With the club still coming to terms with a damaging relegation from the Premiership a couple of months earlier, and many of the squad’s higher earners needing to be moved on in order to balance the books, Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy had his work cut out during the pre-season of 2003 – 04.
A pitiful haul of just 19 points at the end of the 2002 – 03 campaign had left spirits around the Stadium of Light at rock bottom, and the long list of expected departures meant the manager was having to scramble
just to put together a competitive squad ahead of what was expected to be a tough Nationwide Division One campaign. Several youth prospects and cut-price signings were being readied and, with two convincing pre-season wins already under their belts, the group arrived in Cleethorpes on this day aiming to continue their progress. Third-tier Grimsby Town provided the latest opposition for the Lads following victories over Durham City and York City.
The Blundell Park outfit had themselves only just been relegated and, at times, it was clear during this friendly that both sides were undergoing a period of transition and were perhaps still low on confidence. In terms of building match sharpness, though, the afternoon proved worthwhile and McCarthy was pleased to see some of his youngsters performing well. Craig James and Simon Ramsden both started, whilst Chris Brown, Chris Scott and Ben Clark all came on from the bench in the second half to gain some valuable minutes.
“It’s important to bring the young lads in,” he told the Sunderland Echo‘s Graeme Anderson afterwards. “I don’t think for a minute that I’m going to be able to throw them in at the start of the season and expect them to get us into a promotion spot. That won’t happen.
“But it’s good to get them blooded, picking up experience, and I think in the three games we’ve had, the young lads have done alright. None of this will do them any harm.
“Don’t forget that there are some of them just stepping up from the Academy and this is a test for them.
“As for the game itself, it was a great work-out. The games have got progressively tougher, as you would expect, and Paul Groves’ team didn’t disappoint me. I knew it would be a bit more of a blood-and-thunder game and it was good for us. It was hard work for the players.
“We played well enough and created enough chances to have won the game, but they worked hard, got back into it and I’m glad we didn’t lose our concentration.”
A total of 591 Sunderland supporters travelled to watch the match, although there was one late withdrawal – Sean Thornton having to pull out of the squad at short notice after picking up a shoulder injury in training. The midfielder had been named Player of the Season for 2002 – 03 despite only breaking into the team after the New Year, but was forced to sit this one out – as were Thomas Sørensen, Kevin Kilbane, Gavin McCann and Kevin Phillips, who were all being primed for sale.
Claudio Reyna, meanwhile, was away on Gold Cup duty with the United States, but there were still appearances from two more senior names – Tore André Flo and Matt Piper, who were Sunderland’s standout performers.
The pair, like so many others, had endured a torrid time since moving to Wearside yet showed plenty of attacking intent. Mart Poom also caught the eye with some assured goalkeeping, whilst Michael Proctor showed good composure when he opened the scoring after the break with a well-struck penalty following a foul on Flo.
Proctor had two further chances shortly afterwards, but the only other goal of the game came from the hosts, who equalised through an Iain Anderson header after he connected with a cross from Jonathan Rowan.
Saturday 19 July 2003
Pre-season friendly
Grimsby Town 1 (Anderson 69′)
Sunderland 1 (Proctor 50′)
Sunderland: Poom; Ramsden (Scott 79′), Björklund, Babb (Clark 64′), McCartney (Butler 63′); Piper, Thirlwell, McAteer, James; Flo (Brown 73′), Proctor.
Unused substitutes: Ingham, Collins, J Dickman
Venue: Blundell Park
Attendance: 3,168
