1989–90 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland 1989–90 football season

Sunderland

1989–90 season

Manager

Denis Smith

Stadium

Roker Park

Second Division

6th (promoted via playoffs)

Top goalscorer

League:
Marco Gabbiadini (21)
All:
Marco Gabbiadini (25)

Highest home attendance

29,449 (vs. Newcastle United, 24 September)

Lowest home attendance

13,017 (vs. Leicester City, 10 March)

Average home league attendance

17,777

Home colours

Away colours

← 1988–89 1990–91 →

During the 1989–90 season Sunderland competed in the Football League Second Division. They finished sixth in the league and were promoted via the play-offs.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Tim Carter
—	GK	WAL	Tony Norman
—	DF	ENG	Gary Bennett
—	DF	ENG	Paul Hardyman
—	DF	ENG	John Kay
—	DF	ENG	Richard Ord
—	DF	ENG	Reuben Agboola
—	DF	ENG	Mick Heathcote
—	DF	SCO	John MacPhail
—	MF	ENG	Brian Atkinson
—	MF	ENG	Gordon Armstrong
—	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	John Cornforth
—	MF	ENG	Gary Owers
—	MF	WAL	Colin Pascoe
—	MF	SCO	Kieron Brady
—	MF	ENG	Paul Lemon
—	FW	WAL	Riccardo Gabbiadini
—	FW	ENG	Eric Gates
—	FW	ENG	Marco Gabbiadini
—	FW	ENG	Warren Hawke
—	FW	ENG	David Rush
—	FW	GER	Thomas Hauser

Results

Sunderland's score comes first.

Win

Draw

Loss

Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 August 1989	Swindon Town	County Ground	2-0	10,199	Gates and Hawke
22 August 1989	Ipswich Town	Roker Park	2-4	15,965	Gates and Gabbiadini
27 August 1989	Middlesbrough	Roker Park	2-1	21,569	Pascoe and Bennett
2 September 1989	West Brom	The Hawthorns	1-1	10,885	Gabbiadini
9 September 1989	Watford	Roker Park	4-0	15,042	Armstrong and Gabbiadini (3)
16 September 1989	Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	1-1	10,329	MacPhail
24 September 1989	Newcastle United	Roker Park	0-0	29,449
27 September 1989	Leicester City	Filbert Street	3-2	10,843	Armstrong, Hardyman and Owers
30 September 1989	Sheffield United	Roker Park	1-1	22,760	Deane O.G.
7 October 1989	Bournemouth	Roker Park	3-2	15,933	Gates (2) and Gabbiadini
14 October 1989	Leeds United	Elland Road	0-2	27,815
18 October 1989	West Ham United	Boleyn Ground	0-5	20,901
21 October 1989	Bradford City	Roker Park	1-0	14,849	MacPhail
28 October 1989	Stoke City	Victoria Ground	2-0	12,480	Bracewell and Gabbiadini
31 October 1989	Barnsley	Roker Park	4-2	14,234	Gates(2), Hardyman and Bennett
4 November 1989	Oldham Athletic	Boundary Park	1-2	8,829	Owers
11 November 1989	Wolves	Roker Park	1-1	20,660	Hardyman
18 November 1989	Plymouth Argyle	Roker Park	3-1	15,033	Owers, Ord and Gabbiadini
25 November 1989	Brighton	Goldstone Ground	2-1	8,681	Owers and Gabbiadini
2 December 1989	Swindon Town	Roker Park	2-2	15,849	Armstrong and Hauser
9 December 1989	Ipswich Town	Portman Road	1-1	13,833	Owers
16 December 1989	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	3-3	7,127	Hardyman, Bennett and Gabbiadini
26 December 1989	Oxford United	Roker Park	1-0	24,075	Gabbiadini
30 December 1989	Port Vale	Roker Park	2-2	21,354	Hauser and Gabbiadini
1 January 1990	Hull City	Boothferry Park	2-3	9,346	Owers and Hauser
14 January 1990	Middlesbrough	Ayresome Park	0-3	17,698
20 January 1990	West Brom	Roker Park	1-1	15,583	Gabbiadini
4 February 1990	Newcastle United	St James' Park	1-1	31,572	Gabbiadini
10 February 1990	Blackburn Rovers	Roker Park	0-1	16,043
17 February 1990	Watford	Vicarage Road	1-1	9,093	Hauser
24 February 1990	Brighton	Roker Park	2-1	14,528	Hauser (2)
3 March 1990	Plymouth Argyle	Home Park	0-3	7,299
10 March 1990	Leicester City	Roker Park	2-2	13,017	Armstrong and Gabbiadini
17 March 1990	Bournemouth	Dean Court	1-0	6,328	Gabbiadini
20 March 1990	Leeds United	Roker Park	0-1	17,851
24 March 1990	West Ham United	Roker Park	4-3	13,896	Kieron Brady, Hardyman, Owers and Gabbiadini
31 March 1990	Bradford City	Valley Parade	1-0	9,826	Kieron Brady
3 April 1990	Sheffield United	Bramall Lane	3-1	20,588	Bracewell and Gabbiadini (2)
7 April 1990	Stoke City	Roker Park	2-1	17,119	Armstrong and Gabbiadini
10 April 1990	Barnsley	Oakwell	0-1	11,141
14 April 1990	Hull City	Roker Park	0-1	17,437
16 April 1990	Oxford United	Manor Ground	1-0	21,212	Gabbiadini
21 April 1990	Portsmouth	Roker Park	2-2	14,379	Armstrong (2)
28 April 1990	Wolves	Molineux Stadium	1-0	19,463	Hardyman
1 May 1990	Port Vale	Vale Park	2-1	9,447	Hardyman and Owers
5 May 1990	Oldham Athletic	Roker Park	2-3	22,243	Owers and Armstrong

Play-offs

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 May 1990	Semi Final Leg 1	Newcastle United	Roker Park	0-0	26,641
16 May 1990	Semi Final Leg 2	Newcastle United	St James' Park	2-0 (2-0 on aggregate)	32,199	Gates and Gabbiadini
28 May 1990	Final	Swindon Town	Wembley	0-1	72,873

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Swindon Town (O)	46	20	14	12	79	59	+20	74	Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	19	17	10	74	59	+15	74
6	Sunderland (P)	46	20	14	12	70	64	+6	74
7	West Ham United	46	20	12	14	80	57	+23	72
8	Oldham Athletic	46	19	14	13	70	57	+13	71

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

^ Swindon Town were disqualified from promotion after being found guilty of making illegal payments, and the play-off runners-up Sunderland were promoted in their place.

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 September 1989	Round 2 Leg 1	Fulham	Roker Park	1-1	11,416	Hardyman
3 October 1989	Round 2 Leg 2	Fulham	Craven Cottage	3-0 (4-1 on aggregate)	6,314	Armstrong and Gabbiadini (2)
24 October 1989	Round 3	Bournemouth	Roker Park	1-1	12,595	Gabbiadini
7 November 1989	Round 3 replay	Bournemouth	Dean Court	1-0	8,500	Gabbiadini
29 November 1989	Round 4	Exeter City	St James Park	2-2	8,643	Armstrong and Gates
5 December 1989	Round 4 replay	Exeter City	Roker Park	5-2	18,130	Armstrong, Hardyman, Pascoe and Gates (2)
17 January 1990	Round 5	Coventry City	Roker Park	0-0	27,218
24 January 1990	Round 5 replay	Coventry City	Highfield Road	0-5	21,219

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 January 1990	Round 3	Reading	Elm Park	1-2	9,344	Armstrong

Full Members Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 November 1989	Round 1	Port Vale	Roker Park	1-2	7,035	Armstrong

Statistics

Goal scorers

Nation	Name	League	League Cup	FA Cup	Total
	Marco Gabbiadini	21	4	0	25
	Gordon Armstrong	8	3	1	12
	Gary Owers	9	0	0	9
	Eric Gates	6	3	0	9
	Paul Hardyman	7	2	0	9
	Thomas Hauser	6	0	0	6
	Gary Bennett	3	0	0	3
	Paul Bracewell	2	0	0	2
	Kieron Brady	2	0	0	2
	John MacPhail	2	0	0	2
	Colin Pascoe	1	1	0	2
	Richard Ord	1	0	0	1
	Warren Hawke	1	0	0	1
/	Own goals	1	0	0	1
/	Totals	70	13	1	84

References

Brady was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would represent them at U-21 level.

v t e Sunderland A.F.C. seasons
1890–91 1891-92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967 Vancouver Royals 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Sunderland A.F.C. seasons

1890–91
1891-92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967 Vancouver Royals
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

1989–90 in English football

« 1988–89 1990–91 »

National teams

League
competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division, play-offs)
Level 5	Football Conference
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (Premier, One) Southern League (Premier, Midland, Southern)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two North, Two South) Combined Counties League (level 8 only) Eastern Counties League (Premier, One) Essex Senior League (level 8 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Kent League (level 8 only) Midland Football Combination (level 8 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Spartan League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) Wessex League (level 8 only) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 8 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup
competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Full Members' Cup (Final) Associate Members' Cup (Final)

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Charlton Athletic Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Wimbledon
Second Division	Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bournemouth Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Middlesbrough Newcastle United Oldham Athletic Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Portsmouth Sheffield United Sunderland Swindon Town Stoke City Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Third Division	Birmingham City Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Cardiff City Chester City Crewe Alexandra Fulham Huddersfield Town Leyton Orient Mansfield Town Northampton Town Preston North End Notts County Reading Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wigan Athletic
Fourth Division	Aldershot Burnley Cambridge United Carlisle United Chesterfield Colchester United Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Lincoln City Maidstone United Peterborough United Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Torquay United Wrexham York City

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