1988–89 Football League

The Football League

Season	1988–89
Champions	Arsenal
Relegated	Darlington
New club in League	Lincoln City
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 season was the 90th completed season of the Football League.^[1]

No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place.

Prior to the 1986–87 season membership of the Football League was dependent on a system of election by the other member teams. From 1986 that system came to an end, and instead, the club finishing last in the Fourth Division was automatically demoted to Conference. This season the casualty was Darlington.

First Division[]

Football League, First Division

Season	1988–89
Champions	Arsenal (9th English title)
Relegated	Middlesbrough Newcastle United West Ham United
1989–90 European Cup	No qualifications[2]
FA Cup winners	Liverpool
1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup	No qualifications[2]
1989–90 UEFA Cup	No qualifications[2]
Matches played	380
Goals scored	962 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	A. Smith (Arsenal), 23[3]
Biggest home win	Luton Town – Southampton 6–1 (2 Jan 1989)
Biggest away win	Millwall – Tottenham Hotspur 0–5 (29 Apr 1989)
Highest scoring	Luton Town – Southampton 6–1 (2 Jan 1989); Luton Town – Charlton 5–2 (2 May 1989); Queens Park Rangers – Wimbledon 4–3 (8 Apr 1989); Coventry –Middlesbrough 3–4 (1 Oct 1988); Middlesbrough – Nottingham Forest 3–4 (22 Apr 1989)
Longest winning run	Liverpool (9 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Liverpool (18 games)
Longest losing run	Southampton (5 games)
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

Summary[]

A fiercely-contested title race went right to the wire, with the title-deciding game featuring both contenders not being played until 26 May — six days after the FA Cup final — as the league season was extended following the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April, in which 96 Liverpool fans died.^[4] Liverpool went on to lift the trophy in the second all-Merseyside FA Cup final in four seasons, and a strong second half of the season had taken them to the top of the league; they needed only a draw at home to second-placed Arsenal to clinch the title. The Gunners, on the other hand, needed to win by at least two clear goals to beat the Merseysiders to the title, and that was exactly what they did. A late goal from Michael Thomas ended Arsenal's 18-year wait to be champions of England again, the only time the English league has been decided by goals for.

There were no shortage of rivals for the title throughout the season. Millwall, in the First Division for the first time, frequently topped the table during the season's early stages and were consistently in the top five until well after Christmas, and still managed to finish 10th despite not winning any of their final 10 games. Norwich City, who also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, were strong contenders for most of the season and finished fourth. Third placed Nottingham Forest, who won the League Cup and the Full Members Cup (their first pieces of silverware since winning the European Cup in 1980) had a mediocre first half of the season before finding their form after Christmas, although they never looked like serious title contenders. Their East Midlands rivals Derby County were on the fringes of the title race for much of the season, and their fifth place finish was their highest for well over a decade.

Three teams who were among the pre-season title favourites failed to make an impact in the title race. Everton could only manage an eighth place finish, their lowest final position since 1982, although they did well in the cup competitions, finishing runners-up in the FA Cup and Full Members Cup. Tottenham, who had spent millions in the transfer market since Terry Venables became manager, were bottom of the table in late October but enjoyed an upturn in form during the second half of the season to secure sixth place in the final table. Manchester United continued to rebuild under Alex Ferguson, but a failure to convert draws into victories during the first half of the season and a run of bad results during the season's final stages dragged them down to 11th place in the final table; a good run of form after Christmas had projected them into the fringes of the title race, but their season ultimately collapsed after an FA Cup quarter-final exit.

The loss of Paul Gascoigne to Tottenham in the first £2million deal between English clubs gave Newcastle manager Willie McFaul a chance to spend heavily in the transfer market, but his signings failed to gel and he was sacked in October with the Tynesiders bottom of the First Division. His successor Jim Smith was unable to keep Newcastle up, and they went down in bottom place, while Smith's old club QPR finished a steady ninth under new player-manager Trevor Francis. John Lyall's 15-year spell as West Ham manager came to an end after relegation and the decision of the board not to renew his contract. The final relegation place went to Middlesbrough, who had enjoyed good form for a newly promoted side (and one which had been virtually bankrupt and in the Third Division in 1986) until a late slump dropped them back into the Second Division. Aston Villa narrowly avoided the drop after a similar downturn in performances during the season's final stages.

Final table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Arsenal	38	10	6	3	35	19	12	4	3	38	17	+37	76	League Champions, excluded from the European Cup[a]
2	Liverpool	38	11	5	3	33	11	11	5	3	32	17	+37	76	FA Cup Winners, but excluded from the Cup Winners' Cup
3	Nottingham Forest	38	8	7	4	31	16	9	6	4	33	27	+21	64	League Cup Winners, excluded from UEFA Cup
4	Norwich City	38	8	7	4	23	20	9	4	6	25	25	+3	62
5	Derby County	38	9	3	7	23	18	8	4	7	17	20	+2	58
6	Tottenham Hotspur	38	8	6	5	31	24	7	6	6	29	22	+14	57
7	Coventry City	38	9	4	6	28	23	5	9	5	19	19	+5	55
8	Everton	38	10	7	2	33	18	4	5	10	17	27	+5	54
9	Queens Park Rangers	38	9	5	5	23	16	5	6	8	20	21	+6	53
10	Millwall	38	10	3	6	27	21	4	8	7	20	31	−5	53
11	Manchester United	38	10	5	4	27	13	3	7	9	18	22	+10	51
12	Wimbledon	38	10	3	6	30	19	4	6	9	20	27	+4	51
13	Southampton	38	6	7	6	25	26	4	8	7	27	40	−14	45
14	Charlton Athletic	38	6	7	6	25	24	4	5	10	19	34	−14	42
15	Sheffield Wednesday	38	6	6	7	21	25	4	6	9	13	26	−17	42
16	Luton Town	38	8	6	5	32	21	2	5	12	10	31	−10	41
17	Aston Villa	38	7	6	6	25	22	2	7	10	20	34	−11	40
18	Middlesbrough	38	6	7	6	28	30	3	5	11	16	31	−17	39	Relegated
19	West Ham United	38	3	6	10	19	30	7	2	10	18	32	−25	38
20	Newcastle United	38	3	6	10	19	28	4	4	11	13	35	−31	31

First division Results table[]

Managerial changes[]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Newcastle United	Willie McFaul	Sacked	10 October 1988	19th	Colin Suggett (caretaker)	10 October 1988
Sheffield Wednesday	Howard Wilkinson	Signed by Leeds United	12 October 1988	9th	Peter Eustace	12 October 1988
Newcastle United	Colin Suggett	End of caretaker spell	14 December 1988	20th	Jim Smith	14 December 1988
Queens Park Rangers	Jim Smith	Signed by Newcastle United	14 December 1988	13th	Trevor Francis	14 December 1988
Sheffield Wednesday	Peter Eustace	Sacked	14 February 1989	18th	Ron Atkinson	14 February 1989

First Division maps[]

Second Division[]

Football League, Second Division

Season	1988–89
Champions	Chelsea (2nd title)
Promoted	Crystal Palace, Manchester City
Relegated	Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town, Walsall
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,465 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorer	Keith Edwards (Hull City), 26 [3]
Biggest home win	West Bromwich Albion – Stoke City 6–0 (18 Dec 1988)
Biggest away win	Walsall – Chelsea 0–7 (4 Feb 1989)
Highest scoring	Blackburn Rovers – Crystal Palace 5–4 (8 Oct 1988)
Longest winning run	7
Longest unbeaten run	23
Longest losing run	32
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

Chelsea sealed an instant return to the First Division by sealing the Second Division title and gaining 99 points - the highest total in the club's history. Runners-up Manchester City, with a promising young side including Andy Hinchcliffe, David White and Paul Lake, returned to the elite after two seasons away as runners-up. Steve Coppell's rejuvenation of Crystal Palace finally paid off and five seasons and two near misses with promotion when they triumphed over Blackburn Rovers in the two-legged playoff final and overturned a two-goal deficit in the first leg which had looked to have ended the Lancashire side's 23-year absence from the First Division. Defeat in the semi-finals prevented an instant return to the First Division for Watford, while the other beaten semi-finalists Swindon narrowly missed out on matching the four-season rise from the Fourth Division to the First achieved earlier in the decade by Swansea and Wimbledon.

Despite the loss of manager Ron Atkinson to Atletico Madrid in October, West Bromwich Albion remained in the thick of the promotion race under new player-manager Brian Talbot and looked all set for promotion as late as February when they occupied second place, but a slump in form pushed them down to ninth place - not enough for even a place in the playoffs.

Final table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Chelsea	46	15	6	2	50	25	14	6	3	46	25	+46	99	Division Champions, promoted
2	Manchester City	46	12	8	3	48	28	11	5	7	29	25	+24	82	Promoted
3	Crystal Palace	46	15	6	2	42	17	8	6	9	29	32	+22	81	Promoted through play-offs[a]
4	Watford	46	14	5	4	41	18	8	7	8	33	30	+26	78	Participated in play-offs
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	16	4	3	50	22	6	7	10	24	37	+15	77
6	Swindon Town	46	13	8	2	35	15	7	8	8	33	38	+15	76
7	Barnsley	46	12	8	3	37	21	8	6	9	29	37	+8	74
8	Ipswich Town	46	13	3	7	42	23	9	4	10	29	38	+10	73
9	West Bromwich Albion	46	13	7	3	43	18	5	11	7	22	23	+24	72
10	Leeds United	46	12	6	5	34	20	5	10	8	25	30	+9	67
11	Sunderland	46	12	8	3	40	23	4	7	12	20	37	0	63
12	Bournemouth	46	13	3	7	32	20	5	5	13	21	42	−9	62
13	Stoke City	46	10	9	4	33	25	5	5	13	24	47	−15	59
14	Bradford City	46	8	11	4	29	22	5	6	12	23	37	−7	56
15	Leicester City	46	11	6	6	31	20	2	10	11	25	43	−7	55
16	Oldham Athletic	46	9	10	4	49	32	2	11	10	26	40	+3	54
17	Oxford United	46	11	6	6	40	34	3	6	14	22	36	−8	54
18	Plymouth Argyle	46	11	4	8	35	22	3	8	12	20	44	−11	54
19	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	11	5	7	36	24	3	4	16	21	42	−9	51
20	Portsmouth	46	10	6	7	33	21	3	6	14	20	41	−9	51
21	Hull City	46	7	9	7	31	25	4	5	14	21	43	−16	47
22	Shrewsbury Town	46	4	11	8	25	31	4	7	12	15	36	−27	42	Relegated
23	Birmingham City	46	6	4	13	21	33	2	7	14	10	43	−45	35
24	Walsall	46	3	10	10	27	42	2	6	15	14	38	−39	31

Second Division play-offs[]

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Two play-offs 1989.

	Semi-finals 1st leg –21 May; 2nd leg –24 May 1989							Finals 1st leg –31 May; 2nd leg –3 June 1989
	3rd	Crystal Palace	0	2	2
	6th	Swindon Town	1	0	1
								3rd	Crystal Palace	1	3	4
								5th	Blackburn Rovers	3	0	3
	4th	Watford	0	1	1
	5th	Blackburn Rovers[notes2 1]	0	1	1

Second Division results[]

Second Division maps[]

Third Division[]

Football League, Third Division

Season	1988–89
Champions	Wolverhampton Wanderers (1st title)
Promoted	Port Vale, Sheffield United
Relegated	Aldershot, Chesterfield, Gillingham, Southend United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,495 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve Bull (Wolverhampton Wanderers), 37 [3]
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

Wolverhampton Wanderers, spearheaded by high-scoring striker Steve Bull, clinched a second successive promotion - again as champions - as they ran away with the Third Division title just 12 months after finishing champions of the Fourth Division. Bull, who broke the 50-goal barrier in all competitions for the second successive season, then became one of the few Third Division players to be selected for the senior England side when he was capped for his country for the first time. Sheffield United clinched the second promotion place a season after relegation - the fifth time in less than a decade that their manager Dave Bassett had managed a promotion-winning team, following his four promotions with Wimbledon. The final promotion place went to playoff winners Port Vale, who returned to the Second Division for the first time since 1957.

Aldershot's two-season stay in the Third Division ended with relegation in bottom place after a disastrous season. Gillingham, who had almost won promotion two years earlier, as did Chesterfield, and a Southend side whose 54 points was a greater tally than any other team to suffer relegation in Football League history.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	18	4	1	61	19	8	10	5	35	30	+47	92	Division Champions, promoted
2	Sheffield United	46	16	3	4	57	21	9	6	8	36	33	+39	84	Promoted
3	Port Vale	46	15	3	5	46	21	9	9	5	32	27	+30	84	Promoted through play-offs[a]
4	Fulham	46	12	7	4	42	28	10	2	11	27	39	+2	75	Participated in play-offs
5	Bristol Rovers	46	9	11	3	34	21	10	6	7	33	30	+16	74
6	Preston North End	46	14	7	2	56	31	5	8	10	23	29	+19	72
7	Brentford	46	14	5	4	36	21	4	9	10	30	40	+5	68
8	Chester City	46	12	6	5	38	18	7	5	11	26	43	+3	68
9	Notts County	46	11	7	5	37	22	7	6	10	27	32	+10	67
10	Bolton Wanderers	46	12	8	3	42	23	4	8	11	16	31	+4	64
11	Bristol City	46	10	3	10	32	25	8	6	9	21	30	−2	63
12	Swansea City	46	11	8	4	33	22	4	8	11	18	31	−2	61	Welsh Cup winners, qualified for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1989–90 First round
13	Bury	46	11	7	5	27	22	5	6	12	28	45	−12	61
14	Huddersfield Town	46	10	8	5	35	25	7	1	15	28	48	−10	60
15	Mansfield Town	46	10	8	5	32	22	4	9	10	16	30	−4	59
16	Cardiff City	46	10	9	4	30	16	4	6	13	14	40	−12	57
17	Wigan Athletic	46	9	5	9	28	22	5	9	9	27	31	+2	56
18	Reading	46	10	6	7	37	29	5	5	13	31	43	−4	56
19	Blackpool	46	10	6	7	36	29	4	7	12	20	30	−3	55
20	Northampton Town	46	11	2	10	41	34	5	4	14	25	42	−10	54
21	Southend United	46	10	9	4	33	26	3	6	14	23	49	−19	54	Relegated
22	Chesterfield	46	9	5	9	35	35	5	2	16	16	51	−35	49
23	Gillingham	46	7	3	13	25	32	5	1	17	22	49	−34	40
24	Aldershot	46	7	6	10	29	29	1	7	15	19	49	−30	37

Third Division play-offs[]

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1989.

	Semi-finals 1st leg –21/22 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1989							Finals 1st leg –31 May; 2nd leg –3 June 1989
	3rd	Port Vale	1	3	4
	6th	Preston North End	1	1	2
								3rd	Port Vale	1	1	2
								5th	Bristol Rovers	1	0	1
	4th	Fulham F.C.	0	0	0
	5th	Bristol Rovers	1	4	5

Third Division results[]

Third Division maps[]

Fourth Division[]

Football League, Fourth Division

Season	1988–89
Champions	Rotherham United (1st title)
Promoted	Crewe Alexandra, Leyton Orient, Tranmere Rovers
Relegated to Conference	Darlington
New club in the league	Lincoln City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,498 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Phil Stant (Hereford United), 28 [3]
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

Rotherham United sealed an instant return to the Third Division as champions of the Fourth Division, while runners-up Tranmere (who had been in the battle to avoid relegation to the Conference two seasons earlier) managed to climb out of the league's basement division after spending a whole decade there. The final automatic promotion place went to Crewe, who had spent 20 consecutive seasons in the Fourth Division and had to apply for re-election seven times, before the arrival of Dario Gradi as manager in June 1983 had overseen an upturn in fortunes at Gresty Road.

Promotion had seemed out of the question for Leyton Orient, when they stood 15th in the league on 1 March 1989 with barely a quarter of the season left to play. But an excellent finish to the season saw them rise to sixth place in the final table, and they triumphed in the playoffs to clinch the division's fourth and final promotion place.

Darlington were relegated from the league as the Fourth Division's bottom club, after a post-Christmas resurgence by Colchester after the Essex side appointed Jock Wallace as manager, and the league newcomers for 1989-90 were Conference champions Maidstone United.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Rotherham United	46	13	6	4	44	18	9	10	4	32	17	+41	82	Division Champions, promoted
2	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	6	2	34	13	6	11	6	28	30	+19	80	Promoted
3	Crewe Alexandra	46	13	7	3	42	24	8	8	7	25	24	+19	78
4	Scunthorpe United	46	11	9	3	40	22	10	5	8	37	35	+20	77	Participated in play-offs
5	Scarborough	46	12	7	4	33	23	9	7	7	34	29	+15	77
6	Leyton Orient	46	16	2	5	61	19	5	10	8	25	31	+36	75	Promoted through play-offs[a]
7	Wrexham	46	12	7	4	44	28	7	7	9	33	35	+14	71	Participated in play-offs
8	Cambridge United	46	13	7	3	45	25	5	7	11	26	37	+9	68
9	Grimsby Town	46	11	9	3	33	18	6	6	11	32	41	+6	66
10	Lincoln City[b]	46	12	6	5	39	26	6	4	13	25	34	+4	64
11	York City	46	10	8	5	43	27	7	5	11	19	36	−1	64
12	Carlisle United	46	9	6	8	26	25	6	9	8	27	27	+1	60
13	Exeter City	46	14	4	5	46	23	4	2	17	19	45	−3	60
14	Torquay United	46	15	2	6	32	23	2	6	15	13	37	−15	59
15	Hereford United	46	11	8	4	40	27	3	8	12	26	45	−6	58
16	Burnley	46	12	6	5	35	20	2	7	14	17	41	−9	55
17	Peterborough United	46	10	3	10	29	32	4	9	10	23	42	−22	54
18	Rochdale	46	10	10	3	32	26	3	4	16	24	56	−26	53
19	Hartlepool United	46	10	6	7	33	33	4	4	15	17	45	−28	52
20	Stockport County	46	8	10	5	31	20	2	11	10	23	32	+2	51
21	Halifax Town	46	10	7	6	42	27	3	4	16	27	48	−6	50
22	Colchester United	46	8	7	8	35	30	4	7	12	25	48	−18	50
23	Doncaster Rovers	46	9	6	8	32	32	4	4	15	17	46	−29	49
24	Darlington	46	3	12	8	28	38	5	6	12	25	38	−23	42	Relegated to Conference

Fourth Division play-offs[]

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1989.

	Semi-finals 1st leg –21 May; 2nd leg –24 May 1989							Finals 1st leg –30 May; 2nd leg –3 June 1989
	4th	Scunthorpe United	1	0	1
	7th	Wrexham	3	2	5
								7th	Wrexham	0	1	1
								6th	Leyton Orient	0	2	2
	5th	Scarborough	1	0	1
	6th	Leyton Orient	0	2	2

Fourth Division results[]

Fourth Division maps[]

See also[]

• 1988-89 in English football

References[]