My Dad died early in the summer of 99, one thing I'm really gutted about is that he missed that season. Followed the lads through thick and thin, he was on the youth books as a Goalkeeper but cut it short to go down the mines many a young prospect did, food on the table was a priority. Like many saw us lift the FA cup but that was it from 60 years on the planet. He deserved that extra year to see that season.
Reidy lost the plot when he kept playing Dicky-o instead of the far superior Bridges as replacement for the injured Philips. A total no brainer at the time and it cost us any chance we had of going top at West Ham when good chances to win the game were spurned due to poor team selection.
Then a mere 2 seasons later we went down with 19 points and didn't gain a single point from a mid january 0-0 home draw with Blackburn (going from my memory). What a contrast in a short space of time eh. But the 2 seasons prior after promotion were indeed great to watch. I even saw Chris Makin score a goal!
I didn't think you dd badly at all, Marcus. We did go second, as you said. O.k., it was a couple of weeks after Xmas, but going from memory that surely isn't bad.
Such a shame Funky. I'm sure he'd have got such a massive buzz seeing the lads do so well!!! It's just maddening that a club with such potential should make us wait so long for the odd scrap or two of highlights amid the banal!!!
No, not quite post-war, Funky, but you do have to back a long, long way before you'll find anything better. The best season we've had post-war would be 1949/50. We were generally acknowledged as the best in England, went top at the beginning of April and looked odds-on to win it. Then Dickie Davis, our centre-forward got injured. There was no such thing as squads in those days. We tried Ivor Broadis at centre-forward but he was by nature a deep lying inside-forward, and it didn't work. Next, we tried Scottish international right-winger, Tommy Wright there, and that didn't work either. Finally, we tried a reserve called Casey,/Case or something like that and he wasn't up to it. We lost four games on the trot through that - three in the league, and got dumped out of the Durham Senior Cup by Darlington. Davis came back in late April and we won the last two games, scoring four in both of them. But we'd been caught up. We ended up third, a point behind Portsmouth and Wolves (Pompey won it on goal average). Sick as a parrot.
Lost my Dad last March. I did the speech at the funeral and said at least he missed another relegation season! Got that one wrong. I'd have said Dad must have had a word with the Almighty, but he was a confirmed atheist and would have had some explaining to do in the afterlife...
And in true Sunderland tradition they stayed up on goal difference in 57-58 when us and Pompey both had the same points.
Aye but look at Pompy now. Swings and roundabouts. We've had it worse and we've had it better. Just about time some good times came back round.
