| Club: | Sunderland |
| Season: | 1989–90 |
| Manager: | Denis Smith |
| Stadium: | Roker Park |
| League: | Second Division |
| League Result: | 6th (promoted via playoffs) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Third round |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Fifth round |
| Cup3: | Full Members Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | First round |
| League Topscorer: | Marco Gabbiadini (21) |
| Season Topscorer: | Marco Gabbiadini (25) |
| Highest Attendance: | 29,449 (vs. Newcastle United, 24 September) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 13,017 (vs. Leicester City, 10 March) |
| Average Attendance: | 17,777 |
| Pattern La1: | _red_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _red_stripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _red_stripes |
| Pattern So1: | _whitetop |
| Leftarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Body1: | FFFFFF |
| Rightarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | FF0000 |
| Pattern B2: | _blue |
| Pattern So2: | _whitetop |
| Leftarm2: | 0000FF |
| Body2: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm2: | 0000FF |
| Shorts2: | FFFFFF |
| Socks2: | 0000FF |
| Prevseason: | 1988–89 |
| Nextseason: | 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.
Sunderland's score comes first.
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| width=60 | Nation | width=150 | Name | width=80 | League | width=80 | League Cup | width=80 | FA Cup | width=80 | 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 |