# 1990–91 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

During the 1990–91 English football season, Nottingham Forest competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

There was chance for more success in 1991 when Forest reached their only FA Cup final under Brian Clough and went ahead after scoring an early goal against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, but ended up losing 2–1 in extra time after an own goal by Des Walker. In Forest's team that day was young Irish midfielder Roy Keane, who had joined the club the previous summer.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | WAL | Mark Crossley |
| — | GK | WAL | Andy Marriott |
| — | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton |
| — | DF | ENG | Gary Bowyer |
| — | DF | ENG | Gary Charles |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Chettle |
| — | DF | ENG | Phil Gilchrist |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Hope |
| — | DF | ENG | Brian Laws |
| — | DF | ENG | Stuart Pearce (captain) |
| — | DF | ENG | Des Walker |
| — | DF | ENG | Darren Wassall |
| — | DF | ENG | Brett Williams |
| — | DF | SCO | Terry Wilson |
| — | MF | ENG | Franz Carr |
| — | MF | ENG | Gary Crosby |
| — | MF | SCO | Scot Gemmill |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Hodge |
| — | MF | ENG | Bobby Howe |
| — | MF | IRL | Roy Keane |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Kilford |
| — | MF | ENG | Tony Loughlan |
| — | MF | ENG | Neil Lyne |
| — | MF | ISL | Þorvaldur Örlygsson |
| — | MF | ENG | Garry Parker |
| — | MF | SCO | Brian Rice |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Stone |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Woan |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Clough |
| — | FW | IRL | Tommy Gaynor |
| — | FW | SCO | Lee Glover |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Jemson |
| — | FW | ENG | Phil Starbuck |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Roy Keane | Cobh Ramblers | £47,000 |
| DF | Gary Bowyer | Hereford United | |
| DF | Chris Hope | Darlington F.C. | Free |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Nigel Jemson | Sheffield Wednesday | £650,000 |
| MF | Þorvaldur Örlygsson | Stoke City F.C. | |
| MF | Tommy Gaynor | Newcastle United | loan |
| FW | Dave Currie | Oldham Athletic | £460,000 |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Tommy Gaynor | Newcastle United | loan ended |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Brian Rice | Stoke City F.C. | loan |
| MF | Franz Carr | West Ham United | loan |
| FW | Lee Glover | Luton Town F.C. | loan |
| MF | Neil Lyne | Walsall F.C. | loan |

## Competitions
### Division One
#### League Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Manchester United | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 59 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 7 | Wimbledon | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 56 | |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 65 | 50 | +15 | 54 | |
| 9 | Everton | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 51 | |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 49 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
* ↑ Arsenal deducted two points; Manchester United deducted one point due to a brawl in a game between both teams.

#### Position by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H |
| Result | D | L | D | W | D | L | W | W | D | L | L | D | W | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | D | L | D | D | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 11 | 14 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Nottingham Forest's score comes first

#### Matches

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Full Members Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| NR2 | 27 November 1990 | Newcastle United | H | 2–1 | 9,567 | Hodge, Clough |
| NQF | 30 January 1991 | Barnsley | A | 1–2 | 6,692 | Chettle |
    Transfers in: £47,000
    Transfers out: £460,000
    Total spending: £413,000

## Awards

* Roy Keane - Fans' player of the season

## Statistics
### Squad Statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League First Division | Football League First Division | Football League Cup | Football League Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | WAL | Mark Crossley | 38 | -50 | 38 | -50 |
| | DF | ENG | Brian Laws | 32 | 0 | 30+2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Chettle | 37 | 2 | 37 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Des Walker | 37 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Stuart Pearce | 33 | 11 | 33 | 11 |
| | MF | ENG | Gary Crosby | 29 | 2 | 27+2 | 2 |
| | MF | ENG | Garry Parker | 36 | 3 | 35+1 | 3 |
| | MF | IRL | Roy Keane | 35 | 8 | 35 | 8 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Hodge | 14 | 3 | 12+2 | 3 |
| | FW | ENG | Nigel Clough | 37 | 14 | 37 | 14 |
| | FW | ENG | Nigel Jemson | 23 | 8 | 22+1 | 8 |
| | GK | WAL | Andy Marriott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Terry Wilson | 15 | 3 | 13+2 | 3 |
| | MF | ENG | Franz Carr | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Gary Charles | 10 | 0 | 9+1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ian Woan | 12 | 3 | 9+3 | 3 |
| | FW | IRL | Tommy Gaynor | 11 | 3 | 9+2 | 3 |
| | FW | SCO | Lee Glover | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Brett Williams | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Phil Starbuck | 12 | 0 | 3+9 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Darren Wassall | 7 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Scot Gemmill | 4 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Tony Loughlan | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Brian Rice | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Gary Bowyer |
| | DF | ENG | Phil Gilchrist |
| | DF | ENG | Chris Hope |
| | MF | ENG | Bobby Howe |
| | MF | ENG | Ian Kilford |
| | MF | ENG | Neil Lyne |
| | MF | ISL | Þorvaldur Örlygsson |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Stone |
* Source: