During the 1989–90 season, Newcastle United participated in the Football League Division Two. After the disappointment of the previous season's relegation, the manager Jim Smith again dabbled in the transfer market, offloading the captain Kenny Sansom, the former captain Glenn Roeder, Denmark's Frank Pingel, Rob McDonald and the promising youngsters Michael O'Neill and Darren Jackson.
With new signings including their former player Mark McGhee, the team started the season with an emphatic 5–2 win over Leeds United at St. James' Park that saw another new signing, Micky Quinn, score four times on his debut. After a promising start, the team struggled until Smith signed the Scotland skipper, Roy Aitken, who instilled steel into a lightweight midfield of ball players Kevin Brock, Kevin Dillon and John Gallacher. United regained their momentum with a change of formation that saw Bjorn Kristensen switched to sweeper and the team returned to the top of the table, only to be overtaken by Leeds and Sheffield United. Left to compete in the promotion play-offs after finishing third, they lost to their local rivals Sunderland in the semi-finals. It was a disappointing end to a season that also saw unrest from the fans and talk of take-overs.
League table
Appearances, goals and cards (Substitute appearances in brackets) Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupZDS CupPlayoffsTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK John Burridge28040203020390GK Gary Kelly400010000050GK Tommy Wright14000000000140DF Roy Aitken44140303020561DF John Anderson29 (8)410100 (1)02033 (9)4DF Darren Bradshaw9 (3)01 (1)000101012 (4)0DF Bjørn Kristensen25 (8)33020302035 (8)3DF Ray Ranson33030203010420DF Kevin Scott42341302020534DF Mark Stimson35 (2)14030102045 (2)1DF Paul Sweeney14 (5)020103 (2)00019 (6)0DF Andy Thorn10100210000122MF Billy Askew400000002060MF Kevin Brock43 (1)22031202052 (1)3MF Kevin Dillon4303 (1)030300 (1)052 (2)0MF Wayne Fereday21 (4)0101 (1)01 (2)00024 (7)0MF John Gallacher21 (7)62031310029 (7)8MF Liam O'Brien14 (5)22110310 (2)020 (7)4FW Gary Brazil4 (12)20 (1)01 (1)10 (1)0005 (15)3FW Mark McGhee4619453130205825FW Micky Quinn4532422022205536FW David Robinson0 (1)00 (1)10000000 (2)1
Coaching staff
External links Newcastle United Football Club - Fixtures 1989-90 Season Details - 1989-90 - toon1892