Division Four 5th FA Cup Third round League Trophy Quarter-finals | Play-offs Runners-up League Cup First round | |
Manager Graham Carr
(until 30 November 1990)
Billy Ayre
(from 1 December 1990) | ||
The 1990-91 season was Blackpool F.C.'s 83rd season (80th consecutive) in the Football League. They competed in the 24-team Division Four, then the fourth tier of English football. They finished fifth, missing out on automatic promotion by one point after a final-day defeat at Walsall, and made the play-offs; however, they lost in the final, against Torquay United, in a penalty-shootout after the game finished 2-2 after normal and extra time.
Contents
Graham Carr was replaced as manager by his assistant, Billy Ayre, on 30 November. Between 10 November and the end of the season, the club went on to record thirteen consecutive League wins at Bloomfield Road.
Dave Bamber was the club's top scorer, with seventeen league goals.
Table
Home Away P W D L F A W D L F A Pts 1. DARLINGTON (P) 46 13 8 2 36 14 9 9 5 32 24 83 2. STOCKPORT COUNTY (P) 46 16 6 1 54 19 7 7 9 30 28 82 3. HARTLEPOOL UNITED (P) 46 15 5 3 35 15 9 5 9 32 33 82 4. PETERBOROUGH UNITED (P) 46 13 9 1 38 15 8 8 7 29 30 80 5. Blackpool 46 17 3 3 55 17 6 7 10 23 30 79 6. Burnley 46 17 5 1 46 16 6 5 12 24 35 79 7. TORQUAY UNITED (P) 46 14 7 2 37 13 4 11 8 27 34 72 8. Scunthorpe United 46 17 4 2 51 20 3 7 13 20 42 71 9. Scarborough 46 13 5 5 36 21 6 7 10 23 35 69 10. Northampton 46 14 5 4 34 21 4 8 11 23 37 67 11. Doncaster Rovers 46 12 5 6 36 22 5 9 9 20 24 65 12. Rochdale 46 10 9 4 29 22 5 8 10 21 31 62 13. Cardiff City 46 10 6 7 26 23 5 9 9 17 31 60 14. Lincoln City 46 10 7 6 32 27 4 10 9 18 34 59 15. Gillingham 46 9 9 5 35 27 3 9 11 22 33 54 16. Walsall 46 7 12 4 25 17 5 5 13 23 34 53 17. Hereford United 46 9 10 4 32 19 4 4 15 21 39 53 18. Chesterfield 46 8 12 3 33 26 5 2 16 14 36 53 19. Maidstone United 46 9 5 9 42 34 4 7 12 24 37 51 20. Carlisle United 46 12 3 8 30 30 1 6 16 17 59 48 21. York City 46 8 6 9 21 23 3 7 13 24 34 46 22. Halifax Town 46 9 6 8 34 29 3 4 16 25 50 46 23. Aldershot 46 8 7 8 38 43 2 4 17 23 58 41 24. Wrexham 46 8 7 8 33 34 2 3 18 15 40 40P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; Pts = Points
Semi-finals
Blackpool and Scunthorpe United met in the two-legged semi-finals of the play-offs. The first leg, played at Glanford Park on 19 May, finished 1-1. Three days later, Blackpool won the return leg at Bloomfield Road 2-0, courtesy of a double by David Eyres, and took the tie 3-2 on aggregate. Blackpool's celebration of reaching Wembley since the famous "Matthews Final" thirty-eight years earlier was overshadowed by the news that their former player and manager Stan Mortensen, who scored a hat-trick in that final, had died earlier in the day, at the age of 69.
Final
On 31 May, Blackpool met Torquay United in the final at Wembley. The game finished 2-2 after normal time and extra time. It went to a penalty-shootout, which Torquay won 5-4. Dave Bamber missed the decisive penalty, the second of sudden death, putting it well wide of Gareth Howells' left-hand post.
Appearances
Players used: 24
Goals
Total goals scored: 84 (plus four own-goals)