.jpg) The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 27 May 1990 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Roger Milford | ||||||
| Attendance | 29,252 | ||||||
The 1990 Football League Third Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 27 May 1990 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Notts County and Tranmere Rovers. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Third Division, the third tier of English football, to the Second Division. The top two teams of the 1989–90 Football League Third Division season gained automatic promotion to the Second Division, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1990–91 season in the Second Division. Bury and Bolton Wanderers were the losing semi-finalists, having been defeated by Tranmere and Notts County respectively. This was the first season that the play-off final was determined over a single match and the first to be held at Wembley.
The match was refereed by Roger Milford. Notts County dominated the early stages of the match with Bartlett having two shots saved within the first 15 minutes and took the lead in the 31st minute through cross from Kevin Bartlett found Tommy Johnson whose low strike beat Eric Nixon in the Tranmere goal. In the 63rd minute, a free kick played in by Phil Robinson reached Craig Short at the far post who headed it in to make the score 2–0. The final whistle brought the game to a close with Notts County 2–0 winners and gaining promotion to the Second Division.
Notts County's next season saw them finish in fourth position in the Second Division and qualify for the play-offs. After beating Middlesbrough in the semi-final 2–1 on aggregate, they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 3–1 in the final to gain back-to-back promotions. Tranmere Rovers ended their following season in fifth place in the Third Division to qualify for the play-offs, where they defeated Brentford 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final and Bolton 1–0 in the final to secure promotion to the Second Division.