An encouraging performance at Millwall was the perfect way to start the 1974/1975 Division Two season, with a 1-4 victory in London raising Sunderland’s hopes ahead of the visit of Southampton on this day.
The campaign had began with a couple of friendlies and a middling Texaco Cup attempt, but once the serious stuff had started at The Den, Bob Stokoe’s side were soon up and running. The same starting eleven was then picked to go again against the Saints at Roker Park, and whilst this time they had to come
from behind, the Lads once again peaked towards the end of the game.
Before that, the first half had been a story of two penalties and a disallowed goal that had home supporters fearing the Millwall win wasn’t about to be repeated.
A Pop Robson attempt had already been ruled out for offside when Peter Osgood was brought down in the box and awarded a penalty that was converted by Mick Channon, but when Dave Watson was shoved by Brian O’Neil at the other end of the pitch, Billy Hughes was unable to emulate the spot kick success as Ian Turner flew across his line and completed a magnificent save.
The game was entering its final stages when more penalty area drama occurred, but this time, Osgood’s claims were waved away by referee Ivan Smith and Sunderland were able to respond more positively.
Dennis Longhorn got onto a Bobby Kerr cross and blasted it towards Turner, and with his back to goal, Watson was able to divert the shot with his heel into the corner of the net. The strike was the beginning of a roaring comeback and within five minutes, Robson was able to make his latest effort count, calmly turning a low Hughes cross in with the side of his boot.
Sunderland now led through two very clever finishes, but the best was still to come.
Hughes, keen to make up for that penalty failure, had been busy throughout the match yet still had enough energy to latch onto a Kerr clearance, outpace the visiting defence and coolly round Turner for an eye-catching strike that was described in the following day’s Sunday Sunas one of the best seen on Wearside for several seasons.
The 3-1 joy ensured maximum points from our first two league fixtures, although Stokoe was far from happy with everything he’d seen that afternoon.
Whilst the football had been strong, Sunderland’s manager was incensed by comments that had been attributed to him in the match day programme. The Southampton edition carried a piece, supposedly penned by Stokoe himself, that started with the line “This is to be Sunderland’s last year in the Second Division”, and the Roker boss was keen afterwards to distance himself from such ‘arrogance’.
With the club attracting the third highest gate in the country — our attendance being 10,000 more than were at Middlesbrough and 14,000 higher than Carlisle United’s, even though both neighbours were staging top flight action — there’ll have been plenty of supporters scanning the Roker Review ahead of kick off, yet come the start of the following week there was a large rebuttal to read instead, when Stokoe spoke to The Evening Chronicle.
I never said that. It’s not me at all, I’m not an arrogant person.
We have got off to a good start, but to get into the First Division, you have to work for it. The season has been on for only a week. It lasts nine months and things have to be kept in a proper perspective.
We must be down to earth and all that matters is what the lads do, not what I say.
Stokoe was right to be cautious and in somewhat typical style, the early run came to an end next time out when Sunderland slipped to defeat against a previously pointless and goalless West Bromwich Albion.
As for the subsequent Roker Review against Bristol Rovers, the space that was traditionally held for the manager’s comments now contained a generic ‘Roker Scene’ feature, whilst before the end of the year, producers Pilgrim Print of Elswick Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, had been replaced by local firm: Inkerman Publications of Southwick.
Saturday 24 August 1974
Football League Division Two
Roker Park
Attendance: 34,021
Sunderland 3 (Watson 68’, Robson 73’, Hughes 78’)
Southampton 1 (Channon (pen) 28’)
Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Watson; Moncur, Guthrie, Kerr; Longhorn, Towers, Hughes; Halom (Belfitt 83’), Robson
