Bob Kyle – SAFC’s Longest Serving Manager
Robert Kyle (Manager) 1 August 1905 to (15 March 1928) / 5 May 1928 Played Won Drawn Lost For Against League 758 345 141 272 1367 1157 FA Cup 59 26 14 19 106 73 Above is Kyle standing in front of what I think is the Clock Stand…
Memorabilia – Everton v Sunderland, 27 October 1894
Sunderland travelled to Goodison Park following an 8 v 1 thrashing of Queens Park in a Glasgow situated friendly the week before. Everton, as expected, proved to be made of sterner stuff as they came from 2 down to draw level with their visitors from Wearside with a last gasp…
Illegal Payments Scandal
The Illegal Payments Scandal 1957 Sunderland AFC Introduction To understand the illegal payments scandal of 1957 there must be an understanding of what the Football League rules were as regards what was known as the maximum wage. As we shall see it was Sunderland’s breaking of this written rule that…
Sunderland AFC And The Bilbao Connection
The Sunderland team lineup before the game with Athletic Bilbao on 13 May 1934, the first on a 3 match end of season Spanish tour. The game ended 3 v 3. Davis, Thomson, Johnson, McNab, Hastings, Gurney, W Murray, Shaw, Middleton, Gallacher, Connor Watch a live Ahtletic Bilbao La…
1913 FA Cup Final
1913 FA Cup Final Video Click above to watch. In the quite superb video above we see Sunderland legend, colossus and hard man Charlie Thomson (think Kevin Ball) leading the lads out onto the pitch to face Aston Villa in front of a then worlds record football crowd; 121,919. As…
The Roker Roar
The 1920's Roker Roar watched over by the local Sunderland Police, who seem happy enough sitting on bails of straw. In the build up to the 1996/97 Premiership Season, Paul Wilson of the Observer made the following statement in his Sportsview Section: "Amid all the hype and hysteria, it might…
Roker Park; Home
Roker Park, Sunderland - 1898 to 1997 RokerPark - The Main Stand It was the Henderson Brothers, one of whom was the Sunderland AFC Chairman who recognised the need for a bigger ground. They negotiated farmland belonging to a Mr Tennant. The agreement was conditional on Sunderland agreeing that houses…
Gary Rowell’s Goals!
Born 6 June 1957 at Seaham, County Durham, Gary Rowell became an SAFC legend and one of the few men to have scored over 100 goals for the football club. In Rowell's case; 103. He became the first post war Sunerland AFC since Len Shackleton to do so. The table…
The Owen Luder Sunderland AFC Stadium
It was 2008 when researching about the stadiums that Sunderland have had as homes that I came across a story that I knew absolutely nothing about. It was born out of the following image that I was passed. I immediately set about trying to trace the architect involved in what…