1990–91 Crystal Palace F.C. season

During the 1990–91 English football season, Crystal Palace F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Crystal Palace

1990–91 season
Chairman	Ron Noades
Manager	Steve Coppell
Stadium	Selhurst Park
First Division	3rd
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fourth round
Full Members' Cup	Winners
Player of the Year	Geoff Thomas
Top goalscorer	League: Wright (15) All: Wright (25)
Highest home attendance	28,880 vs Southampton (9 Mar 1991, First Division)
Lowest home attendance	5,209 vs Bristol Rovers (18 Dec 1990, Full Members' Cup)
Average home league attendance	19,660
Home colours

Season summary

In their second consecutive season in the First Division, Crystal Palace finished an astonishing third, their highest ever league placing, although, due to Liverpool's ban from European competition being lifted, Palace did not qualify for the UEFA Cup. Palace also won their first ever cup during the season, albeit the less significant Full Members' Cup.

In the League Cup, Palace broke their record for a cup victory with an 8–0 over Southend United, in the second round first leg, with strikers Mark Bright and Ian Wright both scoring hat-tricks. The two claimed the match ball; it was given away at a charity auction.

At the end of the season, captain Geoff Thomas was named the Supporters' Player of the Year. Thomas was rewarded for his good form with a call-up to the England squad for a European Championship qualifying game against Turkey in May.

Bukta remained Palace's kit manufacturers, and introduced a new home kit for the season. English airline Virgin Atlantic remained the kit sponsors.

Final league table

Main article: 1990–91 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Arsenal (C)	38	24	13	1	74	18	+56	83	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Liverpool	38	23	7	8	77	40	+37	76	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Crystal Palace	38	20	9	9	50	41	+9	69
4	Leeds United	38	19	7	12	65	47	+18	64
5	Manchester City	38	17	11	10	64	53	+11	62

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	20	9	9	50	41	+9	69	11	6	2	26	17	+9	9	3	7	24	24	0

Source: Statto

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	H	A	A	H
Result	D	W	W	W	D	D	W	D	D	W	L	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	D	W	D	L	W	W
Position	8	4	4	2	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

Source: Statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Crystal Palace's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1990	Luton Town	A	1–1	9,583	Young
28 August 1990	Chelsea	H	2–1	27,101	Gray, Wright
1 September 1990	Sheffield United	H	1–0	16,831	Thompson
8 September 1990	Norwich City	A	3–0	15,306	Barber, Wright, Salako
15 September 1990	Nottingham Forest	H	2–2	20,545	Shaw, Thomas
22 September 1990	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	34,859	Thomas
29 September 1990	Derby County	A	2–0	15,202	Wright, Bright
6 October 1990	Leeds United	H	1–1	21,676	Thomas
20 October 1990	Everton	A	0–0	24,504
27 October 1990	Wimbledon	H	4–3	17,220	Bright, Gray, Humphrey, Thomas
3 November 1990	Manchester United	A	0–2	45,724
10 November 1990	Arsenal	H	0–0	28,181
17 November 1990	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	14,360	Wright (2)
24 November 1990	Southampton	A	3–2	15,851	Wright (2), Bright
1 December 1990	Coventry City	H	2–1	17,052	Bright, Gray
8 December 1990	Chelsea	A	1–2	21,558	Thorn
16 December 1990	Luton Town	H	1–0	15,579	Bright
22 December 1990	Manchester City	A	2–0	25,321	Pointon (own goal), Wright
16 December 1990	Sunderland	H	2–1	15,560	Salako, Bright
30 December 1990	Liverpool	H	1–0	26,280	Bright
1 January 1991	Aston Villa	A	0–2	25,523
12 January 1991	Sheffield United	A	1–0	17,139	Bright
19 January 1991	Norwich City	H	1–3	17,201	Bright
2 February 1991	Nottingham Forest	A	1–0	17,045	Young
16 February 1991	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–0	16,006
23 February 1991	Arsenal	A	0–4	42,512
2 March 1991	Coventry City	A	1–3	10,891	Wright
9 March 1991	Southampton	H	2–1	14,439	Thomas (2)
16 March 1991	Derby County	H	2–1	14,752	Gray, Wright
23 March 1991	Leeds United	A	2–1	28,556	Wright, Salako
30 March 1991	Sunderland	A	1–2	19,704	Pardew
1 April 1991	Manchester City	H	1–3	18,001	Salako
13 April 1991	Aston Villa	H	0–0	18,331
17 April 1991	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–0	26,285	Young
20 April 1991	Everton	H	0–0	16,439
23 April 1991	Liverpool	A	0–3	36,767
4 May 1991	Wimbledon	A	3–0	10,002	Wright (3)
11 May 1991	Manchester United	H	3–0	25,301	Wright, Salako (2)

FA Cup

Main article: 1990–91 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 1991	Nottingham Forest	H	0–0	15,396
R3R	21 January 1991	Nottingham Forest	A	2–2 (a.e.t.)	23,301	Wright, Salako
R3R2	28 January 1991	Nottingham Forest	A	0–3	22,164

League Cup

Main article: 1990–91 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	25 September 1990	Southend United	H	8–0	5,666	Bright (3), Wright (3), Thompson, Hodges
R2 2nd Leg	9 October 1990	Southend United	A	2–1 (won 10–1 on agg)	5,199	Young, Salako
R3	30 October 1990	Leyton Orient	H	0–0	12,958
R3R	7 November 1990	Leyton Orient	A	1–0	10,158	Bright
R4	27 November 1990	Southampton	A	0–2	13,765

Full Members' Cup

Main article: 1990–91 Full Members' Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR2	18 December 1990	Bristol Rovers	H	2–1	5,209	Salako, Gray
SQF	18 February 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–0 (a.e.t.)	9,633	Bright, Wright
SSF	26 February 1991	Luton Town	H	3–1	7,170	McGoldrick, Wright (2)
SF 1st Leg	5 March 1991	Norwich City	A	1–1	7,554	Thomas
SF 2nd Leg	19 March 1991	Norwich City	H	2–0 (won 3–1 on agg)	13,857	Bright, Wright
F	7 April 1991	Everton	N	4–1 (a.e.t.)	52,460	Thomas 67', Wright 101', 115', Salako 113'

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Nigel Martyn
—	GK	ENG	Perry Suckling
—	GK	ENG	Andy Woodman
—	DF	ENG	Alex Dyer
—	DF	ENG	Rudi Hedman
—	DF	ENG	John Humphrey
—	DF	ENG	Gary O'Reilly
—	DF	ENG	Richard Shaw
—	DF	ENG	Gareth Southgate
—	DF	ENG	Andy Thorn
—	DF	ENG	Tony Witter
—	DF	WAL	Paul Bodin
—	DF	WAL	Jeff Hopkins
—	DF	WAL	Eric Young
—	MF	ENG	Phil Barber

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Andy Gray
—	MF	ENG	Ricky Newman
—	MF	ENG	Simon Osborn
—	MF	ENG	Alan Pardew
—	MF	ENG	Simon Rodger
—	MF	ENG	John Salako
—	MF	ENG	Geoff Thomas (captain)
—	MF	WAL	Glyn Hodges
—	MF	IRL	Eddie McGoldrick
—	FW	ENG	Mark Bright
—	FW	ENG	Stan Collymore
—	FW	ENG	Jamie Moralee
—	FW	ENG	Garry Thompson
—	FW	ENG	Ian Wright
—	FW	ENG	David Whyte

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ENG	Mark Dennis (retired)

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee
2 July 1990	MF	Simon Rodger	Bognor Regis Town	£1,000
16 July 1990	MF	Glyn Hodges	Watford	£410,000
15 August 1990	DF	Eric Young	Wimbledon	£850,000
16 August 1990	DF	John Humphrey	Charlton Athletic	£400,000
24 October 1990	DF	Tony Witter	Grays Athletic	£10,000
4 January 1991	FW	Stan Collymore	Stafford Rangers	£100,000
20 March 1991	DF	Paul Bodin	Swindon Town	£550,000

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee
27 July 1990	DF	John Pemberton	Sheffield United	£300,000
6 August 1990	DF	Adam Locke	Southend United	Free transfer
30 August 1990	DF	Chris Powell	Southend United	Free transfer
30 November 1990	DF	Alex Dyer	Charlton Athletic	£100,000
17 January 1991	MF	Glyn Hodges	Sheffield United	£450,000

Transfers in: £2,321,000

Transfers out: £850,000

Total spending: £1,471,000