1990–91 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

1990–91 season
1990–91 season
Chairman	Dave Richards
Manager	Ron Atkinson
Stadium	Hillsborough
Second Division	3rd
FA Cup	Fifth round
Rumbelows Cup	Winners
ZDS Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: David Hirst (24); All: David Hirst (32)
Highest home attendance	34,845 v Oldham Athletic, Second Division, 3 November 1990
Lowest home attendance	5942 v Barnsley, ZDS Cup, 18 December 1990
Average home league attendance	26,605
	← 1989–90 1991–92 →
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During the 1990–91 English football season, Sheffield Wednesday F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division, following relegation from the First Division the previous season. They finished third to make an immediate return to the top flight and also won the League Cup (then known as the Rumbelows Cup for sponsorship reasons).

Season summary

Wednesday began the season strongly with four straight wins and remained unbeaten until their 13th league match. Although they never dropped below fourth in the table, a run of three straight defeats in March and April threatened to derail their progress, but they recovered to clinch promotion with a 3–1 win over Bristol City at Hillsborough in the penultimate match of the season.

A 4–0 humbling at Cambridge United put paid to Wednesday's FA Cup hopes in the fifth round, but their Rumbelows Cup campaign proved considerably more successful. Having already disposed of three First Division sides (Derby County, Coventry City and Chelsea) en route to the final, they beat Manchester United by a John Sheridan goal to claim their first major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 1935.

Squad

Players who made one appearance or more for Sheffield Wednesday F.C. during the 1990-91 season

Pos.	Name	League		Rumbelows Cup		ZDS Cup		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Kevin Pressman	23	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	30	0
GK	Chris Turner	23	0	4	0	0	0	4	0	31	0
DF	Viv Anderson	21(1)	2	0	0	0	0	3	1	24(1)	3
DF	Phil King	43	0	9	0	0	0	4	0	56	0
DF	Lawrie Madden	1(4)	0	2(2)	0	0	0	0	0	3(6)	0
DF	Jon Newsome	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Roland Nilsson	22	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
DF	Nigel Pearson	39	6	9	5	1	0	4	1	53	12
DF	Peter Shirtliff	39	2	10	1	1	0	4	1	54	4
MF	John Harkes	22(1)	2	7	1	1	0	3(1)	0	33(2)	3
MF	Steve McCall	13(6)	2	2(3)	0	0(1)	0	1	0	15(10)	2
MF	Steve MacKenzie	5(7)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5(7)	2
MF	Carlton Palmer	45	2	9	0	1	0	4	1	59	3
MF	John Sheridan	45(1)	10	9	1	1	0	4	1	59(1)	12
MF	Danny Wilson	35(1)	6	10	1	1	0	2	0	48(1)	7
MF	Nigel Worthington	31(2)	1	10	0	1	0	3	0	45(2)	1
FW	Trevor Francis	18(20)	4	5(1)	1	1	0	2(1)	1	26(22)	6
FW	David Hirst	39(2)	24	9	3	1	3	4	2	53(2)	32
FW	Gordon Watson	1(4)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1(4)	0
FW	Steve Whitton	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
FW	Paul Williams	40(6)	15	7(3)	2	1	0	2(2)	0	50(11)	17

^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Oldham Athletic (C, P)	46	25	13	8	83	53	+30	88	Promotion to the First Division
2	West Ham United (P)	46	24	15	7	60	34	+26	87
3	Sheffield Wednesday (P)	46	22	16	8	80	51	+29	82
4	Notts County (O, P)	46	23	11	12	76	55	+21	80	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
5	Millwall	46	20	13	13	70	51	+19	73	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
25 August 1990	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	Williams, Shirtliff	17,284
1 September 1990	Hull City	H	5–1	Hirst (4), Williams	23,673
8 September 1990	Charlton Athletic	A	1–0	Sheridan	7407
15 September 1990	Watford	H	2–0	Pearson, Worthington	22,061
18 September 1990	Newcastle United	H	2–2	Hirst, McCall	30,628
22 September 1990	Leicester City	A	4–2	Hirst (2), Wilson, Williams	16,156
29 September 1990	West Ham United	H	1–1	Hirst	28,786
3 October 1990	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	4–0	Wilson, Sheridan, Williams, Pearson	10,379
6 October 1990	Bristol Rovers	A	1–0	Francis	6413
13 October 1990	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–0	Wilson, Sheridan (2)	23,489
20 October 1990	Port Vale	H	1–1	Williams	24,527
23 October 1990	Barnsley	A	1–1	Palmer	23,079
27 October 1990	Millwall	A	2–4	Hirst (2)	12,863
3 November 1990	Oldham Athletic	H	2–2	Sheridan (2 pens.)	34,845
10 November 1990	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1		13,437
17 November 1990	Swindon Town	H	2–1	Williams, Pearson	22,715
24 November 1990	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	Francis, Shirtliff	16,546
1 December 1990	Notts County	H	2–2	Sheridan (pen.), Hirst	23,474
8 December 1990	Bristol City	A	1–1	Wilson	11,254
15 December 1990	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	Francis, Pearson	19,333
22 December 1990	Oxford United	A	2–2	Hirst, Wilson	6061
26 December 1990	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–2	McCall, Palmer	29,686
29 December 1990	Portsmouth	H	2–1	Hirst (2)	22,885
1 January 1991	Middlesbrough	A	2–0	Hirst, Williams	22,869
12 January 1991	Hull City	A	1–0	Williams	10,907
19 January 1991	Charlton Athletic	H	0–0		22,318
2 February 1991	Watford	A	2–2	Harkes, Williams	10,338
19 February 1991	Swindon Town	A	1–2	Hirst	8274
2 March 1991	Notts County	A	2–0	Williams, Thomas (o.g.)	15,546
9 March 1991	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	Sheridan (pen.)	26,934
13 March 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–1	Anderson	23,969
16 March 1991	West Ham United	A	3–1	Hirst, Williams (2)	26,182
19 March 1991	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–1	MacKenzie	7806
23 March 1991	Bristol Rovers	H	2–1	Clark (o.g.), Williams	25,074
30 March 1991	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–3	Pearson (2)	18,011
1 April 1991	Oxford United	H	0–2		28,682
6 April 1991	Portsmouth	A	0–2		10,390
10 April 1991	Blackburn Rovers	H	3–1	Anderson, Sheridan (2; 1 pen.)	23,139
13 April 1991	Middlesbrough	H	2–0	Williams (2)	30,598
17 April 1991	Newcastle United	A	0–1		18,330
24 April 1991	Leicester City	H	0–0		31,308
27 April 1991	Barnsley	H	3–1	Hirst, Harkes, MacKenzie	30,693
4 May 1991	Millwall	H	2–1	Hirst (2)	30,278
6 May 1991	Port Vale	A	1–1	Hirst	13,317
8 May 1991	Bristol City	H	3–1	Hirst (2), Francis	31,706
11 May 1991	Oldham Athletic	A	2–3	Hirst, Wilson	18,809

^[2]

Rumbelows Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Attendance
2(1L)	26 September 1990	Brentford	H	2–1	Hirst, Pearson	11,207
2(2L)	9 October 1990	Brentford	A	2–1	Francis, Pearson	8227
3	31 October 1990	Swindon Town	H	0–0		13,900
3(R)	6 November 1990	Swindon Town	A	1–0	Pearson	9043
4	28 November 1990	Derby County	H	1–1	Hirst	25,649
4(R)	12 December 1990	Derby County	A	2–1	Harkes, Williams	17,050
5	23 January 1991	Coventry City	A	1–0	Pearson	20,712
SF(1L)	24 February 1991	Chelsea	A	2–0	Shirtliff, Hirst	34,074
SF(2L)	27 February 1991	Chelsea	H	3–1	Pearson, Wilson, Williams	34,669
F	21 April 1991	Manchester United	N	1–0	Sheridan	80,000

^[3]

ZDS Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Attendance
2	18 December 1990	Barnsley	H	3–3 (AET - 2–4 pens.)	Hirst (3)	5942

^[4]

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Attendance
3	5 January 1991	Mansfield Town	A	2–0	Shirtliff, Sheridan (pen.)	9076
4	26 January 1991	Millwall	A	4–4	Hirst, Francis, Pearson, Palmer	13,663
4(R)	30 January 1991	Millwall	H	2–0	Anderson, Hirst	25,140
5	16 February 1991	Cambridge United	A	0–4		9624

^[5]

References

^ Rothmans 1991-92, p. 463
^ Rothmans 1991-92, p. 462
^ Rothmans 1991-92, pp. 620–625
^ Rothmans 1991-92, p. 629
^ Rothmans 1991-92, pp. 649–653

Bibliography

Rothmans Football Yearbook 1991-92 (Editor: Jack Rollin). Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0356-20164-3.

Notes

[9091squad-1] Rothmans 1991-92, p. 463

[9091leagueresults-2] Rothmans 1991-92, p. 462

[9091leaguecupresults-3] Rothmans 1991-92, pp. 620–625

[9091zdscupresults-4] Rothmans 1991-92, p. 629

[9091facupresults-5] Rothmans 1991-92, pp. 649–653

[1]

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[5]

v t e Sheffield Wednesday F.C. seasons
1867–68
1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
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1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
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2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

1990–91 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

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1990–91 Sheffield Wednesday F.C. season

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