0		2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	3–3	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0
Crewe Alexandra	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0		2–3	3–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	3–2
Fulham	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	2–5	1–0	1–1		0–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	5–2	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	4–0
Huddersfield Town	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	4–1	0–1	0–1		2–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0
Leyton Orient	1–2	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	3–1	0–3	2–1	1–1	1–0		3–1	1–1	0–1	3–1	4–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–0
Mansfield Town	5–2	0–3	0–1	2–3	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	1–0		1–2	1–3	2–2	1–1	3–1	2–1	4–0	1–0	0–2	1–0
Northampton Town	2–2	4–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–2		0–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1
Notts County	3–2	0–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	0–4	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	4–2	3–2		2–1	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1
Preston North End	2–2	2–1	1–4	4–2	2–2	0–1	2–3	4–0	5–0	0–0	1–0	3–3	0–3	4–0	0–0	2–4		1–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1
Reading	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	6–0		3–2	3–3	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0
Rotherham United	5–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	1–3	4–0	5–0	1–3	2–1	0–0	5–2	0–0	2–0	1–2	3–1	1–1		4–2	3–2	0–0	2–2	1–2
Shrewsbury Town	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–0	0–1	2–3	3–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	3–3	4–2	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1		1–1	3–1	2–0	1–3
Swansea City	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–5	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	3–2	4–2	1–3	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–6	1–0	0–1		1–0	2–0	3–0
Tranmere Rovers	5–1	4–2	1–3	2–2	6–0	1–2	2–4	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	3–0		2–1	2–0
Walsall	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–3	1–3	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–1	2–1		1–2
Wigan Athletic	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–3	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	4–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	0–3	0–0	2–0	1–3	3–0

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division play-offs

Main article: Football League One play-offs § 1990

The semifinals were decided over two legs. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1990.

Semifinals 1st leg – 13 May; 2nd leg – 16 May 1990					Final at Wembley 27 May 1990

3rd	Notts County	1	2	3
6th	Bolton Wanderers	1	0	1
					3rd	Notts County	2
					4th	Tranmere Rovers	0
4th	Tranmere Rovers	0	2	2
5th	Bury	0	0	0

Third Division maps

Huddersfield

Swansea City

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1989–1990

Brentford

Fulham

Orient

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1989–1990

Fourth Division

Football League, Fourth Division
Season	1989–90
Champions	Exeter City (1st title)
Promoted	Cambridge United, Grimsby Town, Southend United
New club in the league	Maidstone United (1897)
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1436 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Brett Angell (Stockport County), 23 ^[3]
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	W	D	L	GF	GA	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Exeter City	46	20	3	0	50	14	8	2	13	33	34	83	48	+35	89
2	Grimsby Town	46	14	4	5	41	20	8	9	6	29	27	70	47	+23	79
3	Southend United	46	15	3	5	35	14	7	6	10	26	34	61	48	+13	75
4	Stockport County	46	13	6	4	45	27	8	5	10	23	35	68	62	+4	74
5	Maidstone United (1897)	46	14	4	5	49	21	8	3	12	28	40	77	61	+16	73
6	Cambridge United	46	14	3	6	45	30	7	7	9	31	36	86	66	+20	73	^{[notes5 1]}
7	Chesterfield	46	12	9	2	41	19	7	5	11	22	31	63	50	+13	71
8	Carlisle United	46	15	4	4	38	20	6	4	13	23	40	61	50	+11	71
9	Peterborough United	46	10	8	5	35	23	7	9	7	24	23	59	46	+13	68
10	Lincoln City	46	11	6	6	30	27	7	8	8	18	21	48	48	±0	68
11	Scunthorpe United	46	9	9	5	42	25	8	6	9	27	29	69	54	+15	66
12	Rochdale	46	11	4	8	28	23	9	2	12	24	32	52	55	–3	66
13	York City	46	10	5	8	29	24	6	11	6	26	29	55	53	+2	64
14	Gillingham	46	9	8	6	28	21	8	3	12	18	27	46	48	–2	62
15	Torquay United	46	12	2	9	33	29	3	10	10	20	37	53	66	–13	57
16	Burnley	46	6	10	7	19	18	8	4	11	26	37	45	55	–10	56
17	Hereford United	46	7	4	12	31	32	8	6	9	25	30	56	62	–6	55
18	Scarborough	46	10	5	8	35	28	5	5	13	25	45	60	73	–13	55
19	Hartlepool United	46	12	4	7	45	33	3	6	14	21	55	66	88	–22	55
20	Doncaster Rovers	46	7	7	9	29	29	7	2	14	24	31	53	60	–17	51
21	Wrexham	46	8	8	7	28	28	5	4	14	23	39	51	67	–16	51	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1990–91 First round ^[6]
22	Aldershot	46	8	7	8	28	26	4	7	12	21	43	49	69	–20	50
23	Halifax Town	46	5	9	9	31	29	7	4	12	26	36	57	65	–8	49
24	Colchester United	46	9	3	11	26	25	2	7	14	22	50	48	75	–27	43

Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

↑ Cambridge United were promoted through play-offs.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Welsh Cup runners-up, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
	New club in the league, see Maidstone United (1897)
	Relegated to Conference

Fourth Division results

Home ╲ Away^[1]	ALD	BUR	CAM	CRL	CHF	COL	DON	EXE	GIL	GRI	HAL	HAR	HER	LIN	MAI	PET	ROC	SCA	SCU	STD	STP	TOR	WRE	YOR
Aldershot		1–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	4–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	6–1	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–5	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2
Burnley	0–0		1–3	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–3	1–1
Cambridge United	2–2	0–1		1–2	0–1	4–0	1–0	3–2	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	3–2	0–3	5–2	5–3	2–1	0–2	5–2	1–1	2–2
Carlisle United	1–3	1–1	3–1		4–3	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	0–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	3–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	2–1
Chesterfield	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–0		1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	4–3	3–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	3–0	0–0
Colchester United	1–0	1–2	1–2	4–0	1–0		2–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–1	4–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–3	1–3	0–2
Doncaster Rovers	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0		2–1	0–0	0–0	3–4	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–3	4–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–2
Exeter City	2–0	2–1	3–2	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0		3–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	5–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–1
Gillingham	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	3–3	3–1	1–1		1–2	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–3	5–0	0–3	0–2	1–0	0–0
Grimsby Town	2–1	4–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	4–1	2–1	1–0	2–0		1–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–3	1–2	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	4–2	0–0	5–1	3–0
Halifax Town	4–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–1	2–2		4–0	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	3–1	4–2	2–2
Hartlepool United	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	0–2	0–6	0–3	1–2	4–2	2–0		1–2	1–1	4–2	2–2	2–1	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–1	3–0	1–2
Hereford United	4–1	0–1	0–2	2–2	3–2	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	4–1		2–2	3–0	1–2	1–3	3–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–2
Lincoln City	0–1	1–0	4–3	1–3	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–5	1–3	1–1	2–1	4–1	1–0		1–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–0
Maidstone United	5–1	1–2	2–2	5–2	0–1	4–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–2	4–2	2–0	2–0		1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–0	0–1	5–1	2–0	1–0
Peterborough United	1–1	4–1	1–2	3–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–3	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–0		0–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1
Rochdale	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–3	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	5–2	1–0	3–2	1–2		1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–1
Scarborough	1–0	4–2	1–1	2–1	2–3	2–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	3–1	2–3	4–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–1		0–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–3
Scunthorpe United	3–2	3–0	1–1	2–3	0–1	4–0	4–1	5–4	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–1	3–3	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–1		1–1	5–0	2–0	3–1	1–1
Southend United	5–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	0–0	3–2	1–0	0–0		2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0
Stockport County	1–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	2–4	0–1	6–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–1	3–2	4–2	1–0		1–1	0–2	2–2
Torquay United	1–2	0–1	3–0	1–2	1–0	4–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–3	1–0	4–3	1–1	0–3	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–2	0–3	3–0	3–0		0–1	1–1
Wrexham	2–2	1–0	2–3	1–0	0–2	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	4–2	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	3–3	0–1	1–1		2–0
York City	2–2	1–3	4–2	0–1	4–0	3–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–3	1–1	1–0

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fourth Division play-offs

Main article: Football League Two play-offs § 1990

The semifinals were decided over two. The final consisted of only a single match.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1990.

Semifinals 1st leg –13 May; 2nd leg –16 May 1990					Final at Wembley 26 May 1990

4th	Stockport County	0	0	0
7th	Chesterfield	4	2	6
					7th	Chesterfield	0
					6th	Cambridge United	1
5th	Maidstone United (1897)	1	0	1
6th	Cambridge United	1	2	3

Fourth Division maps

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1989–1990

References

↑ "England 1989–90". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
↑ 2.0 2.1 Liverpool were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on for 10 years, because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool
fans. The ban was eventually lifted for the 1991–92 season.
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
↑ Because of the 1985 UEFA ban, no English clubs played European matches between the 1985–86 and 1989–90 seasons, and England was therefore ranked 25th for the 1990–91 season in the UEFA coefficient, which gave England only 1 spot in the UEFA Cup.
↑ Nottingham Forest won the 1989 League Cup
↑ Wrexham were runners-up in the Welsh Cup final, and since winners Hereford United are an English club, Wrexham were awarded the right to participate in
the Cup Winners' Cup.

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2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15

1989–90 in English football

« 1988–89

1990–91 »

FA competitions

Football League

Football League (First Division
Second Division
Third Division
Fourth Division)
League Cup (Final)
Full Members Cup (Final)
Play-offs (Second Division Final
Third Division Final
Fourth Division Final)
Football League Trophy (Final)

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Charlton Athletic Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Wimbledon

Second Division	Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bournemouth Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Middlesbrough Newcastle United Oldham Athletic Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Portsmouth Sheffield United Sunderland Swindon Town Stoke City Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers

Third Division	Birmingham City Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Cardiff City Chester City Crewe Alexandra Fulham Huddersfield Town Leyton Orient Mansfield Town Northampton Town Preston North End Notts County Reading Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wigan Athletic

Fourth Division	Aldershot Burnley Cambridge United Carlisle United Chesterfield Colchester United Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Lincoln City Maidstone United Peterborough United Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Torquay United Wrexham York City

Others	Newport

1989–90 in European football (UEFA)

« 1988–89 1990–91 »

Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '89 '90 England Estonia '89 '90 Faroe Islands '89 '90 Finland '89 '90 France Georgia East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '89 '90 Israel Italy Latvia '89 '90 Lithuania '89 '90 Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '89 '90 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union '89 '90 Spain Sweden '89 '90 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia

Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '89 '90 Finland '89 '90 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '89 '90 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '89 '90 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia

League cups	England Greece Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Soviet Union '89 '90

UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup

1989–90 Football League

Final league tables and results

First Division

First Division results

First Division maps

Second Division

Second Division results

Second Division play-offs

Second Division maps

Third Division

Third Division results

Third Division play-offs

Third Division maps

Fourth Division

Fourth Division results

Fourth Division play-offs

Fourth Division maps

See also

References