1990-1991, Manchester United season

In 1990-1991, Manchester United won their first European trophy since 1967-1968. They reached the final of the League Cup and moved from thirteenth to sixth in the league. It wasn’t a bad season, although it was yet another without winning the league championship.

Despite some good performances, the team lacked consistency. During the winter, ten league games without defeat were followed by three defeats in a row. In the League Cup, both Liverpool and Arsenal were knocked out by excellent performances, only for the final to be lost to second division Sheffield Wednesday. (The 6-2 League Cup victory over Arsenal at Highbury was Arsenal’s worst home defeat since 1921.) In an earlier Manchester United Arsenal game in October, players from both teams became involved in an ugly brawl and both clubs were subsequently docked points. Across the season, Mark Hughes and Brian McClair scored most of Manchester United’s goals, although a surprising number was also contributed by Steve Bruce. Mark Hughes was voted PFA Players’ Player of the Year, for the second time in three seasons, and Lee Sharpe became Young Player of the Year. Denis Irwin was signed before the season began and brought additional strength to the defence.

1990-1991 saw the lifting of the post-Heysel ban on English clubs participating in European competitions. This allowed Manchester United to enter the European Cup Winners Cup following their FA Cup victory in 1989-1990. The standard of competition wasn’t great, particularly in the early stages. After notably winning the away leg in every round, the club reached the final in Rotterdam where they played Barcelona. On a wet evening, two Mark Hughes goals against his former club put Manchester United ahead. Barcelona got one goal back with ten minutes to go, but that was all. For only the second time in their history, Manchester United had won a European trophy.

During the season, Alex Ferguson’s son, Darren, made his debut for Manchester United, as did a seventeen year old Ryan Giggs. At the end of the season Archie Knox, Alex Ferguson’s assistant for many years, left to join Rangers.

After the season was over, Manchester United became a public limited company and its shares began to be traded on the Stock Exchange. This brought extra capital to invest in the club along with a variety of changed procedures.