1990–91 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

The 1990–91 season was the 85th season of competitive football played by Tottenham Hotspur. Entering the 1990–91 season, Terry Venables stayed on as manager for his fourth season in charge of Tottenham with the team ending in tenth position. They won a record eighth FA Cup, beating Nottingham Forest in the final and they got knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Football League Cup by Chelsea.

Season summary
Tottenham's league form was average at best: having stood in third place after 17 games, the club won only three of their next 21 league matches, slumping to tenth place in the final table. The club had better luck in the FA Cup: after defeating London arch-rivals (and that season's eventual champions) Arsenal in the semi-final, they defeated Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final. As well as giving Tottenham their first post-Heysel European campaign (in the Cup Winners' Cup) and ending the club's seven-year trophy drought, the FA Cup win made Tottenham the first club to win the trophy eight times, although this record has since been surpassed by Arsenal and Manchester United.

The only downside of the FA Cup triumph was an injury to star midfielder Paul Gascoigne, who ruptured his cruciate ligaments in a tackle on Forest fullback Gary Charles early in the first half. The injury would put his transfer to Italian side Lazio on hold until the 1992–93 season. Gascoigne had earlier scored a tremendous free-kick in the 3–1 win against Arsenal in the semi-final (Gary Lineker scored Tottenham's other goals, with Arsenal's Alan Smith scoring Arsenal's goal).

Off the pitch the club were in danger of going into administration. With £20 million of debt (around £45 million equivalent in 2020) and shares in Tottenham Hotspur being suspended in the autumn of 1990, Irving Scholar resigned as Chairman of the club. In June 1991, manager Terry Venables and businessman, Alan Sugar, took over the club with equal shares and Alan Sugar being made chairman.

Squad

 * Squad at end of season

Expenditure
Total: £200,000

Income
Total: £925,000

Net totals
Total: £725,000

Kit
The FA Cup final saw Tottenham debut a longer style of shorts as part of their kit. Although the long shorts were ridiculed at first, within the decade all clubs in English football would have adopted the style.

Appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Pos. ! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:bottom; width:240px" | Name ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | First Division ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | FA Cup ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | League Cup ! colspan="2" style="width:85px;" | Total ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
 * GK
 * align="left" | 🇳🇴 Erik Thorstvedt
 * 37 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 48 || 0
 * GK
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ian Walker
 * 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0
 * GK
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kevin Dearden
 * 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0
 * GK
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kevin Dearden
 * 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🇮🇸 Guðni Bergsson
 * 9+3 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 9+3 || 1
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Justin Edinburgh
 * 14+2 || 1 || 5 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 24+2 || 1
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Terry Fenwick
 * 4 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 8 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ian Hendon
 * 0+2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+2 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gary Mabbutt
 * 35 || 2 || 6 || 1 || 6 || 0 || 47 || 3
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mitchell Thomas
 * 23+8 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 4+1 || 0 || 29+9 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Tuttle
 * 4+2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 || 4+3 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pat Van Den Hauwe
 * 31+1 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 38+1 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Tuttle
 * 4+2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 || 4+3 || 0
 * DF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pat Van Den Hauwe
 * 31+1 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 38+1 || 0
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pat Van Den Hauwe
 * 31+1 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 38+1 || 0
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Peter Garland
 * 0+1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0+1 || 0
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Allen
 * 34+2 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 46+2 || 3
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Gascoigne
 * 26 || 7 || 6 || 6 || 4+1 || 6 || 36+1 || 19
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 David Howells
 * 29 || 4 || 4 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 39 || 4
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Moncur
 * 4+5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1+1 || 0 || 5+6 || 0
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🇪🇸 Nayim
 * 32+1 || 5 || 3+2 || 1 || 2+3 || 0 || 37+6 || 6
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Vinny Samways
 * 14+9 || 1 || 4+1 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 22+10 || 1
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Steve Sedgley
 * 33+1 || 0 || 4+1 || 0 || 4+2 || 0 || 41+4 || 0
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Stewart
 * 35 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 6 || 4 || 46 || 9
 * 14+9 || 1 || 4+1 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 22+10 || 1
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Steve Sedgley
 * 33+1 || 0 || 4+1 || 0 || 4+2 || 0 || 41+4 || 0
 * MF
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Stewart
 * 35 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 6 || 4 || 46 || 9
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Stewart
 * 35 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 6 || 4 || 46 || 9
 * FW
 * align="left" | Phil Gray
 * 3+3 || 0 || 0+1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3+4 || 0
 * FW
 * align="left" | John Hendry
 * 2+2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2+2 || 2
 * FW
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gary Lineker
 * 32 || 15 || 6 || 3 || 5 || 1 || 43 || 19
 * FW
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Moran
 * 0+1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1+1 || 0
 * FW
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Walsh
 * 16+13 || 7 || 1+3 || 0 || 3+3 || 0 || 20+19 || 7
 * 0+1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1+1 || 0
 * FW
 * align="left" | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Walsh
 * 16+13 || 7 || 1+3 || 0 || 3+3 || 0 || 20+19 || 7
 * 16+13 || 7 || 1+3 || 0 || 3+3 || 0 || 20+19 || 7