1990–91 Blackpool F.C. season

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.

Blackpool F.C.

1990–91 season
Owner and chairman	Owen Oyston
Manager	Graham Carr (until 30 November 1990) Billy Ayre (from 1 December 1990)
Division Four	5th
Play-offs	Runners-up
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
League Trophy	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	Dave Bamber (17)
Highest home attendance	9,563 v Tottenham Hotspur, FA Cup, 5 January 1991
Lowest home attendance	1,696 v Darlington, League Cup, 4 September 1990
← 1989–90 1991–92 →

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.

Results

Date	Competition	Opponent (home/away)	Result	Scorer(s)	Attendance
25 August 1990	League	Scunthorpe United (a)	L 0–2		3,024
28 August 1990	League Cup, first round, first leg	Darlington (a)	D 0-0		2,254
1 September 1990	League	Rochdale (h)	D 0-0		3,357
4 September 1990	League Cup, first round, second leg	Darlington (h)	D 1–1[1]	Brook	1,696
8 September 1990	League	Northampton Town (a)	L 0–1		4,300
15 September 1990	League	Wrexham (h)	W 4–1	Stant, Eyres, opposition own goal, Rodwell	3,497
18 September 1990	League	Burnley (h)	L 1–2	Stant	4,737
22 September 1990	League	Chesterfield (a)	D 2–2	Groves, Garner (penalty)	3,549
29 September 1990	League	Hartlepool United (h)	W 2–0	Eyres, Groves	3,181
3 October 1990	League	Scarborough (a)	W 1–0	Groves	1,713
6 October 1990	League	Torquay United (a)	L 1–2	Stant	2,884
13 October 1990	League	Darlington (h)	L 1–2	Garner	4,092
20 October 1990	League	Gillingham (h)	W 2–0	Stant, Eyres	3,041
22 October 1990	League	Stockport County (a)	D 0-0		4,337
27 October 1990	League	Halifax Town (a)	L 3–5	Rodwell 2, Stant	1,945
3 November 1990	League	Walsall (h)	L 1–2	Groves	3,233
10 November 1990	League	Aldershot (h)	W 4–2	Sinclair, Taylor, Garner (penalty), Lancaster	2,065
17 November 1990	FA Cup, first round	Grimsby Town (h)	W 2–0	Groves, Garner	4,175
24 November 1990	League	Doncaster Rovers (a)	L 0–0		2,113
1 December 1990	League	Hereford United (a)	D 1–1[2]	Bamber	2,588
10 December 1990	FA Cup, second round	Huddersfield Town (a)	W 2–0	Groves, opposition own goal	6,329
15 December 1990	League	Maidstone United (h)	D 2–2	Garner, Bamber	2,341
23 December 1990	League	Carlisle United (a)	L 0–0		5,195
26 December 1990	League	Peterborough United (h)	D 1–1	Garner	3,658
29 December 1990	League	Lincoln City (h)	W 5–0	Groves 2 (1 penalty), Bamber 2, Eyres	2,519
1 January 1991	League	York City (a)	W 1–0	Horner	3,115
5 January 1991	FA Cup, third round	Tottenham Hotspur (h)	L 0–1		9,563
12 January 1991	League	Rochdale (a)	L 1–2	Bamber	2,621
19 January 1991	League	Scunthorpe United (h)	W 3–1	Bamber 2, Garner	2,494
26 January 1991	League	Wrexham (a)	W 1–0	Garner (penalty)	2,393
5 February 1991	League	Chesterfield (h)	W 3–0	Bamber, Horner, Garner	2,357
16 February 1991	League	Doncaster Rovers (h)	W 2–0	Taylor, Horner	3,533
23 February 1991	League	Aldershot (a)	W 4–1	Bamber 2, Garner 2	2,164
2 March 1991	League	Hereford United (h)	W 3–0	Bamber 2, Richards	3,636
9 March 1991	League	Maidstone United (a)	D 1–1	Richards	2,253
12 March 1991	League	Scarborough (h)	W 3–1	Richards, Taylor, Bamber	3,798
16 March 1991	League	Hartlepool United (a)	W 2–1	Horner, Rodwell	2,840
19 March 1991	League	Darlington (a)	D 1–1	Opposition own goal	4,108
23 March 1991	League	Torquay United (h)	W 1–0	Bamber	4,778
30 March 1991	League	Peterborough United (a)	L 0–2		7,721
2 April 1991	League	Carlisle United (h)	W 6–0	Bamber 2, Horner, Groves (penalty), Rodwell, Richards	5,368
6 April 1991	League	Lincoln City (a)	W 1–0	Bamber	4,003
13 April 1991	League	York City (h)	W 1–0	Groves	5,086
17 April 1991	League	Cardiff City (h)	W 3–0	Groves, Horner, Rodwell	4,813
20 April 1991	League	Gillingham (a)	D 2–2	Davies, Horner	3,028
23 April 1991	League	Burnley (a)	L 0–2		18,398
27 April 1991	League	Stockpot County (h)	W 3–2	Eyres, Garner 2	8,590
30 April 1991	League	Halifax Town (h)	W 2–0	Rodwell, Groves	5,883
2 May 1991	League	Cardiff City (a)	D 1–1	Garner (penalty)	1,793
7 May 1991	League	Northampton Town (h)	W 2–1	Eyres, Groves	7,298
11 May 1991	League	Walsall (a)	L 0–2		8,051
19 May 1991	Play-off semi-finals, first leg	Scunthorpe United (a)	D 1–1	Rodwell	6,536
22 May 1991	Play-off semi-finals, second leg	Scunthorpe United (h)	W 2–1	Eyres 2	7,596
31 May 1991	Play-off final	Torquay United (n)[3]	D 2–2[4]	Groves, opposition own goal	21,615

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
3	Hartlepool United (P)	46	24	10	12	67	48	+19	82	Promotion to the Third Division
4	Peterborough United (P)	46	21	17	8	67	45	+22	80
5	Blackpool	46	23	10	13	78	47	+31	79	Qualification for the Fourth Division play-offs
6	Burnley	46	23	10	13	70	51	+19	79
7	Torquay United (O, P)	46	18	18	10	64	47	+17	72

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Play-offs

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.

1991-05-31
15:00 BST

Blackpool	2-2 (4-5 on penalties)	Torquay United
Groves Curran (o.g.)	(Report)	Saunders Edwards

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 21,615

Referee: George Courtney, Spennymoor

Blackpool 010McIlhargey 020Davies (for Sinclair) 030Wright 040Groves 050Horner 060Gore 070Rodwell 080Taylor 090Bamber 100Garner (c) 110Eyres Substitutes: 120Sinclair (for Davies) 140Richards Manager: Billy Ayre

Torquay United 010Howells 020Curran 030P. Holmes 040Saunders 050Elliott 060Joyce 070Myers 080M. Holmes 090Evans 100Edwards 110Loram Substitutes: 120Hall 140 Manager: John Impey

Player statistics

Appearances

Name	League	Play-offs	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
Paul Groves	46	3	3	2	54[5]
Alan Wright	45	3	3	2	53
Steve McIlhargey	44	3	3	2	52
Tony Rodwell	45	3	3	1	52
Ian Gore	41	3	3	2	49
Phil Horner	39	3	3	0	45
Andy Garner	36	3	3	2	44
David Eyres	36	3	1	2	42
Mike Davies	37	3	1	0	41
Trevor Sinclair	31	2	3	2	38
Gary Briggs	30	2	3	2	37
Dave Bamber	23	1	1	0	25
Carl Richards	22	0	2	1	25
Chris Hedworth	20	0	3	0	23
Mark Taylor	19	3	0	1	23
Phil Stant	12	0	0	0	12
Dave Lancaster	8	0	0	2	10
Gary Brook	4	0	0	2	6
A. Smalley	6	0	0	0	6
Andy Gouck	5	0	0	0	5
Mark Bradshaw	1	0	0	2	3
Mark Wright	3	0	0	0	3
Fred Barber	2	0	0	0	2
Gordon Owen	1	0	0	0	1
Russell Coughlin	0	0	0	0	0

Players used: 24

Goals

Name	League	Play-offs	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
Dave Bamber	17	0	0	0	17
Paul Groves	11	1	2	0	14
Andy Garner	13	0	1	0	14
David Eyres	6	2	0	0	8
Tony Rodwell	7	1	0	0	8
Phil Horner	7	0	0	0	7
Phil Stant	5	0	0	0	5
Carl Richards	4	0	0	0	4
Mark Taylor	3	0	0	0	3
Gary Brook	0	0	0	1	1
Mike Davies	1	0	0	0	1
Dave Lancaster	1	0	0	0	1
Trevor Sinclair	1	0	0	0	1

Total goals scored: 84 (plus four own-goals)