1989–90 Football Conference
The Football Conference season of 1989–90 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Football Conference.
Overview
Darlington, relegated to the Conference from the Fourth Division a year earlier, finished the season as Conference champions and regained their Football League status at the first attempt – just as Lincoln City had done two years earlier. Coming down to the Conference from the Football League were the bottom placed Fourth Division club Colchester United.
New teams in the league this season
- Barrow (promoted 1988–89)
- Darlington (relegated from the Football League 1988–89)
- Farnborough Town (promoted 1988–89)
- Merthyr Tydfil (promoted 1988–89)
Final league table[1]
Season | 1989–90[1] |
---|---|
Champions | Darlington (1st Football Conference title) |
Promoted to the Football League | Darlington |
Conference League Cup winners | Yeading (Isthmian League) |
FA Trophy winners | Barrow |
Relegated to Level 6 |
Chorley, Enfield, Farnborough Town |
Matches played | 462 |
Goals scored | 1317 (2.85 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Robbie Cooke (Kettering Town), 28 |
Biggest home win | Runcorn – Enfield 9–0 (3 March 1990) |
Biggest away win |
Barrow – Merthyr Tydfil 1–5 (18 April 1990); Stafford Rangers – Darlington 0–4 (21 April 1990); Telford United – Chorley 0–4 (9 December 1989); Wycombe Wanderers – Cheltenham Town 0–4 (30 December 1989); Yeovil Town – Welling United 0–4 (13 September 1989) |
Highest scoring |
Runcorn – Enfield 9–0 (3 March 1990); Farnborough Town – Runcorn 6–3 (11 November 1989) |
Longest winning run | Barnet, 8 matches |
Longest unbeaten run | Darlington, 13 matches |
Longest losing run | Northwich Victoria, 6 matches |
Highest attendance | Barnet v Darlington, 5,880 (31 March 1990) |
Lowest attendance | ? |
Average attendance | 1,429 (+ 9% from previous season) |
← 1988–89 1990–91 → |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | F | A | GD | Pts | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Darlington | 42 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 33 | 13 | 76 | 25 | + 51 | 87 | |||||
2 | Barnet | 42 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 35 | 27 | 81 | 41 | + 40 | 85 | |||||
3 | Runcorn | 42 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 27 | 42 | 79 | 62 | + 17 | 70 | |||||
4 | Macclesfield Town | 42 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 35 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 25 | 56 | 41 | + 15 | 66 | |||||
5 | Kettering Town | 42 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 31 | 38 | 66 | 53 | + 13 | 66 | |||||
6 | Welling United | 42 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 34 | 62 | 50 | + 12 | 64 | |||||
7 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 32 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 29 | 62 | 54 | + 8 | 63 | |||||
8 | Sutton United | 42 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 42 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 26 | 40 | 68 | 64 | + 4 | 63 | |||||
9 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 41 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 33 | 67 | 63 | + 4 | 62 | |||||
10 | Wycombe Wanderers | 42 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 42 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 32 | 64 | 56 | + 8 | 61 | |||||
11 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 38 | 58 | 60 | – 22 | 59 | |||||
12 | Telford United | 42 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 34 | 56 | 63 | – 7 | 58 | |||||
13 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 37 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 27 | 34 | 64 | 67 | – 3 | 54 | |||||
14 | Barrow | 42 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 33 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 42 | 51 | 67 | – 16 | 52 | |||||
15 | Northwich Victoria | 42 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 29 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 22 | 37 | 51 | 67 | – 16 | 50 | |||||
16 | Altrincham | 42 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 49 | 48 | + 1 | 49 | |||||
17 | Stafford Rangers | 42 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 39 | 50 | 62 | – 12 | 48 | |||||
18 | Boston United | 42 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 37 | 48 | 67 | – 19 | 47 | |||||
19 | Fisher Athletic | 42 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 34 | 34 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 44 | 55 | 78 | – 23 | 46 | |||||
20 | Chorley | 42 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 16 | 41 | 42 | 67 | – 25 | 45 | Relegated to the Northern Premier League | ||||
21 | Farnborough Town | 42 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 33 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 43 | 60 | 73 | – 13 | 42 | Relegated to the Southern League | ||||
22 | Enfield | 42 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 36 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 55 | 52 | 89 | – 37 | 36 | Relegated to the Isthmian League |
- Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
- Points scored: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.
Key | |
---|---|
Football Conference Champions, promoted to Football League Fourth Division | |
FA Trophy winners | |
Conference League Cup winners, Yeading (Isthmian League) | |
Relegated from The Football League, see Darlington | |
New club in the Conference, see also Barrow, Farnborough Town | |
Relegated to Level 6 |
Results[1]
Home ╲ Away | ALT | BAR | BRW | BOS | CHL | CHO | DAR | ENF | FAR | FIS | KET | KID | MAC | MER | NOR | RUN | STA | SUT | TEL | WEL | WYC | YEO |
Altrincham | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
Barnet | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
Barrow | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | |
Boston United | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | |
Cheltenham Town | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
Chorley | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | |
Darlington | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |
Enfield | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–5 | 1–1 | |
Farnborough Town | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 6–3 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | |
Fisher Athletic | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–5 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | |
Kettering Town | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
Kidderminster Harriers | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | |
Macclesfield Town | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
Merthyr Tydfil | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | |
Northwich Victoria | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–4 | |
Runcorn | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 9–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
Stafford Rangers | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | |
Sutton United | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | |
Telford United | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | |
Welling United | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | |
Wycombe Wanderers | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
Yeovil Town | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 4–2 |
Source: Jack Rollin (ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91. Queen Anne Press, MacDonald & Co., London and Sydney, 1991.
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Top scorers in order of league goals[1]
Rank | Player | Club | League | FA Cup | FA Trophy | League Cup | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robbie Cooke | Kettering Town | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
2 | Efan Ekoku | Sutton | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
3 | Simon Read | Farnborough Town | 23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
4 | Ian Thompson | Merthyr Tydfil | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
5 | John Borthwick | Darlington | 19 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
= | Mark Carter | Runcorn | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 22 |
7 | Mike Doherty | Runcorn | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
8 | Gary Bull | Barnet | 17 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 25 |
= | Andrew Clarke | Barnet | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
= | Paul Furlong | Enfield | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
= | Paul Gorman | Fisher Athletic | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
= | Terry Robbins | Welling United | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
= | David Webley | Merthyr Tydfil | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
14 | Steve Burr | Macclesfield Town | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 21 |
= | Kim Casey | Kidderminster Harriers | 16 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 25 |
16 | Paul McKinnon | Sutton | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
= | Mark West | Wycombe Wanderers | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
18 | Martin Hanchard | Northwich Victoria | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
= | Mark Whitehouse | Kidderminster Harriers | 14 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
20 | David Cork | Darlington | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
= | Colin Cowperthwaite | Barrow | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
= | Ken McKenna | Telford United | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
= | Mickey Spencer | Yeovil Town | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
Promotion and relegation
Promoted
- Darlington (to the Football League Fourth Division)
- Bath City (from the Southern Premier League)
- Gateshead (from the Northern Premier League)
- Slough Town (from the Isthmian League)
Relegated
- Colchester United (from the Football League Fourth Division)
- Chorley (to the Northern Premier League)
- Enfield (to the Isthmian League)
- Farnborough Town (to the Southern Premier League)