Sunderland were promoted despite losing in the play-offs after arch-rival fans invaded the pitch
Sunderland will be hoping for a similar outcome to their 1990 play-off campaign in the coming weeks – but perhaps with slightly less drama. The Black Cats take on Coventry in their Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Friday night, and older fans are unlikely to have forgotten the last time their club won promotion to the top-flight this way. Sunderland are hoping to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017Getty We all know the whirlwind of emotions the EFL‘s thrilling end of season deciders can bring, and arguably none were more of a rollercoaster than the Wearsiders’ experience 35 years ago. In the 1989/90 season, Sunderland squeezed into the Second Division play-offs with a sixth place finish to book a mouth-watering semi-final clash with bitter rivals Newcastle. A 0-0 draw in the first-leg set things up perfectly for a winner-takes-all clash two days later at St James’ Park, and it did not disappoint. Goals from Eric Gates and Marco Gabbiadini gave the Mackems a memorable 2-0 win at the home of their sworn enemy. While such a result would normally silence a home crowd, it did the exact opposite on this occasion. Gabbiadini’s strike with just minutes left on the clock sent the away end into meltdown, but it proved to be the final straw for the Toon Army. Moments after the restart, hundreds of despairing Newcastle fans spilled onto the pitch in an attempt to get the tie called off. This caused play to be halted for more than 18 minutes as stewards fought to get control of the situation. It was unable to stop Sunderland’s march to Wembley however, whose supporters returned the favour at full-time by staging a pitch invasion of their own to celebrate with their players. But it was the behaviour of the Magpies fans which overshadowed the match action, with their actions being widely condemned. GettyMarco Gabbiadini notched 21 goals in the 1989/90 campaign, including his strike[/caption] Credit: YouTube: @lambtoncat Hundreds of angry Newcastle fans piled onto the pitch after going 2-0 down against their bitter rivals[/caption] Credit: YouTube: @lambtoncat Both sets of players made their way down the tunnel as the Geordies made their anger known[/caption] Among those to criticise the ugly scenes was Newcastle manager Jim Smith, who take aim at his own supporters. Speaking after the game, he said: “It’s something that the game’s got to sort out. “You look at the people that ran on, and they were all about 12, 13, and 14-years-old, and okay, we understand the frustrations, but those kind of scenes should never happen at a football game.” Meanwhile, Sunderland goalscorer Gabbiadini claimed their behaviour had stained a memorable win. When asked by a reporter if the pitch invasion had taken the gloss off the result, he replied: “A little bit, yeah. It’s a shame. “That’s the trouble up here, there’s so much passion and involvement in it, it’s just sad that it has to go like that. GettyDespite finishing sixth in the Second Division, three places below Newcastle, Sunderland emerged victorious in the play-offs[/caption] Spurs icon Ossie Ardiles masterminded a 1-0 victory for Swindon in the play-off final, but there was to be a twistGetty “Our fans hopefully have behaved themselves, I haven’t seen exactly what happened altogether, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad. I think it was just a case of frustration really.” And the play-off drama didn’t stop there for the Black Cats, who then headed to London to take on Swindon in the play-off final. Despite being strong favourites prior to the crunch-match, Sunderland suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to the Robins, who were managed by former Tottenham hero Ossie Ardiles. But in a bizarre twist, victory wasn’t enough to send Swindon up to the First Division. Weeks later, following an extended Football League investigation, they were denied promotion after being found guilty of a number of financial irregularities. This meant that Sunderland instead took their place in the top flight as the beaten finalists – not Newcastle, who had finished above them in third in the league table.
Sunderland will be hoping for a similar outcome to their 1990 play-off campaign in the coming weeks – but perhaps with slightly less drama.
The Black Cats take on Coventry in their Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Friday night, and older fans are unlikely to have forgotten the last time their club won promotion to the top-flight this way.
We all know the whirlwind of emotions the EFL‘s thrilling end of season deciders can bring, and arguably none were more of a rollercoaster than the Wearsiders’ experience 35 years ago.
In the 1989/90 season, Sunderland squeezed into the Second Division play-offs with a sixth place finish to book a mouth-watering semi-final clash with bitter rivals Newcastle.
A 0-0 draw in the first-leg set things up perfectly for a winner-takes-all clash two days later at St James’ Park, and it did not disappoint.
Goals from Eric Gates and Marco Gabbiadini gave the Mackems a memorable 2-0 win at the home of their sworn enemy.
While such a result would normally silence a home crowd, it did the exact opposite on this occasion.
Gabbiadini’s strike with just minutes left on the clock sent the away end into meltdown, but it proved to be the final straw for the Toon Army.
Moments after the restart, hundreds of despairing Newcastle fans spilled onto the pitch in an attempt to get the tie called off.
This caused play to be halted for more than 18 minutes as stewards fought to get control of the situation.
It was unable to stop Sunderland’s march to Wembley however, whose supporters returned the favour at full-time by staging a pitch invasion of their own to celebrate with their players.
But it was the behaviour of the Magpies fans which overshadowed the match action, with their actions being widely condemned.
Among those to criticise the ugly scenes was Newcastle manager Jim Smith, who take aim at his own supporters.
Speaking after the game, he said: “It’s something that the game’s got to sort out.
“You look at the people that ran on, and they were all about 12, 13, and 14-years-old, and okay, we understand the frustrations, but those kind of scenes should never happen at a football game.”
Meanwhile, Sunderland goalscorer Gabbiadini claimed their behaviour had stained a memorable win.
When asked by a reporter if the pitch invasion had taken the gloss off the result, he replied: “A little bit, yeah. It’s a shame.
“That’s the trouble up here, there’s so much passion and involvement in it, it’s just sad that it has to go like that.
“Our fans hopefully have behaved themselves, I haven’t seen exactly what happened altogether, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad. I think it was just a case of frustration really.”
And the play-off drama didn’t stop there for the Black Cats, who then headed to London to take on Swindon in the play-off final.
Despite being strong favourites prior to the crunch-match, Sunderland suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to the Robins, who were managed by former Tottenham hero Ossie Ardiles.
But in a bizarre twist, victory wasn’t enough to send Swindon up to the First Division.
Weeks later, following an extended Football League investigation, they were denied promotion after being found guilty of a number of financial irregularities.
This meant that Sunderland instead took their place in the top flight as the beaten finalists – not Newcastle, who had finished above them in third in the league table.
