Although Sunderland made a better start, Swindon dominated the fixture and after missing a number of chances, took the lead midway through the first half when Alan McLoughlin scored via a deflection from Gary Bennett.

Swindon Town were later demoted two divisions after being found guilty of financial irregularities which resulted in Sunderland gaining promotion.

A weak backpass from Blackburn defender David Mail allowed Duncan Shearer to intercept and score, making it 3–1 on aggregate to the home side.

[6] Swindon Town's last visit to Wembley Stadium was 21 years prior when they beat Arsenal 3–1 in the 1969 Football League Cup Final.

[5][7] This was Sunderland's fourth competitive trip to Wembley, the last time ending in a 1–0 defeat to Norwich City in the 1985 Football League Cup Final.

[8] They had also participated in the Football League Centenary Tournament, a friendly competition hosted at Wembley across two days in 1988, where they were knocked out in the first round on penalties by Wigan Athletic.

[11] It was expected that around 40,000 Sunderland fans would make the tip to Wembley,[12] and both clubs confirmed that they had sold their original allocation of 30,000 tickets.

[14] Sunderland were undefeated in the two games between the clubs during the regular league season: they won 2–0 at the County Ground in August 1989 before drawing the return fixture 2–2 at Roker Park in December that year.

[21] Colin Pascoe was a long-term doubt having been out for eight weeks with an injured knee, but successfully completed a training session four days prior to the final.

[24][25] Swindon went into the match having been under financial investigation since January 1990: they faced 36 charges of payment irregularities and the judgement was not scheduled until after the final.

[24] The People published a story in November 1989 claiming former manager Lou Macari and former chairman Brian Hillier of betting against their own team in a game against Newcastle which Swindon lost 5–0.

[26] Three weeks before the final, Macari, Hillier, former club accountant Vince Farrer and team captain Colin Calderwood were arrested for questioning.

[28] After less than two minutes, Pascoe flicked on a pass from Reuben Agboola to send Eric Gates clear on the left side of the penalty area.

He struck the ball which took a large deflection off Gary Bennett's boot, changing both its pace and direction, and beat Tony Norman in the Sunderland goal.

[29] McLoughlin had spent most of the season as the attacking midfielder in Swindon's diamond formation but had not scored for three months leading up to the final.

[28] In the 40th minute, David Kerslake's pass to White found him unmarked in the penalty area but Norman recovered the ball.

The match ended 1–0 and Calderwood collected the play-off final trophy, with Swindon earning their fourth promotion in five seasons.

"[33] Ten days after the final, Swindon were found guilty on 35 counts of illegal player payments and were given a two-division relegation.

[26][34] Following an appeal, Swindon's penalty was reduced to a one-division relegation and Tranmere's promotion was revoked, the condemnation of which was heard in an early day motion sponsored primarily by Frank Field, the Labour Party MP for Birkenhead.