Little Book of Sunderland E-Book

Rob Mason

• Herausgeber: G2 Rights
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The only thing that's little about SAFC is this book! Sunderland prides itself on not just being a big club but one of the biggest. Only five clubs have been champions of England more times than Sunderland who were the first team to be champions three times, the first to score 100 goals in a season, the only top flight team to ever have a 100% home record and the last club in the country to have never played outside the top flight. Sunderland's Stadium of Light was the biggest football ground built in England in the second half of the twentieth century but soon had to be extended. Even when struggling Sunderland can average home gates of over 40,000 and their record attendance is almost 7,000 higher than any other club in the north- east has ever managed. The 1973 FA Cup final against Leeds United and 1998 Play Off final against Charlton Athletic saw Sunderland play in two of the most memorable games seen at Wembley stadium as the highs and lows of one of the game's traditional giants captured the imagination of the footballing world. Sunderland is the club of Raich Carter, Jim Montgomery, Charlie Hurley, Brian Clough, Kevin Phillips, Niall Quinn and the Clown Prince of Soccer Len Shackleton. They're all featured here along with everything you need to know about the team in the most famous red and white stripes in the country – after all Sunderland have won more major trophies than all the other teams who wear red and white stripes combined. Written by Sunderland AFC's club historian and publications editor Rob Mason, The Little Book of Sunderland AFC is the Bobby Kerr of football books. Kerr was the smallest skipper to lift the FA Cup but big enough to be a winner.

Leseprobe

LITTLE BOOK OF

SUNDERLAND

First published in the UK in 2014

© G2 Rights 2014

www.g2ent.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-782811-91-6 eISBN 978-1-782819-80-6

The views in this book are those of the author but they are general views only and readers are urged to consult the relevant and qualified specialist for individual advice in particular situations. G2 Rights hereby exclude all liability to the extent permitted by law of any errors or omissions in this book and for any loss, damage or expense (whether direct or indirect) suffered by a third party relying on any information contained in this book.

All our best endeavours have been made to secure copyright clearance for every photograph used but in the event of any copyright owner being overlooked please address correspondence to G2 Rights, Unit 7-8, Whiffens Farm, Clement Street, Hextable, Kent BR8 7PQ

Contents

Foreword

A

Academy, Allan, Anderson & Ashurst

B

Ball, Baxter, Bennett, Black Cats, Buchan

C

Canary,Carter,Cattermole, Clough

D

Derby Games, Di Canio, Doig

E

England, Europe

F

FA Cup, Famous Fans, Forster

G

Gabbiadini, Gurney, Guthrie

H

Halliday, Halom, Ha’way the Lads, Horswill, Hughes, Hurley

I

Internationals, Ireland

K

Keane, Kerr

L

League Positions, League Cup, Legion of Light

M

Malone, Managers, Montgomery, Most Appearances for Sunderland, Most Goals

N

Nine-One, Nosworthy

O

Oldest Players, Ord

P

Phillips, Phillips’ Top Goals, Pitt, Play Offs, Poom, Porterfield, Poyet

Q

Quinn, Quotes

R

Red & White, Roker Park and Sunderland’s Previous Grounds, Rowell

S

Samson, Shackleton, Sorensen, Stadium of Light, Stadium of Light Concerts, Stokoe

T

Talents, Tueart

U

Urwin

V

Venison

W

Watson, Watson, Wickham, Women, World Cup

X

XIs

Y

Young, Youngest Players

Z

Z Cars

Foreword

Sunderland AFC has some of the most dedicated and passionate supporters in the country. People who support Sunderland don’t just do so on the day of a match, they live and breathe the football club to the point where lives revolve around it.

I was proud to play for the club and to do so for so long. Now I take pride in having the honour of being the club’s ambassador. This is a role that has enabled me to witness first hand the vast amount of great work the club does in the community in the north east and beyond.

This book gives you an at a glance guide to some of the people and events that have shaped Sunderland into the club it has grown into in its long and celebrated history.

Jimmy Montgomery, July 2014

Academy

Sunderland’s training ground is called ‘The Academy of Light.’ It is commonly thought to be amongst the most lavishly appointed training complexes in the country. Opened in 2003 it is a very green facility where rain water is captured in wetland areas and then re-cycled to irrigate the pitches.

Sunderland’s Academy have produced some excellent players such as Jordan Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Michael Bridges, George McCartney, Jack Colback, Martyn Waghorn and Grant Leadbitter.

Sunderland have been regular winners of their section at U18 level and reached the semi final of the FA Youth Cup most recently in 2008. Sunderland were winners of that competition in 1967 and 1969 as well as reaching the final in 1966.

Academy pitch and building

.

Allan

James Allan was the Founder of Sunderland AFC. Originally called Sunderland and District Teachers’ Association Football Club, Sunderland began life in October 1879. James Allan was a Scottish schoolteacher working in Sunderland. After a visit to Edinburgh he brought back with him some round balls of the sort being used in Scotland for the new game of Association Football, and arranged a meeting which created what is now SAFC at the British Day School (This still stands in Sunderland and is now called The Norfolk Hotel).

James Allan played in the club’s earliest games. The first ever game was lost 1-0 but Allan scored twice in the second, a 4-0 win. Astonishingly he later scored 12 in a single match as Castletown were thrashed 23-0. In 1887, however, James Allan fell into dispute with the club, eventually leaving to form a rival club called Sunderland Albion. Albion had some success but was short-lived. Games between Sunderland and Sunderland Albion were so bitterly contested that at one point Allan required eye surgery after being stoned at a match at Sunderland’s Newcastle Road ground.

James Allan

.

Anderson & Ashurst

Anderson, Montgomery and Ashurst

The highest outfield appearance makers in the club’s history, Stan Anderson and Len Ashurst played for Sunderland in the 1950s and 60s with Ashurst returning to manage the club in the mid-Eighties.

Known as ‘Lennie the Lion’, Ashurst was the sort of full back who didn’t believe in taking prisoners. He was as solid as they come in the tackle and tamed even the greatest of his era’s wingers; even George Best never had a good game against him. Capped by England up to U23 level, Ashurst celebrated 50 years in the game in December 2007 when he was still working as a Match Delegate assessing referees in the Barclays Premier League. As a player he had a testimonial at Sunderland and also had testimonials as a manager at both Cardiff City and Newport County who he astonishingly guided to the quarter finals of the old European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Stan Anderson was a great Sunderland player of the 1950s and 60s. An England international, he was the first outfield player to top 400 appearances for Sunderland and he remains one of a select club to play for Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough who he also managed. Stan was a right half, a position that would now be roughly equivalent to the sort of position Roy Keane often played in his heyday. Stan was a class act and the only player to survive when manager Alan Brown broke up Sunderland’s unsuccessful band of star names known as the ‘Bank of England’ team of the Fifties.

Ball

Kevin Ball is a legendary figure amongst Sunderland supporters. A blood and thunder player who always gave absolutely everything he had for the cause, Bally captained the side for most of the 1990s, lifting the First Division championship in 1996 and 1999, with a record 105 points on the latter occasion. He has twice served the club in the capacity of caretaker manager/head coach and has enjoyed a hugely successful coaching career with teams at U18 and U21 level, not least nurturing the talents of England international Jordan Henderson.

‘Ooh Bally, Bally’ was the chant from the stands whenever Kevin crunched some unsuspecting star opponent. Signed as a centre back from Portsmouth in 1990, Bally became a defensive midfield player, used to shield his back four; a job he did magnificently. A good reader of the game, Bally snuffed out opposition moves effectively and also found time to contribute the occasional goal or telling pass. Perhaps his greatest game came in a 3-0 win over Chelsea when, in addition to subduing Ruud Gullit and co, he scored with a stunning diving header to help him win the ‘Man of the Match Award.’ A man of the highest professional standards, on and off the pitch, Kevin’s stock remains incredibly high with every Sunderland supporter who saw him ‘get stuck in’ every time he took to the pitch.

Kevin Ball in 1999

.

Baxter

Slim Jim Baxter was the opposite of Kevin Ball. Whereas Ball wasn’t blessed with an overdose of natural talent but proved how to make the absolute best of whatever ability you have, Baxter was a player with the talent to rival George Best but chose to illustrate that ability only when it suited him.

Baxter was on Sunderland’s books when he tortured England at Wembley, when Scotland became the first team to defeat the 1966 world champions. Contemptuously performing ‘keepieuppies’ in the centre circle as Scotland beat the ‘Auld Enemy’ 3-2, Baxter showed that he was in a class of his own. His left foot was known as ‘The Claw’ and he would simply say to team mates that if they made a run forward he would make sure the ball was there when they got there – and he could do that. The trouble was that such performances were on Baxter’s terms. Like Len Shackleton before him he was a virtuoso in a team game and the team didn’t always benefit as it should have from his talent. A man over-fond of the high life for a professional athlete, his sporadic application frustrated the closely knit team he joined and the team spirit unravelled as a result. Judged on talent alone Baxter should be in any all time team but the tragedy is that at Sunderland the best of Baxter was too rarely seen.

Jim Baxter

.

Bennett

Gary Bennett joined Sunderland in 1984, signing for his former Cardiff manager Len Ashurst. ‘Benno’ wasted no time in endearing himself to the fans, scoring against England ‘keeper Peter Shilton within two minutes of his debut. It was the first of 443 games for the Lads placing him fifth on Sunderland’s all time appearances list.

Bennett played three times at Wembley for Sunderland: the 1985 League Cup final, the 1990 Play Off final and the 1992 FA Cup final. Sunderland failed to score in any of those matches and Bennett was unfortunate enough to see the only goal of the 1990 Play Off final deflect in off him. The 11 years Gary spent at Sunderland were far from glorious in the main despite those cup runs, but throughout that time Bennett was a constant presence, mainly at centre half. A commanding player and skipper, Gary led by example, his swashbuckling runs out of defence being a highlight of his era.