The 1991–92 season was the 112th season of competitive football in England.
Overview
First Division The last league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed, Gary McAllister and Eric Cantona. After runners-up Manchester United came newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday.
Defending champions Arsenal slipped to fourth place and were never a serious threat to retain their title. The previous season's runners-up Liverpool dropped to sixth, below Manchester City, in their first full season under the management of Graeme Souness. It was Liverpool's first finish outside the top two since 1981.
Newly promoted West Ham United were relegated in bottom place, with another newly promoted side – Notts County – following days later. The last day of the season saw Luton Town lose their top flight status after ten seasons.
Second Division John Lyall took Ipswich Town back to the First Division after a six-year absence. The Suffolk club were followed by runners-up Middlesbrough, but it was play-off winners Blackburn Rovers whose promotion made the biggest headlines. Bankrolled by millionaire chairman Jack Walker and managed by former Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish, Rovers beat Leicester City 1–0 in the play-off final to end a 26-year absence from the top flight.
The Second Division relegation places were occupied by Port Vale, Plymouth Argyle and Brighton & Hove Albion. Brighton had been losing finalists in the play-offs just twelve months before going down, but their fortunes had been ruined by financial problems and the loss of striker Mike Small to West Ham United in the 1991 close season.
Third Division New manager Phil Holder guided Brentford to a surprise Third Division championship success, while Terry Cooper's Birmingham City occupied the runners-up spot. The play-offs were won by Chris Turner's Peterborough United.
The Third Division relegation zone was occupied by Shrewsbury Town, Bury, Torquay United and Darlington.
Fourth Division Burnley won the Fourth Division title and became the second team, after Wolverhampton Wanderers, to have been the champions of all four divisions of the Football League. Also going up were Rotherham United, Mansfield Town and play-off winners Blackpool.
On 25 March 1992, Aldershot were declared bankrupt and obliged to resign from the Football League following a long battle to stay afloat – their record was expunged. Carlisle United finished bottom, but there was no relegation from the league in the 1991–92 season. Conference champions Colchester United returned to the league after a two-year absence.
FA Cup Liverpool's Graeme Souness compensated for a disappointing season in the league by winning the FA Cup. They beat Second Division underdogs Sunderland 2–0 in the final.
League Cup Manchester United missed out on the league title but achieved success in the League Cup with a 1–0 triumph against Nottingham Forest in the final.
League tables
First Division
This was the last season of the Football League First Division as the top division of English football before the creation of the FA Premier League.
Leeds United and Manchester United fought a fierce duel for the title, with the leadership changing several times, before Leeds finally clinched the title. A key factor in their success was the new year arrival of French forward Eric Cantona, while a key factor in Manchester United's downfall was a shortage of goals in the second half of the season where they dropped points against several teams they had been widely expected to beat. Consolation for the unsuccessful title challenge at Old Trafford came in the shape of EFL Cup glory. Sheffield Wednesday's third-place finish was their highest for decades, while defending champions Arsenal finished fourth and suffered an early exit in the European Cup as well as a shock first hurdle exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Wrexham. Manchester City finished fifth for the second season in a row. Liverpool finished sixth but compensated for a disappointing league season by winning the FA Cup in their first full season under the management of Graeme Souness.
Two young players who made a major impact in the First Division were Ryan Giggs of Manchester United (voted PFA Young Player of the Year) and Steve McManaman of Liverpool.
FA Cup holders Tottenham Hotspur endured a disappointing season, finishing a lowly 15th in the league, their chances of further success not helped by the season-long absence of Paul Gascoigne through injury. Gascoigne's projected move to Lazio in Italy was finally confirmed at the season's end, when top scorer Gary Lineker followed Gascoigne out of the White Hart Lane exit door to finish his playing days in Japan.
Newly promoted West Ham United and Notts County went straight back down, joined by a Luton Town side who had enjoyed a memorable 10-year run in the top flight. Luton would not return to the top division until 2023. Coventry City narrowly avoided relegation after a decline in form during the final four months of the season after Terry Butcher was controversially sacked as manager in favour of Don Howe, who himself left in the close season to be replaced by Bobby Gould.
Oldham Athletic survived in their first top flight season for nearly 70 years.
Second Division
The Second Division promotion race was an exciting one throughout the season, with the promise of extra wealth for the promoted clubs after the creation of the lucrative new FA Premier League was confirmed. The first team to secure promotion were champions Ipswich Town, who ended their six-year exile from the top flight. The second team to go up were Middlesbrough, who clinched runners-up spot on the final day. The final promotion place went to Blackburn Rovers, who had thrived since the takeover of the club by local millionaire Jack Walker the previous season, his masterstroke coming in the autumn of 1991 when he appointed Kenny Dalglish as manager and allowed him to spend millions on building a promotion-winning team. Blackburn had entered the new year looking all set to go up automatically, but a run of bad results meant that they had to win their final game of the season to qualify for the playoffs. They finally won promotion with a Wembley win over Leicester City, who had now played at the famous stadium five times and lost each time.
The Second Division promotion race had also seen a few unlikely contenders. Swindon Town, under the management of former England star Glenn Hoddle, had gone top of the table for the first time in their history in October, but an eighth-place finish was not enough for even a place in the playoffs. Southend United, playing at this level for the first time, briefly topped the table on New Year's Day, but eventually faded to finish in mid-table. Their brief lead of the table came at the expense of Cambridge United, another side hopeful of a unique third successive promotion. Unlike Southend, the East Anglian side remained in the hunt right up to the end of the season, finishing fifth and qualifying for the playoffs, but a heavy defeat to Leicester City in the semi-finals ended their dreams of playing in the new Premier League.
Sunderland failed to finish anywhere near the top of the Second Division but enjoyed a remarkable run to the final of the FA Cup, where they lost to Liverpool.
Port Vale were relegated after three years at this level, ultimately being undone by a poor second half of the season. Brighton suffered a shock relegation, only a year after appearing in the play-off final, as financial problems began to take their toll at the south coast club. Plymouth Argyle filled the final relegation spot, as a late improvement in form following the arrival of legendary England goalkeeper Peter Shilton as manager ultimately proved not to be enough to save the Pilgrims. Escaping relegation at Plymouth's expense were Newcastle United, who had spent most of the season hopelessly adrift in the relegation zone and looking doomed to their first-ever spell in the third tier, before having their own revival under Shilton's former England team-mate, Kevin Keegan.
Third Division
Brentford, who had played in the Third and Fourth Divisions for most of the postwar era, clinched the Third Division title to secure a place in the new Division One. They were joined by runners-up Birmingham City, who finally escaped from this division at the third attempt, and playoff winners Peterborough United, who won a second successive promotion to secure second-tier football for the very first time.
West Bromwich Albion, playing in the Third Division for the first time, were in the promotion race throughout the season but eventually finished seventh to miss out on the playoffs. Bolton Wanderers, who had only missed out on promotion on goal difference a year earlier, could only manage a mid table finish and sacked manager Phil Neal after nearly seven years in charge.
Newly promoted Darlington and Torquay United both suffered an instant relegation back to the league's basement division. They went down with Bury and Shrewsbury Town. The former had been in the playoffs a year earlier, while the latter had been in the Second Division three years earlier.
Fourth Division
Burnley sealed the Fourth Division title to end their seven-year spell in the league's basement division and become only the second team after Wolverhampton Wanderers to win all four divisions of the English league. They were joined by newly relegated Rotherham United, Mansfield Town and playoff winners Blackpool.
After spending several years struggling to stay afloat, Aldershot were declared bankrupt and obliged to resign from the league on 25 March 1992, having played 36 games in the Fourth Division – their record was expunged. Carlisle United finished bottom of the Fourth Division, but there was no relegation from the league this season due to the continued expansion of the Football League, although Colchester United's return to the league after two years would make them its 93rd member rather than its 94th due to the demise of Aldershot.
However, there were doubts about the future of Maidstone United, who were struggling with huge debts and low crowds, after they were refused planning permission to build a new stadium on land they had bought in Maidstone. There were also problems with their tenancy of the Watling Street stadium in Dartford, which left them with the threat of being without a stadium for the 1992–93 season.
Events
Premier League gets go-ahead
1991–92 was the last season of the four-division Football League. For 1992–93, the First Division would become the breakaway FA Premier League, and the Football League would contain just three divisions. The new league was seen as the last chance to maintain interest in a sport which had been blighted in recent years by numerous incidents of hooliganism and images of decay at football grounds which had contributed to the Bradford Fire Disaster and the Hillsborough Disaster.
Leeds grab title a decade after relegation
Leeds United won the last-ever league championship after a decade of relegation and before the creation of the FA Premier League, two years after returning to the top flight. Driving force in the title triumph was experienced midfielder Gordon Strachan, who helped Leeds overtake Strachan's former club Manchester United in the title race.
Dalglish makes comeback to deliver promised land to Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers, managed by former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, won promotion to the new F.A Premier League to end a 26-year exile from the top flight of English football. Their triumph was sealed with a 1–0 win over Leicester City in the playoff final, thanks to a penalty from Mike Newell – a former Leicester striker.
Aldershot go bust