When you look back on it, Brian Mooney’s arrival at Roker in 1991 may have seemed like something of a panic buy by Denis Smith.
Granted, the Irish winger could be a mercurial talent on his day, but he had only ever played in the Third Division and, with the club battling to preserve its top-flight status, Mooney’s arrival was a gamble which, in truth, failed to pay off.
While it most definitely was a gamble at the time, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision – because on this day in 1988, two and
a half years before finally arriving at Roker, Brian Mooney was most definitely on Smith’s radar.
Sunderland had just been promoted from the Third Division and, in two keenly contested draws against the Lilywhites, Mooney had impressed – including scoring at Deepdale to put Preston ahead in February before an Eric Gates leveller.
Smith was keen to strengthen the squad and had made an enquiry about Mooney’s availability, but received a firm rebuttal from Preston manager, former Newcastle defender John McGrath.
“I asked Preston about Brian Mooney. But their manager John McGrath told me that none of his players were for sale.
“Mooney has impressed me, but it seems that there is no way that Preston will part with him after selling Nigel Jemson to Nottingham Forest.”
Interestingly, Smith also revealed that he had received a similar response regarding another player – another familiar name who would end up arriving at Roker a year later.
“It is the same sort of response that I got when I made an inquiry for Portsmouth left-back Paul Hardyman. But these are just two of the many players we have under the microscope.
“The transfer market is going through a strange phase at the moment. Huge fees seem to be the order of the day and there is virtually nothing happening at the lower end of the market.”
Smith would eventually land Hardyman, who was entering the final year of his contract, 12 months later for a tribunal-set fee of around £130,000.
One person who had already arrived at the club, however, was someone who, just a few years later, would lead Sunderland out at Wembley – Malcolm Crosby.
Crossa, who was just 34 at the time, had been coaching in Kuwait alongside former Arsenal winger George Armstrong. He knew Denis Smith from their days together at York and had accepted the youth-team coaching role at Sunderland, with Chris McMenemy moving up to become reserve-team coach – a role he performed for a few months before leaving Roker later that year.
Smith, however, was delighted to bring some additional coaching experience into the club.
“I know Malcolm well from our time together at York. We felt we needed another body in the coaching department because, with about 40 players, it was hard to deal with individual work.
“Malcolm is a South Shields lad and it is a great opportunity for him.”
An interesting digression here is that when Crosby was appointed manager, he tried to persuade the Hebburn-born Armstrong to become his assistant. But Armstrong, who by that point was youth-team manager at his former club Arsenal, turned down the approach. Crosby ultimately appointed Bobby Ferguson, who later brought in his eventual replacement, Terry Butcher.
Despite struggling to make a breakthrough in the transfer market, Smith was his usual bullish and confident self as he looked ahead to the new season, taking inspiration from Middlesbrough, who had earned consecutive promotions to return to the top flight.
“Our minimum target is to finish in the top six. Anything less and I will be very disappointed.”
