1989–90 Sunderland A.F.C. season

First round
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

play-offs

.

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	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^{[notes 1]}
—	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	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	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	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^[a] (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^[a] (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:

^ ^a ^b 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.

[table_note_SWI0.38866084878736-2] 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.

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

[notes 1]

[a]