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Arsenal

1989–90 season
Chairman	Peter Hill-Wood
Manager	George Graham
Stadium	Highbury
First Division	4th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Alan Smith (10) All: Alan Smith (13)
Highest home attendance	43,483 vs. Queens Park Rangers (27 January 1990)
Lowest home attendance	26,865 vs. Southampton (2 May 1990)
Home colours Away colours
← 1988–891990–91 →

The 1989–90 season was Arsenal Football Club's 64th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. After winning the title the previous season, Arsenal finished fourth in 1989–90, behind champions Liverpool, runners-up Aston Villa and third-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the title challenge.

Season summary

Arsenal's campaign to retain the Championship in 1989–90 began well once they recovered from a 4–1 drubbing by Manchester United on the opening day, and in November they were on top. But the signs were not good; few of their victories were comfortable. The 4–3 home victory over Norwich on the first Saturday of November was particularly uncomfortable. The game marked David O'Learys 622nd major match for Arsenal, a club record, and it was an eventful occasion. O'Leary scored an equaliser as Arsenal recovered from 3–1 down and was also shown the yellow card. Then a last-minute penalty which gave Arsenal victory sparked a fracas involving 19 players. Three weeks later the FA Disciplinary Committee fined Norwich £50.000 and Arsenal £20.000. It was the first time clubs had been responsible for their players in such an incident. Arsenal's wheels wobbled in the fourth round of the Littlewoods Cup in November. After a two-leg, 8–1 victory over Plymouth and a 1–0 victory over Liverpool at Highbury, a visit to Second Division Oldham did not seem so awesome. Yet they were beaten 3–1 and, from Christmas onwards, their season fell apart. Five out of six successive away games were lost, with only one goal scored. Niall Quinn scored the winning goal against Stoke City in the FA-cup third round on 6 January 1990, which was to be his last game for Arsenal. After only 6 appearances in the League, Quinn left to join Manchester City for £700,000 in March 1990.

FA-cup defeat at Queens Park Rangers followed, David Rocastle and Michael Thomas suffered dramatic losses in form and the goals dried up for Alan Smith, only 10 compared to 23 the previous season. On the other hand, the introduction of Kevin Campbell was an exiting indication of the future.

As Arsenal had seen before, winning the championship and retaining it were different propositions. A final position of fourth was no disgrace, but it was 17 points behind Liverpool F.C.

Adams, Rocastle and Smith were all in Bobby Robsons preliminary squad to World Cup 1990. Adams was axed in preference to Mark Wright, Rocastle was excluded although he had played in five of England's six World Cup qualifying matches. Smith was omitted in favour of Steve Bull. The only Arsenal player to make an appearance in the World Cup 1990 was David O'Leary who scored the last decesive penalty that took Ireland to the quarter finals.

Results

FA Charity Shield

As league champions, Arsenal contested the 1989 FA Charity Shield against Liverpool, who beat their local rivals Everton to win the 1989 FA Cup Final. Liverpool won the match on 12 August 1989 by 1–0 with a goal from Peter Beardsley.

12 August 1989 FA Charity Shield	Liverpool	1–0	Arsenal	London
	Beardsley 32'			Stadium: Wembley Stadium Attendance: 63,149 Referee: Allan Gunn (Sussex)

First Division

19 August 1989 1	Manchester United	4–1	Arsenal	Manchester
	Bruce 2' Hughes 63' Webb 79' McClair 83'		Rocastle 22'	Stadium: Old Trafford Referee: David Hutchinson

22 August 1989 2	Arsenal	2–0	Coventry City	London
	Marwood 50' Thomas 84'			Stadium: Highbury

21 October 1989 10	Everton	3–0	Arsenal	Liverpool
	Nevin 39', 82' McDonald 78'			Stadium: Goodison Park

4 November 1989 12	Arsenal	4–3	Norwich City	London
	Quinn 55' Dixon 60' (pen.) O'Leary 78'		Allen 19' Phillips 30' Sherwood 76'	Stadium: Highbury

26 November 1989 15	Liverpool	2–1	Arsenal	Liverpool
	McMahon 30' Barnes 65'		Smith 79'	Stadium: Anfield

3 December 1989 16	Arsenal	1–0	Manchester United	London
	Groves 15'			Stadium: Highbury

20 January 1990 23	Arsenal	1–0	Tottenham Hotspur	London
	Adams 64'			Stadium: Highbury

17 March 1990 29	Arsenal	0–1	Chelsea	London
			Bumstead 63'	Stadium: Highbury

31 March 1990 31	Arsenal	1–0	Everton	London
	Smith 21'			Stadium: Highbury

11 April 1990 32	Arsenal	0–1	Aston Villa	London
			Price 85'	Stadium: Highbury

18 April 1990 34	Arsenal	1–1	Liverpool	London
	Merson 40'		Barnes 86'	Stadium: Highbury

5 May 1990 38	Norwich City	2–2	Arsenal	Norwich
	Bowen 13' Fox 45'		Smith 44', 77'	Stadium: Carrow Road

Football League Cup

25 October 1989 Third round	Arsenal	1–0	Liverpool	London
	Smith 80'			Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 40,814

22 November 1989 Fourth round	Oldham Athletic	3–1	Arsenal	Oldham
	Ritchie (2) Henry		Quinn 90'	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 14,924

FA Cup

Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Stoke City.

Squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG John Lukic — DF  ENG Lee Dixon — DF  ENG Nigel Winterburn — MF  ENG Michael Thomas — DF  ENG Tony Adams (captain) — DF  IRL David O'Leary — MF  ENG David Rocastle — MF  ENG Kevin Richardson — FW  ENG Paul Merson — FW  ENG Alan Smith — MF  ENG Brian Marwood

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Perry Groves — DF  ENG Steve Bould — FW  ENG Kevin Campbell — MF  ENG Paul Davis — MF  ENG Martin Hayes — DF  ENG Gus Caesar — FW  IRL Niall Quinn — MF  ISL Sigurdur Jonsson — DF  ENG Colin Pates — MF  ENG Kwame Ampadu

Top scorers

First Division

• Alan Smith 10
• Paul Merson 7
• Brian Marwood 6
• Michael Thomas 5
• Tony Adams 5
• Lee Dixon 5

See also

• 1989–90 in English football
• List of Arsenal F.C. seasons

References

1. James, Josh (18 June 2013). "All-time Arsenal". Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
2. Ross, James; Heneghan, Michael; Orford, Stuart; Culliton, Eoin (25 August 2016). "English Clubs Divisional Movements 1888–2016". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
3. Pye, Steven (July 2020). "when-arsenal-and-norwich-shared-seven-goals-and-a-21-man-brawl". The Guardian.
4. "arsenal/historic/players/niall-quinn". 2 October 2023.
5. Emery, David (1994). Gunning for Glory. Simon & Schuster.
6. Soar & Tyler (2003). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn. p. 147.
7. Davies, Pete (1990). All Played Out: The World Cup Finals 1990. Arrow (A Division of Random House Group).
8. "ten-surprising-england-tournament-squad-selections". 13 May 2016.
9. "irelands-world-cup-joy-david-oleary-recalls-his-penalty-v-romania". 1 October 2023.

• 1989–90 Football League First Division by team
• Arsenal F.C. seasons