1890–91 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland
1890–91 season
Manager	Tom Watson
Stadium	Newcastle Road
Football League	7th
FA Cup	Semi-final (Replay)
Top goalscorer	League: John Campbell (19); All: John Campbell (24)
Highest home attendance	21,000 ; (vs. Everton, FA Cup 1st Round)
Lowest home attendance	3,000 ; (vs. Derby County)
Average home league attendance	6,000
	Home colours
	Home colours
	1891–92 →
	All statistics correct as of 11 November 2018.

The 1890–91 season was Sunderland's 11th season in existence, and their first season as a Football League club. Sunderland were elected into the league for the beginning of its third season, in place of Stoke City who had finished bottom in 1889–90.

Although bottom by mid December, Sunderland had a strong second half of the season, losing only once in the new year and finishing in seventh place (out of twelve). They would have finished fifth were they not deducted two points for failing to register goalkeeper Ned Doig ahead of the game at West Brom.

Sunderland went on a cup run, reaching their first ever FA Cup Semi-final, losing in a replay to Notts County. Sunderland declined to enter their first team into the Durham Challenge Cup, instead opting to send Sunderland 'A'.

First team squad

Name	Positions(s)	DOB	Signed From (90-91)
Ned Doig	Goalkeeper	29 October 1866	Blackburn Rovers
William Kirkley	Goalkeeper
Tom Porteous	Defender	October 1865
John Oliver	Defender	1867
John Auld	Defender	7 January 1862	Third Lanark
John Murray	Defender	24 April 1865	Vale of Leven
Will Gibson	Midfielder
John Spence	Wing half		Kilmarnock
John Harvey	Midfielder		unknown
Hughie Wilson	Inside forward	18 March 1869	Newmilns
John Smith	Inside right	19 December 1865
Jimmy Millar	Centre forward	2 March 1870	Unknown
James Gillespie	Outside right		Greenock Morton
John Campbell	Centre forward	19 February 1870	Renton
John Scott	Forward		Unknown
David Hannah	Forward	24 April 1867

Competitions

Football League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification
5	Bolton Wanderers	22	12	1	9	47	34	1.382	25
6	Blackburn Rovers	22	11	2	9	52	43	1.209	24	FA Cup Winners
7	Sunderland^[a]	22	10	5	7	51	31	1.645	23^[b]
8	Burnley	22	9	3	10	52	63	0.825	21
9	Aston Villa	22	7	4	11	45	58	0.776	18	Re-elected

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ New club in the league
^ Sunderland deducted two points for fielding unregistered player.^[1]

Matches

13 September 1890 (1890-09-13) 1	Sunderland	2–3	Burnley	Sunderland
	John Spence			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,500

15 September 1890 (1890-09-15) 2	Sunderland	3–4	Wolves	Sunderland
	James Gillespie John Campbell John Scott			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 5,000

20 September 1890 (1890-09-20) 3	West Brom	0–4	Sunderland	West Bromwich
			Jimmy Millar John Campbell John Scott	Stadium: Stoney Lane Attendance: 8,557

27 September 1890 (1890-09-27) 4	Burnley	3–3	Sunderland	Burnley
			John Spence John Harvey John Scott	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 10,000

11 October 1890 (1890-10-11) 5	Blackburn Rovers	3–2	Sunderland	Blackburn
			Jimmy Millar John Campbell	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 10,000

18 October 1890 (1890-10-18) 6	Sunderland	2–2	Accrington	Sunderland
	Jimmy Millar			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 4,000

25 October 1890 (1890-10-25) 7	Bolton Wanderers	2–5	Sunderland	Bolton
			Jimmy Millar John Campbell	Stadium: Pike's Lane Attendance: 4,000

1 November 1890 (1890-11-01) 8	Sunderland	3–1	Blackburn Rovers	Sunderland
	Jimmy Millar John Campbell			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 14,000

8 November 1890 (1890-11-08) 9	Sunderland	1–1	West Brom	Sunderland
	John Scott			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,000

15 November 1890 (1890-11-15) 10	Everton	1–0	Sunderland	Liverpool
				Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 12,000

22 November 1890 (1890-11-22) 11	Accrington	4–1	Sunderland	Accrington
			John Campbell	Stadium: Thorneyholme Road Attendance: 1,000

13 December 1890 (1890-12-13) 12	Notts County	1–1 (a.)	Sunderland	Nottingham
				Stadium: Trent Bridge
Note: Abandoned after 60 minutes due to fog

15 December 1890 (1890-12-15) 12	Notts County	2–1	Sunderland	Nottingham
			John Campbell	Stadium: Trent Bridge Attendance: 2,000

20 December 1890 (1890-12-20) 13	Sunderland	1–0	Everton	Sunderland
	David Hannah			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,500

26 December 1890 (1890-12-26) 14	Aston Villa	0–0	Sunderland	Birmingham
				Stadium: Wellington Road Attendance: 6,000

27 December 1890 (1890-12-27) 15	Wolves	0–3	Sunderland	Wolverhampton
			John Campbell John Scott	Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 8,000

10 January 1891 (1891-01-10) 16	Sunderland	5–1	Aston Villa	Sunderland
	John Campbell David Hannah			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,000

24 January 1891 (1891-01-24) 17	Sunderland	4–0	Notts County	Sunderland
	Jimmy Millar John Campbell			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 5,000

7 February 1891 (1891-02-07) 18	Derby County	3–1	Sunderland	Derby
			John Scott	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 3,500

10 February 1891 (1891-02-10) 19	Sunderland	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	Sunderland
	John Smith John Campbell			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 6,000

21 February 1891 (1891-02-21) 20	Preston North End	0–0	Sunderland	Preston
				Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 3,500

14 March 1891 (1891-03-14) 21	Sunderland	3–0	Preston North End	Sunderland
	John Campbell John Scott			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 5,000

21 March 1891 (1891-03-21) 22	Sunderland	5–1	Derby County	Sunderland
	John Campbell John Smith Jimmy Millar Hughie Wilson David Hannah			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 3,000

FA Cup

Matches

17 January 1891 (1891-01-17) 1	Sunderland	1–0	Everton	Sunderland
	John Campbell			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 21,000

31 January 1891 (1891-01-31) 2	Darwen	0–2	Sunderland	Darwen
			John Scott David Hannah	Stadium: Barley Bank Attendance: 5,000

14 February 1891 (1891-02-14) 3	Sunderland	4–0	Nottingham Forest	Sunderland
	Jimmy Millar John Campbell			Stadium: Newcastle Road Attendance: 17,500

14 February 1891 (1891-02-14) Semi-Final	Notts County	3–3	Sunderland	Sheffield
			Own Goal John Harvey John Campbell	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 17,500

11 March 1891 (1891-03-11) Semi-Final Replay	Notts County	2–0	Sunderland	Sheffield
			Hughie Wilson	Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 16,000

Squad statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Football League		FA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Ned Doig	25	0	20	0	5	0
	GK	ENG	William Kirkley	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Tom Porteous	27	0	22	0	5	0
	DF	ENG	John Oliver	24	0	19	0	5	0
	DF	SCO	John Auld	20	0	17	0	3	0
	DF	SCO	John Murray	24	0	19	0	5	0
	MF	SCO	Will Gibson	10	0	8	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	John Spence	8	0	5	0	3	0
	MF	SCO	John Harvey	17	2	15	1	2	1
	FW	SCO	Hughie Wilson	26	2	21	2	5	0
	FW	SCO	John Smith	15	2	10	2	5	0
	FW	SCO	Jimmy Millar	20	12	17	11	3	1
	FW	SCO	James Gillespie	2	1	2	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	John Campbell	26	24	21	19	5	5
	FW	SCO	John Scott	27	9	22	8	5	1
	FW	EIR	David Hannah	27	5	22	4	5	1

References

^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1970–71, p. 233. The Queen Anne Press Limited, London, 1970.

All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland A.F.C., Dykes, Gareth & Lamming, Douglas, Polar Print Group Ltd, 1999
Sunderland AFC: The Official History 1879–2000, Days, Paul, Business Education Publishers Ltd, 1999
The StatCat, www.thestatcat.co.uk, last accessed: 2018-11-02

[table_note_SUN0.61856717738256-1] New club in the league

[table_hth_SUN0.61856717738256-3] Sunderland deducted two points for fielding unregistered player.^[1]

[2] Rothmans Football Yearbook 1970–71, p. 233. The Queen Anne Press Limited, London, 1970.

[a]

[b]

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