1991–92 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1991–92 season.

Football League First Division
Season1991–92
ChampionsLeeds United (3rd English title)
RelegatedLuton Town
Notts County
West Ham United
Champions LeagueLeeds United
Cup Winners' CupLiverpool
UEFA CupManchester United
Sheffield Wednesday
Matches played462
Goals scored1,166 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorerIan Wright (29 goals) [1]
Biggest home winArsenal 7–1 Sheffield Wednesday
(15 February 1992)
Biggest away winSheffield Wednesday 1–6 Leeds United
(12 January 1992)
Highest scoringOldham Athletic 3–6 Manchester United
(26 December 1991)
Longest winning run6 games
Southampton
Longest unbeaten run17 games
Arsenal
Longest losing run6 games
Norwich City

Overview
Greater London Premier League football clubs

Leeds United won the last ever league championship before the Premier League was born, thanks to the efforts of players like Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty and Gary McAllister. On 26 April 1992, Leeds beat Sheffield United 3–2 at Bramall Lane and with the news that their challengers Manchester United lost 2–0 to Liverpool at Anfield, it confirmed them as champions.

Newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday, who were quickly emerging as one of the most feared sides in England finished in third and secured UEFA Cup qualification.

The previous season's defending champions Arsenal slipped to 4th place and never made a serious threat to retain their title. The previous season’s runners-up Liverpool slipped to 6th in their first full season under the management of Graeme Souness, although they did win the FA Cup. Liverpool's Merseyside rivals Everton finished a disappointing 12th - a three-place setback on their finish the previous season.

Newly promoted West Ham United were relegated in bottom place. On 25 April 1992, West Ham's relegation was confirmed when they lost 1–0 at Coventry City. This win for Coventry also relegated Notts County — another newly promoted side — rendering their 2–0 defeat at Manchester City on the same day as academic. The last day of the season saw Luton Town lose their top flight status after ten seasons. They needed to win at Notts County and for Coventry to lose at Aston Villa. Coventry did lose 2–0 at Villa Park but unfortunately for Luton, they lost 2–1 which kept Coventry up and sent Luton down. Seventeen years later The Hatters would fall into the Conference (the 5th level of the English football system), while Notts County fell into it 10 years after them.

For much of the season, Southampton's 21-year-old striker Alan Shearer was the target of much media speculation about a move to a leading First Division club. The likes of Liverpool and Manchester United were strongly linked with his signature during the autumn, but Shearer decided to stay put on the south coast before making a decision about his future at the end of the season. Shearer was capped for the senior England side for the first time in February 1992, and scored on his debut. Another English striker who established himself as a top scorer at this level this season was the Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst, who had actually played in the First Division as long ago as 1986, but was now on the fringes of the England national team after scoring the goals that helped the Owls win the League Cup and an instant return to the First Division in 1990-91, and finishing among the First Division's leading scorers in 1991-92.

Manchester United's teenage winger Ryan Giggs, who had played twice for the first team the previous season, received plaudits for his outstanding performances and picked up the PFA Young Player of the Year award as well as a League Cup winner's medal, establishing himself as a regular player before his 18th birthday. Other young players who made the headlines this season were Liverpool's teenage winger Steve McManaman and new signing Rob Jones, Aston Villa's Trinidadian striker Dwight Yorke and Nottingham Forest midfielder Roy Keane.

As a wave of new names began to dominate the English game, Tottenham Hotspur's high scoring striker Gary Lineker announced in November that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season to sign for the Japanese side Grampus Eight, and also confirmed his decision to retire from the England team after the European championships that summer.

League standings
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Leeds United (C) 42 13 8 0 38 13 9 8 4 36 24 +37 82 Qualified for Champions League
2 Manchester United 42 12 7 2 34 13 9 8 4 29 20 +30 78 League Cup winners, qualified for UEFA Cup
3 Sheffield Wednesday 42 13 5 3 39 24 8 7 6 23 25 +13 75 Qualified for UEFA Cup
4 Arsenal 42 12 7 2 51 23 7 8 6 30 24 +34 72
5 Manchester City 42 13 4 4 32 14 7 6 8 29 34 +13 70
6 Liverpool 42 13 5 3 34 17 3 11 7 13 23 +7 64 FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
7 Aston Villa 42 13 3 5 31 16 4 6 11 17 28 +4 60
8 Nottingham Forest 42 10 7 4 36 27 6 4 11 24 31 +2 59
9 Sheffield United 42 9 6 6 29 23 7 3 11 36 40 +2 57
10 Crystal Palace 42 7 8 6 24 25 7 7 7 29 36 −8 57
11 Queens Park Rangers 42 6 10 5 25 21 6 8 7 23 26 +1 54
12 Everton 42 8 8 5 28 19 5 6 10 24 32 +1 53
13 Wimbledon 42 10 5 6 32 20 3 9 9 21 33 0 53
14 Chelsea 42 7 8 6 31 30 6 6 9 19 30 −10 53
15 Tottenham Hotspur 42 7 3 11 33 35 8 4 9 25 28 −5 52
16 Southampton 42 7 5 9 17 28 7 5 9 22 27 −16 52
17 Oldham Athletic 42 11 5 5 46 36 3 4 14 17 31 −4 51
18 Norwich City 42 8 6 7 29 28 3 6 12 18 35 −16 45
19 Coventry City 42 6 7 8 18 15 5 4 12 17 29 −9 44
20 Luton Town 42 10 7 4 25 17 0 5 16 14 54 −32 42 Relegated
21 Notts County 42 7 5 9 24 29 3 5 13 16 33 −22 40
22 West Ham United 42 6 6 9 22 24 3 5 13 15 35 −22 38
Source:
(C) League Champions.

Results
Home \ Away ARS AST CHE COV CRY EVE LEE LIV LUT MCI MUN NWC NOT NTC OLD QPR SHU SHW SOU TOT WHU WDN
Arsenal 0–0 3–2 1–2 4–1 4–2 1–1 4–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–3 2–0 2–1 1–1 5–2 7–1 5–1 2–0 0–1 1–1
Aston Villa 3–1 3–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–4 1–0 4–0 3–1 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–1 2–1
Chelsea 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–2 4–1 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–0 2–2 4–2 2–1 1–2 0–3 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2
Coventry City 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 5–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 2–2 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–1
Crystal Palace 1–4 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 3–4 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–3 3–2
Everton 3–1 0–2 2–1 3–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 4–0 2–0
Leeds United 2–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 4–3 1–1 3–3 1–1 0–0 5–1
Liverpool 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–2 3–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–3
Luton Town 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–1 2–2 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–1
Manchester City 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 3–2 0–1 4–0 2–1 4–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 1–2 2–2 3–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–0
Manchester United 1–1 1–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 5–0 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–4 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 0–0
Norwich City 1–3 2–1 0–1 3–2 3–3 4–3 2–2 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–3 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1
Nottingham Forest 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 5–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–5 0–2 1–3 1–3 2–2 4–2
Notts County 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 2–3 0–0 2–4 1–2 2–1 1–3 1–1 2–2 0–4 2–0 0–1 1–3 2–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–1
Oldham Athletic 1–1 3–2 3–0 2–1 2–3 2–2 2–0 2–3 5–1 2–5 3–6 2–2 2–1 4–3 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–1
Queens Park Rangers 0–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 3–1 4–1 0–0 2–1 4–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–1
Sheffield United 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–3 1–1 2–1 2–3 2–0 1–1 4–2 1–2 1–0 4–2 1–3 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–0
Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 2–3 3–0 1–1 4–1 2–1 1–6 0–0 3–2 2–0 3–2 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 1–3 2–0 0–0 2–1 2–0
Southampton 0–4 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–4 1–1 2–1 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–4 0–1 2–3 1–0 1–0
Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 2–5 1–3 4–3 0–1 3–3 1–3 1–2 4–1 0–1 1–2 3–0 1–2 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 3–0 3–2
West Ham United 0–2 3–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 1–3 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 4–0 3–0 0–2 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–1
Wimbledon 1–3 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 3–0 2–1 0–1 3–5 2–0
Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Ian Wright Crystal Palace/Arsenal 29
2 Gary Lineker Tottenham Hotspur 28
3 John Fashanu Wimbledon 18
David Hirst Sheffield Wednesday
Brian McClair Manchester United
David White Manchester City
7 Mark Bright Crystal Palace 17
8 Lee Chapman Leeds United 16
9 Peter Beardsley Everton 15
10 Robbie Earle Wimbledon 14

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Carlton PalmerSheffield WednesdayQueens Park Rangers4–1 (H)31 August 1991
Peter BeardsleyEvertonCoventry City3–0 (H)21 September 1991
Gary Lineker (4)Tottenham HotspurWimbledon5–3 (A)21 September 1991
Ian WrightArsenalSouthampton4–0 (A)28 September 1991
Tony CotteeEvertonTottenham Hotspur3–1 (H)5 October 1991
Ian Wright (4)ArsenalEverton4–2 (H)21 December 1991
Dennis BaileyQueens Park RangersManchester United4–1 (A)1 January 1992[2]
Lee ChapmanLeeds UnitedSheffield Wednesday6–1 (A)12 January 1992
Lee ChapmanLeeds UnitedWimbledon5–1 (H)14 March 1992
Darren BeckfordNorwich CityEverton4–3 (H)21 March 1992
Gordon DurieTottenham HotspurCoventry City4–3 (H)28 March 1992
Gary LinekerTottenham HotspurWest Ham United3–0 (H)1 April 1992
Paul MersonArsenalCrystal Palace4–1 (H)11 April 1992
Graeme Sharp (4)Oldham AthleticLuton Town5–1 (H)11 April 1992
David WhiteManchester CityOldham Athletic5–2 (A)2 May 1992
Ian WrightArsenalSouthampton5–1 (H)2 May 1992
Frank McAvennieWest Ham UnitedNottingham Forest3–0 (H)2 May 1992
Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

References
  1. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  2. Hat-trick hero still going strong, BBC Sport, 3 February 2006
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