Alex Mackie’s dominant Sunderland won the 1901/1902 Football League title with games to spare, and because of their margin of victory, they looked a decent bet to repeat the trick ahead of the following season.
However, the heartbreaking death of captain Matthew Ferguson over the summer left a dark cloud over the side and the Lads started their defence shakily, with a disappointing home loss to Nottingham Forest being followed by a draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers where a frustrating late leveller
saw them pegged back.
Liverpool were to be the visitors for the third game of the campaign, the match taking place on 13 September — just three months and a day after Ferguson’s passing (and twelve years exactly since the club’s first ever Football League outing in 1890).
Never showy but always a reliable full back and trusted leader, the skipper had been a consistent performer since arriving in 1896 and he was proving to be a great miss — not just as a player but also as a person, much loved by family, teammates and supporters alike.
Sources from the time disagreed about the time of Ferguson’s death, with some stating it was 14:10 on 12 June and others reporting it as twenty minutes earlier.
What is widely accepted is that he was at his residence of 4 Duke Street Monkwearmouth when he died from pleuropneumonia, having suffered from the condition for the past fortnight. During his battle, he was attended to by several medical professionals including club doctor Dr. Robinson, but it was to no avail, and sadly he left a wife (Elizabeth) and three children.
The Liverpool game was the first Saturday fixture of the season and the prospect of former boss Tom Watson making a return to Wearside, plus the fantastic weather being experienced that afternoon, helped boost the crowd.
With kit selection not being the prerogative of the hosts in this era, Sunderland took to an immaculate pitch wearing white shirts whilst the visitors turned out wearing scarlet. However, the toss was won and so the Lads were able to decide which way they would play first, opting to defend Roker Park’s ‘north end’ in the opening forty five minutes.
With a slight breeze behind them, Sunderland dominated and went into the break ahead thanks to a rather soft goal, when an Andy McCombie free kick into the box bounced off the unmarked and unwitting Jamie Millar and into the net. The scorer didn’t even appear to know where the ball had gone until he was informed by his jubilant colleagues, who then had to face a barrage in the second half as Liverpool looked to make amends for their slack defending.
The Mersey men’s pressure paid off with less than twenty minutes to go following a handball offence from Dicky Jackson.
Sam Raybould, who in later years would sign for Sunderland and was playing up front with former Black Cat George Livingstone, scored the subsequent penalty yet the match swung back in the opposition direction thereafter and thankfully for Jackson, he was the one that sealed things when he headed a late corner in through a crowd of bodies.
It was enough to secure the points but Mackie’s side had been nowhere near the same levels as they’d previously shown themselves capable of. Come the end of the season, their defence of the title fell just short, with a poor run-in often blamed for letting the title slip.
That said, it shouldn’t be forgotten just how much Ferguson’s loss had impacted the club, and how in the weeks immediately after that the players had been understandably off-colour. There was a superb run of just one defeat in eighteen league games during the middle of the campaign, but the tragic circumstances around his passing had proven hard to forget.
*Watson was still secretary-manager at Sunderland when Ferguson was brought in from Mossend Brigade in May 1896, although the Scot’s debut came in September that year in what was Robert Campbell’s first game in charge.
Ferguson was single when he moved to Wearside and was described in the press at the time as being a teetotaller. He made 181 appearances for the club, scoring four goals.
Saturday 13 September 1902
Football League Division One
Roker Park
Attendance: 20,000
Sunderland 2 (Millar 40’, Jackson 78’)
Liverpool 1 (Raybould (p) 73’)
Sunderland: Doig; McCombie, Watson, Farquhar; McAllister, Jackson, W.Hogg; Gemmell, Millar, Maxwell, McLatchie.
