1990–91 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland

1990–91 season
Manager	Denis Smith
Stadium	Roker Park
First Division	19th (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Full Members Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Marco Gabbiadini (8) All: Marco Gabbiadini (10)
Highest home attendance	31,107
Lowest home attendance	17,899
Average home league attendance	22,534
← 1989–90 1991–92 →

During the 1990–91 season Sunderland competed in the Football League First Division, the League Cup and the FA Cup. They finished 19th in the First Division and were relegated. Marco Gabbiadini was the top scorer in the First Division with 8 goals. They were knocked out of the League Cup in Round 3. Marco Gabbiadini was the top scorer in the League Cup with 2 goals. They were knocked out of The FA Cup in Round 3. No Sunderland players scored in the FA Cup. Marco Gabbiadini was the top scorer in all competitions with 10 goals. At the end of the season, Kevin Ball won the club's official Player Of The Season award, as well as the SAFC Supporters' Association Player Of The Season award.

Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Tim Carter GK Tony Norman DF Kevin Ball DF Gary Bennett DF Paul Hardyman DF John Kay DF Richard Ord DF Ian Sampson DF Anth Smith DF Reuben Agboola MF Brian Atkinson MF Gordon Armstrong

No. Position Player MF Paul Bracewell MF John Cornforth MF Martin Gray MF Gary Owers MF Colin Pascoe MF Kieron Brady MF Brian Mooney FW Peter Davenport FW Marco Gabbiadini FW Warren Hawke FW David Rush FW Thomas Hauser

Results

Sunderland's score comes first.

Win

Draw

Loss

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 September 1990	Round 2 Leg 1	Bristol City	Roker Park	0-1	10,358
9 October 1990	Round 2 Leg 2	Bristol City	Ashton Gate	6-1 (6-2 on aggregate)	11,776	Ball, Owers, Hauser, Cullen and Gabbiadini (2)
31 October 1990	Round 3	Derby County	The Baseball Ground	0-6	16,442

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
5 January 1991	Round 3	Arsenal	Highbury	1-2	35,128	O'Leary (own goal)

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1990	Norwich City	Carrow Road	2-3	17,247	Davenport and Gabbiadini
28 August 1990	Tottenham Hotspur	Roker Park	0-0	30,214
1 September 1990	Manchester United	Roker Park	2-1	26,105	Owers and Bennett
8 September 1990	Chelsea	Stamford Bridge	2-3	19,424	Brady and Gabbiadini
15 September 1990	Everton	Roker Park	2-2	25,004	Davenport (pen) and Gabbiadini
22 September 1990	Wimbledon	Plough Lane	2-2	6,143	Davenport and Gordon Armstrong
29 September 1990	Liverpool	Roker Park	0-1	31,107
6 October 1990	Aston Villa	Villa Park	0-3	26,017
20 October 1990	Luton Town	Roker Park	2-0	20,025	Davenport and Gabbiadini
27 October 1990	Arsenal	Highbury	0-1	38,539
31 October 2003	Derby County	The Baseball Ground	0-6	16,422
3 November 1990	Manchester City	Roker Park	1-1	23,137	Davenport
10 November 1990	Coventry City	Roker Park	0-0	20,101
17 November 1990	Nottingham Forest	The City Ground	0-2	22,757
24 November 1990	Sheffield United	Bramall Lane	2-0	19,179	Gabbiadini
1 December 1990	Derby County	Roker Park	1-2	21,212	Armstrong
8 December 1990	Tottenham Hotspur	White Hart Lane	3-3	30,431	Pascoe (2) and Davenport
15 December 1990	Norwich City	Roker Park	1-2	18,693	Armstrong
23 December 1990	Leeds United	Roker Park	0-1	23,773
26 December 1990	Crystal Palace	Selhurst Park	1-2	15,228	Rush
29 December 1990	Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road	2-3	11,072	Ball (pen) and Pascoe
1 January 1991	Southampton	Roker Park	1-0	19,757	Ball (pen)
12 January 1991	Manchester United	Old Trafford	0-3	45,934
19 January 1991	Chelsea	Roker Park	1-0	20,038	Pascoe
2 February 1991	Everton	Goodison Park	0-2	23,124
16 February 1991	Nottingham Forest	Roker Park	1-0	20,394	Gabbiadini
23 February 1991	Coventry City	Highfield Road	0-0	10,453
2 March 1991	Derby County	The Baseball Ground	3-3	16,027	Ball, Gabbiadini and Armstrong
9 March 1991	Sheffield United	Roker Park	0-1	23,238
16 March 1991	Liverpool	Anfield	1-2	37,582	Armstrong
23 March 1991	Aston Villa	Roker Park	1-3	21,099	Davenport
30 March 1991	Crystal Palace	Roker Park	2-1	19,704	Rush and Brady
2 April 1991	Leeds United	Elland Road	0-5	28,132
6 April 1991	Queens Park Rangers	Roker Park	0-1	17,899
13 April 1991	Southampton	The Dell	1-3	16,812	Hauser
20 April 1991	Luton Town	Kenilworth Road	2-1	11,157	Pascoe and Armstrong
23 April 1991	Wimbledon	Roker Park	0-0	24,036
4 May 1991	Arsenal	Roker Park	0-0	22,606
11 May 1991	Manchester City	Maine Road	2-3	39,194	Bennett and Gabbiadini

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts	Notes
1	Arsenal	38		15	4	0	51	10		9	9	1	23	8		74	18	+56		83	European Cup 1991–92 First round
2	Liverpool	38		14	3	2	42	13		9	4	6	35	27		77	40	+37		76	UEFA Cup 1991–92 First round
3	Crystal Palace	38		11	6	2	26	17		9	3	7	24	24		50	41	+9		69
4	Leeds United	38		12	2	5	46	23		7	5	7	19	24		65	47	+18		64
5	Manchester City	38		12	3	4	35	25		5	8	6	29	28		64	53	+11		62
6	Manchester United	38		11	4	4	34	17		5	8	6	24	28		58	45	+13		59	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1991–92 First round
7	Wimbledon	38		8	6	5	28	22		6	8	5	25	24		53	46	+7		56
8	Nottingham Forest	38		11	4	4	42	21		3	8	8	23	29		65	50	+15		54
9	Everton	38		9	5	5	26	15		4	7	8	24	31		50	46	+4		51
10	Tottenham Hotspur	38		8	9	2	35	22		3	7	9	16	28		51	50	+1		49	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1991–92 Qualifying round
11	Chelsea	38		10	6	3	33	25		3	4	12	25	44		58	69	– 11		49
12	Queens Park Rangers	38		8	5	6	27	22		4	5	10	17	31		44	53	– 9		46
13	Sheffield United	38		9	3	7	23	23		4	4	11	13	32		36	55	– 19		46
14	Southampton	38		9	6	4	33	22		3	3	13	25	47		58	69	– 11		45
15	Norwich City	38		9	3	7	27	32		4	3	12	14	32		43	64	– 21		45
16	Coventry City	38		10	6	3	30	16		1	5	13	12	33		42	49	– 7		44
17	Aston Villa	38		7	9	3	29	25		2	5	12	17	33		46	58	– 12		41
18	Luton Town	38		7	5	7	22	18		3	2	14	20	43		42	61	– 19		37
19	Sunderland	38		6	6	7	15	16		2	4	13	23	44		38	60	– 22		34
20	Derby County	38		3	8	8	25	36		2	1	16	12	39		37	75	– 38		24

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
• Arsenal deducted two points; Manchester United deducted one point due to a brawl in a game between both teams.

Goal scorers

Nation	Name	League	League Cup	FA Cup	Total
	Marco Gabbiadini	8	2	0	10
	Peter Davenport	7	0	0	7
	Gordon Armstrong	6	0	0	6
	Colin Pascoe	5	0	0	5
	Kevin Ball	3	1	0	4
	Gary Bennett	2	0	0	2
	David Rush	2	0	0	2
	Kieron Brady	2	0	0	2
	Gary Owers	1	1	0	2
	Thomas Hauser	1	1	0	2
	Tony Cullen	0	1	0	1
/	Own goals	0	0	1	1
/	Totals	38	6	1	45