1990–91 Coventry City F.C. season

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Coventry City
1990–91 season
ChairmanJohn Poynton
ManagerJohn Sillett (until 14 November)
Terry Butcher (from 14 November)
StadiumHighfield Road
First Division16th
FA CupFourth round
League CupQuarter finals
Full Members CupSecond round
(Northern Area)
Player of the YearKevin Gallacher
Top goalscorerLeague: Gallacher (11)
All: Gallacher (16)
Highest home attendance22,731 vs Tottenham Hotspur
(26 Dec 1990, First Division)
Lowest home attendance6,193 vs Bolton Wanderers
(26 Sep 1990, League Cup)
Average home league attendance13,794

The 1990–91 season was Coventry City's 24th consecutive campaign in the Football League First Division, following their promotion from the Second Division in 1967. The club started the season with John Sillett in charge, three years after he and George Curtis had managed the club to victory in the 1986–87 FA Cup. Sillett left the club in November after a run of poor results, and was replaced by Terry Butcher who arrived as a player-manager from Rangers.

Coventry's league form in the season was a contrast between a solid home record and poor away form, as they recorded only one win away from Highfield Road. In the FA Cup they suffered a defeat to Southampton in the fourth round, but the highlight of the season was their run in the League Cup. They beat holders Nottingham Forest 5–4 in the fourth round, before losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the quarter-final.

Background[edit]

The 1990–91 season was Coventry City's 24th consecutive campaign in the Football League First Division, following their promotion from the Second Division in 1967.[1] The club had achieved its first major trophy a few seasons earlier, with victory in the 1986–87 FA Cup Final under the joint management of George Curtis and John Sillett,[2] and Sillett remained manager at the beginning of 1990–91. Their league form in the seasons following the cup win was solid with tenth, seventh,[3] and twelfth-place finishes,[1] although the 1989–90 season finished disappointingly as they won just one of their final nine games.[4] They failed to defend the FA Cup in 1987–88, exiting in the fourth round,[5] and they suffered one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history in 1989–90, as they lost 2–1 to non-league Sutton United in the third round.[6] They suffered another embarrassing FA Cup defeat the following season, this time to Third Division Northampton, but fared better in the League Cup, reaching the semi-final with a 5–0 win over Sunderland before losing to eventual winners Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.[4]

Sillett did not buy or sell very heavily in the summer of 1990, before the start of the season. Supporters were calling for a strong midfield player to be bought to bolster the team, but defender Andy Pearce was the only major signing, bought from Halesowen Town for £15,000. Greg Downs, who had been part of the Cup winning squad, moved to Birmingham City on a free transfer. Despite this lack of transfer activity and the poor finish to the previous season, Sillett was optimistic that the club could challenge for a top six finish or even the league title.[7]

Season summary[edit]

Football League First Division[edit]

The season started poorly, with a win against a struggling Everton side the only highlight of the opening games. Under pressure to change something, and with regulars Dean Emerson and Lloyd McGrath injured, Sillett signed players from Europe to add depth to the team. Winger Zoltán Csucsánszky came from Hungary for a trial, but sustained an injury in his first game, a friendly.[7] Uruguayan José Perdomo had more success, arriving on loan from Genoa and impressing Sillett in six games for Coventry. The club were unable to sign him permanently, however.[8]

Results did not improve significantly as the autumn progressed, and morale was poor. Star striker David Speedie was dropped from the team after a run of poor performances, and by November the club were in sixteenth position.[9] In November, the club announced that Sillett was leaving his post as manager. Historians do not know if he resigned or was sacked, although he was not working due to sickness at the time and had been planning to leave at the end of the season anyway. The club appointed Terry Butcher as Sillett's replacement.[8] Butcher was still an active player for Rangers at the time, and had been captain of the England team during their World Cup semi-final against West Germany in the summer, so he arrived as player–manager and the club had to pay a transfer fee of up to £450,000 for him. His first game, at home to Liverpool, ended in a defeat.[10]

Despite success in the League Cup, Butcher had to wait more than a month before the club won a league game under his management and supporters feared that the club would be dragged into a relegation battle. Butcher bought Ray Woods from Wigan Athletic, but was forced to sell the promising young players Steve Livingstone and Tony Dobson, who both left for Blackburn Rovers. Speedie was also sold, moving to Liverpool for £675,000, following a series of sub-par performances and a poor relationship with Butcher. Butcher then signed Kenny Sansom and Stewart Robson, and the club began to record some better results,[11] recording home wins against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea, amongst others. By mid-April, with three games remaining, Coventry had moved up to ninth place in the table, but two defeats from their last three games, including a 6–1 defeat at champions Arsenal in the final game, saw them finish in sixteenth.[9]

The league season had been a contrast between excellent form at Highfield Road, where the side won ten of nineteen games and were unbeaten after the November defeat to Liverpool, and a poor away record with just one win,[11] at Sheffield United early in the season.[9] The player of the year was Kevin Gallacher, who scored eleven league goals.[12] As a player, Terry Butcher had only started seven games, six in the league, as a result of injury. Cyrille Regis played well throughout the season, but did not score heavily and was released by Coventry at the end of the season, moving to rivals Aston Villa F.C.[11]

FA Cup[edit]

Following defeats to lower-division and non-league opposition in the previous two seasons, Coventry faced the possibility of another upset in the third round against Wigan Athletic.[8] Wigan had some future top-flight players in their team including Peter Atherton, who later signed for Coventry, but were having a poor season, being in seventeenth place in Division Three. The first match, played at Highfield Road on 5 January 1991, ended in a 1–1 draw as Micky Gynn's opener in the 66th minute was cancelled out by a last minute equaliser by Wigan's Darren Patterson.[13] The replay at Springfield Park was four days later and was won 1–0 by Coventry courtesy of another Gynn goal.[14]

In the fourth round in late January, a few days after their defeat in the League Cup quarter final, City again drew 1–1 at home against Southampton with Alan Shearer equalising after Brian Kilcline's opener.[15] In the replay at The Dell City had eight players out through injury,[11] and lost Steve Ogrizovic after 24 minutes. Southampton went on to win 2–0.[15]

Football League Cup[edit]

After reaching the semi-final in the 1989–90 season,[16] Coventry again performed well in the 1990–91 Football League Cup, also known as the Rumbelow's Cup. The campaign began in September with a two-legged second-round tie against Bolton Wanderers, in which City won both their home and away games by scores of 4–2 and 3–2 respectively. In the third round, on 31 October, they played at home to Hull City. The visitors dominated the first half but were unable to score, and then suffered the set-back of losing former Coventry player Dave Bamber. Coventry improved after half-time, and won the game 3–0 with goals from Speedie, Livingstone and Regis.[15]

In the fourth round on 28 November,[15] Coventry faced Nottingham Forest, in Butcher's third match as manager. Forest had won the tournament in both of the previous two seasons, beating City on each occasion, and started the match as favourites. After 35 minutes, Coventry had moved into a 4–0 lead with Gallacher claiming a hat-trick and Steve Livingstone also scoring. Forest responded, however, and Nigel Clough, son of manager Brian Clough, stunned Highfield Road with a hat-trick of his own, scored in just seven minutes and leaving the score 4–3 at half time.[17] Forest levelled the match through a Garry Parker goal after half-time, but Livingstone's goal with half an hour remaining won the game for Coventry by a 5–4 scoreline.[18]

City had to wait almost two months for their next match in the competition, the quarter-final tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday of the Second Division. Coventry created few chances in the game, with player-manager Terry Butcher sustaining an injury as well, and Nigel Pearson's 9th-minute goal was enough to win the tie for Sheffield Wednesday.[15]

Final league table[edit]

Main article: 1990–91 Football League
Pos Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts
1 Arsenal 38 24 13 1 74 18 +56 83
2 Liverpool 38 23 7 8 77 40 +37 76
3 Crystal Palace 38 20 9 9 50 41 +9 69
4 Leeds United 38 19 7 12 65 47 +18 64
5 Manchester City 38 17 11 10 64 53 +11 62
6 Manchester United 38 16 12 10 58 45 +13 59
7 Wimbledon 38 14 14 10 53 46 +7 56
8 Nottingham Forest 38 14 12 12 65 50 +15 54
9 Everton 38 13 12 13 50 46 +4 51
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 11 16 11 51 50 +1 49
11 Chelsea 38 13 10 15 58 69 – 11 49
12 Queens Park Rangers 38 12 10 16 44 53 – 9 46
13 Sheffield United 38 13 7 18 36 55 – 19 46
14 Southampton 38 12 9 17 58 69 – 11 45
15 Norwich City 38 13 6 19 41 64 – 23 45
16 Coventry City 38 11 11 16 42 49 – 7 44
17 Aston Villa 38 9 14 15 46 58 – 12 41
18 Luton Town 38 10 7 21 42 61 – 19 37
19 Sunderland 38 8 10 20 38 60 – 22 34
20 Derby County 38 5 9 24 37 75 – 38 24
  • Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
  • Arsenal deducted two points; Manchester United deducted one point due to a brawl in a game between both teams.

Source: "Coventry City 1990-1991". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

Results summary
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
38 11 11 16 42 49  −7 44 10 6 3 30 16  +14 1 5 13 12 33  −21

Source: "Coventry City 1990-1991". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHA
ResultLWDLDLWLLWLDLDLLDLWWDLWLDWLWLWDWDDWLDL
Position1987111517121416121614151617181818161616161515161617141615151211119141416
Source: "Coventry City results for the 1990-1991 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results[edit]

Coventry City's score comes first[9]

Legend[edit]

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division[edit]

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
25 August 1990 Manchester United A 0–2 46,715
29 August 1990 Everton H 3–1 12,902 Dobson, Gallacher, Speedie
1 September 1990 Nottingham Forest H 2–2 12,630 Borrows (pen), Kilcline (pen)
8 September 1990 Aston Villa A 1–2 27,001 Borrows
15 September 1990 Wimbledon H 0–0 8,925
22 September 1990 Luton Town A 0–1 8,336
29 September 1990 Queens Park Rangers H 3–1 9,897 Livingstone (2), Gynn
6 October 1990 Manchester City A 0–2 26,198
20 October 1990 Southampton H 1–2 10,040 Borrows (pen)
27 October 1990 Sheffield United A 1–0 17,978 Borrows (pen)
3 November 1990 Arsenal H 0–2 15,336
10 November 1990 Sunderland A 0–0 20,101
17 November 1990 Liverpool H 0–1 22,571
24 November 1990 Leeds United H 1–1 16,183 Gallacher
1 December 1990 Crystal Palace A 1–2 17,052 Regis
8 December 1990 Everton A 0–1 17,472
15 December 1990 Manchester United H 2–2 17,106 Regis, Gallacher
22 December 1990 Chelsea A 1–2 16,317 Gallacher
26 December 1990 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–0 22,731 Gynn, Gallacher
29 December 1990 Norwich City H 2–0 12,039 Borrows (pen), Speedie
1 January 1991 Derby County A 1–1 15,741 Regis
12 January 1991 Nottingham Forest A 0–3 18,344
19 January 1991 Aston Villa H 2–1 15,751 Gynn, Speedie
2 February 1991 Wimbledon A 0–1 4,061
23 February 1991 Sunderland H 0–0 10,453
2 March 1991 Crystal Palace H 3–1 10,891 Kilcline (2), Peake
9 March 1991 Leeds United A 0–2 28,880
13 March 1991 Luton Town H 2–1 9,725 Borrows (pen), Pearce
16 March 1991 Queens Park Rangers A 0–1 9,510
23 March 1991 Manchester City H 3–1 13,198 Regis, Gynn, Gallacher
30 March 1991 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–2 29,033 Smith, Gallacher
1 April 1991 Chelsea H 1–0 14,272 Gynn
6 April 1991 Norwich City A 2–2 11,550 Gynn, Gallacher
9 April 1991 Liverpool A 1–1 31,063 Gynn
13 April 1991 Derby County H 3–0 11,961 Gallacher (2), Woods
20 April 1991 Southampton A 1–2 15,461 Gynn
4 May 1991 Sheffield United H 0–0 17,254
11 May 1991 Arsenal A 1–6 41,039 Gallacher

FA Cup[edit]

Main article: 1990-91 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 5 January 1991 Wigan Athletic H 1–1 10,802 Gynn
R3R 9 January 1991 Wigan Athletic A 1–0 7,429 Gynn
R4 26 January 1991 Southampton H 1–1 14,013 Kilcline
R4R 29 January 1991 Southampton A 0–2 17,001

League Cup[edit]

Main article: 1990-91 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg 26 September 1990 Bolton Wanderers H 4–2 6,193 Livingstone (2), Gynn, Gallacher
R2 2nd Leg 9 October 1990 Bolton Wanderers A 3–2 (won 7–4 on agg) 5,222 Regis (2), Gallacher
R3 31 October 1990 Hull City H 3–0 7,708 Regis, Livingstone, Speedie
R4 28 November 1990 Nottingham Forest H 5–4 16,304 Livingstone (2), Gallacher (3)
QF 23 January 1991 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–1 20,712

Full Members Cup[edit]

Main article: 1990-91 Full Members Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
NR2 19 December 1990 Derby County A 0–1 7,270

Players[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

[19] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Tim Clarke
— GK England ENG Steve Ogrizovic
— GK England ENG Steve Sutton (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
— GK England ENG Keith Waugh
— DF England ENG Peter Billing
— DF England ENG Martyn Booty
— DF England ENG Brian Borrows
— DF England ENG Terry Butcher[notes 1] (player-manager)
— DF England ENG Tony Dobson
— DF England ENG Paul Edwards
— DF England ENG Brian Kilcline
— DF England ENG Trevor Peake
— DF England ENG Andy Pearce
— DF England ENG Kenny Sansom
— DF England ENG David Titterton
— MF England ENG Howard Clark
— MF England ENG Dean Emerson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF England ENG Terry Fleming
— MF England ENG Micky Gynn
— MF England ENG Lee Hurst
— MF Scotland SCO Kevin MacDonald
— MF England ENG Lloyd McGrath
— MF England ENG Craig Middleton
— MF Uruguay URU José Perdomo
— MF England ENG Stewart Robson
— MF England ENG David Smith
— MF England ENG Keith Thompson
— MF England ENG Ray Woods
— FW England ENG Kevin Drinkell
— FW Scotland SCO Kevin Gallacher
— FW England ENG Steve Livingstone
— FW England ENG Cyrille Regis[notes 2]
— FW England ENG Robert Rosario
— FW Scotland SCO David Speedie

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

Date Pos Name From Fee
22 October 1990 GK England Tim Clarke England Halesowen Town £25,000
30 January 1991 FW England Ray Woods England Wigan Athletic £200,000

Source:[20]

Out[edit]

Date Pos Name To Fee
1 July 1990 GK England Dean Kiely[notes 3] England York City Signed
3 August 1990 DF England Greg Downs England Birmingham City Transfer
17 January 1991 FW England Steve Livingstone England Blackburn Rovers £450,000
17 January 1991 DF England Tony Dobson England Blackburn Rovers £300,000
January 1991 FW Scotland David Speedie England Liverpool £650,000

Source:[21][7][11]

Transfers in: Decrease £225,000
Transfers out: Increase £750,000
Total spending: Increase £525,000

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Brown 1998, p. 161.
  2. ^ Andy Turner (16 May 2019). "Coventry City's 1987 FA Cup final victory over Tottenham Hotspur 32 years on". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ Brassington 1989, p. 125.
  4. ^ a b Brown 1998, pp. 116–118.
  5. ^ Brown 1998, p. 108.
  6. ^ Paul Campbell (3 January 2014). "From the Vault: Sutton United knock Coventry City out of the FA Cup in 1989". The Guardian.
  7. ^ a b c Brown 1998, p. 121.
  8. ^ a b c Brown 1998, p. 122.
  9. ^ a b c d "Coventry City results for the 1990-1991 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. ^ "SUPREMOS: A look at the career of Terry Butcher". Coventry City F.C. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e Brown 1998, p. 123.
  12. ^ Brown 1998, p. 307.
  13. ^ John Patrick Heeley. "1990-1991 - Coventry City 1 Wigan Athletic 1". Cockney Latic. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Wigan Athletic v Coventry City, 09 January 1991". 11v11. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e Brown 1998, p. 306.
  16. ^ Brown 1998, p. 300.
  17. ^ Aidan McCartney (28 November 2014). "Flashback: Coventry City's famous 5-4 League Cup victory over Nottingham Forest on this day in 1990". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  18. ^ Brown 1998, p. 124.
  19. ^ "All Coventry City players: 1991". 11v11.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Premier and Football League transfers - Coventry City 1991". 11v11. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Premier and Football League transfers - Coventry City 1991". 11v11. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Butcher was born in Singapore, but was raised in England and represented England at U-21 level before making his international debut for England in May 1980.
  2. ^ Regis was born in Maripasoula, French Guiana, but was raised in England from the age of 4 and represented England at U-21 and B level before making his international debut for England in February 1982.
  3. ^ Kiely was born in Salford, England, and represented England at U-15, U-16, and U-18 level, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented the Republic of Ireland at B level before making his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in November 1999.

References[edit]

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