On This Day (17th Feb 1976): The Joy Of Sunderland: Did They ‘Stoke’ Your Passion?
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A wonderfully evocative article from Barry Jackson has prompted today’s feature, which looks at a game that brought the romance of the FA Cup back to Wearside just as his new love affair with Sunderland was blossoming.
The Lads’ battling fifth round showing in Staffordshire forced a replay and despite Stoke City’s top flight status, the rematch at Roker Park seemed to be firmly in the balance.
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Our strong home record would eventually see us finish the season as Division Two champions, and when added to their notorious cup pedigree, it gave many supporters the sense that an upset was on the cards — although as it happened, large sections were anything but comfortable for the hosts.
Manager Bob Stokoe, whose main concern prior to kick off was a flu bug that was starting to spread through the club, had to watch on as his team were put through a tough examination by the Potters. As it was, only Billy Hughes and Ian Porterfield — two men who’ll have recalled a similar issue when the FA Cup was won earlier in the decade but had since fallen out of first team contention — were the only players laid up, yet those able to take to the pitch found the going tough.
Well-structured Stoke had plenty of the ball, although they didn’t always turn possession into clear-cut chances, and it was Sunderland that looked the more dangerous actually when they did get the opportunity to push forward.
Having seen a thirty-fifth minute Pop Robson strike ruled out for offside, Bob Moncur and Mel Holden also went close before a finely-poised chess battle ensued, with Stokoe’s decision to opt for a back five giving the Rokerites the ability to stem the flow of pressure their higher division opponents were looking to build on.
The massed crowd, which had given the club their biggest attendance of the season thus far, was beginning to sense that things could go either way but rather than add to the tension, they began to turn the volume up.
A wall of noise began to swirl around the stadium and when the final fifteen minutes brought about an intense period of drama, the atmosphere was right up there in terms of classic Roker nights. A superb near post header from Holden as he connected with a Bobby Kerr corner was greeted by jubilant scenes on the terraces, and whilst Denis Smith soon replied for Stoke, the fans didn’t waver once.
Smith — who in time would himself get to enjoy the backing of the red and white army when he became manager on Wearside — registered an instant leveller when a free kick found its way onto the post and he was on hand to poke it over the line, yet the scruffy nature of the equaliser meant Sunderland were able to maintain the belief that they were good enough to win, as rather than being outdone by a moment of skill, they’d instead been pegged back through a touch of misfortune.
Kerr, who was awesome throughout, soon set about Stokoe’s left hand side and when his centre was half-cleared, the ball was put back into the area by Dick Malone.
It was a wonderfully weighted cross and one that Robson was able to control and flick into the net (albeit via a deflection), to spark further celebrations in the jam-packed Fulwell End behind the net.
Despite owing something to luck just as the goal that had proceeded it, the winner felt fully deserved.
In Robson, the Lads had a finisher every bit as good as Stoke’s usual First Division adversaries, whilst behind him was a level of energy and determination that any successful side needs – a feeling summed up moments before the goals when Jimmy Robertson put a late tackle in on Tony Towers and the skipper was more than happy to give a bit back.
Following the clash, Robertson was booked whilst Towers got let off with a stern telling-off from referee Mr T.H.C Reynolds, but the message was clear: Sunderland were up for the cup.
With a place in the quarter finals now confirmed, murmurings of a potential remarkable double soon got traction.
However, the push went to pot when a niggly sixth round encounter with Crystal Palace turned Sunderland into the victims of a giant-killing and with all the attention quickly reverting to the promotion chase, this match can now sometimes be overlooked when recounting the big post-war cup ties staged at Roker.
Still, there’ll be some for whom the memories still exist — and maybe even be one or two who pinpoint the replay as the day their own Sunderland relationship began.
Barry’s origin story is shared by many and although the locations and the characters might change, the essence is the same: love at first sight that leads to a passionate tale that spans a many great years.
Sunderland versus Stoke in 1976 might be less heralded that when Manchester City were the opponents at the same stage three years earlier, for instance, but it’ll be no less important to somebody that fell head over heels.
Tuesday 17 February 1976
FA Cup fifth round replay
Roker Park
Attendance: 47,583
Sunderland 2 (Holden 77’, Robson 81’)
Stoke City 1 (Smith 77’)
Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Clarke; Moncur, Ashurst, Bolton; Kerr, Towers, Finney (Halom 83’); Holden, Robson