1990 Football League Second Division play-off final

Swindon Town finished the regular 1990–91 season in fourth place in the Football League Second Division, the second tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Sunderland on goal difference. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the First Division and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers, to determine the third promoted team. Swindon Town finished eleven points behind both Sheffield United (who were promoted in second place) and league winners Leeds United who had secured the title on goal difference. The second leg was played at St James' Park in Newcastle three days later. Eric Gates opened the scoring for the visitors when he converted a low cross from Gary Owers. Marco Gabbiadini then doubled Sunderland's lead in the 86th minute which led to a pitch invasion from the home supporters: the referee halted play and withdrew the players to their dressing rooms for twenty minutes while police restored calm. The final four minutes were played out without further addition to the score, and Sunderland qualified for the final, with a 2–0 aggregate victory. Swindon Town faced Blackburn Rovers in the other play-off semi-final and the first leg was played at Ewood Park in Blackburn on 13 May 1990. The visitors took the lead after half an hour as Steve White from a David Kerslake break. Swindon dominated the match and Peter Foley doubled their lead in the 55th minute with a volley from at least . Andy Kennedy scored a consolation goal in the 73rd minute as the match ended 2–1 to Swindon. The second leg of the semi-final took place at the County Ground three days later. A weak backpass from Blackburn defender David Mail allowed Duncan Shearer to intercept and score, making it 3–1 on aggregate to the home side. Minutes later, Shearer then went clear down the left wing and his pass was converted by White from close range. Midway through the second half, Howard Gayle's strike was deflected by Ross MacLaren past Fraser Digby in the Swindon goal to make it 2–1 on the day, but Swindon progressed to the final with a 4–2 aggregate win. ==Match==

Background Neither side had featured in a play-off final although Swindon Town had lost in the semi-finals during the 1989 Football League play-offs. Swindon Town's last visit to Wembley Stadium was 21 years prior when they beat Arsenal 3–1 in the 1969 Football League Cup Final. This was Sunderland's fourth competitive trip to Wembley, the last time ending in a 1–0 defeat to Norwich City in the 1985 Football League Cup Final. They had also participated in the Football League Centenary Tournament, a friendly competition hosted at Wembley across two days in 1988, where they were knocked out in the first round on penalties by Wigan Athletic. They had last featured in the First Division in the 1984–85 season when they were relegated in 21st place. Swindon had never played at the top tier of English football but had been twice in four seasons, winning the Fourth Division in the 1985–86 season and the 1987 Football League Third Division play-off final. It was expected that around 40,000 Sunderland fans would make the tip to Wembley, and both clubs confirmed that they had sold their original allocation of 30,000 tickets. There was speculation in the media that the match would be a sell-out, with around 80,000 fans expected to attend. A Wembley official stated that both clubs had requested more than their official allocation of tickets and they were "staggered" by the interest in the match. This was the first play-off final to take place in a single match at Wembley Stadium: the previous three seasons had seen the play-off winners being determined after two legs, one match being played at the home ground of each finalist. Sunderland were undefeated in the two games between the clubs during the regular league season: they won 2–0 at the County Ground in August 1989 before drawing the return fixture 2–2 at Roker Park in December that year. Sunderland's top scorer for the regular season was Marco Gabbiadini with 25 goals in all competitions (21 in the league and 4 in the League Cup), followed by Gordon Armstrong (13 goals; 8 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, 3 in the League Cup and 1 in the Full Members' Cup). Leading Swindon's goal-scoring chart were Duncan Shearer with 26 (20 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, 4 in the League Cup and 1 in the Full Members' Cup) and Steve White with 25 (18 in the league, 5 in the League Cup and 2 in the Full Members’ Cup). The referee for the match was John Martin who was assisted by two linesmen, John Biddle and John Godfrey. Hardyman was unavailable for Sunderland having been sent off in the semi-final first leg. Warren Hawke had taken his place in the second leg but Kieron Brady and Brian Atkinson were also available. Colin Pascoe was a long-term doubt having been out for eight weeks with an injured knee, but successfully completed a training session four days prior to the final. Swindon were considered narrow favourites to win by bookmakers. Three weeks before the final, Macari, Hillier, former club accountant Vince Farrer and team captain Colin Calderwood were arrested for questioning. The Sunderland manager Denis Smith was keen to focus on the match and to disregard Swindon's off-pitch issues. He suggested that it would not impact the game and noted that Sunderland's aim was "quite simply to win the match". Summary The match kicked off at 3p.m. in sunny conditions on 28 May 1990 in front of a Wembley crowd of 72,873. With four minutes remaining, Shearer's header at the far post was tipped over by Norman. The match ended 1–0 and Calderwood collected the play-off final trophy, with Swindon earning their fourth promotion in five seasons. Details ==Post-match==

Winning manager Ardiles was hoping for clemency in the courts, saying that it would be "an absolute tragedy" if Swindon's promotion was not upheld. He added: "Right now we are in the First Division. This is a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life." His counterpart, Smith, said "We gave them too much room. After the first five minutes we had a job getting the ball off them." Brian McNally, writing in the Newcastle Journal, suggested that such was the dominance of Swindon that "a four-goal margin would not have flattered them." Ten days after the final, Swindon were found guilty on 35 counts of illegal player payments and were given a two-division relegation. Initially this meant that Sunderland were promoted to the First Division in Swindon's place, and Tranmere Rovers were promoted from the Third Division to the Second Division. Following an appeal, Swindon's penalty was reduced to a one-division relegation and Tranmere's promotion was revoked, the condemnation of which was heard in an early day motion sponsored primarily by Frank Field, the Labour Party MP for Birkenhead. Sunderland were relegated back to the Second Division by the end of the next season, finishing in 19th place. == References ==