In 1955, Sunderland embarked on an international tour for the first time since the pre-Second World War trip to Spain in 1935.
The North American tour was scheduled to last just under a month and would include nine matches in all, with four against Huddersfield Town, as well as games against Nuremberg, the Montreal All-Stars, the American Soccer League All-Stars and Philadelphia Uhrik Truckers. The venues included Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, as well as stadiums in New
York and Detroit in the USA, while Montreal, Winnipeg and Toronto made up the Canadian venues.
As the tour drew to a close on this day 69 years ago, Sunderland were preparing to take on Huddersfield for the fourth and final time. Having beaten them 3 – 2 in New York just under a month earlier, and drawn the other two meetings, Sunderland were looking for the victory that would categorically give them the bragging rights in the four-game series over their fellow First Division rivals.
Detroit was bathed in a searing 86-degree heat as a crowd of more than 7,000 gathered to watch two teams weakened by injury. Huddersfield were without Glazzard, while Sunderland were missing South African Ted Purdon and Ken Chisholm, who had both been amongst the goals.
The game had a little extra spice added even before kick-off. The two sides had played each other the previous day in Toronto in what turned out to be a fiercely competitive encounter.
A goal from Chisholm and a Charlie Fleming double had Sunderland leading 3 – 2 heading into the closing stages. An almighty scramble in the Roker penalty area saw Sunderland goalkeeper Fraser deflect the ball away on no fewer than four occasions before Bill McGarry – the future Newcastle manager – prodded home the equaliser in front of 12,000 spectators.
The game kicked off with Sunderland on the front foot, with Shackleton, Bingham and Anderson all prominent. On 19 minutes, Charlie “Cannonball” Fleming rounded off a fine passage of play by getting on the end of a Shackleton pass and firing the ball past Wheeler in the Terriers’ goal to put Sunderland ahead.
Huddersfield found their attacks repeatedly floundering against the Sunderland defence, with Aitken marshalling the half-back line to good effect.
The first half was drawing to a close when a pass from Connor somehow found its way to Simpson, who bobbled a shot past Fraser to equalise. It was a fortunate goal but, nonetheless, football wisdom often says there’s no better time to score than just before the break.
If Huddersfield thought they had the upper hand and that momentum was with them, somebody forgot to tell Sunderland as they tore into their Yorkshire opponents after the restart.
On 50 minutes, Fleming blasted a shot home from just inside the penalty area to restore Sunderland’s lead and take his tally to four goals in two days. Huddersfield must have been sick of the sight of him.
Once again, Sunderland looked comfortable in containing Huddersfield’s attacks, while also posing a threat going forward.
What happened next you’ll have to picture in your mind’s eye, as we’re a little light on detail. The Huddersfield Examiner described Jimmy Watson of Huddersfield and Sunderland’s Billy Elliott, on the left wing, as becoming “involved” with each other. It was probably fuelled by the unrelenting heat, although Elliott wasn’t exactly known for his gentleness in the face of provocation, regardless of the temperature.
Both players were sent off and the additional space changed the flow of the match to a degree. Once again, in the dying moments of the game, a spell of Huddersfield pressure bore fruit when they were awarded what was described as a “debatable” penalty, which Metcalf dispatched to level the scores at the death.
So, the final action of this lengthy tour came to a close. Aside from the football, there had been plenty of time for fun and entertainment, with the players enjoying sightseeing in New York, a day at the races at Belmont, a trip up the Empire State Building and a day out at Yankee Stadium to watch baseball. There was even a rumour that one member of the touring party had danced with Marilyn Monroe – though the full details of that story stayed on tour.
There would be no more grand international tours until 1967, when Sunderland returned to North America under the guise of the Vancouver Royal Canadians in an attempt to help grow the game across the pond. Sadly, very little “stayed on tour” as a Jim Baxter-inspired party sampled the entertainment on offer all too readily, and the trip slipped into historic infamy.
05/06/1955
Venue: McCabe Field, Detroit
Huddersfield Town 2 – 2 Sunderland
Goals: Fleming 19, 50; Simpson 43; Metcalf (pen) 88
Sunderland: Fraser, Hedley, McDonald, Anderson, Boone, Aitken, Bingham, Shackleton, Fleming, Daniel, Elliott. Subs: Morrison, Hudgel, Wood.
Huddersfield: Wheeler, Stanforth, Kelly, McGarry, Taylor, Quested, Simpson, Watson, Connor, Cavanagh, Metcalf. Subs: Parker, Frear, Battye, Gibson.
