1990–91 Birmingham City F.C. season

Birmingham City F.C.
1990–91 season
ChairmanSamesh Kumar
Manager
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Third Division12th
FA CupSecond round
(eliminated by Brentford)
League CupFirst round
(eliminated by AFC Bournemouth)
Associate Members' CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: John Gayle
Nigel Gleghorn
Simon Sturridge (6)
All: John Gayle
Simon Sturridge (10)
Highest home attendance16,219 vs Brentford, Associate Members' Cup Southern Final, 26 March 1991
Lowest home attendance2,922 vs Lincoln City, Associate Members' Cup prelim round, 27 November 1990
Average home league attendance7,030

The 1990–91 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 88th in the Football League and their second in the Third Division. They finished in 12th position in the 24-team division, their lowest finish ever in the Football League. They entered the 1990–91 FA Cup in the first round proper and lost to Brentford in the second, and entered at and lost in the first round of the League Cup, beaten over two legs by AFC Bournemouth. They won the Associate Members' Cup, a cup competition open to clubs in the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system, defeating Tranmere Rovers 3–2 in the final at Wembley Stadium with goals from Simon Sturridge and two from John Gayle.

Off the field, Dave Mackay resigned as manager in January 1991, to be replaced by Lou Macari on a non-contract basis. With the club in financial difficulties, Macari and his staff walked out of the club in June to join Stoke City.

When I took over the Birmingham job without any contract, things were so bad the chairman asked me to raise £250,000 by the end of the season. It looked impossible, but the revenue was delivered with the great run in the Leyland Daf. It's no secret that, if we hadn't got to Wembley, Birmingham would have been in financial trouble and might have gone under.[1]

Many of the playing staff were out of contract and reluctant to renew, and an action group was formed to try to remove the chairman.[2]

Football League Third Division

[edit]
Main article: 1990–91 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
25 August 1990 9th Cambridge United A W 1–0 Gleghorn 6,338
1 September 1990 3rd Leyton Orient H W 3–1 Bailey, Hopkins, Moran 5,847
8 September 1990 2nd Stoke City A W 1–0 Gleghorn 16,135
15 September 1990 2nd Bury H W 1–0 Peer 7,344
18 September 1990 3rd Exeter City H D 1–1 Bailey 7,703
22 September 1990 3rd Wigan Athletic A D 1–1 Tait 3,904
29 September 1990 3rd Preston North End H D 1–1 Bailey 7,154
2 October 1990 4th Fulham A D 2–2 Matthewson, Overson 4,011
6 October 1990 5th Reading A D 2–2 Matthewson, Sturridge 5,695
13 October 1990 5th Southend United H D 1–1 Sturridge 9,333
20 October 1990 4th Grimsby Town H D 0–0 10,123
23 October 1990 5th Crewe Alexandra A D 1–1 Gleghorn 4,449
27 October 1990 7th Shrewsbury Town A L 1–4 Bailey 6,150
3 November 1990 11th Huddersfield Town H L 1–2 Tait 7,412
10 November 1990 8th Chester City A W 1–0 Hopkins 2,273
24 November 1990 10th AFC Bournemouth H D 0–0 7,416
1 December 1990 14th Swansea City A L 0–2 4,896
15 December 1990 11th Rotherham United H W 2–1 Tait, Overson 4,734
21 December 1990 12th Tranmere Rovers A L 0–1 5,054
26 December 1990 15th Brentford H L 0–2 6,612
29 December 1990 16th Bolton Wanderers H L 1–3 Bailey 7,318
1 January 1990 15th Mansfield Town A W 2–1 Gayle 2 3,654
5 January 1991 14th Bradford City H D 1–1 Frain pen 6,315
12 January 1991 14th Leyton Orient A D 1–1 Sturridge 4,701
19 January 1991 15th Cambridge United H L 0–3 5,859
26 January 1991 14th Bury A W 1–0 Sturridge 3,009
2 February 1991 12th Exeter City A W 2–0 Gayle 2 5,154
5 February 1991 11th Wigan Athletic H D 0–0 5,319
13 February 1991 13th Bradford City A L 0–2 4,776
16 February 1991 10th AFC Bournemouth A W 2–1 Sturridge, Mundee og 6,330
23 February 1991 8th Chester City H W 1–0 Dolan 6,702
2 March 1991 6th Swansea City H W 2–0 Sturridge, Rodgerson 6,903
9 March 1991 8th Rotherham United A D 1–1 Frain pen 5,028
12 March 1991 7th Fulham H W 2–0 Peer, Gleghorn 8,083
16 March 1991 10th Preston North End A L 0–2 5,334
18 March 1991 10th Southend United A L 1–2 Gleghorn 6,328
23 March 1991 11th Reading H D 1–1 Rodgerson 6,795
30 March 1991 12th Brentford A D 2–2 Frain, Gleghorn 6,757
2 April 1991 10th Tranmere Rovers H W 1–0 Yates 7,675
7 April 1991 12th Bolton Wanderers A L 1–3 Gayle 11,280
13 April 1991 12th Mansfield Town H D 0–0 7,635
16 April 1991 11th Stoke City H W 2–1 Matthewson, Hopkins 6,729
20 April 1991 11th Grimsby Town A D 0–0 8,842
27 April 1991 11th Crewe Alexandra H L 0–2 6,429
4 May 1991 13th Shrewsbury Town H L 0–1 6,256
11 May 1991 12th Huddersfield Town A W 1–0 Gayle 5,195

League table (part)

[edit]
Final Third Division table (part)[3]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
10th Wigan Athletic 46 20 9 17 71 54 +17 69
11th Huddersfield Town 46 18 13 15 57 51 +6 67
12th Birmingham City 46 16 17 13 45 49 −4 65
13th Leyton Orient 46 18 10 18 55 58 −3 64
14th Stoke City 46 16 12 18 55 59 −4 60

Results summary

[edit]
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
46 16 17 13 45 49  −4 65 8 9 6 21 21  0 8 8 7 24 28  −4

Source: [4]

FA Cup

[edit]
Main article: 1990–91 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
First round 17 November 1990 Cheltenham Town H W 1–0 Sturridge 7,942
Second round 12 December 1990 Brentford H L 1–3 Aylott 5,072

League Cup

[edit]
Main article: 1990–91 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
First round 1st leg 28 August 1990 AFC Bournemouth H L 0–1 5,110
First round 2nd leg 4 September 1990 AFC Bournemouth A D 1–1 Downs pen 4,490

Associate Members' Cup

[edit]
Main articles: 1990–91 Associate Members' Cup and 1991 Associate Members' Cup Final
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Preliminary round 6 November 1990 Walsall A W 1–0 Skipper og 5,053
Preliminary round 27 November 1990 Lincoln City H W 2–0 Clarke og, Sturridge 2,922
First round 18 February 1991 Swansea City H D 0–0
4–2 pens		 3,555
Southern area quarter-final 26 February 1991 Mansfield Town H W 2–0 Matthewson, Gayle 5,358
Southern area semi-final 5 March 1991 Cambridge United H W 3–1 Peer, Gleghorn, Overson 9,429
Southern area final 1st leg 26 March 1991 Brentford H W 2–1 Rodgerson, Gayle 16,219
Southern area final 2nd leg 9 April 1991 Brentford A W 1–0 Sturridge 8,745
Final 26 May 1991 Tranmere Rovers Wembley W 3–2 Sturridge, Gayle 2 58,756

Appearances and goals

[edit]
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Associate Members' Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  WAL Martin Thomas 45 0 1 0 2 0 8 0 56 0
GK  ENG Dean Williams 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
DF  ENG Kevin Ashley † 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 0
DF  ENG Ian Clarkson 34 (3) 0 1 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 42 (4) 0
DF  ENG Greg Downs 16 (1) 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 22 (1) 1
DF  ENG Trevor Matthewson 46 3 2 0 2 0 8 1 58 4
DF  ENG Gary O'Reilly * 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF  ENG Vince Overson 40 2 2 0 1 0 8 1 51 3
DF  ENG Ian Rodgerson 25 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 29 3
MF  SCO Dougie Bell 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF  IRL Eamonn Dolan 5 (5) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 7 (5) 1
MF  ENG John Frain 42 3 2 0 2 0 8 0 54 3
MF  ENG Matthew Fox 9 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 (2) 0
MF  ENG Andy Harris 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0
MF  ENG Robert Hopkins 18 (5) 3 2 1 2 0 1 0 23 (5) 4
MF  ENG Dean Peer 37 (3) 2 2 0 2 0 8 1 49 (3) 3
MF  ENG Mark Rutherford 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (2) 0
MF  ENG Paul Tait 17 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 21 3
FW  ENG Trevor Aylott 23 (2) 0 0 (1) 1 0 0 4 (1) 0 27 (4) 1
FW  ENG Dennis Bailey 25 (7) 5 2 0 2 0 1 (3) 0 30 (10) 5
FW  ENG Sean Francis 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (3) 0
FW  ENG John Gayle 20 (2) 6 1 0 0 0 5 (1) 4 26 (3) 10
FW  ENG Nigel Gleghorn 42 6 2 0 2 0 8 1 54 7
FW  ENG Colin Gordon 3 (2) 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (3) 0
FW  ENG Richie Moran 2 (6) 1 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 2 (7) 1
FW  ENG Phil Robinson * 9 01 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0 11 (1) 0
FW  ENG Simon Sturridge 33 (5) 6 2 1 0 (2) 0 8 3 43 (7) 10
FW  ENG Mark Yates 8 (1) 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 11 (1) 1

See also

[edit]

Sources

[edit]
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • For match dates, league positions and results: "Birmingham City 1990–1991: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  • For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 416–17, 480.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ambitious Macari appointed by Stoke". The Times. 19 June 1991. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  2. ^ Matthews (1995), Complete Record, p. 48.
  3. ^ "English Division Three (old) 1990–1991 : Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Birmingham City league performance history". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 30 May 2024. Select content required via dropdown menus.
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