The 1990–91 season was

Arsenal Football Club The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional association football, football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of ...

's 93rd season of competitive football and 64th consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

. Arsenal finished the season as league champions for the second time in three seasons, losing just one of their 38 league games. They reached the semifinals of 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 ...

, losing to

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. Alan Smith was the top scorer in both the league and all competitions, winning the golden boot for the second time. Arsenal began the season with a 17-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, though it was not without drama. On 20 October, Arsenal faced

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the league. Although they won 1-0, the match resulted in a brawl after which Arsenal were deducted two points. Arsenal's unbeaten streak in all competitions came to an end with a 6-2 home loss to Manchester United in the League Cup. Arsenal didn't lose in the league until a 2-1 loss to Chelsea, their only loss of the season. Arsenal chased

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for the league title for most of the season before winning the championship with a 3-1 victory over United in the penultimate league game. Manager George Graham brought in several important new signings for the season, including goalkeeper

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country ...

, winger

Anders Limpar Anders Erik Limpár (; born 24 September 1965) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Limpar featured for the clubs IF Brommapojkarna, Young Boys, Cremonese, Arsenal, Everton, Birmingham City, AIK, Colorado Ra ...

, and defender

Andy Linighan Andrew Linighan (born 18 June 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1980 until 2000, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal and Crystal Palace. He also played in the Football League for Hartlepoo ...

Season summary

The season began with two major signings at Highbury. After more than a year of trying, Arsenal finally landed goalkeeper

from Queens Park Rangers before the start of the season. Seaman would go on to keep 29 clean sheets in 50 matches. Arsenal's previous first choice goalkeeper

John Lukic Jovan Lukic ( Serbian: Јован "Џон" Лукић, ''Jovan "Džon" Lukić''; born 11 December 1960) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper from 1978 to 2001 and spent his entire profession ...

was sold to newly promoted

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. Swedish winger

was signed from

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side Cremonese, quickly prompting the departure of two other players in the same position –

Brian Marwood Brian Marwood (born 5 February 1960) is an English former footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League and was capped once for England. He is City Football Group's managing director of global football. Club career Hull ...

and Martin Hayes. Manager

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Stroller", he made 455 appearances in England's Football League as a midfielder or forward for Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester Unite ...

also strengthened his defence with a move for

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

defender

, although Linighan was not a regular player in his first season at Highbury. Making their debuts this season were midfielder

David Hillier David Hillier (born 19 December 1969) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder from 1988 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal. He played in the Football League for Portsmouth, Bristol Rovers and B ...

and striker

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Brit ...

. Although Cole made just one appearance for Arsenal this season as a substitute, Hillier played 22 games in all competitions and picked up a league title medal. The season began with a 3–0 away win over

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, followed by a 2–1 home win over

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. This good form continued and by the end of October, Arsenal were unbeaten in the league, along with defending champions

and North London rivals

in what was beginning to look like a very exciting title race. Tottenham soon fell away in the league, however, and so for much of the season it appeared likely that it would be a two horse race for the title between Arsenal and Liverpool. On 20 October, Arsenal travelled to

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

for a league match with Manchester United, which they won 1–0, but the match was marred by a 21-player brawl which resulted in Arsenal being deducted two points and their opponents one point. Both clubs were fined £50,000. Arsenal's League Cup hopes ended on 28 November when they lost 6–2 at home to Manchester United in the fourth round, ending their 17-game undefeated streak in all competitions. Four days later however, Arsenal beat Liverpool 3–0 in the league at Highbury, ending the visiting side's unbeaten start to the league campaign, although they did not overtake Kenny Dalglish's men and go top of the league until the new year. On 19 December, the club was stunned when captain

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

was jailed for four months for following a car crash. Adams was released after two months behind bars, during which Arsenal suffered their only league defeat of the season – a 2–1 defeat at Chelsea in their 24th game. Before the end of the February, the title race was thrown into fresh uncertainty when Kenny Dalglish suddenly announced his resignation as manager of Liverpool, who were the only remaining serious threat to Arsenal's lead of the First Division.

Ronnie Moran Ronald Moran (28 February 1934 – 22 March 2017) was an English footballer who played as a left-back for Liverpool, also captaining the side. He later twice served as caretaker manager for Liverpool in the early 1990s. Having spent his entire ...

was placed in temporary charge until the arrival of

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

two months later, but by then Arsenal were looking all set for the league title. Arsenal had also been in contention for the double for the FA Cup, which would have made them the only team in English football to have won the double twice, but these hopes ended in the semi-final at

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, where they beaten 3–1 by Tottenham, who went on to win the trophy for a then-record eighth time. Confirmation of Arsenal's league title triumph finally came in their penultimate game of the season, on 6 May, when they triumphed 3–1 at home to Manchester United in a match where top scorer Alan Smith scored a hat-trick. Anders Limpar then scored a hat-trick in Arsenal's final fixture, a 6–1 victory over Coventry City at Highbury. Throughout the season, Arsenal had lost only one game and conceded just 18 goals in the league. Alan Smith was Arsenal's top scorer and won the golden boot for the second time in three years. The league victory also granted Arsenal entrance to European competition for the 1991/92 season, following the end of the five-year ban of English sides in European competition.

Pre-season and friendlies

Source:

Football League First Division

Classification

Round by round

Football League Cup

Arsenal entered the Football League Cup in the second round, where they were drawn against Chester City in a

two-legged tie In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

. Colour key: Green = Arsenal win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win. Arsenal score ordered first.

FA Cup

Colour key: Green = Arsenal win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win. Arsenal score ordered first.

Squad statistics

Arsenal used a total of 19 players during the 1990–91 season and there were nine different goalscorers. There were also two squad members who did not make a first-team appearance in the campaign. Seaman, Winterburn, Dixon and Bould started in all 38 league matches. The team scored a total of 86 goals in all competitions. The top goalscorer was Smith, with 28 goals – 22 of which were scored in the league. ;Key No. = Squad number Pos = Playing position Nat. = Nationality Apps = Appearances GK =

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

DF = Defender MF =

Midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

FW =

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

''Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.'' Source:

References

External links

125 years of Arsenal history – 1991–1995
on Arsenal.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Arsenal F.C. seasons English football championship–winning seasons