Charlie Gladwin – “Sunderland’s Colossus”
At the beginning of the 1912-13 season Bob Kyle paid £3,000 for two defenders. He bought Charlie Gladwin, six-foot-one-inch, fourteen stone Blackpool right-back, and Joe Butler, the Glossop North End goalkeeper. At the time, the record transfer fee was the £1,800 paid by Blackburn Rovers to West Ham United for…
SAFC’s Walter Scott – “Palpably Inefficient”
Walter Scott endured a turbulent time at Sunderland AFC, particularly in the manner of his departure from the club. He initially came to the attention of English football fans whilst playing for Grimsby Town, where on 13 February 1909 he became the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in a…
Sunderland AFC As The Vancouver Royal Canadians – Part 2
Sunderland AFC 1966/67 The Sunderland team ready to board the plane to fly to the USA to play as The Vancouver Royal Canadians in North America Wright, Martin, Kinnell, Harvey, Baxter, Mulhall, Gauden, Shoulder, Todd, Suggett, Hughes, Parke, Forster, Herd, Irwin Sunderland AFC’s affair with “Soccer” in the United States…
Sunderland AFC As The Vancouver Royal Canadians – Part 1
The Detroit Cougars (Glentoran of Northern Ireland) slug it out on the pitch against Houston Stars (Bangu of Brazil) Following the 1966 FIFA World Cup held England and broadcast in the United States, promoters came together to start up two professional soccer leagues in U.S - the United Soccer…
Sunderland AFC Youth Team 1991/92
Sunderland AFC Youth Team 1991/92 Jones, Cronin, Ferry, Musgrave, Smith, McGee, Morrow Russell, Carr, Robinson, Patterson, Jeffrey, Harwood, Gray Looking back through the Sunderland AFC archive of images we have come across this superb photo of the 1991/92 Sunderland AFC Youth team that would almost certainly have been taken at…
Sunderland AFC – Dramatic Games!
August 1953 - Bill Murray After Training At Roker Park 1896/97 – 26 April 1897 - Sunderland 2 v 0 Newton Heath Sunderland’s poorest league season to that date saw The Black Cats compete in an end of season series of Test Matches to retain their first division…
Sunderland AFC – Miscellany
Gary Rowell; penalty king BOTTLING IT On 28 December 1920 31 year old Owen Coggins appeared before Sunderland Magistrates accused of hitting a fellow Sunderland supporter with a bottle in the Roker End during The Boxing Day encounter with Bolton Wanderers. In his defence Coggins indicated that previously he had…
Sunderland AFC – Animal Crackers!
Sunderland captain Charlie Thomson with the clubs Black Cat and newly born kittens at Roker Park circa 1912 On 20 December 1884 Sunderland recorded their biggest ever victory when they defeated Castletown 23 v 0. Commenting on the game in 1931 a Sunderland founder John Grayston indicated that Hylton’s Colonel…
The Sheriff Of London Charity Shield; Corinthians 0 v 3 Sunderland AFC, White Hart Lane, Tottenham – 28 February 1903
In 1898 a Shield was offered by Sir Thomas Dewar to be competed for by the best professional and amateur football sides of the year and the proceeds were to be devoted to charity. In time it became known as the Charity Shield and then underwent various name changes before…
The Myth Surrounding October 1879
Having established that what became Sunderland AFC was founded on, most probably, 25 September 1880 it is only fair to take a look at how October 1879 came to be accepted as the founding date. The first brief histories of the club appeared in the two Wearside dailies, the Echo…