The 1990–91 season is the 109th season in existence of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, and their 13th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, the club participated in the FA Cup and the Football League Cup. Entering the 1990–91 season, Terry Venables stayed on as manager for his fourth season in charge of Tottenham with the team ending in tenth position. They won a record eighth FA Cup, beating Nottingham Forest in the final and they got knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Football League Cup by Chelsea.
Season summary Tottenham's league form was average at best: having stood in third place after 17 games, the club won only three of their next 21 league matches, slumping to tenth place in the final table. The club had better luck in the FA Cup: after defeating London arch-rivals (and that season's eventual champions) Arsenal in the semi-final, they defeated Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final. As well as giving Tottenham their first post-Heysel European campaign (in the Cup Winners' Cup) and ending the club's seven-year trophy drought, the FA Cup win made Tottenham the first club to win the trophy eight times, although this record has since been surpassed by Arsenal and Manchester United.
The only downside of the FA Cup triumph was an injury to star midfielder Paul Gascoigne, who ruptured his cruciate ligaments in a tackle on Forest fullback Gary Charles early in the first half. The injury would put his transfer to Italian side Lazio on hold until the 1992–93 season. Gascoigne had earlier scored a tremendous free-kick in the 3–1 win against Arsenal in the semi-final (Gary Lineker scored Tottenham's other goals, with Arsenal's Alan Smith scoring Arsenal's goal).
Off the pitch the club were in danger of going into administration. With £20 million of debt (around £45 million equivalent in 2020) and shares in Tottenham Hotspur being suspended in the autumn of 1990, Irving Scholar resigned as chairman of the club. In June 1991, manager Terry Venables and businessman, Alan Sugar, took over the club with equal shares and Alan Sugar being made chairman.
Squad Squad at end of season
First-team squad
Reserve squad
Transfers
Loans out Date fromPositionNationalityPlayerToDate untilRef.24 August 1990GKKevin Dearden Peterborough United24 October 199031 August 1990GKIan Walker Oxford United15 November 199027 September 1990DFDavid McDonald Gillingham31 May 199125 October 1990DFTerry Fenwick Leicester City24 December 199016 November 1990GKIan Walker Ipswich TownMay 1991November 1990FWPhil Gray FulhamDecember 1990November 1990DFChris Hughton West Ham UnitedDecember 199010 January 1991GKKevin Dearden Hull City10 February 199128 March 1991DFBrian Statham Reading1 July 1991
Transfers in Date fromPositionNationalityNameFromFeeRef.1 July 1990DFJustin Edinburgh Southend United£150,00031 July 1990FWJohn Hendry Dundee£50,000
Transfers out Date fromPositionNationalityNameToFeeRef.24 July 1990DFJohn Polston Norwich City£300,00028 September 1990DFGuy Butters Portsmouth£375,00022 December 1990GKBobby Mimms Blackburn Rovers£250,00031 December 1990DFChris Hughton West Ham UnitedFree transfer
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Total: £200,000
Income Total: £925,000
Net totals Total: £725,000
Kit The FA Cup final saw Tottenham debut a longer style of shorts as part of their kit. Although the long shorts were ridiculed at first, within the decade all clubs in English football would have adopted the style.
Pre-season and friendlies
Pre-season
Mid-season
Post-season
Kirin Cup Soccer tournament
Competitions
Overview
First Division
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches
FA Cup
Football League Cup
Statistics Appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- ! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Pos. ! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:bottom; width:240px" | Name ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | First Division ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | FA Cup ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | League Cup ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | Total |- ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers |- | GK | align="left" | Erik Thorstvedt || 37 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 48 || 0 |- | GK | align="left" | Ian Walker || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 |- | GK | align="left" | Kevin Dearden || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders |- | DF | align="left" | Guðni Bergsson || 9+3 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 9+3 || 1 |- | DF | align="left" | Justin Edinburgh || 14+2 || 1 || 5 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 24+2 || 1 |- | DF | align="left" | Terry Fenwick || 4 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 8 || 0 |- | DF | align="left" | Ian Hendon || 0+2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+2 || 0 |- | DF | align="left" | Gary Mabbutt || 35 || 2 || 6 || 1 || 6 || 0 || 47 || 3 |- | DF | align="left" | Mitchell Thomas || 23+8 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 4+1 || 0 || 29+9 || 0 |- | DF | align="left" | Dave Tuttle || 4+2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 || 4+3 || 0 |- | DF | align="left" | Pat Van Den Hauwe || 31+1 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 38+1 || 0 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders |- | MF | align="left" | Peter Garland || 0+1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 |- | MF | align="left" | Paul Allen || 34+2 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 46+2 || 3 |- | MF | align="left" | Paul Gascoigne || 26 || 7 || 6 || 6 || 4+1 || 6 || 36+1 || 19 |- | MF | align="left" | David Howells || 29 || 4 || 4 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 39 || 4 |- | MF | align="left" | John Moncur || 4+5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1+1 || 0 || 5+6 || 0 |- | MF | align="left" | Nayim || 32+1 || 5 || 3+2 || 1 || 2+3 || 0 || 37+6 || 6 |- | MF | align="left" | Vinny Samways || 14+9 || 1 || 4+1 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 22+10 || 1 |- | MF | align="left" | Steve Sedgley || 33+1 || 0 || 4+1 || 0 || 4+2 || 0 || 41+4 || 0 |- | MF | align="left" | Paul Stewart || 35 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 6 || 4 || 46 || 9 |- ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards |- | FW | align="left" | Phil Gray || 3+3 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3+4 || 0 |- | FW | align="left" | John Hendry || 2+2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2+2 || 2 |- | FW | align="left" | Gary Lineker || 32 || 15 || 6 || 3 || 5 || 1 || 43 || 19 |- | FW | align="left" | Paul Moran || 0+1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1+1 || 0 |- | FW | align="left" | Paul Walsh || 16+13 || 7 || 1+3 || 0 || 3+3 || 0 || 20+19 || 7
Goal scorers
Player First Division FA Cup League Cup Total1 MF Paul Gascoigne 7 6 6 19 FW Gary Lineker 15 3 1 193 MF Paul Stewart 3 2 4 94 FW Paul Walsh 7 0 0 75 MF Nayim 5 1 0 66 MF David Howells 4 0 0 47 MF Paul Allen 3 0 0 3 DF Gary Mabbutt 2 1 0 39 FW John Hendry 2 0 0 210 DF Guðni Bergsson 1 0 0 1 DF Justin Edinburgh 1 0 0 1 MF Vinny Samways 1 0 0 1Total51131175
Clean sheets
PlayerFirst DivisionFA CupLeague CupTotal1 12 1 3 16Total121316
See also
1990-91 in English football List of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. seasons
References
External links