Manchester United set to sack manager - looking back to the Burns' Day Storm of 1990

Paul Okey
17 February 2022

Ahead of the arrival of Storm Eunice, Planet Sport looks back to what was happening in English football the last time a storm of similar magnitude hit these shores.

Britain is bracing itself for Storm Eunice, with experts predicting it to be the strongest since the Burns' Day Storm in 1990.

The storm, which started on January 25, the birthday of the famed Scottish poet, resulted in wind speeds of 107mph in Aberporth, Wales.

It caused widespread damage and hurricane-force winds over a widespread area, with power disrupted to over 500,000 homes and severe flooding.

Football grounds did not escape the brunt with several clubs seeing roofs ripped off, including Division Four side Torquay United, Falmouth Town and Chelmsford City.

Pre-Premier League and still months from Italia '90, football was a very different beast back then, as our trawl through the archives illustrates.

The state of play on January 25, 1990

Kylie Minogue was topping the charts with Tears on my Pillow from her second studio album Enjoy Yourself but there was very little enjoyment to be had at Old Trafford.

Manchester United were nine games into an 11-game winless streak under Sir Alex Ferguson in the old Division One. A 2-0 defeat at the hands of Norwich the previous weekend had seen United slump to 17th, just a place and a point above the relegation zone.

Sir Alex has since claimed that he retained the backing of his chairman but the air was mutinous, with one fanzine printing a 'crisis' edition as fans revolted.

Norwich beat Manchester United 2-0 #OnThisDay in 1990 thanks to two second-half Robert Fleck goals. The match was live on ITV and completed the First Division double over Alex Ferguson's side. #ncfc #mufc pic.twitter.com/r9qQIxHQAN
— Rewind Norwich City (@RewindNorwich) January 21, 2019

The Manchester United line-up that day was Jim Leighton, Viv Anderson, Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, Lee Martin, Paul Ince, Brian McClair, Mike Phelan, Mark Hughes, Mark Robins and Danny Wallace.

Robert Fleck, who scored the Canaries' second goal, was sure United had enough quality in their side to survive, however. "United won't go down, there's no chance of that," he said.

The bottom three was filled by Luton, Charlton Athletic and Millwall who had briefly topped the table in the early part of the season.

At the other end, Liverpool led the way on goal difference from Aston Villa who had a game in hand.

Managed by Kenny Dalglish, the Reds had beaten Crystal Palace 2-0 in their previous outing thanks to goals from Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley.

Villa, meanwhile, had edged past Southampton 2-1 with Tony Daley and Kevin Gage on the scoresheet - it was their tenth successive home win under Graham Taylor.

League Division One table after close of play on January 25, 1990

1	Liverpool	24	13	7	4	48	25	23	46
2	Aston Villa	23	14	4	5	40	21	19	46
3	Arsenal	23	13	3	7	38	24	14	42
4	Nottingham Forest	23	10	6	7	34	23	11	36
5	Southampton	23	9	8	6	45	38	7	35
6	Chelsea	23	9	8	6	37	33	4	35
7	Everton	23	10	5	8	31	28	3	35
8	Norwich City	23	9	7	7	28	23	5	34
9	Tottenham Hotspur	23	9	6	8	32	30	2	33
10	Derby County	23	9	5	9	29	21	8	32
11	Wimbledon	23	7	10	6	26	25	1	31
12	Coventry City	23	9	4	10	18	29	-11	31
13	Queens Park Rangers	23	7	9	7	26	26	0	30
14	Manchester City	23	7	5	11	25	37	-12	26
15	Crystal Palace	23	7	5	11	26	46	-20	26
16	Sheffield Wednesday	24	6	7	11	20	34	-14	25
17	Manchester United	23	6	6	11	27	33	-6	24
18	Millwall	23	5	8	10	29	39	-10	23
19	Luton Town	23	4	10	9	25	33	-8	22
20	Charlton Athletic	23	3	7	13	18	34	-16	16

At the top of Division Two, Leeds United, under Howard Wilkinson, were four points clear of Sheffield United, with Swindon Town a distant third.

Bristol City were top of Division Three, thanks to the goals of Bob Taylor, while Carlisle United were at the summit of a Division Four that featured Burnley in ninth.

Maidstone, in their first season in the Football League, were fifth.

What happened after

United finished the season 13th, five points clear of safety, and went on to reach the FA Cup final where they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 after a replay.

It was to prove the first of 38 trophies for United under Ferguson.

Liverpool pulled clear of Aston Villa at the top of Division One to win the title by nine points. Tottenham, on the back of a 24-goal haul from Gary Lineker, finished third.

Charlton, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday were relegated from the top flight, with Kingsley Black's second-half goal giving Luton a dramatic 3-2 win over Derby to keep them up.

Leeds claimed the Division Two title, with Bristol Rovers and Exeter City topping Division Three and Four, respectively.

Maidstone's maiden league campaign finished in play-off semi-final disappointment, with an emerging young striker by the name of Dion Dublin scoring the winner in the final as Cambridge United were promoted.

Kylie Minogue went on to record three more number ones.