Sunderland’s somewhat unexpected season in the First Division had got off to a good enough start. After a close away defeat to Norwich and a commendable display against star-studded Spurs at Roker Park, a victory over a Manchester United team managed by Alex Ferguson and including a bunch of household names had given Denis Smith the confidence his team could hold their own in the campaign that lay ahead.
Gary Bennett’s magnificent late winner had sealed the three points, and a couple of days after
the game – speaking to the local press – Smith outlined the precarious financial position he was balancing.
To bring anyone else in at this stage would mean we were still using the bank’s money. We catered for big gates for the first four home matches, which enabled us to make signings during the close season.
The odds are more players will be brought to the club before the end of the season. We are always looking to improve the squad at the right price, and we’ll never stop looking.
It’s a stark contrast to the riches the top division comes with today, and to reflect on the fact that the club had banked on good crowds early in the season to fund the summer’s transfer activity – which amounted to a spend of £650,00 – underlines the perilous position the club was in.
Of course, just three years earlier, the club had been relegated to Division Three for the first time in our history, and serious boardroom unrest throughout the 80s showed little sign of dissipating. Indeed, it continued well into the mid-90s.
Bob Murray had shown little desire to fund any significant transfer activity – it would likely have had to come from his pocket, of course, or some fundraising which would have diluted his shares, something that, at this point, he’d likely have been reluctant to do.
Still, Smith had spent the gate receipts from the season’s first four home fixtures – Spurs, Manchester United, Everton and Liverpool – ahead of time, bringing in Peter Davenport from Boro, and Portsmouth’s Kevin Ball – the former earmarked as the new partner for Marco Gabbiadini up front, while the latter had belatedly made his debut after being left out of the season opener after a less than convincing pre season.
There was serious potential in the squad, however, and if Smith had been inclined he could have cashed in on one of his young stars – Gabbiadini, Gary Owers and Gordon Armstrong in particular continually attracted interest from bigger teams, and would have each commanded a seven figure sum.
Commendably, Smith was reluctant to trade his key players, although in hindsight perhaps should have moved Owers and Armstrong on earlier, as both left the club a few seasons later without much money coming into the Roker coffers.
Gabbiadini had earned a call up for England Under 21s the season prior – in fact, there had been some talk of him going to Italia 90 in 1989, however it was Steve Bull who established himself as the ’wild card’ in Bobby Robson’s team. With Robson having stepped down, his replacement Graham Taylor was on the verge of announcing his first squad, and there was speculation Owers could once more be included in the under 21s, after being called up last season.
Smith said:
It’s not my job to tell the selectors who should be in the England squads.
Before telling the selectors who should be in the England squads.
But I can’t name a better player for the Under 21 squad for the job Gary does. His work-rate is tremendous.
