The 1890–91 season was the 20th season of competitive

football in England Association football, Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first footba ...

Events

Everton started the 1890–91 season in superb form with five straight victories, with Fred Geary scoring in each of the first six matches. By mid-January, Everton had completed all but one of their fixtures and were on 29 points, while Preston North End were eleven points adrift with seven games still to play. Everton then had to sit out the next two months as Preston completed their fixture list until they were only two points adrift with one match each left to play. Both teams played their final games of the season on 14 March, with Everton losing 3–2 at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

(Geary scored both Everton goals) and Preston going down 3–0 at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Everton were thus able to win the Football League Championship for the first time, by a margin of two points with fourteen victories from their 22 league games.

National team

In the 1891 British Home Championship, for the second time

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

played matches against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on the same day, 7 March 1891, winning both comfortably.

Wales

England awarded six new caps for the Welsh game, including the Everton left wing pairing of

Edgar Chadwick Edgar Wallace Chadwick (14 June 1869 – 14 February 1942) was a left-sided association football, footballer who had a long and distinguished career with Everton F.C., Everton during the 1890s. He was also the national coach for the Netherlan ...

and Alf Milward. For three of the débutantes, Leonard Wilkinson (goalkeeper) of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Thomas Porteous Gabriel Thomas Porteous Jr. (December 15, 1946 – November 14, 2021) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He served for sixteen years before being impeached and remove ...

and Elphinstone Jackson of

, this was their single England appearance. The final débutante was Albert Smith of

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, who made the first of 3 appearances at right-half.

Ireland

For the Irish match, for which England selected a predominantly Midlands based team, another five players made their debut, of which Joseph Marsden of

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and Jem Bayliss of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

(both defenders) were not selected again. The other débutantes were Alf Underwood of Stoke at left-back, George Cotterill of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, who made the first of 4 appearances at centre-forward (scoring on his debut) and fellow forward Arthur Henfrey ( Corinthian) (who also scored on his debut). This was also Tinsley Lindley's final England appearance, which he marked by scoring 2 goals, as England were comfortable 6–1 victors.

Scotland

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

also beat Wales and Ireland, so, once again, the England v. Scotland match, played at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

on 6 April 1891, was the championship decider. England selected an experienced team including four players from the Everton side who had recently won

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

championship, although, rather surprisingly considering the venue, no players were selected from the Blackburn Rovers side who had won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in the final on 21 March. England took an early lead and were 2–0 up at half time and, although Scotland pulled a goal back through Frank Watt late in the game, England managed to hang on in a close game to clinch victory and the championship. * England score given first Key * H = Home match * BHC = British Home Championship

League tables

The Football League

The Football Alliance

References

External links

Details of England v Wales gameDetails of England v Ireland gameDetails of England v Scotland game
{{DEFAULTSORT:1890-91 in English football