May 28th 1990 will always be remembered by many as the day a defeated club in a play-off final was still promoted. Sunderland faced Swindon Town in the Divison Two (now known as the Championship) play-off final at Wembley. The majority in attendance and those watching were unaware of the complications that would arise should favourites Sunderland fail to win the game.
Sunderland Defeated in Play-Off Final but Still Promoted
Road to the Final
Black Cats Brush Aside Magpies
Sunderland finished the season in sixth place after finding form at just the right time during the second half of the season. Strikers Marco Gabbiadini and Eric Gates, known as the G-Force, terrorised defences. Should these two have continued their great form, the Black Cats would be favourites to seal the last automatic promotion place.
The semi-finals paired Sunderland with their fierce rivals Newcastle United. The first leg at Roker Park ended in a 0-0 draw, with late penalty by Sunderland’s Paul Hardyman was saved by Magpies keeper John Burridge. Hardyman was then sent off as he attempted to score the rebound. Newcastle appeared to believe the job was done and a straightforward victory at St James Park was predicted by many of their fans.
Sunderland, however, had been the in-form team away from home during the season and were confident they could cause an upset. Gabbiadini and Gates did what they did to many and terrorised the Magpies defence. Both got on the scoresheet as Sunderland won 2-0. Despite a pitch invasion from Newcastle’s fans in an attempt to get the game called off, Sunderland were on their way to Wembley.
Robins See Off Blackburn Rovers
Swindon Town finished their season in fourth place, on the same points as Sunderland but ahead due to a better goal difference. With former Tottenham Hotspur great Ossie Ardiles in charge, Swindon entertained their fans and many others as they finished the season on a high. To them, they were a match for anyone.
The Robins faced Blackburn Rovers in their semi-final, the first leg being away from home. A 2-1 victory at Ewood Park gave Swindon the advantage going into the second leg at home. The same scoreline in the second leg gave Swindon a 4-2 aggregate victory. A third promotion in four years was now possible. However, they would face an inform Sunderland who had already defeated them during the season.
Play-Off Final
An eagerly awaited final between two entertaining teams did not live up to the expectations in front of more than 72,000 at Wembley, the majority coming from Sunderland. The Black Cats were confident of a return to the top flight and many considered them to be favourites. Swindon had other ideas.
Sunderland started well creating two very good chances; however, Swindon soon took control of the game. An injury to Gabbiadini, meaning the striker was not as effective as normal, did not help the Black Cats’ cause. The Robins began to dominate the game and took the lead on 25 minutes after a deflected shot found its way past the Sunderland keeper Tony Norman.
Swindon continued to create chances and it was only the heroics of Norman in the Sunderland goal that kept the score at 1-0. Although the men from Wearside attempted to rally, Swindon were always in control of a one-sided game. Sunderland’s captain Gary Bennett had no complaints about how the game ended: “We didn’t turn up. We never got going. They played three at the back and we couldn’t deal with their system. We were lucky to be beaten 1-0.”
As Swindon celebrated and Sunderland fans contemplated the manner of their defeat, few would foresee what would happen in the coming weeks.
Play-Off Aftermath
The Football League, already looking into irregularities surrounding Swindon, extended their investigation in the weeks after the play-off final. At a hearing at the Football League, Swindon pleaded guilty to 36 breaches of regulations. All but one involved illegal payments to players over a four-year period between 1985 and 1989. Another 20 breaches were also admitted by the club.
The end result of the investigation saw the Football League decide to relegate The Robins to Division Three. On appeal, this was reduced to denying them promotion. It was therefore decided that play-off final losers, Sunderland, would take their place in England’s top-flight.
A challenge soon came from Sunderland’s rivals Newcastle. They believed that they should be promoted due to finishing the season in third place. However, as Sunderland had defeated the Magpies in the play-off semi-finals and played in the final itself, it was decided that Sunderland would take Swindon’s place.
Sunderland Chairman Admits to Having Known Outcome Before Playoff Final
The then Sunderland chairman Bob Murray admitted later he knew that no matter what happened in the final that Sunderland would be promoted: “When we beat Newcastle (in the semi-finals) I knew we would go up. The president of the Football League said to me at Wembley, ‘Don’t you lose this today,’ because he didn’t want to have to make that decision. But it had all been sorted out before the game actually started. I never shared it with (manager) Denis Smith or the players.”
Sunderland would go on to be relegated from Divison One (The Premier League) the following season. They did so despite playing some excellent football, winning many plaudits and gaining some high profile victories. Relegation was confirmed at Manchester City as 15,000 travelling fans saw their team defeated 3-2 but go down fighting.
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