Manager Jim Smith Division Two 3rd League Cup Third round | Stadium St James' Park FA Cup Fifth round | |
Chairman John Conwell from 5 June | ||
During the 1989-90 season, Newcastle United participated in the Football League Division Two. After the disappointment of the previous seasons relegation manager Jim Smith again dabbled in the transfer market shipping out the likes of captain Kenny Sansom, former captain Glenn Roeder, Dane Frank Pingel, Rob MacDonald and promising youngsters Michael O'Neill and Darren Jackson. With a host of new signings including 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 a hatrick. After an initial promising start, the team struggled until Smith signed Scotland skipper Roy Aitken who instilled much needed steel into a lightweight midfield of ball players Brock, Dillon and Gallagher. The team regained its momentum and returned to the top of the table only to be toppled at the death by Leeds and Sheffield United, and were left to compete in the promotion play-offs, which saw them lose to local rivals Sunderland in the semi-final. It was a disappointing end to a season that also saw unrest from the fans and talk of take overs, events that would repeat itself over and over again for more than the next two decades.